National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies: Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework Shows Continuing Embrace of Mitigation Policies

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Aug. 12 (TNSPol) -- The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies issued the following news release on Aug. 11, 2021:

Provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework passed by the Senate today enact policies long championed by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies to help communities protect themselves from natural disasters.

"Insurers are often among the first to go in after a natural disaster, and we've seen the devastation as our nation has experienced more and more extreme weather," said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of government affairs for NAMIC. "This legislation provides a long-overdue investment to ensure our infrastructure and communities are prepared for the worst."

NAMIC has been working with lawmakers to promote resiliency and loss prevention policies for more than a decade, from creating the BuildStrong Coalition and advocating for more mitigation dollars and the use of modern building codes, to helping open the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety Research Center. These efforts led to passage of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act in 2018 that established a federal program to provide funds for mitigation projects and building code enforcement, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program.

President Biden announced in May that the BRIC Program would award $1 billion in grants in 2021, doubling its prior awards. More recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this month a $3.46 billion Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for states to undertake risk-reducing mitigation activities.

"For years, the insurance industry has made the case that Congress should do more to protect Americans before disaster strikes and that best way to help natural disaster victims is to prevent them from becoming victims in the first place," Grande said. "Mitigation and resilient construction help break the cycle of destruction and rebuilding, reducing the costs of disaster recovery by reducing the impact of the disasters themselves. This legislation continues to demonstrate the evolution of federal disaster policy that is needed to increase the resiliency of communities all across America."