Senator Wicker’s attempted amendment adding wind coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program failed on a 73-19 vote. Sop reported the vote here using the McClatchey story from the Sun Herald. The Associated Press carried a slightly different versions of the story.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who has pushed the measure in the Senate, noted that a review by the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the proposal would create no “significant budgetary impact.”
“By covering wind and flood risks in one policy, the multiple peril option will allow coastal homeowners to buy insurance and know that hurricane damage would be covered,” Wicker said. He called it a “commonsense proposal” that would prevent homeowners from having to go to court to determine whether a house was damaged by flood or wind.
Unfortunately, commonsense was in short supply when the vote was taken. “It’s not that we disagree, it’s a legitimate issue,” Dodd said. “But this amendment could end up costing us billions more than we anticipate. We don’t have any idea.”
Rebecca Morbray provided background in GAO report criticizes plan to add wind coverage to National Flood Program. Continue reading “Reinsurance lobby credited with defeat of Wicker’s amendment”