Title: Fair Flood Insurance Act of 2019
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Fair Flood Insurance Act of 2019
This bill exempts from rulemaking the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) implementation of monthly premium payment schedules for flood insurance. FEMA may implement this schedule as a pilot program. The Government Accountability Office must report on the costs associated with monthly payment of premiums. FEMA must annually report on these costs.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3146 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3146

To provide for the monthly installment payment of premiums for coverage 
  under the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 5, 2019

 Mr. David Scott of Georgia (for himself and Mr. Duffy) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the monthly installment payment of premiums for coverage 
  under the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Flood Insurance Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS.

    (a) Authority.--Subsection (g) of section 1308 of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(g)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the subsection designation and all that 
        follows through ``With respect'' and inserting the following:
    ``(g) Frequency of Premium Collection.--
            ``(1) Options.--With respect''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Monthly installment payment of premiums.--
                    ``(A) Exemption from rulemaking.--Until such time 
                as the Administrator promulgates regulations 
                implementing paragraph (1) of this subsection, the 
                Administrator may adopt policies and procedures, 
                notwithstanding any other provisions of law and in 
                alignment and consistent with existing industry escrow 
                and servicing standards, necessary to implement such 
                paragraph without undergoing notice and comment 
                rulemaking and without conducting regulatory analyses 
                otherwise required by statute, regulation, or Executive 
                order.
                    ``(B) Pilot program.--The Administrator may 
                initially implement paragraph (1) of this subsection as 
                a pilot program that provides for a gradual phase-in of 
                implementation.
                    ``(C) Policyholder protection.--The Administrator 
                may--
                            ``(i) during the 12-month period beginning 
                        on the date of the enactment of this paragraph, 
                        charge policyholders choosing to pay premiums 
                        in monthly installments a fee for the total 
                        cost of the monthly collection of premiums not 
                        to exceed $25 annually; and
                            ``(ii) after the expiration of the 12-month 
                        period referred to in clause (i), adjust the 
                        fee charged annually to cover the total cost of 
                        the monthly collection of premiums as 
                        determined by the report submitted pursuant to 
                        subparagraph (D).
                    ``(D) Report.--Not later than six months after the 
                date of the enactment of this paragraph, the 
                Comptroller General shall submit a report to the 
                Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
                Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                and Urban Affairs of the Senate, that sets forth all of 
                the costs associated with the monthly payment of 
                premiums, including any up-front costs associated with 
                infrastructure development, the impact on all 
                policyholders including those that exercise the option 
                to pay monthly and those that do not, options for 
                minimizing the costs, particularly the costs to 
                policyholders, and the feasibility of adopting 
                practices that serve to minimize costs to policyholders 
                such as automatic payments and electronic payments.
                    ``(E) Annual reports.--On an annual basis, the 
                Administrator shall report to the Committee on 
                Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 
                the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
                the Senate the ongoing costs associated with the 
                monthly payment of premiums.''.
    (b) Implementation.--Clause (ii) of section 1307(a)(1)(B) (42 
U.S.C. 4014(a)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting before ``any 
administrative expenses'' the following: ``the costs associated with 
the monthly collection of premiums provided for in section 1308(g) (42 
U.S.C. 4015(g)), but only if such costs exceed the operating costs and 
allowances set forth in clause (i) of this subparagraph, and''.
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