Comer & Scalise Renew Request for Information on FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program

Committee is considering compulsory process following inadequate response from FEMA

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) are threatening the compulsory process to obtain compliance with a May 1, 2023, oversight request for documents and information related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In the new letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the lawmakers emphasized they expect a substantive production of the previously requested information by September 25, 2023.

“On May 1, 2023, a bipartisan group of fifty-one Members of Congress including those on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability sent a request for documents and information to inform oversight efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program,” wrote the lawmakers. “More than three months later on August 4, 2023, FEMA finally responded with a preliminary production; however, the response falls far short of expectations and appears to consist entirely of publicly available information already known to the requestors. At this point, the Committee is considering whether compulsory process is necessary to gain compliance with the May 1 oversight request.”

Reporting earlier this year showed that FEMA’s NFIP lumped nearly four million Americans in the Risk Rating 2.0 version of the program which has caused premiums to increase, making flood insurance to be unattainable for many. It is concerning if mispriced flood insurance based on inaccurate data is causing massive increases in premium rates and a rapid decline in the number of NFIP policies nationwide.

“This oversight initiative is important to provide transparency to the rate setting process, inform policy and appropriations decisions, assess the overall marketplace for flood insurance, and evaluate impacts on program sustainability, affordability and housing markets,” continued the lawmakers.

Read the letter to Administrator Criswell here.