National Flood Insurance Extension Approved By Congress
Just days before the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP) was set to expire, the Senate approved the extension that the House had passed earlier. This unfortunate yet expected outcome is the result of months of disagreement between the House and Senate over competing bills to re-institute the program.
The House and Senate had failed to come to terms on the details of a longer term extension earlier in the session. Among the dividing issues are whether to add wind coverage to the flood program and whether to forgive NFIP’s debt. This 6-month measure buys lawmakers time until next March to iron out those differences.
The problem of finding a long term agreement now falls to the next congressional session. However with the government hemorrhaging money to deal with the financial crisis at a potential cost of nearly $2 trillion, it is quite possible that the next Congress may not have the will to add significant costs to the existing program and balloon the budget deficit further.
That could spell doom for the possible inclusion of wind coverage which has been highly controversial due to the expected price tag. However at a time when property insurers are beginning to cut back on wind coverage, a public source for coverage may be more necessary than ever.
But then again this is Congress we are talking about, they have been profligate spenders in the past, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that they both add wind coverage and forgive the NFIP’s debt the next time they meet.
