Flood Insurance Bill Aims to Provide More Transparency About Premium Rates
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) today introduced the Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act, NAHB-supported legislation that requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to publish the formulas used to calculate mitigation credits for policyholders under Risk Rating 2.0.
The bill also requires FEMA to release a toolkit that could be used to estimate the cost of insurance for new construction without compromising proprietary information. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
FEMA is continuing its plans to allow Risk Rating 2.0 to go into full effect on April 1, 2022. The new flood insurance risk rating methodology will determine how the agency will apply the new rating factors and credit options when determining insurance premiums for policies issued under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
NAHB is concerned that FEMA will apply this new risk rating without sufficient transparency to allow policyholders to understand how their premiums will be affected and what steps they can take to mitigate flood risks and lower their premiums.
“With FEMA set to institute new National Flood Insurance Program premium rates on April 1 under its Risk Rating 2.0 program, NAHB commends Sens. Bill Cassidy and Kirsten Gillibrand for introducing bipartisan legislation to provide transparency to this process,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter. “By allowing home owners to determine how FEMA sets premium rates for insured properties based on their location, elevation and other factors, this bill will enable consumers to estimate in advance any changes in their premium rates. It also provides property owners the ability to assess if and how much their insurance rates might decline if they take actions to reduce their homes ’risk of flooding.”
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides flood insurance for over five million policyholders.
Learn more about NAHB’s advocacy efforts on nahb.org.
Latest from NAHBNow
Membership
Dec 29, 2025
NAHB Mourns the Passing of Past Chairman John “Joe” RobsonJohn “Joe” Robson, 2009 NAHB chairman, passed away on Saturday, Dec. 27. As founder and president of The Robson Companies, Inc., Robson was a leader in the Tulsa, Okla., area home building and development industries for decades.
Economics | Membership
Dec 29, 2025
Last Chance to Complete the 2025 Census SurveyMembers will receive a final reminder this week from NAHB to complete our 2025 Builder and Associate Member Census. We encourage you to fill this survey out by Dec. 31, 2025, to help us better understand the composition and characteristics of the members who belong to our Federation.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Dec 22, 2025
State-Level Employment Situation: September 2025In September 2025, nonfarm payroll employment was largely unchanged across states on a monthly basis, with a limited number of states seeing statistically significant increases or decreases. This reflects generally stable job counts across states despite broader labor market fluctuations. The data were impacted by collection delays due to the federal government shutdown.
Economics
Dec 19, 2025
Existing Home Sales Edge Higher in NovemberExisting home sales rose for the third consecutive month in November as lower mortgage rates continued to boost home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, the increase remained modest as mortgage rates still stayed above 6% while down from recent highs. The weakening job market also weighed on buyer activity.
Economics
Dec 18, 2025
Lumber Capacity Lower Midway Through 2025Sawmill production has remained essentially flat over the past two years, according to the Federal Reserve G.17 Industrial Production report. This most recent data release contained an annual revision, which resulted in higher estimates for both production and capacity in U.S. sawmills.