U.S. House relents on flood insurance bill

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will take up a bill to delay some stiff increases in flood insurance rates so federal authorities can look at the affordability of the premiums and accuracy of recently updated flood maps.

Just what relief the House bill will contain for property owners in flood-prone areas is still being worked out.

The U.S. Senate late last month overwhelmingly passed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which would delay implementation of the Biggert-Waters Insurance Reform Act of 2012 for four years.

Provisions in the Biggert-Waters legislation boost insurance premiums in flood hazard zones to more accurately reflect a property's risk of flood. They also phase out grandfathering provisions that until now have kept rates down for many property owners. The law's aim was to address the National Flood Insurance Program's growing deficit, which now tops $24 billion.

While the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act sailed through the Senate, it hasn't fared well to date in the House, where Republicans have blocked it from being brought up for a vote three times this month.

U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., said the recent announcement by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., that the bill will be brought to the floor next week was welcome.

"It came on the heels of three weeks ago, when the House leadership said they weren't going to even take it up this year," Keating said.

Keating said the opposition has stemmed from the opinion held by some that the government shouldn't be involved in offering insurance. Others believe taxpayers are currently subsidizing property owners in coastal areas, he said.

The group of congressman producing the new version of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act is bipartisan, and Keating expressed confidence the bill would succeed next week.

"The number of sponsors has gone up to 228," Keating said. "That's 10 more than is necessary to pass the bill."

The House package is not likely to give as many breaks to the property owners in flood-prone areas as the version that passed in the U.S. Senate, based on Cantor's recent statement.

"The Senate bill irresponsibly removes much needed reforms and imposes additional costs on taxpayers," Cantor said. "The House will act to protect the flood insurance program but also protect homeowners from unreasonable and unrealistic premium increases."

As the flood insurance debate continues on Capitol Hill, towns across the Cape are preparing to ask voters at fast-approaching annual town meetings to adopt the new flood maps developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Short of some legislative fix, the maps, which place many more Cape properties into high-risk zones where insurance is required, are set to take effect July 16, 2014.