MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today urged President Biden to stop the implementation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Risk Rating (RR) 2.0, a plan that enacts the biggest change in history to the way the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) calculates flood insurance premiums. RR 2.0 significantly raises flood insurance premiums on Louisianians who depend on the NFIP to protect their homes from natural disasters.
These higher rates began on Oct. 1, 2021 for new NFIP policies, and the rate changes will take effect for existing policyholders this April 1, 2022.
“As you know, many Americans’ greatest investment is their home. . . . Although RR 2.0’s purpose is to address the sustainability of the NFIP, the program is only effective if families that depend on the program can afford its premiums. Despite the concern many stakeholders and Members of Congress have voiced, FEMA has continued to rollout RR 2.0, implementing Phase I of rate hikes to new policies. Phase I is just the tip of the iceberg,” Kennedy wrote.
“FEMA is implementing RR 2.0 unilaterally—without consulting Congress. These changes amount to the biggest change to how the NFIP calculates premiums since its inception in 1968. FEMA branded these changes as ‘equitable,’ but they hurt hardworking, low- and middle-income Americans the most by threatening to devalue their most important asset—their home. It’s unthinkable that FEMA seems to be taking deliberate action to make flood insurance less affordable in the wake of the devastating hurricanes that have recently ravaged coastal states like Louisiana,” continued Kennedy.
“Alongside many of my Senate colleagues, I have worked diligently and in a bipartisan manner to propose reforms to the NFIP program. Without proper Congressional oversight, FEMA’s sweeping change in the program is putting millions of Americans in danger of losing their homes and businesses. In light of this, I am asking you to halt FEMA’s effort to fully implement RR 2.0. As president, you have the authority to rein in FEMA’s end-run around Congress, and I urge you to do that in order to protect the vulnerable homes and businesses that belong to millions of Americans,” Kennedy concluded.
Text of the letter is available here.
