Senate to Finally Debate Flood Insurance Monday

Now that the U.S. Senate has voted on a federal farm bill, it is scheduled to take up federal flood insurance starting Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has officially filed “cloture” on the measure (S.1940) and it has been placed on the Senate calendar for Monday, 2 p.m.

Both the House and Senate have legislation to reauthorize the NFIP through 2016. The House passed H.R. 1309 with a 406-22 bipartisan vote in 2011. The Senate Banking Committee has approved its own reform bill, S. 1940, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act, last September, however it has never made it to the Senate floor for consideration despite the urging of 41 senators in February. That floor consideration is now supposed to happen Monday.

The NFIP was last fully reauthorized in 2004 and has since been sustained by 13 short-term extensions, the latest of which was passed last month with the promise that the Senate would finally take up the longer term bill. The NFIP is currently set to expire on July 31.

“The National Flood Insurance Program has been barely hobbling along with a Band-Aid approach – extending it for short periods of time. Moving to a full five year reauthorization on the floor is great, much needed news for homeowners and the housing market,” said Sen. David Vitter, R.-La., a supporter of an extension with reforms.

Topics Flood Politics