Rethinking Flood Insurance Rate Hikes (H.R. 3370)
Do you support or oppose this bill?
What is H.R. 3370?
(Updated January 31, 2017)
This bill was enacted on March 21, 2014
A bill--and now a law--that deals with rate hikes for flood insurance. The legislation repeals many of a 2012 flood insurance law's changes and replaces them with a more moderate program for increasing insurance premiums. Requires rates to rise 5% across all flood insurance categories but then caps them, on average, at 15%, with no individual hikes above 18%.
Argument in favor
Protects flood-zone homes and businesses from overpriced insurance rate hikes, allowing thousands to keep their homes and good credit.
Argument opposed
Allows a debt-heavy agency to take on more debt. Leaves taxpayers the bill when a major flood occurs. Underprices flood risk.
Impact
Financially impacts residents and businesses in flood zones, in addition to the amount of debt that the National Flood Insurance Program could take on.
Cost of H.R. 3370
Based on existing policy data, CBO estimates that the NFIP would borrow and spend an additional $900 million over the 2014-2018 period because of this legislation. However, because total borrowing is limited under current law, additional amounts borrowed over the next five years would be offset by less borrowing in later years, resulting in no net effect through 2024.
Additional Info
Media:
In Detail:
According to The Hill,
The 2012 legislation called for insurance rate hikes aimed at more closely aligning the premiums collected to payments going out. Changes included matching premiums to flood risks, ending lower rates for homes with 'grandfathered' status and eliminating insurance subsidies for homes once they were sold to a new owner. But last year, new flood insurance rates were announced that were much higher than anticipated. Those changes led to complaints that owning a home or business in a flood zone was about to become unaffordable.
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