Senator Schiff Reintroduces Legislation That Seeks to Stabilize Property Insurance Markets

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently reintroduced legislation – the Incorporating National Support for Unprecedented Risks and Emergencies (INSURE) Act (S. 2349) – that seeks to stabilize the property insurance market amid rising premiums and reduced availability. The INSURE Act would establish a federal catastrophic reinsurance program within the Department of the Treasury to cap insurer liability in the event of large-scale natural disasters that exceed a defined monetary threshold. That threshold would be developed by the Treasury Secretary in consultation with an advisory committee.

Pursuant to the legislation, participating insurers would be required to offer coverage for all major natural hazards, including wildfires, severe storms, wind, hurricanes, and floods. The bill also leaves open the possibility of adding earthquake coverage under a future all-perils policy. To improve transparency and oversight, the legislation would enhance federal monitoring of the insurance sector through the Office of Financial Research and the Federal Insurance Office, in partnership with state regulators.

Supporters of the proposal argue that a federal backstop could inject much-needed stability into distressed insurance markets, particularly in California, by offering a competitively priced reinsurance option to supplement or replace unreliable private coverage. Some stakeholders, however, caution that the program could distort market pricing, reduce private-sector incentives for risk management, and shift financial risk to taxpayers.

A previous iteration of the bill would have phased out the National Flood Insurance Program. That provision was removed in response to feedback from FEMA. The revised bill also drops a proposal to establish a new grant program aimed at incentivizing risk-reduction efforts.

Representatives Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), and Doris Matsui (D-CA) have sponsored companion legislation (H.R. 4504) in the House.

CMS to Share Medicaid Data With ICE

As part of an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be granted access to personal data for the nation’s roughly 79 million Medicaid enrollees – including names, home addresses, birthdates, ethnic and racial information, and Social Security numbers. The move, confirmed by both agencies last week, represents a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to identify and potentially remove undocumented immigrants who may be enrolled in federal benefit programs.

The agreement builds on earlier actions taken by CMS last month, when it began sharing Medicaid enrollment data from California, Illinois, Washington, and Washington, D.C. with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That limited data-sharing arrangement triggered swift backlash and a legal challenge from a coalition of states led by California. A hearing on their motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for August 7.

The new agreement allows ICE to access the CMS database during regular business hours through September 9 but prohibits the agency from downloading or copying the data. The administration has framed the effort as part of a broader crackdown on fraud and ineligible enrollment in federal programs. However, critics have condemned it as a dangerous expansion of federal surveillance and a potential violation of privacy and due process rights, particularly for immigrant communities.

T&I Committee Leaders Introduce FEMA Reform Proposal

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) have formally introduced legislation – the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 (H.R. 4669) – thataims to streamline disaster response and recovery, reduce bureaucratic delays, and encourage state and local governments to take a more active role in emergency management.

One of the bill’s cornerstone provisions is the restoration of FEMA’s status as a Cabinet-level agency, making it directly accountable to the president. This move is intended to streamline decision-making, enhance disaster response coordination, and restore FEMA to a more prominent role in federal emergency management. This mirrors a separate proposal (S. 1246) by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) to similarly raise FEMA’s visibility and influence within the executive branch.

To reduce red tape and accelerate recovery efforts, the bill would replace the current reimbursement process with more streamlined, project-based grants, allowing states to set their own recovery priorities. The measure also includes financial incentives for states to invest in disaster resilience and preparedness.

In addition, the legislation seeks to simplify the process for disaster survivors by requiring a single, streamlined application and clearer, more accessible communication from FEMA. This change is intended to reduce the paperwork burden, eliminate confusion, and speed up aid distribution. States would also be given more flexibility to determine the most appropriate emergency housing solutions for each disaster, allowing them to tailor responses to local conditions.

Of particular interest to smaller communities, the bill urges FEMA to give greater weight to events that damage economically distressed or rural areas when deciding whether to recommend a presidential disaster declaration.

To improve transparency and accountability, the bill would establish a Recovery Task Force, which would be charged with closing out long-standing disaster declarations. It also would prohibit political bias in the distribution of disaster funding, mandate comprehensive reviews of FEMA regulations to eliminate outdated and conflicting policies, and direct FEMA to simplify its communications with disaster survivors to reduce confusion and speed recovery.

A section-by-section summary of the FEMA Act can be accessed here.

Lawmakers Renew Bipartisan Push to Tie CDBG Funds to Local Land Use Reform

This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced legislation – the Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act (S.2146/H.R.4660) – aimed at encouraging local governments to ease restrictive land-use policies to boost housing supply. Specifically, the measure would require recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to either report on existing efforts to adopt “less burdensome” land use policies or submit a plan to pursue such reforms.

The legislation enumerates a variety of land-use reforms that would qualify, such as enacting high-density single-family and multi-family zoning, reducing minimum lot sizes, creating transit-oriented development zones, and streamlining permitting processes and timelines, among other things.

Formerly known as the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) Act, the measure passed the House unanimously in 2020 and cleared the House Financial Services Committee with bipartisan support last Congress.

Senators Padilla, Schiff Call on Trump Administration to Restore Staffing Levels at National Weather Service

Senators Padilla and Schiff recently sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Acting Administrator Laura Grimm calling on the Trump administration to restore staffing levels at the California National Weather Service (NWS) offices in Sacramento and Hanford. The senators noted that both offices are operating with significant vacancies, potentially undermining critical forecasting and warning services during peak fire season.

They also highlighted the vital role NWS meteorologists play in issuing fire weather alerts, red flag warnings, and providing real-time guidance to firefighting teams and aviation crews. The senators expressed concern that ongoing staffing shortages have already reduced operational hours and limited forecasting capacity.