Senate OK's Bill to Rescind Flood Insurance Premium Hikes

The Senate Thursday approved a bill to undo some of flood insurance premium increases that Congress enacted less than two years ago. The vote was 72 to 22.

The bill was passed by the House on March 4 on a vote of 306 to 91. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada brought it to the Senate floor with little advance notice Thursday just as the Senate was about to leave for a week's recess.

The Senate disregarded protests from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah who complained that the House-passed bill was rushed to the Senate floor, was not considered in committee, and was 'a bill that we have never seen before.'

'This bill corrects the unintended consequence of denying liquidity to coastal Americans in their housing' and 'the unintended consequence of people not buying insurance and putting themselves and this country at greater risk in those areas that are prone to floods,' said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Isakson had co-sponsored a different bill which the Senate passed in January to rescind the premium increases.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill wil have no net effect on the National Flood Insurance Program since the cost of cancelling the premium increases would be offset by an annual surcharge of $250 for policies covering non-residential properties or second homes and $25 for all other coverage.

The enactment of the bill was a victory for two Louisiana lawmakers who will face each other on the ballot this fall: Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who is trying to unseat her. Cassidy was co-sponsor of the House bill and Landrieu had worked for months to undo the 2012 Biggert-Waters reform bill which led to premium increases.

First published March 13 2014, 2:17 PM

Tom Curry

Tom Curry is a National Affairs writer for NBCNews.com. He began reporting on politics and public policy for NBCNews.com in June 1996, when the site was msnbc.com.Before joining msnbc.com, Curry worked as a reporter/researcher for Time magazine where he reported on politics, business, social trends, and golf.Curry reports to Politics Editor Vaughn Ververs.He was awarded a Freedom Forum Foundation Journalism Fellowship in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii in 1993 and a Hoover Institution Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University in 2011.He lives in Washington D.C.

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