House Speaker Will Weatherford joined the growing list of Floridians asking Congress to end the stalemate and get to work on fixing flood insurance rates that have sent shockwaves throughout the state.
Weatherford’s issue is a provision in the Biggert Water Flood Insurance Reform Act that had purchasers of older homes learning expected federal insurance subsidies would disappear October 1, writes Mary Ellen Klas in the Naked Politics blog.
“While other potential implementation problems deserve further review and improvement, Congress should not wait any longer to pass legislation to provide a reasonable rate glide pather for all primary residences, ” Weatherford wrote in a letter to several congressional leaders, according to the Herald.
The Wesley Chapel Republican added his name to a chorus of Floridians, including Sens. Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio and Gov. Rick Scott to amend the law to minimize the impact on the state economy. Scott wrote to the Florida congressional delegation, warning them of the devastation Biggert-Waters will have on the real-estate market.
Rubio, who was reluctant to come out in opposition to the bill at first, later held a bi-partisan press conference calling for a short-term modification of the law, saying it would have a chilling effect on home buyers.
“Unfortunately these calls for sensible action went unheeded, ’’ Weatherford told the Herald. “This oversight should be corrected immediately, and the federal program should provide glide paths for all policyholders.”
