Homeowners who are part of the National Flood Insurance Program are breathing a little sigh of relief with the U.S. Senate voting for an extension to keep the program running for the next four months.
Originally, the NFIP was going to run out at midnight tonight as the Senate was scheduled to vote on the extension later in the week.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy thanked Republicans and Democrats for voting to keep the program running.
“I appreciate Senate leaders listening to my request to move the vote up to today so that no one in Louisiana or the rest of the country is left in the lurch. We now have four months to finalize a long-term plan that reforms the program to make it more affordable, accountable and sustainable," Cassidy said.
“It would have been bone-deep, down-to-the-marrow stupid to let the National Flood Insurance Program expire in the middle of hurricane season, and my colleagues realized that,” said Sen. John Kennedy. “With this extension in place, we can tackle long-term reforms. The last time we truly reformed the NFIP was never. It’s about time we did. The program needs to be affordable and sustainable.”
The U.S. House passed the extension last week. More than 500,000 properties across Louisiana will be protected by today's vote.
Photo: Getty Images