Sponsors (5)
The bill trades faster, more automatic flood payouts and short-term financial protection through parametric private insurance for risks of basis mismatch, reduced funding for long-term mitigation, potential underinsurance for low-income households, and program complexity/uncertainty.
Homeowners and small businesses in flood-prone areas would get faster, automatic payouts after qualifying flood triggers through parametric policies, enabling quicker relief and recovery.
State and local governments (and the residents they serve) can use up to 15% of annual mitigation grant funds to buy parametric flood insurance premiums for up to five years, increasing short-term financial protection for communities when triggers are met.
Homeowners and communities would benefit from required written disclosures, annual grantee reports, and FEMA reports to Congress (1, 3, and 5 years), improving transparency about triggers, basis risk, outreach, and creating data to inform future policy improvements.
Homeowners, small businesses, and low-income residents face basis risk: parametric triggers may not match actual local damage, so affected people might receive insufficient or no payouts despite suffering losses.
State and local governments and homeowners could lose mitigation progress because using up to 15% of mitigation grant funds for insurance premiums reduces money available for direct, long‑term projects (e.g., elevation, buyouts).
Low-income households risk being underinsured if private or parametric products are unaffordable or poorly designed, increasing financial vulnerability for the most economically vulnerable residents.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows FEMA for five years to let mitigation grant recipients use up to 15% of grant funds to buy community parametric flood insurance with disclosure and reporting requirements.
Official title: To direct the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to allow certain recipients of the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant, and other grants, to be used for the payment of premiums for a community-based, parametric flood insurance policy, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 29, 2026 by Andrew R. Garbarino · Last progress May 29, 2026
Allows FEMA for five years to permit states or communities receiving certain flood mitigation grants to use up to 15% of their annual grant amounts to buy community-level private parametric flood insurance. The bill requires written policy disclosures, annual recipient reports on outreach and use, and FEMA reports to Congress at 1, 3, and 5 years on effects, enrollment, payouts, and potential legislative changes.