The Senate has agreed to advance a bill that would delay steep increases in flood insurance rates across the country, Reuters reports.
The rate increases, which began began to kick in late last year, may send rates skyrocketing by tenfold or more in areas with high flood risk, potentially straining some housing markets, opponents of the increases say.
The bill, which is now under consideration by the Senate and could receive a vote later this week, would delay insurance premium hikes for four years and task the Federal Emergency Management Agency with concluding an affordability study and re-evaluating the accuracy of its new flood maps, according to Reuters.
In the meantime, Reuters said Congress would mull changes to the program that could protect homeowners living in areas with high flood risk.
Source: Reuters
