Federal Update: Pyska Testifies on Capitol Hill, House Starts Budget Markup

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing Thursday entitled “Examining Insurance Markets and the Role of Mitigation Policies” to assess the growing instability in property insurance markets, particularly in disaster-prone regions. Lake County Supervisor Jessica Pyska was invited by committee leaders to testify and share the local government perspective on how escalating wildfire risks, rising premiums, and insurer withdrawals are impacting communities on the ground.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) acknowledged the mounting strain on insurance markets driven by increasing natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes. Drawing from his background in the insurance industry, Senator Scott argued that insurance markets must be allowed to function based on actuarial soundness, and he criticized regulatory policies – particularly in California – for restricting the use of catastrophe models and reinsurance costs in premium calculations. He warned that such policies are contributing to unsustainable insurer losses and market exits.

Scott also emphasized the importance of proactive risk reduction and announced the reintroduction of legislation entitled the Repeatedly Flooded Communities Preparation Act. The bill would require communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) – and that have been repeatedly flooded – to assess the risks to areas damaged by floods, develop and implement community-specific plans for mitigating flood risks, and make these plans publicly available. Of particular concern to local governments, the measure would give FEMA the authority to sanction communities that do not comply with these requirements.

For her part, Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) focused on the impact of rising insurance costs on housing affordability. She criticized recent federal actions, such as funding freezes, cuts to disaster mitigation programs, and tariffs on construction materials, as contributing to the affordability crisis, particularly in frontline communities. She also emphasized the need for stronger consumer protections and mitigation investments to support at-risk homeowners.

Supervisor Pyska – who serves as Chair of CSAC’s Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Policy Committee – delivered compelling testimony grounded in personal experience, recounting the loss of her own home to wildfire. She detailed the devastating impacts of wildfires in Lake County, where nearly 70 percent of the land has burned since 2015 and over 2,000 homes have been lost. In addition, she highlighted how unaffordable insurance premiums are pushing residents onto the state’s FAIR Plan or leaving them uninsured altogether. Pyska also urged Congress to expand federal investments in community mitigation and to pursue meaningful insurance market reforms to better serve disaster-prone areas.

Supervisor Pyska also highlighted an innovative cluster hardening pilot program underway in Lake County’s Kelseyville Riviera community. In partnership with CAL FIRE, Cal OES, and FEMA, the program invests approximately $55,000 per home to harden 350 homes using the latest wildfire science and defensible space standards. The goal is not only to safeguard individual structures, but to reduce overall community risk.

She concluded by urging Congress to strengthen federal support for proactive mitigation initiatives – such as Lake County’s home hardening pilot – and to advance insurance reforms that ensure coverage remains accessible and affordable.

Other hearing witnesses echoed similar concerns. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) pointed to rising disaster losses, regulatory rate suppression, and increased construction costs as drivers of industry instability. APCIA advocated for reforms that would allow rates to better reflect risk and for stronger mitigation incentives to preserve market capacity and consumer access.

Michael Newman, representing the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), called for the integration of mitigation standards – such as IBHS’s FORTIFIED program – into housing policy to build more resilient communities. He urged lawmakers to align federal funding with risk-reduction strategies to avoid rebuilding vulnerable structures and to promote cost-effective resilience over reactive spending.

Finally, Alex Epstein, President of the Center for Industrial Progress, argued that California’s wildfire challenges are rooted not in climate change, but in poor land and forest management. He emphasized the need to reduce ignition sources, manage vegetation, and invest in hardening infrastructure. Epstein also sharply criticized California’s insurance regulatory framework, arguing that a more market-driven system would reward risk-reducing behavior and ensure more accurate pricing of wildfire exposure.

Despite differing views on the root causes of current insurance market dysfunction, all witnesses agreed that proactive mitigation is essential to stabilizing insurance markets and protecting residents. There was also broad consensus that the current trajectory of rising risk and shrinking coverage is unsustainable, and that federal action must be part of the solution.

House Committees Advance Series of Budget Reconciliation Measures

This week, several House committees advanced legislation – along party lines – that embody key portions of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda. For its part, the House Judiciary Committee approved an immigration measure that, among other things, would raise fees on individuals seeking refuge in the United States while increasing spending on resources to detain and deport migrants. All told, the measure includes funding to support the removal of one million migrants annually.

In the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Republicans advanced a partisan measure that would provide funding for the Trump administration’s border and national security agenda, as well as provisions aimed at improving the nation’s air traffic control system. The bill also incorporates a range of spending cuts and fiscal reforms projected to reduce the federal deficit by more than $10 billion.

All told, the T&I measure would rescind roughly $4 billion in spending that was previously approved by Congress, including funding for Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants, Environmental Review Implementation Funds, and Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants, all of which are under the purview of the Federal Highway Administration. The legislation also would rescind the Federal Aviation Administration’s Alternative Fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology Program.

Additionally, the T&I bill includes provisions designed to shore up the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which is the main source of funding for federal surface transportation programs. The legislation includes language that would assess an annual registration fee of $250 on electric vehicles (EVs) and $100 on hybrid vehicles. Taken together, and if ultimately approved by Congress, the fees are expected to generate more than $38 billion over ten years, the vast majority of which would be spent on highway and transit programs.

Several other House panels, including the Education and Workforce Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also advanced their respective budget reconciliation bills this week – each approved along party lines.

Looking ahead, the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee is tentatively scheduled to begin consideration of its reconciliation package on May 7. The E&C markup is of particular interest to California’s counties, as the committee is charged with finding $880 billion in federal spending cuts over ten years, much of which could potentially come from the Medicaid program. The House Agriculture Committee, which could consider massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also may mark up its reconciliation bill next week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is eyeing passage of a massive budget reconciliation bill that combines President Trump’s tax priorities – along with spending cuts and other key policy reforms – by July 4. Across Capitol Hill, Senate Republican leaders plan to wait for the House to pass a combined reconciliation package that they hope can earn the 51 votes needed to clear the Senate.