The House Financial Services Committee today approved five bills as part of a legislative package intended to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program.
Lawmakers unanimously approved two American Bankers Association-supported bills: H.R. 2875, the National Flood Insurance Program Administrative Reform Act of 2017, which would make administrative changes to the NFIP to increase fairness and accuracy, and decrease taxpayer risk; and H.R. 1422, the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, which would encourage development of a robust private flood insurance market as an alternative to the NFIP. The committee also approved by a voice vote H.R. 1558, a bill introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) to amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to ensure community accountability for areas repeatedly damaged by floods.
Additionally, the committee passed two bills introduced by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), H.R. 2264 and H.R. 2565, both of which ABA strongly supported. H.R. 2264, the Taxpayer Exposure Mitigation Act of 2017, would enable the NFIP to engage in private-sector risk transfer deals and would allow the development of private or community flood maps as an alternative to NFIP’s outdated maps. H.R. 2565 would require the NFIP to study how it uses replacement costs in setting premiums.
Together with H.R. 2874 and H.R. 2868, which were passed by the committee last week, the bills will now move to the full House for consideration. ABA will continue to work closely with lawmakers to ensure that the NFIP is renewed prior to its expiration date on Sept. 30.
