Legislative Roundup: Feds Must Reform NFIP

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) had been making progress on resolving the differences between the two reform proposals until recently, when both had to turn their attention to the crisis in the financial markets that prompted the $700 billion bailout bill. That meant the NFIP reforms would have to be dealt with later.

In July 2007, Rep. Maxine Waters (DCalif.) introduced H.R. 3121, The Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007 in the House of Representatives. The bill, which would have authorized NFIP through 2013, passed the Financial Services Committee and the full House in just two months and was sent to the Senate for approval. When the bill arrived in the upper chamber, significant differences began to surface.

Among the most controversial proposals included in the House version was its provision allowing NFIP to begin offering windstorm coverage in both personal and commercial multiperil policies. The wind provision was championed by Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), whose district, which includes Gulfport, Miss., has suffered from hurricanes in recent years.