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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today spoke in the Senate Banking Committee about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Risk Rating 2.0 program, which has dramatically raised flood insurance premiums for Louisianians.
Of the 5 million Americans who rely on the NFIP to protect their businesses and homes, roughly 500,000 are Louisianians.
Key excerpts from the senator’s remarks are below.
“[FEMA] lied. They said a million people of the 5 million people will see their rates go down. I haven’t talked to a single person who’s seen their rates go down. This is just an excuse to raise premiums, and they don’t care. The whole purpose of the National Flood Insurance Program is to provide a product that people can’t afford.”
“In my state, here’s what the premiums have done: They said, ‘A lot of [your] people, Kennedy, they’ll see it decreases.’ Terrebonne County—we call our counties ‘parishes’—305% increase. Another parish: 321%. Plaquemines Parish: 540%. FEMA lied, and they’re not going to do any better.”
“Right now, FEMA can raise the premiums 18% every single year, and they’re going to keep doing it because they don’t care. They lied to the American people and my people, and they ought to hide their heads in a bag.”
In June 2023, Kennedy helped introduce the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act to reauthorize the NFIP for five years and cap annual policy premium hikes at 9%.
View Kennedy’s full remarks here.
