Menendez: ‘We’re Robbing from Peter to Pay Paul, but unfortunately, it’s the Policyholders that Get Affected’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chair of the Sandy Task Force and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, began the process of reforming the much-maligned National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) during today's Committee hearing on the reauthorization of the NFIP, which is set to expire in September. In an effort to make flood insurance simple and fair, Sen. Menendez questioned Roy E. Wright, the NFIP's administrator, on the broken appeals process, the so-called "earth movement" exception that was routinely exploited to reduce payouts to storm victims, and the billions of dollars in premiums wasted on debt service paid to the federal government.

During the senator's questioning, Mr. Wright acknowledged that Menendez reforms implemented after Sandy had a positive effect and should be made permanent through the NFIP's reauthorization.

The NFIP, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), experienced widespread failures and fraud that cheated storm victims and hampered recovery in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Earlier in the hearing, Sen. Menendez focused on making the NFIP more affordable and efficient by questioning efforts to curb wasteful spending on private lawyers and Write-Your-Own insurers. Go to: https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/video-menendez-my-goal-is-to-make-the-flood-insurance-program-simple-affordable-fair-efficient-accountable-to-consumers-and-taxpayers to watch that video.

Yesterday, Sen. Menendez visited Little Ferry, N.J., a town ravaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and stood with New Jersey storm survivors and homeowners to lay out his prescription for reform to make the NFIP: simple, affordable, fair, efficient and accountable to consumers and taxpayers. There are over 230,000 flood insurance policyholders in New Jersey

Read this original document at: https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/video-menendez-were-robbing-from-peter-to-pay-paul-but-unfortunately-its-the-policyholders-that-get-affected