Gulf Coast groups urge Congress to reauthorize national flood insurance program

WASHINGTON — In the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Gulf Coast supporters of reforming the national flood insurance program are ramping up efforts to get Congress to act.

“It’s going to put more attention on" concerns about the flood insurance program, said Windell Curole, general manager for the South Lafourche Levee District Board of Commissioners.

Curole and dozens of others, including several from Louisiana and Alabama, are in Washington this week to urge Congress to renew and reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Congress voted last week on a Hurricane Harvey disaster aid package that included a three-month extension of the program, which was set to expire Sept. 30.

Congress is trying to figure how to reform the program, which covers about 5 million policyholders and is expected to run out of money in October.

Budget hawks, some of whom question why the government is in the insurance business at all, say the program needs to be more "self-sustaining."

Over the last six months, Dwaine Bourgeois, executive director of the North LaFourche Levee District, said he has visited 40 Senate offices and more than 100 in the House trying to make the case for reauthorizing the program.

“That’s what we’ve been doing, walking around waking people up to the issue," he said.

Curole and Bourgeois are part of the Louisiana Flood Risk Coalition.

Bourgeois said he has focused much of his efforts on lawmakers outside of Louisiana. Several members of the delegation have introduced their own flood insurance measures, including Rep. Clay Higgins and Sen. Bill Cassidy, both Republicans.

“Our guys are on top of it," said Bourgeois.

Disagreements over what changes are needed to the program have long stalled action in Congress this year.

Key differences center on whether private insurers should be able to take over more of the system, and what to do about the debt compiled responding to past disasters. Congress also has to resolve what to do about older properties built before the program existed, that currently get subsidized insurance.

FEMA spends about $400 million a year paying interest to the U.S. Treasury for its $25 billion debt, most of which was run up responding to claims from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

A proposal by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and John Kennedy, R-La., would use that $400 million for risk-reduction efforts, such as loans for home elevation, improved levies or buyouts of properties in flood plains. Their bill would also cap annual premium increases at 10 percent, while also capping at 22 percent how much private insurers could be paid in commissions for FEMA-backed policies.

Several Gulf Coast supporters said they favor the Menendez/Kennedy bill.

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Bourgeois and Curole were scheduled later Wednesday to also visit the offices of Louisiana Republican representatives, including Steve Scalise and Mike Johnson, both Republicans, and Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond.

Scalise’s office said the congressman will continue the push to renew the program and work to make sure its good for policyholders and taxpayers. Scalise is still recovering from being shot earlier this year.

“It’s important for homeowners and businesses all across the country, including Louisiana, to have access to reliable and affordable flood insurance, and that’s what we are fighting for," said Lauren Fine, a spokeswoman for Scalise. “It's critical that these folks have the peace of mind a long-term solution provides."

Supporters said it’s important the program is affordable and protects those who have long had policies.

Tab Troxler, the assessor in St. Charles Parish, said the NFIP has a huge impact on the local economy and without it can bring real estate sales to nearly a halt.

“Reauthorization has to happen correctly. It has to be affordable," he said. “If we do not have affordable flood insurance, we will no longer have a residential real estate market in Louisiana."

Dan Hanson, a consultant with the Homeowners Hurricane Insurance Initiative (HHII) in Mobile, Alabama, supports efforts to reauthorize the NFIP, but is also pushing Congress to conduct a feasibility study on the impact of a multi-state, multi-peril insurance program.

He said the quasi-government would offer insurance for natural disasters including flood, wind and fire.

“Put all of this catastrophic stuff together into one kind of entity that covers everything," said Hanson, who was scheduled to meet Wednesday with Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala. “Let’s get that study done. We think the numbers will prove that makes the flood program sustainable."

Hanson said catastrophic disasters, including tornadoes, floods and hurricanes, are major issues in Alabama.

“We’ve got a really heavy stake in getting the catastrophic insurance problems fixed," he said. “The private (insurance) market is abandoning people and the government is screwing it up. So everything is all messed up."

The group also has chapters in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Curole and Bourgeois said they’re concerned Congress may not act on any flood insurance legislation by December with so much on its agenda, including tax reform.

“I don’t know if we will get lost in that shuffle," said Bourgeois. 

Curole said the deadline was pushed back because Congress had to deal with so many pressing issues. 

“Nobody was ready to get it done in September," he said.

Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., a member of the Financial Services Committee, said he doesn’t know if Congress will act by December, but it has to do something.

“We cannot have the program lapse. It will be a disaster for the American people," he said. “We’re not just talking about rich people. We’re not just talking about people in the northeast. The national flood program addresses the most common national disaster in the country — floods."

“I would hope that we’ll pass a bill not just kick it down the road further," he said.

Ledyard King and Herbert Jackson of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

Follow Deborah Barfield Berry on Twitter: @dberrygannett