Senate Banking Republicans eye changes to key insurance program after fires
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Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee are in the early stages of crafting legislation that could include changes to the National Flood Insurance Program and help victims of other natural disasters.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told The Hill on Tuesday that he and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) were asked by Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to take the lead on the initiative in the wake of devastating wildfires in California.
“I just had a talk with Tim Scott,” Kennedy said. “He’s asked Mike Rounds and I to put together some legislation dealing not just with flood, but with all catastrophes.”
Pressed for further information about the bill, Kennedy said “it’s way too early to talk details,” noting lawmakers’ staffs are “just starting to meet.” He added the senators also want to “fold in our counterparts in the House.”
He said part of the aim is “improving the [National Flood Insurance Program]” and “probably expanding it” without using “taxpayer subsidies.”
The idea, he said, “is not just to reform the Flood Insurance Program,” but to “try to help victims of fire and wind and hail, catastrophes — and do it without the federal government having to subsidize programs.”
The Hill has reached out to Scott and Rounds for comment.
Kennedy also told Punchbowl News in a report published earlier Tuesday that he was looking at the development of a “new and different” program, one “that covers wind, hail, fire, flood.”
Lawmakers have weighed potential reforms to the flood insurance program in recent years but have had to pass dozens of short-term reauthorizations since fiscal 2017.
Kennedy’s comments also come as some members on both sides of the aisle have discussed the prospect of emergency disaster aid in response to the ongoing blazes in California.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it has enough resources to meet California’s needs in the wake of the blazes. But some early estimates have valued losses from the fires at more than $100 billion.
Sylvan Lane contributed.