Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Scott Perry supported the five-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) earlier this week. The bill makes fundamental improvements to the program and adopts necessary fiscal reforms, which are the first steps in creating long-term financial sustainability for the program.

The NFIP was created nearly 50 years ago to help supplement the lack of affordable, private flood insurance options and to provide insurance to residents of flood-prone areas. The program remained fiscally solvent until hurricanes Katrina and Sandy left it billions in debt, a problem that's been exacerbated in recent years and is now more than $15 billion in debt.

“I’ve previously opposed blanket bailouts of the NFIP because they lacked structural reforms to put the program back on a path to solvency. Although I hoped that additional measures would be put in place to ensure the long-term fiscal position of the NFIP, this proposal balances the need for relief and reform; short-term relief for those that need assistance, and an opportunity for the private market to establish comparable flood insurance policies in the future. The bill can alleviate some of the long-term financial problems facing the program,” said Perry.

Earlier this year, Congress forgave $16 billion of the NFIP’s existing debt as part of the relief offered for Hurricane Jose, Irma and Maria victims, with no reform proposals attached. Congressman Perry didn’t support the measure. “Just throwing taxpayer money at a problem, again and again, isn’t a solution. The need for a massive taxpayer-funded bailout of the NFIP demonstrates that reforms are critically needed. This bill can help stop the financial hemorrhaging,” Perry concluded.