MBA, Trade Groups Renew Push for Flood Insurance Program Extension
With the National Flood Insurance Program slated to expire yet again, the Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry trade groups pressed Congress to move forward with legislation approving an extension through September.
In a May 29 letter to House and Senate leadership, MBA and a half-dozen industry trade groups urged an immediate extension of the NFIP before Friday, noting while both the House and Senate have already passed legislation extending the Program until Sept. 30, the bills are on hold because of objections from conservative Republicans on procedural issues.
Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., objected to voice votes last week in the House approving the $19 billion disaster aid package, insisting that House procedures require the bill be approved by a recorded vote. The holds, raised just as legislators left for a 10-day Memorial Day recess, meant that the bill cannot be approved until after legislators return next week, all but ensuring that the NFIP will expire this Friday.
“It is time for Congress as a whole, to speak up and demand that their colleagues allow for the NFIP to be extended prior to a lapse,” the MBA/trade group letter said. “The millions of homeowners, renters, small businesses, builders, real estate and insurance agents, lenders and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
The NFIP has been in limbo for the past two years; Congress has passed no fewer than 11 NFIP extensions during that period, even as MBA and other industry groups have pressed legislators to pass a long-term extension of at least five years.
“More than 5 million policyholders depend on the NFIP to insure their home or business against flooding, the most common and costly natural disaster in the United States,” the letter said. “Millions more could be affected by a lapse, including the homeowners who will be unable to buy or sell a home in 22,000 communities nationwide and the real estate and related professionals who help support their decisions.”
The letter notes without the NFIP extension, developers of both residential and commercial/multifamily properties could face challenges obtaining financing for projects, not to mention the impact on construction workers who depend on these projects for their livelihood. “Insurance companies and agents will have to explain to their neighbors why they have no way to insure their homes and small businesses when the Atlantic hurricane season begins this weekend,” it said.
The letter urged both chambers of Congress to move forward with the bipartisan standalone bill more than two weeks ago that would extend the NFIP until September 30, in addition to including a similar extension in the House-passed Disaster Supplemental Appropriations bill. Similarly, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on its version of the Disaster Supplemental Appropriations bill that also included an NFIP extension until September 30; while also passing a standalone two-week extension to ensure the NFIP did not lapse prior to the enactment of the Supplemental Disaster legislation.
“These were all broad bipartisan if not unanimous votes,” the letter said. “We are extremely disappointed that a few are now objecting to moving forward either of these standalone bills because of process issues, when the full Congress has spoken clearly on the matter.”
Joining MBA in the letter: the American Property Casualty Insurance Association; the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers; Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America Inc.; the National Association of Home Builders; the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies; and the National Association of Realtors.
