(The Center Square) − Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple is supporting U.S. Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy in their request for the federal government to pause implementation of FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 flood insurance policy, citing concerns that the program no longer reflects its intended goals of affordability and transparency.
“The NFIP is not a private business — it is a government program designed to help Americans afford flood insurance in areas where it would otherwise be unaffordable,” Temple told The Center Square.
Temple’s comments follow a letter sent by Kennedy, Cassidy, and a coalition of GOP senators from flood-prone states to FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson.
The letter urges the agency to terminate the Risk Rating 2.0 pricing system, release the data and actuarial models used to justify premium hikes, and restore affordability protections for vulnerable households.
The senators argue that the pricing overhaul — implemented in October 2021 following climate-focused executive orders from the Biden administration — has led to crippling increases in National Flood Insurance Program premiums, particularly in Louisiana.
According to FEMA, 77% of all NFIP policyholders now pay more under Risk Rating 2.0. In Louisiana, that figure rises to 80%, with an average premium increase of 234% in 2023 alone, according to estimates cited by the senators. More than 52,000 policyholders have since dropped their flood insurance coverage, many of them seniors or families on fixed incomes.
In some coastal parishes, premiums have grown so steep that they now exceed 2% of median household income — a threshold the federal government itself defines as cost-prohibitive.
Temple, who took office in 2024 after campaigning on flood insurance reform, has previously criticized the rollout of Risk Rating 2.0 for its lack of clarity and public input. He echoed concerns from lawmakers that FEMA has refused to release key modeling data.
“Senators Cassidy and Kennedy are exactly right that FEMA’s refusal to be transparent on NFIP ratemaking makes Risk Rating 2.0 unsustainable,” Temple said. “I support their efforts to assist flood insurance policyholders in Louisiana and around the country.”
Risk Rating 2.0 was billed by FEMA as a long-overdue modernization effort, one that would tie premiums more closely to individual property risk rather than outdated flood zone maps. But critics say the model penalizes working-class and rural homeowners and undermines property values in flood-prone areas.
Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Shelley Moore Capito and Gov.-Senator Jim Justice of West Virginia and Alabama’s Katie Boyd Britt and Tommy Tuberville also signed the letter.
Cassidy and Kennedy warned that without action, more families will drop out of the NFIP, putting the burden of disaster recovery on taxpayers when uninsured homes flood. They also cautioned that home sales and lending could stall in high-risk areas, further destabilizing local economies.
“The longer this goes on, the worse it gets,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to act now — before further harm is done — to protect vulnerable Americans, preserve homeownership, and ensure the NFIP fulfills its mission as Congress intended.”
FEMA has defended Risk Rating 2.0 as essential for the program’s long-term solvency, noting that the NFIP has operated at a deficit for years. The agency has not yet responded publicly to the latest letter.
