Dennis Ross and Patrick Murphy Team Up on Flood Insurance

Two Florida congressmen -- Republican U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross and Democrat U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy -- joined forces on Thursday to introduce the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act of 2014 which, they insist, will allow more role for the private market on flood insurance by reducing the federal role and giving states more flexibility.

Floridians and Americans across the country would greatly benefit from more choices when it comes to flood insurance policies, said Ross. More choices can mean better coverage and cheaper policies for homeowners.

Its great that the Florida Legislature just passed a bill that would create a state regulatory framework for private flood insurance companies to provide policies for homeowners, Ross added. Today, Rep. Murphy and I introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would remove the excessive restrictions that the federal government places on private flood insurance companies. This would allow states to be able to fully utilize their regulatory framework (like the one the Florida Legislature just approved) to license flood insurance policies. Together, these bills are a big win for homeowners.

With thousands of Treasure Coast-Palm Beach residents experiencing the uncertainty surrounding unaffordable flood insurance rate hikes, it became clear that there needs to be another game in town, said Murphy. This bill would get the federal government out of the way of letting Florida foster a competitive market to drive down costs for homeowners. This common-sense measure would build on the good, bipartisan work done this year to provide desperately needed relief to middle class homeowners.