Lawmakers Holding Flood Map Forum in Hingham

Local legislators will host a forum on the pending delay to changes the federal government recently made to flood maps, affecting residents living near the coast around the country and in Hingham.

State Senators Robert Hedlund and John Keenan, along with State Representatives Garrett Bradley, Ronald Mariano, Thomas Calter, James Cantwell Josh Cutler, James Murphy, and Rhonda Nyman are hosting the forum with U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. 

The forum will provide local officials and residents an opportunity to be updated on the status of the pending legislation, including discussion of what the legislation currently covers and doesn’t cover, and what additional safeguards Congressman Lynch is working to include in a bill before Congress, according to the town website. 

Lynch is a co-sponsor of The Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act, a bipartisan, bicameral federal bill that contains a four-year delay to changes to the National Flood Insurance Program, halting implementation of certain rate increases under the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 until two years after the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA completes the affordability study originally mandated under the law, according to the town.

The bill also requires (FEMA) to propose a framework that addresses affordability issues once the study is complete.

For those who cannot attend, the forum will be taped for Hingham Community Access Media and made available to other local cable outlets.