Flood Bill Backers in Both Chambers Push For Senate Floor Action Week of March 10 March 06, 2014 09:24PM ET | Bloomberg BNA Flood Insurance Key Development: Senate and House members of the ‘Flood Caucus hope the Senate will consider the recently-passed House version of the flood insurance bill during the week of March 10. Next Step: Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) must schedule a time for the Senate to consider and vote on the bill, a modified version of legislation the Senate passed Jan. 30. March 6 (BNA) -- The main authors of the House flood insurance bill are confident the Senate will take up and pass the measure as soon as the week of March 10, the final step in a months-long back and forth between the parties and both chambers. “Im hearing theyre moving as quickly as they can to get this to their floor. Im thinking maybe as early as next week that they will move on this, which would be fantastic,” Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) told reporters March 6. The final text of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (H.R. 3370), was largely written by Grimm and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and passed March 4 by a vote of 306-91 (43 DER EE-9, 3/5/14). The Senate passed its own version Jan. 30 (S. 1926), setting the framework for further changes that were debated not only between Democrats and Republicans, but within the respective parties. The legislation would prevent flood insurance premiums from skyrocketing under the Federal Emergency Management Agencys implementation of Biggert-Waters, the 2012 law meant to address the financial woes faced by the National Flood Insurance Program following several years of extreme weather events, including Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. Grimm: ‘Better Bill Than Senates “Ive seen some comments from the Senate that they would have preferred their bill, or their bill is better,” Grimm said. “That is almost ridiculous, there is no question this is a better bill, this is a better bill because its retroactive, because its paid for, and ours is much less ambiguous.” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a primary author of the Senate bill, said March 4 he supported the House-modified bill, citing improvements made during bipartisan negotiations. Menendez said he hoped the Senate could bring the bill over the finish line “very, very soon.” Another member of the so-called flood caucus, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), said on the Senate floor March 6 the House bill is “stronger and more significant in several respects.” Vitter said he would welcome a voice vote under unanimous consent rules, but acknowledged that wouldnt be likely to work. “Realistically, I would urge the majority leader to create the time on the Senate floor to take this up and move through the process absolutely as quickly and as expeditiously as possible,” Vitter said. “Thats the way its actually going to work, and thats the way its actually going to happen. And I hope we can do that as early as next week.” House Bill Changes Grimm said the House bill goes beyond the Senates version in that it will generate $165 million in revenue from annual policy fees over a five-year period. That revenue will be put into a reserve fund for the National Flood Insurance Program. Cassidy told reporters the bill has been a triumph of good policy over politics, gaining bipartisan but also bicameral support. Advocates in states and congressional districts have helped create a momentum Cassidy said will help move the bill through as quickly as possible. “People across the nation are being remapped by FEMA,” Cassidy said. “This has created awareness among our constituencies which have transmitted to representatives and senators that this is a pressing issue.” To contact the reporter on this story: K. Claire Compton in Washington at kcompton@bna To contact the editor responsible for this story: Heather Rothman at hrothman@bna
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 02:09:06 +0000
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