Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Ms. MATSUI. I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding me time.

Mr. Chairman, I want to commend Chairwoman Biggert and Ranking Member Waters for their leadership and their support for my amendment to phase in higher flood insurance rates when preferred risk policies are no longer available in a community.

I represent the city of Sacramento, which is home to both the American and Sacramento rivers. After New Orleans, we are the most at-risk river city in our Nation.

Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 25,000 homeowners in my district have been remapped, and for them flood insurance is now mandatory.

Their flood insurance costs increased from the PRP rate of $350 to over $1,350 overnight.

The sticker shock to a homeowner, whether it be a senior citizen on a fixed income or a family struggling to make ends meet, is unreasonable.

My amendment would simply raise the cost of flood insurance from remapped areas from the PRP rate to the full price rate over a period of 5 years. Specifically, my amendment would start the phase-in for homeowners at their current PRP rate. Each year after that, the price of flood insurance would rise by 20 percent until it reaches its full price in year 5.

My amendment will save the average policyholder in a remapped area about $843 over 5 years while not impacting the solvency of the NFIP. I believe this to be a fair and equitable way forward, especially in these trying economic times.

Again, I thank Chairwoman Biggert and Ranking Member Waters for their leadership. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment.

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