NFIP remains in limbo as part of broader U.S. House impasse; expires Friday if not extended

May 28-- May 28--WASHINGTON -- The National Flood Insurance Program is again dangerously close to lapsing after two House Republicans have blocked attempts to temporarily extend the program before it lapses Friday.

If a U.S. House member again refuses to allow the extension to pass this week, the federal government will be blocked from issuing new flood insurance contracts, and NFIP's funding will be dramatically restricted.

"We're under unprecedented threat from flooding, and hurricane season is upon us," U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, said in a statement Tuesday. "If House members cannot pass a simple NFIP extension, then they need to get back to Washington. The American people need Congress to do its job."

According to an analysis from the independent Congressional Research Service, "in past NFIP lapses, borrowers were not able to obtain flood insurance to close, renew, or increase loans secured by property in a (Special Flood Hazard Area) until the NFIP was reauthorized."

Thursday is the next time the NFIP proposal can be brought up on the House floor.

A safety net measure backed by Kennedy could still pass after Congress returns from its recess on Monday and would be applied retroactively to ease the impact on Louisiana's nearly half a million NFIP policyholders.

"Congress needs to pass this short-term extension of the NFIP," a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said. "The extension that passed unanimously in the Senate -- and we are asking the House to pass -- is retroactive, meaning any contracts signed during a potential lapse in the program will be honored."

NFIP's proposed extension already has won broad bipartisan support in both the U.S. House and Senate, but legislation had not made it past the finish line before lawmakers headed back to their districts for recess this week.

Under House procedures allowed during the recess period, the NFIP could be extended if no member objects, but House Republicans have raised objections on Friday and again on Tuesday, blocking it from passing because of broader disagreements with Democratic leadership and votes on a $19 billion disaster recovery aid package.

Rep. Thomas Massie, who has represented his Kentucky district in the U.S. House since 2012, was the latest member to block the effort.

"If the speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the speaker of the House should have called a vote on this legislation before sending its members on recess for 10 days," Massie said of his objection to the disaster bill on the House floor. He didn't address his separate refusal to allow the unrelated NFIP temporary extension to pass. Massie's spokeswoman didn't respond to The Advocate's request for comment about the NFIP issue.

The prior attempt at passage was blocked by Rep. Chip Roy, of Texas. He specifically cited his desire for a recorded vote on the $19 billion aid bill, which has won support in the Democrat-controlled House and the backing of GOP-controlled Senate and White House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, accused Republicans of playing "political games" over the disaster aid package and NFIP's fate.

"The heartlessness of House Republicans knows no bounds. Just days after sabotaging a bipartisan and bicameral bill to provide urgently-needed relief to millions of American families reeling from natural disasters, House Republicans have repeated their stunning act of obstruction -- even after more deadly storms ravaged our country over the weekend," she said in a statement.

Pelosi called on House Republican to"end this shameful sabotage" and allow the House to pass the bill that the bipartisan Senate has finally agreed to.

She noted that House Republicans had also objected to a critical extension of the Flood Insurance program which will expire this Friday "leaving the agency without the ability to issue new policies just as hurricane season begins."

The latest temporary extension that has been proposed for the NFIP -- its 11th in two years -- would keep the program afloat through the end of September, while a bipartisan group of lawmakers work on a long-term NFIP plan.

The NFIP's last long-term authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2017 and it's been strung together with similar stop-gap measures since that time. The program provides flood coverage to more than 5 million policy holders across the country, but it also faces resistance among lawmakers who question its costs and efficiency.

The Government Accountability Office has included the NFIP on its "high risk list" because it hasn't struck a sustainable balance between keeping insurance affordable and maintaining the program's solvency, leading to premium rates that "in many cases do not reflect the full risk of loss and produce insufficient premiums to pay for claims."

The NFIP has had to borrow money from the Treasury to help cover major disasters. According to the CRS' analysis, NFIP's ability to borrow funds from the Treasury will be reduced from about $30.4 billion to $1 billion if the NFIP lapses.

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