On Monday, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and David Vitter (R-La.) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging them to schedule time for floor consideration of S. 1930, the “Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act.”
S. 1930 would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years while also making needed reforms to make the program more financially secure. The Senate Banking Committee unanimously reported the legislation to the full Senate last fall, but Senate leadership has yet to schedule it for Senate floor consideration due to political and procedural gridlock.
The letter from Sens. Tester and Vitter was signed by 41 senators, and the Big “I” is hopeful that the Senate leadership will see this letter as a clear sign of the overwhelming support for this legislation.
The letter says, “We sincerely believe that, with a concerted effort on the part of Senate and Banking Committee leadership, as well as members, the bill can be brought to the floor of the Senate, debated and passed as soon as possible in order to ensure this process is completed before the NFIP expires at the end of May.”
The House of Representatives passed its version of the “Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization” legislation with strong bipartisan support last July by an overwhelming majority. With the program once again facing a pending expiration on May 31, the Big “I” is hoping the Senate will overcome its procedural gridlock in order to give this widely-supported bipartisan legislation proper consideration.
The full text of the letter is
here.