Congressman Troy Carter Sends Letter Pushing for Flood Insurance Affordability, Transparency

NEW ORLEANS, L.A. – Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. led a group of all six Louisiana House delegation members on a letterto Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Deputy Associate Administrator of Insurance and Mitigation, David Maurstad.

Together, Reps. Troy Carter, Steve Scalise, Garret Graves, Mike Johnson, Clay Higgins, and Julia Letlow wrote a letter calling for a commitment from FEMA to increase transparency and affordability within the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Risk Rating 2.0 system.

“In Louisiana, many have experienced dramatic increases in the cost of policies without any explanation of what risk factors are causing these increases,” reads the joint letter. “We continue to be extremely concerned about Risk Rating 2.0’s treatment of flood protection and mitigation measures when setting individual rates. We have discussed these concerns with the people of Louisiana who are experts on flood protection and mitigation, including levee protection, home elevation, and coastal restoration, and it is increasingly concerning that there is still inadequate and insufficient information on how these protection efforts will be recognized under Risk Rating 2.0.”

In Louisiana, some NFIP customers have seen their premiums double or triple. An investigation from The Advocate found that about 50% of Louisiana policyholders will likely see phased-in increases of more than 129%, but around 10% will see premiums increase 400%. The Associated Press found that FEMA has estimated that 1 million Americans across the country will be unable to afford flood insurance by the end of the decade under the new Risk Rating 2.0 policy.

Tragically, in too many cases these skyrocketing premiums are causing homeowners to choose between paying their other household bills and maintaining active flood insurance coverage – a choice the Louisiana House congressional delegation decry in their letter.

“People should be rewarded, not penalized, for taking lifesaving measures to mitigate and protect against future floods,” the signers of the letter concluded. “As such, we look forward to your prompt response regarding this serious matter.”

Last week Congressman Carter also launched the Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus, a group of four co-chairs from across the political spectrum allied in the fight to strengthen and streamline our nation’s disaster preparedness and response systems. The National Flood Insurance Program and Risk Rating 2.0 is expected to be discussed by the caucus as well.

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