NU Online News Service, Sept. 29, 11:57 a.m. EDT
The House approved by unanimous consent a one-week continuing resolution that contains a National Flood Insurance Program extension.
The House approval will keep the government funded for one week, and the House will vote next week on a longer-term resolution that will keep the government running for six weeks.
Matt Brady a spokesman for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), says the NFIP extension runs with the continuing resolution for the one week.
On Sept. 26, the Senate passed two continuing resolutions: one for one week, which the House just approved; and one that funds the government through Nov. 18, which the House will vote on next week
With the House and Senate actions, the danger of a flood-program lapse has been averted, at least for one week.
Brady says NAMIC is hoping Congress will pass a long-term NFIP extension with reform legislation during next week's vote.
Matt Gannon, assistant vice president of federal affairs for NAMIC, says, “Congress did the responsible thing by avoiding a lapse in the NFIP with the short-term extension before Sept. 30. Had the program been allowed to lapse, it could have caused significant economic uncertainty, primarily in terms of real-estate transactions.”
He adds, “Now, Congress must use this window to pass a long-term extension and commonsense reforms to the program.”
Mike Becker, assistant vice president of federal affairs for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), talks about the frustrations of having the program tied to broader budget bills. He says, “Although PIA is pleased that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will not expire on Friday, it is disheartening that the stop-gap measure passed by the House runs only through next Tuesday to allow a vote on a six-week authorization for the entire federal government. Once again, the flood-insurance program has been pulled into a broader budget battle and allowed to hang by a thread, despite the fact that a five-year reauthorization and reform billhas already passed the House on an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 406-22.
He adds, “While a six week extension may provide time for the Senate and then a conferencecommittee to act on the flood bill, House and Senate calendars have both chambers in session at the same time for only a total of three weeks or so. Despite this, PIA remains committed to seeing a long-term extension through and will continue to work with House and Senate leaders to wrap up their work on a long-term solution.”
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