RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces New, Bipartisan Legislation To Make Flood Insurance More Affordable

Above: Gottheimer announcing new action to make flood insurance more affordable, protect Jersey families.

BOGOTA, NJ — Today, October 17, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced new action and bipartisan legislation to help ensure families can afford flood insurance. The bipartisan Flood Loss Offset and Affordability Tax Credit or  FLOAT Act, is co-lead by Congressman Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) and will provide a $1,000 annual tax credit for flood insurance, regardless of if it is purchased through private insurance or the National Flood Insurance Program. 

Video of the announcement can be found here.

Skyrocketing Flood Insurance Costs:

• As of 2022, ten years after superstorm Sandy, there has been a 15% decline in NFIP policies in New Jersey and there was a 6% decline in policies between September 2021 and June 2022 alone.
• Only about 27% of homeowners have flood insurance in the US.
• Flood insurance costs an average of $1,152 a year from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• In 2023 alone, NFIP lost 100,000 policyholders and the program is estimated to lose hundreds of thousands more policy holders this year.

Extreme Storms Across New Jersey

• Flooding is New Jersey’s most common natural disaster.
• In New Jersey’s Fifth district, nearly 100,000 homes have a more than 80 percent chance of flood damage over the next 30 years.
• The sea level in Atlantic City has risen 15.8 inches since 1900, and nearly six inches since 1980.
• The number of New Jersey homes at risk of frequent flooding is up by about 110%. There are 27,000 more buildings worth a combined $15 billion that are now likely to flood at least once a year.

Gottheimer’s new efforts to protect residents from flooding and make life more affordable include:

• First, Gottheimer announced the bipartisan Flood Loss Offset and Affordability Tax Credit or FLOAT Act, which is co-lead with Congressman Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) and will provide a $1,000 annual tax credit for flood insurance.
  • By making flood insurance more affordable, this act will further assist families who are just trying to keep their heads above deep financial waters in the event of a disaster.
• Second, Gottheimer is leading a letter to the leadership of the House Financial Services Committee to pass the bipartisan National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization and Reform Act.
  • This will not only extend the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, which is set to expire, but it will also make key changes to it to modernize it and make it more affordable. 
• Third, as a part of his continual efforts to provide disaster assistance, Gottheimer has also joined more than fifty colleagues on a letter to Speaker Johnson urging the House to come back into session to urgently approve emergency funding and help struggling families.
• Finally, Gottheimer called on Senators Schumer and McConnell to immediately bring the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act for a vote in the Senate. It’s already passed the House and needs to get to the President’s desk. This legislation provides broader tax relief for those affected by recent disasters, including in New Jersey .

In total, Congressman Josh Gottheimer has clawed back more than $10 million in flood related assistance for communities and families to help secure the future of our great district.

“To keep families from drowning in premium costs, this bill will provide a $1,000 annual tax credit for flood insurance. By making flood insurance more affordable, this act will further assist families who are just trying to keep their heads above deep financial waters in the event of a disaster” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. “These are tough issues, but there is nothing partisan about natural disasters and helping our families. I know that if we work together through the good and the bad, through the clearest of skies and heaviest of rain, in the greatest country in the world, our best days will always be ahead of us.” 

Congressman Gottheimer was joined by Bogota Mayor Danielle Fede, Bogota Councilman Rob Robbins, Bogota Councilman Patrick McHale, Bogota Councilwoman Diana Vergara, Bogota Police Chief Daniel Maye, Senator Gordon Johnson.

Below: Gottheimer announcing new action to make flood insurance more affordable, protect Jersey families.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery below:

Good morning, everyone. It’s great to be with you today here in Bogota, with our outstanding elected officials and heroic first responders, who always get our backs. We must always get theirs. Last year, we clawed back to Northern New Jersey $255,000 from Washington in federal public safety investment for new security and communication equipment to keep our first responders and families safe. These dollars are key to day-to-day operations and will help our first responders stay connected in emergencies, including natural disasters like those we see happening here and across the country far too often these days.

I also want to thank the Jersey heroes from the New Jersey National Guard who stepped up and assisted victims across the country over the last weeks, including about eighty National Guard soldiers, officers from the New Jersey State Police, and thirty military vehicles and heavy duty trucks to support Hurricane Helene.  

