Group Flood Insurance Policy Extension Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2266 To extend group flood insurance policy assistance for victims of the 2016 West Virginia floods, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. MANCHIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To extend group flood insurance policy assistance for victims of the 2016 West Virginia floods, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Group Flood Insurance 4 Policy Extension Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Nine States and 2 territories are currently 8 awaiting funding for mitigation activities from the 9 Department of Housing and Urban Development. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2266.IS S2266 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2266 IS (2) Funding for mitigation activities was appro- 1 priated to the Department of Housing and Urban 2 Development by Congress in February 2018 under 3 the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public Law 4 115–123; 132 Stat. 64). 5 (3) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- 6 opment told Congress that the funding described in 7 paragraph (2) would be released by May 1, 2019. 8 (4) May 1, 2019, has come and gone with no 9 official explanation as to the reason for the contin- 10 ued delay in releasing the funds. 11 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF GROUP FLOOD INSURANCE POLICY 12 FOR 2016 WEST VIRGINIA FLOODS. 13 (a) EXTENSION OF GROUP FLOOD INSURANCE POL- 14 ICY.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 16 provision of law, the Administrator of the Federal 17 Emergency Management Agency (referred to in this 18 section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall, in accordance 19 with paragraph (2), extend the term of the Group 20 Flood Insurance Policy issued pursuant to section 21 61.17 of title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, for 22 all major disaster declarations awaiting Community 23 Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds 24 from the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2266.IS S2266 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2266 IS opment with an associated active Group Flood In- 1 surance Policy. 2 (2) GROUP FLOOD INSURANCE POLICY EXTEN- 3 SION DEFINED.—The extension required under para- 4 graph (1) shall be implemented by adding to each 5 Group Flood Insurance Policy the number of days 6 that is equal to the number of days between Feb- 7 ruary 9, 2018, and the date on which the allocation 8 of the Community Development Block Grant-Dis- 9 aster Recovery funds appropriated under Bipartisan 10 Budget Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–123; 132 11 Stat. 64) is published in the Federal Register. 12 (3) ADDITIONAL PREMIUM.—The additional 13 premium for the extended Group Flood Insurance 14 Policy coverage required under paragraph (1) shall 15 be $300 per individual insured. 16 (4) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator 17 shall implement paragraph (1) not later than August 18 24, 2019. 19 (b) PAYMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM.— 20 (1) ADDITIONAL PREMIUM NECESSARY EX- 21 PENSE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 22 law, the Administrator shall provide additional fi- 23 nancial assistance under section 408(e)(2) of the 24 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2266.IS S2266 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2266 IS Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(e)(2)) to each indi- 1 vidual insured under the Group Flood Insurance 2 Policy extended under subsection (a)(1) in an 3 amount equal to the amount of the additional pre- 4 mium required under subsection (a)(2). 5 (2) PAYMENT OF ADDITIONAL PREMIUM.—Not- 6 withstanding any other provision of law, the Admin- 7 istrator shall withhold the additional financial assist- 8 ance provided under paragraph (1) and, not later 9 than August 1, 2019, transfer the amount to the 10 National Flood Insurance Fund established pursu- 11 ant to section 1310 of the National Flood Insurance 12 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017) on behalf of each in- 13 dividual insured under the Group Flood Insurance 14 Policy extended under subsection (a)(1). 15 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 16 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 17 States shall conduct a study of— 18 (1) the costs and benefits of Group Flood In- 19 surance Policies, as described in section 61.17 of 20 title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, in commu- 21 nities affected by repeated disasters; and 22 (2) the rate at which individuals in communities 23 described in paragraph (1) purchase private insur- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2266.IS S2266 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2266 IS ance policies after the Group Flood Insurance Policy 1 term ends. 2 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 3 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 4 United States shall submit a report to Congress on the 5 study conducted under subsection (a). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:59 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2266.IS S2266 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS