Senate backers of bill delaying flood insurance increases will try to get a vote this week

By Bruce Alpert, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune 

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of legislation that would delay flood insurance premium increases will try Wednesday to win required unanimous consent to get a quick up-or-down vote.

The bill seeks to delay most of the increases being implemented under the so-called Biggert-Waters Act for four years. The law was passed last year with broad support, but Louisiana members say the extent and size of the increases being implemented by FEMA are both unanticipated and unaffordable.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has told supporters of the delaying legislation that he'll work to ensure that no Democrat objects to the bill. But Democratic congressional sources say Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., angry that Reid has blocked GOP filibusters on Obama administration nominees, is signaling that he or another Republican might object.

If they do, the supporters of the delaying legislation will most likely have to wait until after the Christmas-New Year's recess to try and get action on their legislation.

Aides to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who expects to lead the effort for a quick vote, along with the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said it appears there are 60 votes in favor of the delaying legislation -- enough to block a filibuster. But under Senate rules that dictate much of the legislation brought up for votes, a single member can stop a bill in its tracks.

Landrieu tried last May to amend a water resources bill with a measure delaying the flood insurance premium increases resulting from Biggert-Waters for five years. But Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., objected, saying it was much too soon to delay provisions of a law enacted just one year ago to stabilize the flood insurance program which suffered heavy losses from hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. 

As a result, her amendment didn't get a vote.

Menendez and Landrieu had hoped to have their proposal added to a pending military authorization bill, but a House-Senate agreement on Monday means no amendments will be accepted.

On Tuesday, Landrieu, Menendez and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., responded to a Dec. 2 Wall Street Journal editorial that condemned the delaying legislation, saying it would benefit the wealthy 1 percent of Americans who own beachfront vacation homes from paying actuarial rates for their flood insurance.

"We have come together with a responsible plan that will stabilize the program without violating the number one objective of the program when it was designed: to make flood insurance accessible to responsible middle-class families," the three senators wrote the Journal. "The Biggert-Waters Act, while meritorious in its intentions, has had disastrous consequences that threaten the very foundation of the National Flood Insurance Program and the economies of hundreds of communities throughout our country. The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act allows FEMA time to complete the congressionally mandated affordability study to ensure that responsible homeowners aren't priced out of the program overnight."

"Our bill doesn't put taxpayers on the hook for the $24 billion debt resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy nor does it provide taxpayer subsidies for vacation homes or irresponsible new construction. It requires FEMA to get its flood maps right, and it provides basic consumer protections to responsible homeowners."