As you all know, our country has faced a torrent of massive hurricanes, torrential storms, and tragedy in recent weeks. Hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc across the Southeastern United States, sadly killing nearly 300 people and causing billions of dollars in losses for communities and homeowners, particularly from severe flooding. I’m here today to talk about ways we will help families buy the flood insurance they need to protect themselves from future storms. 

In recent years, these “once in a decade” storms and natural disasters seem to be hitting our country every few months – including here in Jersey.  Whether it was Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Ida, or the dozens of smaller, but severely intense storms that are dumping more and more rain on us every year, we know just how bad flooding can be. 

This January, we saw extreme rain storms across New Jersey — leading Governor Murphy to issue a state of emergency for every single county, all twenty-one, up and down the Garden State. Thanks to rising sea levels since the 1980s, the number of New Jersey homes at risk of frequent flooding is up by about 110%. There are 27,000 more buildings worth a combined $15 billion that are now likely to flood at least once a year. 

In fact, flooding is New Jersey’s most common natural disaster. Just eleven days into March, some towns in New Jersey had already experienced an entire month’s worth of rain. In August, flooding in Leonia, Englewood, Alpine, Lyndhurst, Hillsdale, West Orange, Hackensack and right here in Bogota left drivers trapped and stranded, because our sewer systems in Jersey were not meant to handle the massive amounts of rainwater dumped in minutes, leaving cars swallowed up in the streets. Many of our rivers and streams can’t handle it either.  I remember speaking to a fire chief who said that his department’s number one response is now not to a fire, but a flooding crisis.

In my District in Northern Jersey alone, nearly 100,000 homes have a more than 80 percent chance of flood damage over the next 30 years. Flooding can cause garbage, sewage, and other contaminants to spread into our towns — meaning that the dangers from flooding don’t just go away after a storm is over and water levels recede. The effects of climate change have super charged storms like hurricanes, causing too many residents to watch their entire life savings wash away in seconds as a result.

During Hurricane Ida, and in storms before and after, the decades upon decades of accumulated brush, natural plant growth, fallen trees, and stumps have wreaked havoc on the clear passage of water through two town’s brooks — Tenakill and Overpeck. These brooks used to play a vital role in flood mitigation — now, they compound the effects of flooding. It’s why in March, I proudly announced that I helped claw back more than $4.7 million from Washington for new federal investments in building climate resilient infrastructure here in Jersey. 

These investments are important to prevent flooding and avoid its disastrous effects in our district, across towns like those in Englewood, Emerson, Leonia, and Tenafly. These funds help make our communities more resilient to massive changes in our climate, including the new intense storms our state will continue to face. In total, since I’m in Congress, I have clawed back more than $10 million in flood related assistance for communities and families to help secure the future of our great district.

But here’s the other reality with all of these storms. They not only wreak havoc on our communities – the destruction also upends families, their homes, their work, and their wallets. Like we saw in Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia, many Jersey families don’t have any flood insurance, or just not enough. It can be really expensive, in many cases prohibitively so. 

Families have to decide if they either can afford expensive flood insurance or to take their chances and risk losing their life savings, going into debt, and having to start over. That’s a choice families shouldn’t have to make. We need to do everything we can to help Jersey families afford to buy flood coverage to protect their homes and their life savings.  

Current estimates say Hurricane Helene has caused between 20 and 30 billion dollars of uninsured flood losses. Fewer than one percent of households in the path of Helene had flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. In fact, only about 27% of homeowners have flood insurance in the US. It’s expensive — flood insurance costs an average of $1,152 a year from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

On average, every one dollar invested in flood protection can save five to eight dollars in damages, with some estimates showing that projects protecting water and waste treatment plants can produce $31 in returns for every dollar invested. Investing in our own strength and resilience is not a partisan issue, it is just good economic policy.

The federal government’s latest National Climate Assessment confirms that rising tides and the ongoing strengthening of storms — both here in northern Jersey and at the shore — will ensure that families will need it more than ever. 

The sea level in Atlantic City, for instance, has risen 15.8 inches since 1900, and nearly six inches since 1980. With the rising risk of floods, you would expect that more New Jersey families are getting flood insurance policies. But just the opposite is true. The massive price of insurance is causing thousands of households to drop coverage all together.  

