Florida flood insurance paused amid government shutdown

Mackenzie LaPorteNBC - 8 WFLA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) - The finger-pointing continues on Capitol Hill as Republicans and Democrats struggle to sort out the government shutdown, with healthcare and hurricanes top of mind for Florida Congressional leaders.

One party's "Democrat shutdown" is another party's "Trump shutdown," but whatever you call it, the government shutdown is already impacting Floridians and putting a halt to FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), something that millions of policyholders rely on.

"The idea that families in Florida could go without coverage because of D.C. politics is frankly gross," said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, (R-FL).

Patronis says Florida has 1.8 million policyholders, the most of any in the federal program which, as of right now, cannot write new policies or renew existing ones.

"This is a big deal for Florida's economy. The sunshine state accounts for 20% of all NFIP policies," said Patronis.

And as the state sits in peak hurricane season, worries about potential storms impacts continue to rise.

"It could happen at any time, and we need people to be able to buy that federal flood insurance and worse, renew flood insurance," said U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, (R-FL). "But also, our economy grinds to a halt if people can't buy and sell their homes."

As Republicans fear disruptions to home sales or recovery in flood-prone areas, Democrats have healthcare concerns front and center.

"Time is short, and it's urgent. It's especially urgent for Florida families because the cuts to health care, to the Affordable Care Act and to they're coverage, impact Florida families more than any other state," said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL).

Castor says democrats will continue to fight against healthcare cuts, as the blame game carries on in D.C.

"Should a major storm set its sights on the state of Florida, Democrats will be directly responsible for flood insurance claims being delayed when people are at their most vulnerable," said Patronis.

Congressman Patronis joined a group of lawmakers co-sponsoring a bill to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program until November 21st, 2025. But it's unclear if that will happen among all the chaos on capitol hill.