— HIGGINS ADDED TO TASK FORCE: Speaker Mike Johnson announced this week the seven Republicans who will serve on the bipartisan House task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Acadiana Congressman Clay Higgins, a member of the Homeland Security and Oversight committees, made the cut. “We will deliver the truth to the American people,” Higgins said in a statement. The task force will have the full investigative authority of the House, including subpoena power, and will assume control and jurisdiction over all pending investigations regarding to the Trump shooting for the remainder of the 118th Congress. The task force is designed to assess the security failures that took place, ensure accountability and report solutions to prevent agency failures from happening again.

— CASSIDY PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA MEASURE: Via Shreveport Times reporter Greg Hilburn: “The U.S. Senate passed landmark internet legislation Tuesday, including a bill by Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy requiring social media companies to do more to protect children who use their platforms. Cassidy’s and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Markey’s updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Kids Online Safety Act legislation passed together on a 91-3 vote…. It’s unclear whether the House will take a vote on the legislation when it comes back from recess in September, though U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana has been generally supportive. Still, the House will be focused on averting a government shutdown when it returns. ‘The House has to pass this; I’m hoping Speaker Johnson and (Majority Leader Steve) Scalise (also of Louisiana) (advance) the legislation,’ Cassidy said in an interview Tuesday morning before the vote.” (More)

— SCALISE’S SUMMER UPDATE: After a year and a half in the current term, Majority Leader Steve Scalise released a report on the progress the House GOP has made in fulfilling their Commitment to America agenda. “We’ve brought legislation to the floor to unleash American energy and lower costs for families, including bills to reverse the Biden Administration’s radical anti-energy policies and resume oil and gas leasing sales, promote domestic mining of critical minerals and reform our broken permitting process,” Scalise said. “We’ve also passed legislation to crack down on the Biden Administration and Border Czar Vice President Harris’ border crisis, such as H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which would stem the flow of migrants, reinstate Trump-era border policies, and keep fentanyl off our streets. Additionally, we’ve strongly supported our ally, Israel, against Iran and their terrorist proxies, as well as against the far-Left’s antisemitic attacks, and passed legislation to deter our adversaries.” (Read the full report) 

— LETLOW ON SURPREME COURT REFORMS: “President Biden’s newest suggestion to throw the Constitution out the window and pack the Supreme Court is unbelievable,” Congresswoman Julia Letlow said yesterday. “It would take an unprecedented constitutional amendment to accomplish, and there is a reason it has never been successful before. A better constitutional amendment would be one that prevents the President from undermining democracy and destroying the rule of law by using his Justice Department to attack and imprison his political enemies.”

With an active hurricane season approaching what it usually prime time for Atlantic storms, Louisiana has but two months remaining until the National Flood Insurance Program expires on Sept. 30.

Our homeowners and policymakers know this dangerous dance all too well: talk of reforms never quite materialize while Congress tries to race the proverbial clock to address a scheduled expiration.

For his part, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy is once again pushing for a renewal with his NFIP Extension Act of 2024. The legislation would extend the NFIP for one more year, until Sept. 30, 2025.

Louisiana’s congressional delegation has long played a key role in keeping the flood insurance debate alive. In fact, of the 5 million Americans who rely on the NFIP, roughly 500,000 are from the Bayou State.

Kennedy said last week these families and businesses are why he filed his bill.

“With disastrous storms like Ida, Laura and Katrina burned in our state’s memory, Louisianians know the need for the NFIP better than anyone,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy and others had been pushing to reauthorize the program for five years, and to cap annual policy premium hikes. But as the September deadline looms, the goal for coastal lawmakers is to simply extend.

Our other voice in the upper chamber, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, advocated for a five-year extension as well, but lately he just wants attention for the issue. He has been is grabbing as much floor time as possible for speeches, the fourth and most recent being three weeks ago.

“NFIP is a safety net for homeowners after a storm. It protects them from being financially wiped out by a hurricane,” Cassidy said from the Senate floor. “However, this year is different from past years for two reasons. First, the National Weather Service predicts that 2024 will see ‘above-normal’ hurricane activity in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Second, there is much more uncertainty about whether NFIP will remain affordable.”

Cassidy highlighted the uncertainty NFIP’s new risk assessment process, Risk Rating 2.0, which has created a system where homeowners have no idea if they can continue to absorb rising premiums, leading a fifth of all policyholders to drop coverage.

“These aren’t millionaires’ beach homes,” said Cassidy. “These are hard-working folks who are uncertain whether they will be able to stay in their home because of a decision made with zero input from Congress.”

The uncertainty surrounding the program extends into the political arena as well. 

According to a recent report by Insurance Journal, “a plan by a politically conservative group to dismantle the National Flood Insurance Program, if Donald Trump is elected president, has been met with approval from a private flood insurer but sharp skepticism from economists and insurance agents who say such a move would disrupt home sales and property insurance across the country.”

The report specifically references the “Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, designed to be a blueprint for Trump’s first few months in office” and how its plan “would put an end to federal flood insurance as part of a broader plan to reduce the size of the federal government.”

As July gives way to August, Kennedy, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, knows a stand alone measure to extend the NFIP may not do the trick, and would certainly buck recent trends.

The NFIP was last extended this past spring, when Congress avoided a partial government shutdown with a multi-bill package that contained several riders, including an extension of the program though Sept. 30.

As such, Kennedy said has worked to ensure that multiple continuing resolutions to fund the federal government have the NFIP extension language. 

Most of the appropriations action so far has been on the House side, with an overall funding agreement appearing elusive at best.

Faced with its own political uncertainties, especially when it comes to efforts to avoid a partial government shutdown, the House has entered into its August recess early and won’t return to the Hill until Sept. 9.

​​​​​​​So until then, we wait — both for Congress, and whatever this hurricane season has in store.