WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act. U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, PA-5, an original cosponsor of the bill, issued the following statement.
“The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act will provide relief to homeowners whose flood insurance premiums have dramatically increased through no fault of their own,” Thompson stated.
Over the past decade the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has bordered on insolvency and today it’s more than $24 billion in debt. In 2012, Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Reform Act, which instituted much needed reforms to reign in NFIP’s inefficiencies and create greater equity in the distribution of flood insurance risk. Prior to the reform, the NFIP imposed disproportionate costs on low-risk properties and regions.
The National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 mandated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) perform an affordability study before transitioning to the new system of assessing flood insurance risk. To the detriment of the American public, FEMA did not carry out the study, which has led to significant flood insurance premium increases over the past year.
“The National Flood Insurance Program is the poster child for bureaucratic mismanagement and the American people deserve better. It must be fixed before more harm is done to homeowners and the real estate market,” Thompson added. “The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act will repeal the most problematic provisions of the 2012 law, without adding to the federal deficit.”
H.R. 3370 requires FEMA to conduct an affordability study and to issue a report to Congress on premium rates. The Congressional Budget Office states the bill will decrease direct spending by $165 million over five years, and is budget neutral over 10 years.
Click here to view Thompson’s floor remarks on the issue.