Senate Banking Committee hearing will focus on National Flood Insurance Program

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced during a press conference on Tuesday that President and CEO of Greater New Orleans Michael Hecht will testify at an upcoming U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing addressing the reauthorization and reformation of the National Flood Insurance Program.

The hearing "Reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program: Local Perspective on Challenges and Solutions" will examine how NFIP can be reformed and reauthorized; Congress has until Feb. 2 to reauthorize NFIP and avoid a lapse.

Cassidy worked with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to schedule the hearing and gather witnesses. During the Tuesday conference, he said that more Louisiana residents were suggested to provide local perspectives at the hearing.

"It's not my call as to who they choose, but we do think there's a lot of folks from Louisiana that could come to this hearing. It would give them an opportunity to tell Americans what Louisianans have been telling me for years, that Biden's Risk Rating 2.0 is crushing them and will crush people in any state which has a need for flood insurance."

Last summer, Cassidy introduced the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization (NFIP-RE) Act of 2023 alongside U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins and others. This is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will address the spikes in flood insurance rates that have followed Risk Rating 2.0, the NFIP's updated pricing methodology.

The legislation would lower the premium increase cap to nine percent and institute systems to support policyholders unable to afford flood insurance. These systems would include means-tested vouchers for those experiencing excessive hikes, strengthened insurance company oversight and a simplified claims process. Additionally, it would extend the program for five years.

At the Tuesday conference, he said that a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 900,000 policyholders will drop out of NFIP in the next decade because of Risk Rating 2.0.

The goal of NFIP-RE is to make the flood insurance program "more affordable, sustainable and accountable" for citizens living in areas that rely on flood insurance to protect their properties.

"It also ensures that people in Louisiana can afford to live in a place where they grew up, and they don't have to drop their flood insurance coverage in order to pay the mortgage."

Cassidy said that there may not be enough time during this congressional session to get the legislation through, but his goals for the hearing are to get NFIP-RE before the banking committee, garner feedback, alter the legislation based on potential committee concerns and eventually get it passed.

"The very fact that the committee has heard it then prepares this next congress to actually go all the way."

The hearing will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan.25, and will be available to view live on the banking committee's website: www.banking.senate.gov.