As of 2022, ten years after superstorm Sandy, there has been a fifteen percent decline in NFIP policies in New Jersey and there was a six percent decline in policies between September 2021 and June 2022 alone. 

This isn’t just a problem in New Jersey. In 2023 alone, NFIP lost 100,000 policyholders and the program is estimated to lose hundreds of thousands more policy holders this year.

The high demand for support created by recent extreme weather disasters has also caused the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program to run out. Without an immediate act from Congress to save this program, countless renters, homeowners, families, and small businesses in Jersey and across our nation will be unable to get the relief they so desperately need. 

That’s why I’m here today to announce my new Flood Affordability Plan, including a new Flood Insurance Tax Credit and other concrete measures to help families protect their homes from natural disasters. 

First, I am proud to introduce the Flood Loss Offset and Affordability Tax Credit Act — or FLOAT Act — to provide tax relief for Americans who purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or private insurance. Think of the FLOAT Act as a Flood Insurance Tax Credit.  

As I mentioned before, many families wish to protect their homes, but when having to choose between providing food for loved ones or paying for insurance, the high costs force them to drop flood insurance. To keep families from drowning in premium costs, this bill will provide a $1,000 annual tax credit for flood insurance. By making flood insurance more affordable, this act will further assist families who are just trying to keep their heads above deep financial waters in the event of a disaster.

Second, I am leading a letter to the leadership of the House Financial Services Committee to stop dragging their feet and pass the bipartisan National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization and Reform Act. This will not only extend the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, which is set to expire, but it will also make key changes to it to modernize it and make it more affordable. I’m proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation which includes better mapping of flood zones and faster payments of claims. Importantly, this bill also protects policy holders from monstrous premium hikes by slashing hikes in half and capping annual increases at nine percent. 

Third, our government must work for us — when our circumstances seem most against us. That is why I have joined more than fifty of my colleagues on a letter to Speaker Johnson urging the House to come back into session to urgently approve the necessary funding for FEMA and the SBA to accomplish their disaster relief missions, and help struggling families. God forbid there is another natural disaster in New Jersey or across our nation, we must also be prepared to support those in need.

Finally, I’ve called on Senators Schumer and McConnell to immediately bring the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act for a vote in the Senate. It’s already passed the House and needs to get to the President’s desk. This legislation provides broader tax relief for those affected by recent disasters, including here in Bogota.

In many cases, our towns and cities can’t afford to make significant investments alone without costing our communities an absolute fortune, either in new taxes or cuts to other key budget items. That’s why, ever since I was elected to Congress, I’ve also been laser focused on clawing our federal tax dollars back from Washington to help strengthen our communities against disasters while easing the burden typically placed on our towns’ smaller budgets. 

I have worked with local municipalities to use the Law Enforcement Support Office or LESO Program to claw back investments, like right here in Bogota and in Vernon where Humvees from LESO have been used to save lives during severe flooding. These vehicles, along with the inflatable boats for Oradell, acquired through the LESO program, will continue to pay dividends for our communities, because our first responders are committed and dedicated to getting the job done no matter what is asked of them, to answer the call at any moment regardless of the conditions, so they deserve tools that can do the same.

It’s why I fought so hard to help write, negotiate, and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill in 2021, which includes nearly $500 million in investments in Jersey to beef up our climate resiliency to deal with the flooding, fires, and storms — resources that are clearly needed here in North Jersey. It’s also why I’ve fought to ensure that FEMA and the Army Corps have what they need to help our towns, families, and small businesses after a crisis, and led a letter fighting for more funding to fight flooding effects, including $175 million for the Flood Mitigation Grant Program administered by FEMA. 

In the end, it’s about communities and families, our first responders and small businesses, and ensuring that everyone is safe and protected in the face of what’s becoming the new norm in  nearly every town and city I represent, and across our entire great state, and country. We cannot let a lack of affordability sweep away the future of our families. But if we act quickly, and work together, we can turn the winds of fortune back in our favor. 

These are tough issues, but there is nothing partisan about natural disasters and helping our families. I know that if we work together through the good and the bad, through the clearest of skies and heaviest of rain, in the greatest country in the world, our best days will always be ahead of us. 

Thank you. God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

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