Cassidy Praises Grimm-Cassidy Flood Insurance Reform Becoming Law

BATON ROUGE - Congressman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) praised the signing of the Grimm-Cassidy amended version of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (H.R. 3370) into law. This legislation, which Dr. Cassidy co-wrote in the House with Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, will provide long-term flood insurance relief for Louisiana families. Dr. Cassidy offered the following statement:

"Today is a great day for Louisiana. The Grimm-Cassidy flood insurance reforms will reinstate grandfathered rates, cap premium increases, reform the FEMA flood mapping process and help stabilize our housing market. Today's signing was made possible due to the broad coalition we built to push the House, Senate and President to back the legislation."

A broad bi-partisan coalition of Members of Congress, realtors, homebuilders, credit unions, bankers and over 200 stakeholder groups around this country supported the passage of the Grimm-Cassidy Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3370. Below are major milestones that led to enactment of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014:

1. May 8, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy met with Parish Presidents in Washington to begin building a coalition of federal, state and local officials to push for flood insurance reform. (Times-Picayune, 5/7/13)

2. May 17, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy created the Congressional Home Protection Caucus as part of an effort to educate Members of Congress on the affordability challenges surrounding FEMA's implementation of Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. (Advocate, 7/13/13, Houma Today, 7/17/13)

3. May 23, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy joined Caucus Members in urging the House Financial Services Committee to hold a hearing on the affordability challenges associated with flood insurance (subsequent hearing was held on November 19, 2013)

4. June 4, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy persuaded FEMA Associate Administrator for the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration David Miller to tour parts of Louisiana and learn first-hand about residents' flood insurance concerns on August 8th & 9th, and participated in his tour. (KATC, 7/16/13, Associated Press, 8/8/13)

5. June 5, 2013 - Successfully passed the Cassidy Amendment to the Fiscal Year 2014 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which blocked increases to grandfathered NFIP premiums for policy holders who were susceptible to rate hikes after FEMA updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps. (WWL, 6/6/13, WDSU, 6/6/13, Times-Picayune, 6/5/13)

6. July 15, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy led a letter with the majority of the Louisiana Delegation urging to FEMA to make its new rate tables public (FEMA subsequently released its Specific Rate Guidelines to the public on September 4, 2013)

7. August 2, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy proposed major flood insurance reform legislation which prevents Sections 205 and 207 of the Biggert-Waters Act from proceeding until FEMA fully accounts for all local flood protections when setting rates. Subsequent sections from the bill were included in the Grimm-Cassidy amendment to H.R. 3370 (Daily Comet, 8/3/13, Times-Picayune, 8/2/13)

8. September 18, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy hosted a seminar on the Innovation in Financing Flood Risk. Participants included members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and both regulators and capital market experts.

9. September 27, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy led a letter with 73 other Members of Congress to urge Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to attach the Cassidy Amendment or similar language to any appropriate legislative vehicle, so certain flood insurance rate hikes are suspended. Led a similar letter signed by members of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to take similar action. (Daily Comet, 9/27/13)

10. October 11, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy and Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus began meeting with Leader Cantor to discuss options to make the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable and solvent.

11. October 29, 2013 - As an original co-sponsor, Dr. Cassidy co-introduced H.R. 3370, Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013. The legislation delays certain rate increases for homeowners and businesses, specifically rate increases triggered by home sales and FEMA remapping. The Senate companion legislation, S. 1610, is also introduced. (Times-Picayune, 12/9/13)

12. November 20, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy and Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus host a subsequent meeting with Leader Cantor to discuss options to make the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable and solvent.

13. December 10, 2013 - Dr. Cassidy and Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus host a subsequent meeting with Leader Cantor to discuss a draft legislative framework to make the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable and solvent.

14. January 15, 2014 - The House successfully passed the Cassidy Amendment again as part of the omnibus spending bill, which funds federal government operations through October 2014. This amendment blocked flood insurance rate hikes on homeowners with grandfathered rates, who were subjected to Section 207 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act. (Associated Press, 1/14/14, The Hill, 1/14/14, Times-Picayune, 1/13/14)

15. January 30, 2014 - The U.S. Senate passes a bill delaying some of the flood insurance rate increases caused by FEMA's implementation of Bigger-Waters for 4-years. (Times-Picayune, 1/28/14)

16. February 5, 2014 - Dr. Cassidy and Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus meet to finalize draft legislation making the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable and solvent.

17. February 11, 2014 - Dr. Cassidy and Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus host a subsequent meeting with Leader Cantor to discuss the legislative framework making the National Flood Insurance Program more affordable and solvent. Leader Cantor agrees to schedule the Grimm-Cassidy legislative framework for a vote. (Times-Picayune, 2/12/14)

18. February 21, 2014 - The Grimm-Cassidy Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Times-Picayune, 2/22/14, Times Picayune, 2/26/14)

19. March 4, 2014 - The Grimm-Cassidy Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, passes the House with a strong bi-partisan vote of 306-91.

20. March 13, 2014 - The Grimm-Cassidy Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, passes the U.S. Senate with a strong bi-partisan vote of 72-22.

21. March 21, 2014 - The Grimm-Cassidy Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014, is signed into law by the President.

Read this original document at: http://cassidy.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cassidy-praises-grimm-cassidy-flood-insurance-reform-becoming-law