Today, the President signed into law a continuing appropriations resolution for fiscal year 2009 (H.R. 2638, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009) that includes a short-term extension of the NFIP through March 6, 2009. The continuing resolution provides interim funding for various federal agencies including funding for FEMA and flood map modernization. As mentioned in the August/September 2008 edition of The High Ground, the House and Senate have each passed separate NFIP reform bills containing five-year reauthorization provisions, but given that Congress is still working on emergency economic legislation and many lawmakers will soon be busy campaigning in advance of November’s general election, actual reforms to the NFIP may have to wait until a new Congress begins reconsidering legislation next year. The short-term NFIP extension is effective October 1, 2008.