Press releases

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in introducing the Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act to help policyholders in Louisiana understand how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) calculates flood insurance costs.

“Louisianians need flood insurance, but the Biden administration’s Risk Rating 2.0 regime is making it unaffordable. The Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act would shed light on how FEMA sets flood insurance prices so that Louisiana families can better protect their biggest investments—their homes,” said Kennedy.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is the primary source of flood insurance coverage for residential properties in the U.S. FEMA is implementing Risk Rating 2.0, a plan that enacts the biggest change in history to the way NFIP calculates flood insurance premiums. Risk Rating 2.0 significantly raises flood insurance premiums on Louisianians who depend on NFIP to protect their homes from natural disasters.

The Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act would require FEMA to make public the formulas FEMA uses to calculate mitigation credits under Risk Rating 2.0.

The bill would also require FEMA to release a toolkit that policyholders could use to estimate the cost of flood insurance for new construction.

Background:

  • This Feb. 14, Kennedy urged President Joe Biden to stop the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0.
  • On Sept. 22, 2021, Kennedy pressed FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to delay the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0.
  • On June 7, 2021, Kennedy introduced the Flood Insurance Fairness Act to stop the Biden administration from unilaterally making changes to NFIP, including Risk Rating 2.0.
  • On April 15, 2021, Kennedy called on Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to hold a hearing to examine Risk Rating 2.0.