EDITORIAL: They’re right. This flood insurance fiasco has gotten ‘ridiculous.’

May 31-- May 31--Houma-Thibodaux residents and the other 5 million Americans who depend on the nation's flood insurance program have gotten used to Congress playing games with it.

In the latest episode, lawmakers nearly let the program lapse on the eve of hurricane season. And as the Army Corps of Engineers plans to unleash the power of the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya Basin to relieve pressure on levees that protect Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., managed to win approval Thursday of a two-week extension that prevents the program from lapsing at midnight tonight.

The time before that, Congress and President Donald Trump let the program lapse a few days in December during a federal shutdown amid debate over money for his border wall.

A few lawmakers from Louisiana and other coastal states had to push hard to prevent the program from lapsing during last year's hurricane season.

When the program lapses, current policies remained unaffected. But it stalls thousands of home sales locally and across the country because federal law requires anyone in a high-risk area to have flood insurance before a lender can issue a mortgage. And it causes unnecessary fear and anxiety for the policy holders who depend on the program to insure what for many Americans is their biggest single investment -- their homes.

Here is what Bill Cassidy, R-La., and a bipartisan group of fellow U.S. senators wrote about a week ago in a letter to ranking members of a key Senate committee considering flood-insurance reform proposals:

"Within two years, the National Flood Insurance Program has been subjected to 10 short-term extensions. This ridiculous process has created significant uncertainty and anxiety for homeowners, renters, and small business owners in our states."

They're right. "Ridiculous" is the operative word at this point.

For years, Congress has delayed reforms to a program that is now an estimated $25 billion on debt and instead relied on last-minute, short-term fixes to keep it running. The senators argue that it's long past time for Congress to stop passing short-term extensions and put the flood-insurance program on solid financial footing for the long term.

They're right about that too.

Anyone can help make that happen by calling his or her representatives in Congress. Here are their names and numbers: Kennedy, (202) 224-4623; Cassidy, (202) 224-5824; Rep. Steve Scalise, (202) 225-3015; and Rep. Garret Graves, (202) 225-3901. You can also call the White House at 202-456-1111. All of their websites have forms that allow citizens to submit comments.

Tell lawmakers to stop messing with our flood insurance.

-- Editorials represent the opinion of this newspaper and not any individual solely.

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