U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs establishes working groups on flood insurance reform, proxy process changes and federal financial regulator oversight

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs announced three Republican-led working groups under Chairman Tim Scott to develop proposals on issues within the committee’s jurisdiction, spanning the National Flood Insurance Program, shareholder voting and proxy advisory practices, and reform of federal financial regulatory agencies. A group led by Senators John Kennedy and Mike Rounds will pursue “long-term” reauthorization and reforms for the National Flood Insurance Program aimed at providing certainty to homeowners, communities and insurers, fostering a sustainable flood insurance market, and improving the program’s fiscal sustainability; Rounds highlighted USD 20 billion in debt and the program’s reliance on short-term reauthorizations. Senator Bill Hagerty will lead a group focused on reforms to the shareholder proposal and proxy advisor process, citing concerns that the current shareholder voting process is “broken” and that activists exert undue influence over corporate decisions. Senator Thom Tillis will lead a group examining the transparency, efficacy and accountability of federal financial regulators, including supervisory practices and ways to reduce onerous or duplicative regulatory burdens. No timelines or formal process steps were set out, with the working groups positioned as a mechanism to build consensus and advance solutions.