Associated Press |
“The House approved legislation Tuesday night to roll back a recently enacted overhaul of the federal flood insurance program, after homeowners in flood-prone areas complained about sharp premium increases.
The bill would allow sellers to pass along their subsidized, below-market insurance rates to new buyers and lower the limit on how much flood insurance premiums can rise each year. The measure was approved 306-91.
Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who co-sponsored the bill, said it would ensure that families across the country, including those still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy, can avoid “a wave of devastating premium hikes and foreclosures.”
The bipartisan bill would tone down a 2012 law aimed at weaning hundreds of thousands of homeowners off subsidized flood insurance rates. The federal flood insurance program is now some $24 billion in the red, mostly because of huge losses from Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. The 2012 law required extensive updating of the flood maps used to set premiums.
U.S. Representative Kathy Castor, D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, who pressured House Republican leadership for months to address the problem, hailed the measure as an important step to bring relief to families and businesses across the Tampa Bay area and across the country.
“Families who were facing massive flood insurance premium increases now can breathe easier. The measure would cap yearly premium increases while maintaining fiscal protections to ensure that flood insurance will be there in times of disaster. We must keep a close eye on FEMA and flood maps and the legislation gives us more tools to do so. I credit the outcry of many of our neighbors, realtors, chambers of commerce who helped focus the pressure on the Republican leaders in Congress to act.”
“This has been an anxious time for homeowners,” she continued, “but the immense pressure by families and the business community on the House GOP was an effort that paid off.”
The bill now goes to the Senate, which passed a measure in January delaying implementation of the insurance overhaul by four years.”