House bill would extend NFIP to Nov. 30

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the National Flood Insurance Program to Nov. 30.

H.R. 6402, called the National Flood Insurance Program Extension and Enhanced Consumer and Community Protections Act of 2018, would also require communities to identify areas and facilities repeatedly damaged by floods and develop community-specific plans for mitigating continuing flood risks to such repetitively flooded areas and to submit the plan and any updates to the administrator of the program, according to the bill introduced Tuesday.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Ed Royce, R-California, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, would mandate implementation of the plans and sharing of information on the plans, any updates and progress in reducing flood risk with the public.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, lamented the fact that 38 of the last 41 short-term extensions of the NFIP have contained no reforms to the debt-ridden program in a statement issued Wednesday.

“The right thing to do here would have been for Congress to enact a long-term reauthorization bill with reforms before this deadline,” he said in the statement. “However, given where we are, I think that the bipartisan (bill) represents the best option right now to keep the NFIP open and adopt some common sense reforms to help policyholders and at-risk communities while we continue to work on a long-term solution. I urge Congress to quickly take up and pass this bipartisan bill.”

Separately, the U.S. Senate inserted a six-month extension for the NFIP in its version of a farm bill debated by senators last month.

In March, the NFIP was extended to July 31 as part of an omnibus spending bill that would fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. But that led to concern about a potential expiration of the program in the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends on Nov. 30.