City & State: “National Flood Insurance Program Likely to be Headache for Next President”
RFF Fellow Penny Liao reflects on the National Flood Insurance Program.
But Yanjun Liao, an economist and fellow at the nonprofit research institute Resources for the Future, said that with climate change intensifying, the cost of the program is going to continue to rise. “The tension between generally keeping the premiums affordable and pricing for the risk – that tension is not going to go away,” she said. “It’s just basic economics.”
...Congress has passed several short-term reauthorizations of the program since the last long-term reauthorization in 2017. Biden signed the last one on September 26, and it expires after the election on December 20. Although there have been short lapses in renewing the program in the past, which prevented the NFIP from selling new policies and borrowing funds, experts say they don’t expect any big changes soon.
“I think it’s very likely to be renewed,” said Liao. “While a lot of Congresspeople are concerned about the cost of the premiums of the program, not having that coverage is even worse,” said Liao.
