Charles Symington, senior vice president for government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA), adds: "The clock is ticking with the looming expiration on Sept. 30, and time is of the essence. We hope that this hearing will serve as a springboard for Senate legislative action in the near future."

A notice sent late June 2 from the committee chairman, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) states that William Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will testify at the hearing.

The notice also says that other witnesses may testify.

The current reauthorization of the program expires Sept. 30. The NFIP has been reauthorized on an interim basis 10 times since the current program's reauthorization first expired Sept. 30, 2008.

The House is scheduled to vote either next week or the week after on its version of an NFIP extension, H.R. 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011. It would reauthorize the program until Sept. 30, 2016, and would reform and revise the existing program.

But legislation introduced just before Memorial Day in the Senate is significantly different because it would split the difference on the sensitive "wind-vs.-water" issue.

That bill, introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) would create a "standardized loss allocation" system to distribute losses between the NFIP and private or residual-market-provided wind insurance following the total loss of any property that carries both flood and wind insurance.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) opposes the Wicker bill.

Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for NAMIC, reiterates opposition to the Wicker proposal in his reaction to the Senate hearing. "We expect Administrator Fugate's testimony will be very similar to what he told the House committee: that the NFIP is a necessary program, but one in need of significant reform," Grande says.

"NAMIC has laid out a series of proposals that, if implemented, would move the NFIP toward firmer financial standing and ensure that every homeowner who faces the risk of flooding can obtain coverage. Through risk-based pricing, modernized flood-plain mapping and increased mitigation, the program will be better able to fulfill its mission without adding to the taxpayers' burden."