**April 12, 2007 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Report**

\(1\) CATASTROPHE INSURANCE:

Clark, Leslie. \"Crist\'s Plea For Disaster Fund Rejected.\" Bradenton
Herald (FL), April 12, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/17064335.htm]{.underline}](http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/17064335.htm)

\[Excerpt: \"Sen. Richard Shelby, of Alabama, the top Republican on the
committee, underscored the sentiment of many noncoastal-area lawmakers,
asking several times why U.S. taxpayers should subsidize
\'million-dollar vacation homes\'.\"\]

Evans, Ben. \"Lawmakers Plead for Catastrophe Fund.\" Associated Press,
April 11, 2007. Accessed at:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/11/AR2007041101613.html>

\[Excerpt: \[Excerpt: \"Skittish from Hurricane Katrina and bracing for
another storm season, lawmakers including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
asked Wednesday for a national catastrophe fund to help hold down
property insurance premiums\.... He told the panel that rising insurance
premiums after recent hurricanes are driving people from their homes.

Lawmakers from other Gulf states, the Northeast and elsewhere have also
voiced support for a national program, which would establish a backstop
for property insurance similar to one set up for terrorism insurance
after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. \"Traditional insurance market
mechanisms are not adequately managing catastrophic risk,\" Crist said,
accusing the insurance industry of profiting from disaster-stricken
communities. \"Floridians are being forced to choose between paying
skyrocketing insurance premiums or selling their homes.\"\]

Grover, Nancy. \"Private Market is Best Mechanism to Address Coastal
Insurance Issues, NAMIC CEO Tells Congress.\" Insurance Newsnet, April
11, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=top_pc&q=0&id=78184]{.underline}](http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=top_pc&q=0&id=78184)

\[Excerpt: \"The private insurance marketplace, not the federal
government, is the best vehicle to address coastal insurance issues in
the U.S. But the federal government can play a role in efforts to reduce
affordability and availability problems in coastal regions. That\'s the
message NAMIC President and CEO Chuck Chamness delivered to members of
the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today.
During the hearing An Examination of the Availability and Affordability
of Property and Casualty Insurance in the Gulf Coast and Other Coastal
Regions, Chamness discussed the developing insurance crisis along the
U.S. coastal regions and legislative initiatives that could either help
or, in some cases, worsen the situation\....

Chamness explained that a federal catastrophe fund would be unnecessary,
except in the event of a true mega-catastrophe. Chamness pointed to the
following federal initiatives that NAMIC supports to curtail problems of
affordable and available insurance in coastal regions going forward:

\* Creating incentives to encourage states to adopt and enforce strong,
statewide building codes. Strong building codes and responsible land-use
planning have been shown to greatly reduce the level of property damage
and human suffering caused by natural disasters.

\* Designing government initiatives to create mitigation grant programs
to allow homeowners in high-risk areas to invest in risk-mitigation
measures.

\* Amending the federal tax code to allow insurers to set aside a
portion of premium income in tax-exempt policyholder disaster protection
funds.

\* Reforming the National Flood Insurance Program to change the way
premiums are set. Also, enacting stiffer penalties on financial
institutions that fail to require flood insurance coverage for mortgages
on properties in flood-prone areas or allow the policies to lapse.\"\]

Lightman, David. \"Further Aid For Storm Victims Urged.\" Courant (CN),
April 12, 2007. At:

<http://www.courant.com/business/hc-dodd0412.artapr12,0,5924633.story?coll=hc-headlines-business>

\[Excerpt: Edward P. Lazear, chairman of the president\'s Council of
Economic Advisers: \"\'The administration opposes legislation to create
a new federal program to backstop catastrophe insurance,\' he said
flatly. Such a program, he said, would have unintended consequences.
Among them: \'Government insurance would displace insurance provided by
the private market,\' Lazear said. And, he noted, \'a federal program
would undermine economic incentives to mitigate risks because the
program would likely distort rates from their actuarial values.
Individuals would be encouraged to take on risks that are inappropriate,
specifically putting themselves in harm\'s way because they do not bear
the full expected costs of damages incurred.\' Lazear also concluded
that government help would mean that taxpayers around the country would
\'subsidize insurance rates for the benefit of a relatively small group
of people in high-risk areas\'.\"\]

Lipman, Larry. \"Crist Pushes U.S. Catastrophe Fund.\" Palm Beach Post,
April 12, 2007. At:

<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/business/epaper/2007/04/12/a1d_coastinsurance_0412.html#msg3>

\[Excerpt: \"\'A federal catastrophe fund would provide protection for
American homeowners throughout the nation,\' he said.'A national program
would spread the risk across our country, thus strengthening the
insurance markets\'.\"\]

\(2\) PRINCIPLES OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT \-- COLLABORATION:

Frederickson, H. George. \"Public Management and the End of Geography.\"

Governing.com, March 28, 2007. Accessed at:

[[http://www.governing.com/manage/mi/7ins0328.htm]{.underline}](http://www.governing.com/manage/mi/7ins0328.htm)

\[Thanks to Eric Holderman (Eric\'s Corner Newsletter), King County, WA
OEM, for this post.\]

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM

Higher Education Project Manager

Emergency Management Institute

National Emergency Training Center

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

16825 S. Seton, K-011

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

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