Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement in response to a report published today by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) discussing the compensation paid to Write-Your-Own (WYO) companies that administer to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In 2014, Ranking Member Waters called on the GAO to study federal payments to WYO insurers and how they relate to actual expenses incurred by those insurers... Read more

In a guest column in the Baton Rouge Advocate this week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, discussed the need for Congress to erase the National Flood Insurance Program’s $23 billion debt so that homeowners and businesses can rely on an affordable and sustainable program to protect them financial in the face of disaster: “I am calling on Congress to forgive the NFIP’s debt so that as we work to reauthorize the program in 2017, we can start... Read more

Today, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services; Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance; and Cedric Richmond (D-LA), reiterated their call for Committee Republicans to hold a field hearing in Baton Rouge, La., so that Members can fully understand the devastation from the recent flooding in the area and issues surrounding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) ahead of its reauthorization. The lawmakers sen... Read more

In the wake of historic flooding in the Baton Rouge, La., area, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services and long-time friend to the Louisiana area, visited the disaster-affected region. Rep. Waters met with local officials as well as affected residents to review the damage, assess the federal government’s response thus far, and understand key issues ahead of the need to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by September 30, 2017... Read more

Today, in the face of the historic flooding in Louisiana, a trio of House Democratic lawmakers called on Republican leadership of the Financial Services Committee to hold a field hearing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to examine the government’s response to the recent flooding in that area, and to better inform the Committee as it prepares to consider the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is set to expire on September 30, 2017. In the letter to Committee Chairman ... Read more

Following historic flooding in Louisiana and the President’s disaster declaration leaving open the possibility that the state may have to cover 25 percent of public assistance funds, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D – CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services sent a letter to President Obama and called on him to use his authority to provide relief for the state and require the federal government to pay for 100 percent of public assistance. Due to the low take up rates of the Natio... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement in the wake of historic flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: “As the devastating flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana demonstrates, too many Americans receive outdated and incorrect signals from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Only a small fraction of residents who found themselves in harm's way were considered to be in a flood zone and therefore most did not purcha... Read more

Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), and 21 of their colleagues sent a bipartisan letter asking that FEMA fulfill its legal obligation to provide oversight of the private insurance companies that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In the wake of Superstorm Sandy and other recent disasters, FEMA and NFIP have faced accusations of incompetence and fraud. A recent PBS Frontline documentary entitled, “The Business of Disaster” e... Read more

On a cold rainy day last fall, dozens of people gathered in a plaza across the street from New Jersey's state Capitol. They held press conferences and slept overnight in lawn chairs. Everyone had come to make the same point: They'd made it through Superstorm Sandy, which hit the shores of New Jersey and New York in October 2012. But three years later, many hadn't made it home. Doug Quinn, a 51-year-old from Toms River, N.J., had been in the plaza for two days. "I should be at home in my house an... Read more

Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) responded to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released today on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rate-setting methods under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Agency’s progress in ensuring that full-risk rates accurately reflect flood risk. Waters requested the report in 2014 when Congress was working to address the unintended consequences of premium increases under the 2012 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform ... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee led 32 colleagues in a letter calling on Congress to forgive $23 billion in debt at the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) during the fiscal year 2017 appropriations process. “The NFIP’s current debt is the direct result of Congressional design and it is time that Congress takes responsibility for it,” the Members wrote. The NFIP is funded by insurance premiums and fees paid by policyholders.... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, responded to two separate reports released today from the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on flood insurance affordability and options for providing assistance to policyholders. Waters requested the GAO report in 2014 after FEMA failed to complete a congressionally-mandated affordability study. As a result, when FEMA increased premiums pursuant to the 2012 Bi... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urging him to provide Congress a robust affordability framework in a timely manner so that proposals can be considered ahead of the 2017 reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Ranking Member Waters’ letter comes as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently completed its affordability s... Read more

At today’s Financial Services Committee hearing entitled, “How to Create a More Robust and Private Flood Insurance Marketplace,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, discussed private sector involvement in the flood insurance market. Ranking Member Waters was encouraged by the discussion to improve the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, H.R. 2901, but underscored some concerns she has, while advocating for a bipartisan bill ... Read more

Financial Services Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), participated in a Subcommittee field hearing, requested by Democrats, held today at the Port of New Orleans to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and review Federal efforts to support the City’s recovery. Several officials participated in the day’s events, including Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (D-MO), Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO),... Read more

Reform legislation signed today by the President Today, President Barack Obama signed into law comprehensive legislation designed to end unaffordable flood insurance rate hikes. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, lauded the enactment of H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act into law. For months, Waters led a Democratic effort to provide homeowners with flood insurance rate relief and to bring accountability to the Fe... Read more

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 72-22, today the U.S. Senate approved comprehensive legislation designed to end unaffordable flood insurance rate hikes. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, lauded passage of H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act. For months, Waters led a Democratic effort to provide homeowners with important flood insurance rate relief and to bring accountability to the Federal Emergency Manage... Read more

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 301-91, today the U.S. House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation designed to end unaffordable flood insurance rate hikes. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today lauded passage of H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act. For months, Waters led a Democratic effort to provide homeowners with important flood insurance rate relief and to bring accountability to the F... Read more

Following weeks of negotiations between members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) today threw their support behind comprehensive legislation designed to end unaffordable flood insurance rate hikes. For months, Waters led a Democratic effort to provide homeowners with important flood insurance rate relief and to bring accountability to the Federal Emergenc... Read more

Reforms to flood insurance approved by Congress in 2012 would be scaled back under a deal reached Monday by House Republicans and Democrats. The rare bipartisan deal, which GOP leaders plan to bring to the floor for a vote on Tuesday, responds to complaints from flooded-out constituents who said the 2012 law would require them to pay much more for federal flood insurance. But the deal, which GOP leaders made with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), will face criticism from the right. Conservative gro... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement on the progress of negotiations with GOP leader Eric Cantor regarding legislation to address rising flood insurance premiums. "We have made important progress on legislation that will provide relief to those facing unaffordable flood insurance premiums. I continue to work with Leader Cantor to finalize the details of this important bill. We are taking this matter ... Read more

A politically fraught fight over flood insurance has prompted a split between the House Republican leadership and a top committee chairman, forcing senior GOP lawmakers to bargain for votes instead with liberal Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), the panel’s top Democrat. GOP leaders have struggled to gain enough support to pass a House alternative to flood insurance legislation the Senate approved last month, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told members in a closed-door conference meeting he w... Read more

As Republicans in the House of Representatives release legislation intended to address dramatic flood insurance premium increases, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), a leader of the effort to stop the problem, expressed her concerns with the legislation as currently written. “Although there have been productive conversations with Republican leadership, I still have significant concerns that the measure will not provide the necessary relief to those facing skyrocketing flood insurance premiums,”... Read more

Legislation could pass today if brought up for a vote Over the past several days, the effort to delay unaffordable flood insurance premiums has reached a boiling point. Today, in the face of two weeks of significant obstruction by Republican leadership, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) announced that a substantial majority of the House of Representatives – 231 members – have signed on to bipartisan, bicameral flood relief legislation as coauthors. This significant achievement means that H.R. 3... Read more

For the third time in two weeks, House Republicans rejected a Democratic procedural motion to bring bipartisan legislation that would delay the implementation of flood insurance increases up for a vote. Using a parliamentary procedure to order the "previous question," Republicans blocked an effort to bring H.R. 3370, the bipartisan Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, to the House floor. Over the past week, momentum on the flood bill has increases, with the measure now having 207 cospons... Read more