As flood insurance premiums continue to rise in Florida and around the country, Senator Rick Scott introduced legislation to provide tax relief for Americans who purchase flood insurance either through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private insurance carrier.
The Florida Senator’s legislation incentivizes flood insurance coverage by creating a non-refundable tax deduction for flood insurance premiums.
“As I travel around Florida, I am consistently hearing about how the broken NFIP and its rising costs are hurting Floridians,” Republican Senator Rick Scott said. “I am fighting tooth and nail in Washington to fix it. While we continue to work on permanent solutions to the problems plaguing the NFIP, we need to make sure hardworking folks have access to affordable coverage. That’s why I am introducing and will be fighting to pass legislation that provides a non-refundable tax break to families who purchase flood insurance coverage either through the private market or the NFIP. This is a commonsense bill to ensure Floridians can maintain coverage without breaking the bank.”
Senator Scott said he has been fighting for years to reform the broken NFIP. In August, Senator Scott wrote a letter to David Maurstad, Senior Executive of the NFIP, demanding transparency and accountability as FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 has unfairly increased flood insurance rates for millions of Floridians, making the coverage nearly unaffordable for working families who need it.
Earlier this year, Senator Scott reintroduced three bills, the Removing Barriers to Private Flood Insurance Act, the Flood Insurance Consumer Choice Act, and the Flood Insurance Transparency Act to reform the NFIP which would help lower the cost of flood insurance, build a more robust private market, and ensure the property insurance market better serves Florida families. Senator Scott’s NFIP package has been endorsed by the Federal Association for Insurance Reform (FAIR).
Florida Representative Byron Donalds is leading the companion bill for the current effort in the House of Representatives.
“Over recent years, residents of Southwest Florida and the Sunshine State have been faced with an exponential rise in flood insurance costs,” Congressman Byron Donalds said. “This unsustainable trend is severely impacting hardworking Florida families and it is critical that this problem is immediately addressed.”
Read the bill online.
