Congress voted Thursday to fund the government through December 21, 2018, and in doing so extended the National Flood Insurance Program for two weeks.
This extension comes just one week after the House and Senate approved of a one-week extension of the program to prevent the program from lapsing.
Congress voted to fund the government for the next two weeks in order to avoid a government shutdown, which would have occurred on December 7, 2018. Of course, this could just lead to a partial government shutdown later this month, just before Christmas.
The measure still needs to be signed by President Donald Trump.
In funding the government for the next two weeks, Congress also passed an extension for the National Flood Insurance Program until December 21, 2018. The current program was set to expire Friday.
This marks the 43rd extension of the NFIP since 1988 and the 41st short-term deal made to avoid a lapse in the program over the past 20 years.
While the housing industry was glad a lapse was avoided, it also called upon Congress to stop passing short-term deals and come up with a long-term solution for the program.
“With Congress today moving to keep the government funded through December 21, the National Flood Insurance Program is again extended, this time for two weeks,” said Shannon McGahn, National Association of Realtors senior vice president of government affairs. “This is the 43rd extension of the NFIP since 1998, and the 41st short-term deal made to avoid a lapse in the program over the past 20 years.”
“NAR is relieved to know that the NFIP was again extended before a lapse could occur,” McGahn said. “However, flooding is a constant, unavoidable threat to Americans living in both coastal and inland communities across the country. As such, NAR urges the House and Senate to continue working towards responsible, long-term reauthorization that includes meaningful reforms, as the current process of continuous short term extensions is simply not sustainable.”
Last week, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called on the House to pass a long-term resolution for the program, saying, “The long-term stability of this critical program continues to fall victim to our inability to agree on a number of items.”
