30-day flood insurance program extension to be voted on by House - NOLA.com

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives today is expected to pass a 30-day extension of the federal flood insurance program. The bill authorizes a new study on ways to encourage private insurers to enter the market.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered up another short-term extension proposal, but his request to approve the measure by unanimous request was blocked by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.. Coburn said the Senate needed to pass a long-term extension with reforms designed to reduce taxpayer subsidies.

The House debated the 30-day extension late Wednesday, with members saying they had no choice but to extend the program, which loses its authorization on May 31, through the end of June.

If the program lapses, as it did four times in 2010, no new policies can be issued and that would force postponement of house sale closings in communities where flood insurance is mandatory.

There seemed little support for Michigan Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller, who said Wednesday that it's time to eliminate the federal flood insurance program. The program began in 1968 and has nearly 500,000 policyholders in Louisiana.

"So many of us very strongly opposed to Obama Care, the government takeover of health care because we didn't believe the federal government should be running the health care for our entire nation," Miller said. "But apparently we have no problem with the federal government running a National Flood Insurance Program."

But, unlike previous short term extensions, the bill before the House includes what sponsors say are "reform measures," including studies on ways to get private insurance firms to provide coverage. That measure likely would face some objections in Louisiana and Mississippi where homeowners complained that their private property insurance carriers often passed on damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita to water damage, not wind, thereby avoiding paying out on their policies.

Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., the sponsor of the short-term extension, said it's important that Congress take steps to see if private companies can enter the market, thereby reducing the cost to taxpayers. "This program is more than $17 billion in debt to the taxpayers," Biggert said. "We owe it to the homeowners, to the housing market, and to taxpayers to begin the process of fixing this program, even if we must do it 30 days at a time."

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has been pushing the Senate to take up a bill extending the program for five-years with reforms to make the program more financially secure, said he prefers a "clean extension."

"A study of privatization efforts for flood insurance could potentially get included as an amendment to our five-year bill in the Senate," Vitter said. "Until (Majority Leader) Reid allows us to bring up the five-year bill -- the absolute top priority -- I think it's wisest to pass a clean extension, which keeps the pressure on passing the five-year bill while making sure we don't have a lapse in the program."

Reid said he wants to take up the five-year flood insurance bill, which cleared the Senate Banking Committee last year, but has a busy legislative agenda complicated by what he has called GOP stalling tactics.

Louisiana lawmakers said the top priority is not to allow the flood insurance program to lapse as hurricane season nears. 

"This 30-day extension is short-sighted and kicks the can down the road," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans. "But at the end of the day, it's our responsibility to make sure that the people of Louisiana are covered. Considering all that Louisianans have already endured, our top priority must be to give our residents the peace of mind that their homes and businesses will be protected."

Added Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. "Since September of 2008, funding for the NFIP has been extended 17 different times. I am much more focused on working to pass a long-term renewal of NFIP rather than these short-term patches that leave homeowners in limbo and don't strengthen the solvency of the program."

17 May, 2012