Sen. Cory Booker Seeks Public Input On Federal Flood Insurance Changes

By Nikita Biryukov, New Jersey Monitor

August 29, 2025

Federal lawmakers are exploring changes to the National Flood Insurance Program ahead of a reauthorization deadline next month, and lawmakers want to know how the program should change.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) are soliciting feedback from the public on how to improve the program’s coverage and help keep it affordable and solvent ahead of the Sept. 30 reauthorization deadline.

“This is an urgent pocketbook issue for many in our state, and as Republicans and Democrats come together to work on this important legislation, I encourage New Jerseyans to provide us with their input,” Booker said in a statement.

Senate lawmakers are soliciting feedback on proposed changes to the program through an online form that will remain open until Sept. 15.

Lawmakers are considering lowering caps to annual premium increases, allowing policyholders to pay monthly premiums rather than annual ones, and higher coverage limits for flood damage, among other changes.

Under current law, National Flood Insurance premiums can increase by no more than 18% a year. Some lawmakers have suggested reducing that cap to 9%.

The National Flood Insurance Program is distressed by premiums driven by a small share of extremely high-risk properties that repeatedly flood.

As premiums rise, more policyholders move to private plans or forgo flood insurance because they can no longer afford it. Smaller subscriber pools inflate risk and drive up premiums, pushing more policyholders away in a vicious cycle not unlike the one faced by New Jersey’s State Health Benefits Program for local government workers.

Further distress in the federal flood insurance program could expose New Jersey to a slew of weather-related economic risks. The program provides more than $52.8 billion in flood coverage to nearly 200,000 New Jersey properties, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency data.

New Jersey has seen a slew of flash floods this summer, including July floods in Plainfield and North Plainfield that left five dead, and the state has faced billions of dollars in economic damages following severe storms like Hurricanes Sandy and Ida in past years.

In a letter sent to interested parties, the senators requested input on a range of topics, including whether the federal government should be required to update flood maps more often, whether to expand buyouts of properties that repeatedly flood, and how to handle the program’s more than $22.5 billion debts, among dozens of others.

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