Legislation Includes Short-Term NFIP Extension
BY ARTHUR D. POSTAL
The Senate approved legislation Sept. 26 that includes a provision keeping the national Flood Insurance Program
(nFIP) in business, at least through nov. 18.
By a 79-12 vote, the Senate ended an impasse that threatened a government shutdown at midnight Sept. 30 by approving
a continuing resolution that will keep the
government funded for the next six weeks.
the key to the Senate vote was a determination by the Federal emergency
Management agency (FeMa) that it had
enough money to fund its emergency-loan
program through the end of the current
fiscal year without an additional infusion
of government cash.
that allowed the Senate to forego a vote
on a highly contentious bill that included
a $1 billion replenishment provision that
the house had refused to include in its
continuing resolution passed Sept. 23. the
house had demanded that any extra emergency FeMa funds should be fully offset by
cuts in other government programs.
Charles Symington, senior vice president
of government affairs for the Independent
Insurance agents and Brokers of america
(IIaBa), says, “this last-minute compromise
clearly illustrates the need for a long-term
extension of the nFIP. thankfully the house
has already passed its version of this much-
needed legislation, and the IIaBa strongly
urges the Senate leadership to bring the
Flood Insurance Modernization act to the
floor at the earliest opportunity.”
Jimi Grande, senior vice president of
federal and political affairs for the na-
tional association of Mutual Insurance
Companies, says, “Congress had a duty
to avoid a lapse in the nFIP by passing
the short-term extension before Sept. 30.”
he adds that as the parties argued over
FeMa-funding levels, they were missing
the bigger point. “the house and Senate
are very close to passing a bipartisan flood-
insurance reform bill that will reduce the
need for future disaster aid.”
Grande adds: “the nFIP needs to more
closely resemble a private-insurance model,
thus reducing the under-funded risk expo-
sure to the taxpayers. the reforms embod-
ied in h.R. 1309 and the Senate bill take
major steps toward achieving this end.” NU
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Applied Underwriters ........................ BC
www.auw.com
www.auw.com/ca
Burns & Wilcox .................................... 15
burnsandwilcox.com
Chartis .................................................. 11
www.chartisinsurance.com
Chubb ..................................................... 9
www.chubb.com
CNA ................................................... IFC
www.cna.com
Great Insurance Jobs Career Fair....... 30
www.GreatInsuranceJobs.com
IICF ...................................................... 26
www.IICF.org/volunteer
Liberty Mutual....................................... 4
libertymutualgroup.com/floor
MSB ...................................................... 21
www.msbinfo.com
Reagan Consulting .......................... 18-19
bp.reaganconsulting.com
The Institutes ....................................... 23
www.TheInstitutes.org/options
Travelers ............................................ IBC
travelers.com
Zurich ................................................... 25
www.zurichna.com/stories6
Advertiser Index
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Industry Responds To Times Article
Giving Voice To Anger Of The Uninsured
BY ARTHUR D. POSTAL
In “Flood Victims Getting Fed Up With Congress,” a Sept. 25 front-page article in the New York Times, people who lost
their homes in Pennsylvania because of
recent flooding of the Susquehanna River
voiced indignation that emergency aid
from the government was being held up by
the budget battles raging in Washington.
the article noted that people “trauma-
tized by the loss of their homes were further
disheartened by word that FeMa’s disaster-
relief fund was running short of money.”
left unsaid in the article is the fact that
flood insurance was available at a relatively
low price through a government-subsidized
program to those in the article expressing
anger over government inaction.
how do some in the insurance industry
feel about bailing out the uninsured?
Jimi Grande, senior vice president of
federal and political affairs for the national
association of Mutual Insurance Compa-
nies, says, “demanding payment from a
policy you never actually bought could
only make sense to people in Washington.”
he adds: “Make no mistake about it.
