Federal legislators are attempting to push through a bill that would keep flood insurance prices at a reasonable level for residents who said they could be driven from their homes if the insurance rates spike as planned. File Photo
A group of federal legislators, including U.S. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Queens, Brookyn) and Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Long Island), are pushing a bill that, if approved by Congress and signed by President Obama, would delay a spike in flood insurance rates that many have said could drive them from their homes – or prompt another wave of foreclosures if individuals could not find buyers because of the steep insurance rates.
The legislation, which was introduced last week and is called the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, would delay rate hikes for up to four years while the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducts an affordability study on how to best implement increases in flood insurance premiums.
The bill, which is being supported by legislators across the country, is in response to the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act – a piece of legislation that was passed by Congress in 2012 and which phases out some subsidized insurance rates and allows for rate increases of about 20 to 25 percent each year until properties reach actuarial status. In some situations, that could mean a jump from residents paying several hundred dollars for flood insurance premiums to as much as $12,000.
While supporters of the Biggert-Waters Act have said the bill was meant to make a debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program more fiscally stable, as it has been hemorrhaging money, homeowners in Queens and coastal communities across the nation have said the rates would force many from their homes because they wouldn’t be able to afford the increases. This would be a particular blow to residents who have just done everything from take out a second mortgage to spend life savings to rebuild following Hurricane Sandy.
“Having seen firsthand the devastation that the storm brought to thousands of my constituents, many of whom [are] still not able to return to their homes and [are] overwhelmed by a myriad of restoration expenses, I was deeply troubled by the project steep increases in the flood insurance premiums,” Meeks said. “That is why I, along with 82 other members of Congress sought, and successfully worked on, a bipartisan solution to fix the National Flood Insurance Program to ensure that the program remains widely accessible and affordable and to prevent the further victimization of our stricken communities.”
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), one of the namesakes of the Biggert-Waters legislation, has long said she did not realize the ramifications of what Biggert-Waters would mean financially for residents and is also sponsoring the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act. U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is sponsoring a companionship measure in the Senate.
“The Biggert-Waters legislation was designed to address a $24 billion deficit and ensure millions of American homeowners could continue to purchase flood insurance,” Waters said. “But FEMA’s poor implementation, inaccurate mapping and incomplete data has led to unreasonable and unimaginable increases in premiums.”
By Anna Gustafson
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