Sen. Rubio Tells President Biden to Delay Flood Insurance Premium Hikes

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 -- Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a video urging President Joe Biden to delay the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) new Risk Rating 2.0 formula. The new rating system, scheduled to go into effect October 1, 2021, is expected to raise premiums on nearly 80 percent of NFIP policyholders nationwide starting April 1, 2022.

Earlier this month, Rubio and colleagues introduced legislation to prevent premium hikes from going into effect for homeowners and other policyholders, as well as to give lawmakers time to develop meaningful, sustainable reforms to the NFIP. They also sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to delay the program.

A transcript of the video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF9LDL0NoB0

A broadcast quality version of the video is available here: https://lfts2.senate.gov/w/9hUyDoRKxCRCXbBt8jqdxLWCDKximojAbNA3XYWhi8pha

"The National Flood Insurance Program is critical for Florida, but 80 percent of Florida policyholders could see their flood insurance premiums skyrocket because of something called Risk Rating 2.0.

"President Biden needs to delay this new rating system. He has to do it now.

"If he does not, we have a lot of Florida families that are going to suffer from unexpected premium increases ? it's like a tax increase.

"We need to reform the flood insurance program, but this rushed process and this chaotic rollout is not the way to go about it."