Congress criticized for kicking NFIP problem down the road

SmarterSafer, a national coalition of environmental groups and insurance interests, has urged US lawmakers to find a long term and sustainable solution for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) rather than allowing short-term extensions.

Congress has passed a continuing resolution that includes a third short-term extension to the NFIP. The programme provides 5.2 million property owners with critical flood coverage but is billions of dollars in debt.

“Kicking the can down the road is not a viable way to preserve the nation’s broken and bankrupt flood insurance system—especially as countless communities continue to recover from this year’s devastating hurricane season,” SmarterSafer said.

“Although we are pleased that Congress has avoided a lapse in the program, temporary extensions maintain an unsustainable status quo that resulted in a $45 billion taxpayer bailout and inadequate incentives for important mitigation measures. With the NFIP now set to expire on January 19th, we urge lawmakers to use this time to pass much-needed reforms to the NFIP so the program can better protect lives, property and taxpayer dollars from a future of more frequent and severe storms.”

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