Flood insurance Risk Rating 2.0 rate hikes kicked in this month for existing homeowners, many of whom will struggle to find the extra cash amidst historic inflation. Can Louisiana’s Congressional delegation do anything to stop it?
After years of failed attempts to find a Congressional solution, most are highly skeptical this will have a happy ending. Congressman Garret Graves told WWL’s Tommy Tucker previous administrations compromised on the issue by kicking the can down the road and delaying the rate hikes, but the Biden Administration’s FEMA decided to buck the trend and push ahead.
“This was the President’s appointee, this is the FEMA administrator that made this decision, she could reverse this today,” said Graves.
Graves said they continue to push FEMA to reverse course on this devastating decision. Negotiations with the administration continue, and the State Congressional Delegation is trying to whip votes for a reform bill, but there’s no indication that lawmakers in non-flood-prone areas care about the issue.
“Congress did not pass this, this was something that was done administratively and I don’t think that it had the real vetting that it needs,” said Graves. “Since it was not approved by Congress we have the ability to try and stop it but we’re going to have to pass a law to do it.”
