News From…
Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2007 |
CONTACT: Jamie McInerney (202) 225-6131 |
| WASHINGTON – Today the House of Representatives passed the Cardoza amendment to HR 3121, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act. The underlying bill overhauls the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to certify levees and update flood maps, which FEMA is already in the process of doing. When FEMA completes its certification and mapping process, homeowners all across the country, and many in California, will suddenly find themselves within an area deemed to provide insufficient protection from 100 year floods and be required purchase flood insurance. The Cardoza amendment eases the burden on these homeowners by cutting in half the insurance premium for the first five years.
“My constituents are getting hit twice – they are suffering the highest foreclosure rates in the country and will soon suddenly find themselves facing an expensive new flood insurance premium when they thought they lived behind protective levees. As we make necessary reforms to the flood insurance program, we must be cognizant of the impact this legislation will have on unsuspecting residents suddenly determined to be inside the floodplain. This amendment blunts the impact the re-mapping process will have on those homeowners, many of whom are low income earners” said Cardoza. “The goal is that, during those five years, necessary upgrades will be made to the levees to bring them into compliance, thereby eliminating the mandatory requirement to purchase flood insurance.”
Since FEMA and the Corps of Engineers first announced in 2005 that they would be reviewing flood maps and re-certifying levees, it has been a top priority to mitigate the impact on residents who will be affected by the changes. “The need for the re-mapping is clear, but residents of the newly designated unprotected areas should not bear the entire cost of the government’s negligence to re-certify more responsibly,” continued Cardoza. The Cardoza amendment deflects some of the cost by requiring the affected residents to pay only 50% of the flood insurance premiums.
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