Illinois Lawmakers Defeat Flood Insurance Provision

Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation say they’ve defeated a legislative measure that would have mandated flood insurance for individuals living behind what they called healthy flood-protection barriers.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s office says the proposal originally was part of the National Flood Insurance Program’s reauthorization bill. But federal lawmakers from Illinois say the insurance mandate was tucked into the bill with little warning.

Durbin says lawmakers managed to have that provision removed.

Those legislators have scrambled in recent years on behalf of St. Louis’ Illinois suburbs guarded by Mississippi River levees. They were trying to stave off pushes to have property owners with federally backed mortgages buy flood insurance even if they live in areas where levees have withstood floodwaters.