Flood Insurance Program Lapses for Second Time
Caught up in Senate political maneuvering, the National Flood Insurance Program’s temporary funding has expired for the second time this year. And for a second time, home buyers are caught in mortgage limbo, reports the Palm Beach Post (“Congress' flood insurance lapse strands residents, home sales,” by Laura Green). After funding expired on May 31, the Post reports, “The National Association of Realtors estimates that for each day Congress delays, 1,400 sales are tied up. In Florida, it's affecting about 175 deals a day.”
Bills to extend temporary funding until September have been mired in legislative wrangling, the Post reports: “The National Flood Insurance Program was jammed into a controversial $110 billion jobs package designed to extend unemployment benefits. House members stripped the insurance provision into a separate bill and passed it this week. But senators, who shot down the jobs bill, left for the weekend without taking up the insurance bill.”
Louisiana Senator David Vitter told a reporter he favored funding the insurance program, but objected to wrapping that funding into a bill with other provisions he opposed, reports Louisiana’s WWL-TV (“Flood insurance program in limbo,” by Doug Mouton). Said Vitter, "I'm not going to put up with a gun being held to my head.”
Meanwhile, the House is working on a bill to extend the NFIP’s funding for five years — and also to postpone implementation of new flood plain rate insurance maps, which have caused a political backlash across the country, according to a Reuters report (“Congress panel backs flood insurance overhaul,” by Kevin Drawbaugh).
