WASHINGTON – Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) joined Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in sending a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell urging the agency to reverse its recent decision to eliminate discounts for some National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policy holders in Lee County, Florida.

Previously, FEMA had offered NFIP policyholders in Lee County a community premium discount of 25 percent, which will be eliminated for some policyholders if FEMA moves forward with its recent decision.


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Read the full text of the letter HERE or below:


Dear Administrator Criswell:

We write regarding the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) recent decision to retrograde Lee County, Florida’s National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) community premium discount pursuant to the Community Rating System (CRS), effective October 1, 2024. The retrograde of the NFIP premium discount is yet another unforeseen challenge for Lee County residents, who continue their fight to recover from Hurricane Ian.

In the wake of disaster recovery and skyrocketing inflation, Lee County residents now face even higher living costs as a result of this decision. We urge you to immediately conduct a thorough review of this decision, honor the original discounts and meet with local leaders to remedy any issues and keep NFIP discounts in place.

Since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Lee County and caused widespread devastation in Southwest Florida, we have fought to deliver relief to Florida families and businesses and ensure a rapid recovery from this deadly storm. While we appreciated FEMA’s quick response in the immediate aftermath of the storm, we are discouraged by recent actions from the agency.

FEMA’s recent decision to lower discounts and raise premiums for some NFIP policyholders in Lee County is liable to create yet another unacceptable rise in costs for Southwest Florida families and businesses still recovering from Hurricane Ian that is catastrophic for their financial stability. It is critical to the livelihoods of Florida families and businesses that FEMA does everything needed to work with local leaders to ensure further cost increases do not take effect.

We look forward to working with FEMA to maintain NFIP discounts in Lee County as we continue to fight against higher costs for Florida families.

Sincerely,

Byron Donalds (R-FL) Member of Congress
Greg Steube (R-FL) Member of Congress
Rick Scott (R-FL) United States Senator
Marco Rubio (R-FL) United States Senator