Reps. Scalise and Carter to The Advocate: Secretive New Flood Insurance Rate System Is Unfair to Louisiana Homeowners

WASHINGTON, April 28 -- Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, issued the following joint commentary with Troy Carter, D-Louisiana, to the The Advocate on April 27, 2022:

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House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Congressman Troy Carter (D-La.) penned an op-ed for The Advocate outlining the potentially disastrous consequences of Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA's new flood insurance rating system, that went into effect for existing policyholders on April 1. Under Risk Rating 2.0, 80 percent of Louisiana's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders will see rate increases in their flood insurance plans. Whip Scalise and Congressman Carter blasted FEMA for its lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0 and urged immediate action from the agency.

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Steve Scalise and Troy Carter: Secretive new flood insurance rate system is unfair to Louisiana homeowners

FEMA is at it again. On April 1, the agency rolled out a massive overhaul of premium rates for existing National Flood Insurance Program policyholders.

What does this mean for Louisiana? By FEMA's own admission, 80% of Louisiana's NFIP policyholders will see rate increases in their flood insurance plans. This is unacceptable, unfair and flat-out bad policy.

Risk Rating 2.0, as it is called, has been touted by FEMA as equitable, yet it will make flood insurance unaffordable while increasing the number of uninsured properties, creating uncertainty for homeowners and putting taxpayers at risk. In Louisiana, families and communities are unfortunately all too familiar with disasters. What's unequitable is to force Louisiana families, who know that carrying flood insurance is the smart thing to do, to forgo coverage because they simply can't afford this additional squeeze on their budgets. FEMA should structure NFIP to encourage participation in its insurance program instead of pricing homeowners out of the market.

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We believe that families in Louisiana and across our nation should not be kept in the dark and left holding the bill for FEMA's poorly designed Risk Rating 2.0. As the sole provider of flood insurance for most families and small businesses in our country, NFIP should not operate behind a smokescreen.

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We are committed to working in Congress to pursue a long-term reform and reauthorization of NFIP that keeps flood insurance affordable for policyholders regardless of geographic location. FEMA has a responsibility to take remediating action and provide answers to the 5 million policyholders who depend on the program for flood coverage. The people of Louisiana and policyholders nationwide deserve better.