{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-cassidy-pens-op-ed-calling-to-make-flood-insurance-affordable-again/", "ICYMI: Cassidy Pens Op-Ed Calling to Make Flood Insurance Affordable Again", "2026-03-23", "2026", "2026-03", "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) penned an op-ed in the American Press highlighting the need to make flood insurance more affordable and reliable for Louisiana families ahead of hurricane season. He called for reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), including ending FEMA\u2019s Risk Rating 2.0 rate hikes and ensuring coverage continues even in the event of a government shutdown.\n\n\u201cI understand, as does President Trump, that Americans are tired of being ripped off. In 2019, we worked together to delay Risk Rating 2.0 for a year. Now, I want to do it again\u2014permanently.\u201d said Dr. Cassidy.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s make flood insurance reliable, accountable, and affordable again. \u201d continued Dr. Cassidy.\n\nRead the full op-ed here or excerpts below:\n\nHurricane Season Is 12 Weeks Away\u2014It\u2019s Time to Make Flood Insurance Affordable Again\n\nAnother hurricane season is behind us, and for the first time since 2015, not a single hurricane made landfall in Louisiana. That\u2019s good news for people with flood insurance, but even better news for people without it\u2014a group that is growing fast because the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has become too expensive.\n\nIn Louisiana, roughly 70,000 policyholders dropped their coverage between 2022 and 2024. The following year, another 52,000 followed suit. These aren\u2019t negligent homeowners\u2014they are families priced out of protection by the astronomical costs of a post-Biden NFIP. And they are the people who need coverage most.\n\n\u2026\n\nUnder President Biden, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) implemented a new risk assessment program\u2014Risk Rating 2.0\u2014in 2023, despite Congress never approving it. It jacks up rates, making premiums so expensive that people have no choice but to go without flood insurance.\n\nI understand, as does President Trump, that Americans are tired of being ripped off. In 2019, we worked together to delay Risk Rating 2.0 for a year. Now, I want to do it again\u2014permanently. Last June, I led a group of Republican colleagues in the effort to do so, and I won\u2019t stop working until we succeed. Last month, I followed up with FEMA, emphasizing the urgent need to address the harm that Risk Rating 2.0 is doing to the NFIP as well as policyholders in my state and across the nation.\n\n\u2026\n\nCongress needs to act, and soon. In the meantime, federal support is critical. I\u2019ve secured about $13 billion for Louisiana through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), much of it going directly to flood protection projects throughout the state.\n\n\u2026\n\nLet\u2019s make flood insurance reliable, accountable, and affordable again.", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "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/icymi-cassidy-pens-op-ed-calling-to-make-flood-insurance-affordable-again/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0740500874817371, "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"}