Legislative Update: The Future Of The NFIP

Congress has reauthorized the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through February 18, 2022. Prior to this most recent temporary reauthorization, the NFIP had been set to expire on December 3, 2021.

Since 2017, there have been 18 temporary reauthorizations as more comprehensive and permanent legislative solutions to the program have failed to gain traction in Congress.

In the fall of 2021, Florida Sen. Rick Scott introduced three bills to reform the NFIP.
Scott’s bills target, in part, the rate increases associated with FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 that are expected to impact more significantly property owners in coastal states such as Florida.

Scott’s bills seek to encourage growth of the private flood insurance market through, among other proposals, an amendment to the NFIP’s ‘continuous coverage’ requirement that property must keep an active NFIP policy to remain eligible for certain premium discounts.

Under Scott’s proposal, consumers would remain eligible for those premium discounts even if they purchase a private flood insurance policy. In addition, Scott previously joined Sen. Mike Lee to sponsor a number of other bills seeking to revise the NFIP.