{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-delivers-floor-speech-highlighting-impact-of-flood-insurance-premiums-on-families-during-the-holidays/", "Cassidy Delivers\u00a0Floor\u00a0Speech Highlighting Impact of Flood Insurance Premiums on Families During the Holidays", "2024-12-19", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor highlighting the strain rising flood insurance premiums are placing on families during the holiday season. Cassidy also demanded action to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) before it expires on December 20, 2024, and called for reforms to make the flood insurance program affordable again.\n\n\u201cThe season should be a time filled with family, friends, and joy, but this year it will be filled with financial worry for many Americans. They are struggling to pay for groceries, struggling to heat their homes, and struggling to afford flood insurance,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why this week I introduced the Flood Insurance Affordability Tax Credit Act to give relief to Americans enrolled in NFIP. My legislation will give low- and middle-income households a real-time 33 percent refundable tax credit to combat the out-of-control flood insurance premiums,\u201d continued Dr. Cassidy. \u201cIt is not a permanent solution\u2014we need serious reform.\u201d\n\nBackground\n\nEarlier this month, Cassidy introduced the Flood Insurance Affordability Tax Credit Act to give low- and middle-income households enrolled in NFIP a 33 percent refundable tax credit to combat skyrocketing flood insurance premiums. Cassidy also recently released a report detailing the current state of NFIP and the issues that led to skyrocketing premiums for millions of homeowners. The report explains the historical developments that led NFIP to this moment, key findings following a thorough examination of the crisis, and next steps Washington must take.\n\nIn January, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on NFIP at the request of Cassidy. The hearing highlighted the urgent need for Congress to act and featured a Louisiana witness. Cassidy also participated in a roundtable hosted by GNO, Inc. and the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance before introducing the bill to hear from community leaders and advocates on the issue.\n\nCassidy traveled St. Bernard Parish last year to talk with residents about their flood insurance premiums, resulting in the second episode of his series Bill on the Hill.\n\nOver the last several months, Cassidy has delivered a series of speeches on the Senate floor calling for action on NFIP. Most recently, he demanded that Congress reauthorize and reform the program just before its authorization expired at the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The programs authorization was extended to December 20th days prior to the September deadline.\n\nCassidy\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:\n\nMadam President,\n\nThe holiday season is upon us.\n\nThe season should be a time filled with family, friends, and joy, but this year it will be filled with financial worry for many Americans.\n\nThey are struggling to pay for groceries, struggling to heat their homes, and struggling to afford flood insurance.\n\nFor over 50 years, Americans have relied on the National Flood Insurance Program\u2014or NFIP\u2014to be a safety net in case of a disaster.\n\nNFIP covers 4.7 million homes across the country.\n\nHowever, the program has become unaffordable, unaccountable, and unsustainable.\n\nWithout congressional approval, FEMA implemented a new risk assessment program called Risk Rating 2.0.\n\nThis program has unfairly jacked up premiums.\n\nThe skyrocketing prices brought on by Risk Rating 2.0 have left many Louisiana families and families around the nation with major financial strain.\n\nThis financial strain has caused 52,000 Louisianans to drop their coverage in just one year, leaving them with no way to protect their homes.\n\nAnd nearly half a million Americans nationwide have dropped their coverage!\n\nTime and time again, I hear from constituents about the burden Risk Rating 2.0 places on their pocketbooks.\n\nDuring the holiday season, this burden will only be amplified as a Mama tries to give her children a wonderful Christmas.\n\nThat\u2019s why this month I introduced the Flood Insurance Affordability Tax Credit Act to give relief to Americans enrolled in NFIP.\n\nMy legislation will give low- and middle-income households a real time 33 percent refundable tax credit to combat the out-of-control flood insurance premiums.\n\nIt is not a permanent solution\u2014we need serious reform.\n\nBut cutting flood insurance bills by a third is a good place to start.\n\nI am working on a comprehensive NFIP reform package that protects families from excessive premium hikes, strengthens mitigation efforts, and simplifies the claims process by cutting red tape.\n\nWhile we work to fix the broken system\u2014and believe me when I say I am working around the clock to do so\u2014this tax credit provides relief for current policyholders.\n\nAnd it provides a path for Americans who have been forced to drop their coverage due to unaffordable premiums to re-enroll in the program at an affordable price.\n\nIt also directs the Treasury Secretary to establish a program where premiums can be paid in advance.\n\nThis will benefit families when they need it the most\u2014like during the holiday season.\n\nParents shouldn\u2019t have to pick between putting food on the table, wrapping presents under the Christmas tree, or paying for flood insurance.\n\nWith a tax credit taking a third off her flood insurance bill, she won\u2019t have to.\n\nShe will be able to give her children a Merry Christmas and protect the home they sleep in.\n\nThis isn\u2019t true just for families living along the Gulf Coast.\n\nIt\u2019s true for families across the nation.\n\nThis year\u2019s hurricane season showed us flooding is possible in areas that don\u2019t typically make you think \u201cflooding\u201d.\n\nJust think of all the homes devastated by flooding in North Carolina.\n\nAmericans need relief from Risk Rating 2.0. That is not a question.\n\nAnd Americans need us to pass massive reform.\n\nHowever, perhaps most importantly, Americans expect us to guarantee that the National Flood Insurance Program will still be around come the New Year.\n\nIf Congress does nothing, the program will expire at the end of this week.\n\nFamilies are already worried about how they will pay their next flood insurance bill; we do not need to add to their worry that the program might cease to exist.\n\nFrankly speaking, letting the program lapse is not an option.\n\nNFIP is often the only flood insurance option for many communities.\n\nWithout it, we will leave millions vulnerable.\n\nThis is why, I am also working with the entire Louisiana delegation on legislation to reauthorize the program.\n\nToday, I urge my colleagues to support this reauthorization and give their constituents peace of mind and protection this holiday season.\n\nAnd finally, I urge my colleagues to look to the future.\n\nPassing the flood insurance affordability tax credit to give relief to policyholders and reauthorizing the program is only the first step.\n\nThey are both critical steps this body must take, but unless we want to do a disservice to the American people and NFIP, we can\u2019t\u2014and should not\u2014stop here.\n\nWhen we come back in the New Year, we must commit to reforming the program to make flood insurance affordable again!!\n\nEvery single one of my colleagues has constituents who rely on the NFIP.\n\nJust look at this chart. Every single state in the union is shaded in, representing the amount of NFIP claims each has had.\n\nThe states in dark yellow have been hit the hardest by flooding and have relied on NFIP the most.\n\nThey have all had more than one billion in NFIP claims since 1978.\n\n44 states have had over fifty million in total NFIP claims.\n\nIt is clear Americans rely on the program, but if we continue down this path, the program is going to go bankrupt.\n\nMy message to my colleagues who represent states that rely on the National Flood Insurance Program\u2014which is every single one of them\u2014 is let\u2019s find a way forward.\n\nMy team is working on a bipartisan, permanent solution that will roll back Risk Rating 2.0 and make flood insurance affordable and accountable again.\n\nAnd I encourage my colleagues to join me in the New Year to get this done.\n\nIn the meantime, let our Christmas gift to Americans enrolled in the National Flood Insurance program be a lower flood insurance bill and peace of mind by reauthorizing the program.\n\nWith that, I yield.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-delivers-floor-speech-highlighting-impact-of-flood-insurance-premiums-on-families-during-the-holidays/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4348686672747135, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}