July 6, 2010 16:22
by J. Wylie Donald
Well, they finally got around to it. Since May 31 the National Flood Insurance Program has had no authority to issue flood insurance contracts. The House approved extending the NFIP's authority on June 23, the Senate on June 30, and the President signed the bill July 2, retroactive to June 1 (fittingly, the first day of the official Atlantic hurricane season). This is not a new circumstance. The NFIP's authority first lapsed on March 1, again on March 28 and will do so again on September 30, absent a long-term extension.
So what does it mean when the NFIP can't make loans? Dante described a p...