South Queens residents and lawmakers welcomed with open arms the news that the U.S. Senate passed legislation last Thursday that aims to delay for four years what many Queens residents are calling devastating increases in flood insurance premiums, and they are now calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to act – which the legislative body failed to do twice this week. File photo
South Queens residents and lawmakers welcomed with open arms the news that the U.S. Senate passed legislation last Thursday that aims to delay for four years what many Queens residents are calling devastating increases in flood insurance premiums, and they are now calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to act – which the legislative body failed to do twice this week.
The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act landed bipartisan support, passing the Senate 67-32 in a vote last Thursday that ended months of fighting among legislators over the bill that requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to complete an affordability study and propose solutions to address flood insurance cost issues before premiums can be raised.
With the Senate’s approval, the bill would have to receive the greenlight from the U.S. House of Representatives and President Obama before becoming law.
The Senate’s stamp of approval on the bill “is an important step in the fight to prevent tens of thousands of New Yorkers from facing crippling flood insurance premium increases and loss of property value,” said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
“New Yorkers are still recovering from the destructive force of Superstorm Sandy and back-to-back years of extreme weather and flooding, and this bill prevents for many the injustice that these homeowners were going to face – increased flood insurance premiums that can break the bank,” Schumer continued. “The bottom line is that FEMA must do the required affordability study first. It makes no sense to raise the flood insurance rates before we consider how homeowners will be able to afford to pay them, so I am urging my colleagues in the House to quickly follow suit and pass this bill.”
The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act was introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and is co-sponsored by Schumer, Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and 26 other senators. Supporters of the delay in the House, including co-sponsor Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island), voted 281-146 last year on an amendment to postpone premium increases, but the House is still required to vote on the bill that passed the Senate Thursday.
The bill was drafted in response to the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act – a piece of legislation passed by Congress that phases out some subsidized insurance rates and allows for rate increases of about 20 to 25 percent each year until properties reach actuarial status.
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 other coastal communities across the city and nation have said the rates would force individuals from their homes because they would not be able to afford the increases – particularly after so many shelled out significant amounts of money to rebuild following Hurricane Sandy. Homeowners throughout the country have reported drastic increases, including premiums skyrocketing from $4,500 each year to $45,000 annually.
While Schumer said that the House’s vote last year was evidence that there was a good base of support for delaying flood insurance rate hikes, his colleagues in the House failed on Tuesday and Wednesday to get a vote on the Senate bill.
A number of Republican senators, who were against voting on the Senate bill, said the House is expected to pass legislation dealing with the premium increases, though they have said it will likely differ from the Senate version. If the House passes a different version, the two bodies would then negotiate on a final bill.
By Anna Gustafson
