Flood Insurance Getting Political Nod - AP

[Eugene]

Flood Insurance Getting Political Nod
By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer
12:12 PM PST, December 29, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The federal flood insurance program may be going broke after incurring
$20 billion in debt from recent storms like Hurricane Katrina. Still, politicians want
to extend the taxpayer-subsidized coverage for some of the riskiest -- and potentially
most valuable -- properties in the country.

For all it didn't accomplish this year, Congress passed two bills carving out exceptions
to a law passed years ago to phase out federal spending that might encourage
development in environmentally sensitive and disaster-prone areas.

One of the bills benefited Jekyll Island, a vacation spot off Georgia's coast that is poised
for redevelopment, while the other helped a mostly undeveloped 10-lot subdivision on
Florida's Gulf Coast.

A handful of similar proposals are pending. After seeing the success of the Georgia and
Florida bills this year, property owners in Alabama, Texas and elsewhere are lobbying for
their own continued coverage.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/s...