2017: Fitzpatrick Effectively Voted For Emergency Hurricane And
Wildfire Appropriations, Which Included Canceling $16 Billion In NFIB
Debt. In October 2017, Fitzpatrick effectively voted for legislation
that would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "make available $36.5
billion in emergency supplemental funding for fiscal 2018 to partially
cover the costs of responding to multiple natural disasters, including
hurricanes and wildfires. The measure would include $18.7 billion for
the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund - $4.9
billion of which would be used for disaster relief loans to Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It would also cancel $16 billion of the
Treasury debt incurred by FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, would
release $1.2 billion in contingency reserves from the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program for use in Puerto Rico would provide $577
million in funding to fight wildfires." The vote was on a motion to
suspend the rules and agree to a resolution that would have effectively
concurred in the Senate amendment to H.R. 2266 with a House amendment.
The House agreed to the motion, thereby effectively passing the
legislation, by a vote of 353 to 69. The Senate later passed the
legislation and the president later signed it into law. [House Vote
566, 10/12/17;
Congressional Quarterly, 10/12/17;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
2266;
Congressional Actions, H. Res.
569]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted Against Extending The Authorization For The
NFIP Through May 31, 2019 While Also Prohibiting FEMA From Restricting
The Sale Of Private Flood Insurance. In December 2018, Fitzpatrick
voted against a bill that would have, according to Congressional
Quarterly, "extend[ed] the authorization and authorities under the
National Flood Insurance Program through through [sic] May 31, 2019.
The program is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
and offers federally-backed flood insurance to individuals and entities
in communities that adopt certain flood plain management standards. It
would also [have] state[d] that FEMA may not restrict organizations
from selling private flood insurance as a condition of participating in
program activities.' The vote was on a motion to suspend the rules and
pass the bill. The House rejected the motion, thereby defeating the bill
by a vote of 148 to 226. [House Vote 497,
12/21/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 12/21/18; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
7388]
2019: Fitzpatrick Voted For A Continuing Appropriations Bill For All
But Homeland Security That Would End That Partial Government Shutdown As
Well As Extend The NFIP Through The End Of FY 2019. In January 2019,
Fitzpatrick voted for a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly,
"provide[d] $271.8 billion for full-year fiscal 2019 funding for six
of the seven spending bills that reached a conference agreement, but
that lack enacted appropriations (all except Homeland Security) and
would [have] extend[ed] authorization for several expiring programs
including the National Flood Insurance Program and the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families." The vote was on a passage. The House
passed the bill by a vote of 234 to 180. [House Vote 49,
1/23/19; Congressional
Quarterly, 1/23/19; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
648]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted To Reauthorize The NFIP Through May 31,
2019. In December 2018, Fitzpatrick voted for a bill that, would have,
according to Congressional Quarterly, "extend[ed] the authorization
and authorities under the National Flood Insurance Program through
through [sic] May 31, 2019. The program is administered by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency and offers federally-backed flood insurance
to individuals and entities in communities that adopt certain flood
plain management standards." The vote was on a motion to suspend the
rules and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion by a vote of 315
to 48. The bill was already agreed to by the Senate, meaning the bill
went to the president, who signed it into law. [House Vote 500,
12/21/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 12/21/18; Congressional
Actions, S.
3628]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted To Extend The Authorization For The NFIP
Through December 7, 2018. In November 2018, Fitzpatrick voted for
legislation that would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "extend
the authorization and authorities under the National Flood Insurance
Program for one week, through Dec. 7, 2018. The program is administered
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and offers federally-backed
flood insurance to individuals and entities in communities that adopt
certain flood plain management standards." The vote was on a motion to
suspend the rules and pass the bill. The House agreed to the motion,
thereby passing a bill, by a vote of 350 to 46. The Senate then agreed
to the motion and the president signed it into law. [House Vote 424,
11/29/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 11/29/18;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
7187]
2018: Fitzpatrick Voted For The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus
Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017
Levels; Legislation Reauthorized The NFIB. In March 2018, Fitzpatrick
voted for the FY 2018 Omnibus spending bill. According to Congressional
Quarterly, "Combined, the spending measures would provide about $1.3
trillion in discretionary spending, with $1.2 trillion subject to
discretionary spending caps, and $78.1 billion designated as Overseas
Contingency Operations funds. The measure's spending levels are
consistent with the increased defense and non-defense budget caps set by
the two-year budget deal agreed to last month. That agreement increased
the FY 2018 defense cap by $80 billion and the non-defense cap by $63
billion. Given that the previous caps were set to reduce overall
discretionary spending by $5 billion, the net increase provided by the
omnibus is $138 billion over the FY 2017 level." The vote was on the
motion to concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment. The House
agreed to the motion, thereby passing the bill, by a vote of 256 to 167.
The Senate later agreed to the legislation, sending it to the president,
who signed it into law. [House Vote 127,
3/22/18; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/22/18; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
1625]
2017: Fitzpatrick Voted For A Republican Plan To Reauthorize The NFIB
For Five Years. In November 2015, Fitzpatrick voted for legislation
that would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "reauthorize the
National Flood Insurance Program through fiscal 2022 and would make
modifications to the program, including: raise annual surcharges and
reserve fund assessments on federal flood insurance policyholders, raise
rates on properties that incur multiple losses, establish an annual
deductible for severe and extreme repetitive loss properties and end the
requirement that flood insurance be purchased for commercial and
multifamily properties located in flood risk zones. It would also
require that flood insurance provided by private sector carriers be
accepted by Federal Emergency Management Agency and considered as
meeting the National Flood Insurance Program's mandatory flood insurance
purchase requirements, and would allow private insurers and any other
interested party to review FEMA information regarding its assessments of
flood risk." The vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a
vote of 237 to 189. The Senate took no substantive action on the
legislation. [House Vote 630,
11/14/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 11/14/17; Congressional
Actions, H.R.
2874]
Democrats Claimed That The Bill Would Increase Premiums For Policy
Holders. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Opponents of the
bill, primarily Democrats, say that 2012 Biggert-Waters law
inadvertently led to skyrocketing premiums for homeowners and
businesses across the country, and that the bill will once again
increase flood insurance costs for all policyholders while also
making the program unstable." [Congressional Quarterly,
11/10/17]
Democrats Also Claimed That The Bill's Allowance OF Private
Insurance Would Lead To Increased Government Costs And That The Bill
Would Place Larger Costs For Certain Poorer Americans. According
to Congressional Quarterly, "In particular, the bill's private
flood insurance provisions they say will encourage cherry-picking by
private insurers, which would put the government on the hook for the
riskiest and ultimately costliest policies. They say that the
biggest challenge to the NFIP is its massive debt and the money
being spent on interest to service that debt, which the bill only
addresses by charging policyholders more for flood insurance. They
also say that basing metrics for determining excessive claims and
terminating insurance on the replacement value of a home will have a
disproportionate impact on homes with lower values, and on
homeowners with fewer means." [Congressional Quarterly,
11/10/17]