Congress to Consider Delaying Flood Insurance Increases

The U.S. House and Senate introduced bills on Tuesday — on the one-year anniversary of the day Superstorm Sandy battered the New Jersey coastline — to delay the dramatic increases to flood-insurance premiums required by the Biggert-Waters Act.

The 2012 federal legislation requires the National Flood Insurance Program to stop relying on federal subsidies and become self-sustaining. It led to the announcement of progressive increases in flood-insurance rates — particularly for owners whose homes are below the flood-proof elevations recommended on a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) map.

Read more about the legislation (which has been introduced, but not debated or approved by the House and Senate):

• Bipartisan deal would delay flood insurance rate hikes (in the Courier Post)
• Bipartisan deal in U.S. Congress to delay flood insurance hike (on Reuters)