National Flood Insurance Program Commitment to Policyholders and Reform Act of 2005
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 199.
National Flood Insurance Program Commitment to Policyholders and Reform Act of 2005 - (Sec. 3) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on whether the mandatory flood insurance coverage purchase requirements of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 should extend to properties located in the 500-year floodplain.
Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to report annually to Congress on the extent to which updating and modernization of all floodplain areas and flood-risk zones has been completed.
(Sec. 4) Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to: (1) increase from $350 to $2,000 the civil monetary penalty for mortgage lender failures to require flood insurance; and (2) eliminate the $100,000 cap on the total amount of such penalties assessed against any single regulated lending institution or enterprise during any calendar year.
(Sec. 5) Requires the FEMA Director to: (1) establish an appeals process through which holders of a flood insurance policy may appeal decisions on claims, proofs of loss, and loss estimates relating to such flood insurance policy; (2) enforce the minimum training and education requirements for insurance agents who sell certain flood insurance policies; (3) issue regulations to implement specified requirements of the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004; and (4) identify for Congress each regulation, order, notice, and other material issued by the Director to implement each provision of such Act.
(Sec. 6) Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to increase the maximum flood insurance coverage limits for residential property.
(Sec. 7) Prescribes coverage of additional living expenses and business interruption.
(Sec. 8) Increases from $3.5 billion to $22 billion the borrowing authority vested in the Director. Requires the Director to report to Congress a plan for repaying any amounts borrowed pursuant to such increase.
(Sec. 9) Instructs the Director to: (1) issue regulations and revise materials to clarify replacement cost coverage under the national flood insurance program; and (2) revise regulations, forms, notices, guidance, and publications regarding the full cost of repair or replacement under the replacement cost coverage to more clearly describe such coverage and to avoid providing misleading information to policyholders.
The summary continues for 4 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on February 1, 2006. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 1, 2006: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 199.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MICHAEL OXLEY (R-OH) introduced it on November 15, 2005, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 15, 2005, 7651 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7573 days ago, on February 1, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers