Waters and 61 Members Demand Long-Term Reauthorization of National Flood Insurance Program

July 18, 2018

Waters and 61 Members Demand Long-Term Reauthorization of National Flood Insurance Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a letter to House and Senate leadership, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and 61 Members of Congress called for a commitment to ensuring that homeowners, businesses and renters are able to protect their property in the face of flooding. "Following an historic 2017 hurricane season, which for the first time on record resulted in three Category 4 hurricanes making landfall in the United States, and facing the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season, which is expected to cause similarly catastrophic losses, Congress has yet to provide American families with certainty that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be available to them when the inevitable floods arrive," the lawmakers wrote. "More than 5 million families rely on the NFIP for affordable flood insurance coverage. However, since its multi-year authorization expired on September 30, 2017, Congress has passed six short-term extensions and even allowed the program to briefly lapse twice during government shutdowns. The NFIP is set to expire, yet again, on July 31, 2018 and we write to you today to demand that the NFIP's doors remain open." Ranking Member Waters has repeatedly pushed for a long-term reauthorization of the NFIP that ensures the affordability and availability of flood insurance. See her September 2017 op-ed on the program at: https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/components/redirect/r.aspx'ID=3921-71706619. She has also expressed longstanding concerns about NFIP's stability and the need to improve FEMA's flood maps.

In 2014, Ranking Member Waters led bipartisan legislation to provide homeowners with flood insurance rate relief. The law struck an important balance between addressing affordability concerns, bringing accountability to FEMA, and protecting the financial stability of the NFIP.

The full text of the letter is below: July 17, 2018

The Honorable Paul Ryan Speaker United States House of Representatives H-232, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Democratic Leader United States House of Representatives H-204, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader United States Senate S-230, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Charles Schumer Minority Leader United States Senate S-221, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20510

Dear Speaker Ryan and Leaders McConnell, Pelosi, and Schumer:

Following a historic 2017 hurricane season, which for the first time on record resulted in three Category 4 hurricanes making landfall in the United States, and facing the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season, which is expected to cause similarly catastrophic losses, Congress has yet to provide American families with certainty that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be available to them when the inevitable floods arrive. More than 5 million families rely on the NFIP for affordable flood insurance coverage. However, since its multi-year authorization expired on September 30, 2017, Congress has passed six short-term extensions and even allowed the program to briefly lapse twice during government shutdowns. The NFIP is set to expire, yet again, on July 31, 2018 and we write to you today to demand that the NFIP's doors remain open.

The NFIP is crucial in providing certainty and stability to the housing market. The NFIP is also necessary to provide flood mapping and incentives for communities to engage in floodplain management and mitigation. Mapping and mitigation are a critical part of the NFIP's role in creating more resilient communities and yet we now know that 2017 was the costliest year on record for weather and climate disasters in the United States that by all accounts will only get worse.

Congress must also address the affordability of flood insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency that administers the NFIP, recently released its statutorily required affordability framework, which found that low-income homeowners are disproportionately more likely to live in flood-prone areas. Premiums are already unaffordable for many and yet flood insurance is only expected to become more expensive as the frequency and severity of natural disasters continues to increase. The misconception that the NFIP provides subsidies to wealthy beachfront homeowners was finally to put to rest by FEMA's own data. With this important information, it would be a dereliction of duty for Congress to continue to leave affordability challenges unaddressed.

Homeowners, businesses, and renters must be able to protect their property in the face of flooding and a lapse in NFIP authority will leave them unable to do so. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Rep. Maxine Waters

Rep. Joyce Beatty

Rep. Ami Bera

Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo

Rep. Anthony Brown

Rep. Michael E. Capuano

Rep. Andre Carson

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II

Rep. Steve Cohen

Rep. Joe Courtney

Rep. Charlie Crist

Rep. Danny K. Davis

Rep. Rosa DeLauro

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo

Rep. Lois J. Frankel

Rep. John Garamendi

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez

Rep. Al Green

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings

Rep. Walter Jones

Rep. William R. Keating

Rep. Daniel T. Kildee

Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence

Rep. John Lewis

Rep. Ted W. Lieu

Rep. Nita Lowey

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham

Rep. Stephen F. Lynch

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney

Rep. Doris Matsui

Rep. A. Donald McEachin

Rep. James P. McGovern

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks

Rep. Seth Moulton

Rep. Stephanie Murphy

Rep. Donald Norcross

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Rep. Beto O'Rourke

Rep. Jimmy Panetta

Rep. Ed Perlmutter

Rep. Collin C. Peterson

Rep. David E. Price

Rep. Kathleen M. Rice

Rep. Cedric Richmond

Rep. Bobby L. Rush

Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Rep. David Scott

Rep. Bobby Scott

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter

Rep. Brad Sherman

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema

Rep. Albio Sires

Rep. Darren Soto

Rep. Eric Swalwell

Rep. Niki Tsongas

Rep. Juan Vargas

Rep. Filemon Vela

Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Rep. John Yarmuth

Committee on Financial Services Democrats (202) 225-4247