This is bad legislation for Michigan. For the last few years more and more citizens of our state have been forced into purchasing flood insurance even though they live on property that has no history of flooding and all of this during a period of time when our lake levels are at historic lows. This has occurred because the federal government is using faulty data and is looking at our state as a cash cow to subsidize other more disaster prone areas.
My amendment would have forced the federal government to use the most up-to-date data and sound science to determine those properties which should rightly be within a flood plain. This amendment unfortunately was not made a part of the legislation. People in places like New Orleans look up at the water while we look down at low water levels. Because of Congress’s refusal to correct this unfair situation, I will be calling on the Governor and legislature to have Michigan opt out of the federal flood insurance program and have our state create our own program. That seems to be the only way Michigan will get fundamental fairness.