[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8439 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8439
To establish a nonpartisan commission on natural disaster risk
management, insurance, and other financial and economic protections,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 22, 2026
Mr. Carbajal (for himself, Mr. Evans of Colorado, Mr. Carter of
Louisiana, and Mr. Ezell) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in
addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a nonpartisan commission on natural disaster risk
management, insurance, and other financial and economic protections,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Commission on Natural Disaster Risk
Management and Insurance Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established an independent, nonpartisan Commission on
Natural Disaster Risk Management and Insurance (in this Act referred to
as the ``Commission'').
SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP AND STRUCTURE.
(a) Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of--
(1) 8 members who shall have general knowledge and
expertise in insurance, reinsurance, insurance regulation,
policyholder concerns, emergency management, risk management,
public finance, financial markets, actuarial analysis, flood
mapping and planning, structural engineering, building
standards, land use planning, natural disasters, meteorology,
seismology, environmental issues, quantitative catastrophic
risk modeling, or other pertinent qualifications, of which--
(A) 2 members shall be appointed by the majority
leader of the Senate;
(B) 2 members shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate;
(C) 2 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Representatives; and
(D) 2 members shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the House of Representatives;
(2) 8 members who shall have knowledge and expertise in
insurance, reinsurance, policyholder concerns, risk management,
financial markets, urban development or other pertinent
financial services or housing qualifications, of which--
(A) 2 members shall be appointed by the Chair of
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of
the Senate;
(B) 2 members shall be appointed by the Ranking
Member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate;
(C) 2 members shall be appointed by the Chair of
the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives; and
(D) 2 members shall be appointed by the Ranking
Member of the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives;
(3) 8 members who shall have knowledge and expertise in
disaster response and preparedness, emergency management,
public financing, structural engineering, building standards,
and other pertinent government response and investment
qualifications, of which--
(A) 2 members shall be appointed by the Chair of
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives;
(B) 2 members shall be appointed by the Ranking
Member of the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives;
(C) 2 members shall be appointed by the Chair of
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate; and
(D) 2 members shall be appointed by the Ranking
Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
(4) 2 members who shall be State insurance commissioners,
to be appointed by a selection process determined by the State
insurance commissioners.
(b) Limitations.--Members of the Commission appointed under--
(1) subsection (a)(1) through (a)(3) shall not be officers
or employees of the United States Government or any State
government; and
(2) subsection (a)(4) shall not be from the same political
party.
(c) Period of Appointment.--
(1) In general.--Each member of the Commission shall--
(A) be appointed not later than 30 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act; and
(B) serve for the duration of the Commission.
(2) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Commission--
(A) shall not affect the powers and duties of the
Commission; and
(B) shall be filled in the same manner as the
original appointment.
(d) Basic Pay.--Members of the Commission shall serve without pay.
(e) Quorum.--
(1) Majority.--A majority of the members of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number, as determined
by the Commission, may hold hearings.
(2) Approval actions.--All recommendations and reports of
the Commission required by this Act shall be approved only by a
majority vote of all of the members of the Commission.
(f) Chairperson.--The Commission shall, by majority vote of all of
the members of the Commission, select 1 member of the Commission to
serve as the Chairperson of the Commission.
(g) Meetings.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the
Chairperson of the Commission or a majority of the members of the
Commission.
(h) Information.--
(1) Access.--
(A) In general.--The Commission may enter into
information-sharing agreements with Federal, State,
local and Tribal government entities related to
relevant information, including nonpublicly available
data.
(B) Limitation.--The Commission may not enter into
an information sharing-agreement described in
subparagraph (A) with respect to information that
contains personal identifiable information.
(2) Confidentiality.--
(A) Retention of privilege.--The sharing or
submission of any nonpublicly available data and
information to the Commission shall not constitute a
waiver of, or otherwise affect, any privilege arising
under Federal or State law (including the rules of any
Federal or State court) to which the data or
information is otherwise subject.
(B) Continued application of prior confidentiality
agreements.--Any requirement under Federal or State law
to the extent otherwise applicable, or any requirement
pursuant to a written agreement in effect between the
original source of any nonpublicly available data or
information and the source of such data or information
to the Commission, regarding the privacy or
confidentiality of any data or information in the
possession of the source to the Commission, shall
continue to apply to such data or information after the
data or information has been provided to the
Commission.
(3) Limitation.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to--
(A) require any Federal, State, local or Tribal
government agency to share data or information to the
Commission;
(B) authorize the Commission to require data or
information from any stakeholder; or
(C) allow any Federal, State, local or Tribal
government to collect information for which they do not
already have for the sole purpose of the work of the
Commission.
(i) Gifts.--The Commission may not receive gifts to assist it in
carrying out its duties without a specific authorization.
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) Assessment.--The Commission shall examine the risks posed to
the United States (both nationally and to individual States,
localities, tribes and other geographic areas) by natural disasters and
means for mitigating the risks and financial costs associated with
losses caused by natural disasters, including the assessment of--
(1) the current exposure of the United States to natural
disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, severe storms (including
tornados, hail, and damaging winds), extreme heat, winter
storms, flooding, droughts, and other natural disasters;
(2) demographic trends, including population migration to
high-risk areas and the associated development of the built
environment, and the impact such trends could have on the cost
of losses inflicted by future natural disasters;
(3) the current efforts of States, communities, and
individuals to mitigate their natural disaster risks, including
the affordability and effectiveness of such mitigation;
(4) the impact and benefits of strengthened land use
regulations and building codes in areas at high risk for
natural disasters, and methods to strengthen enforcement of
structural mitigation and vulnerability reduction measures,
such as zoning and building code compliance;
(5) the role of Federal, State, and local governments in
providing incentives for feasible risk mitigation efforts;
(6) the current condition of, as well as the outlook for,
the availability and affordability of property and casualty
insurance in all regions of the country and an analysis of
factors that may be adversely impacting such availability and
affordability;
(7) the impact of Federal and State laws, regulations, and
policies (including rate regulation, market access
requirements, reinsurance, accounting and tax policies, State
residual markets, and State disaster funds) on--
(A) the affordability and availability of insurance
for losses resulting from natural disaster;
(B) the capacity of the private insurance market to
cover losses resulting from natural disasters;
(C) the commercial and residential development of
high-risk areas; and
(D) the costs of natural disasters to Federal and
State taxpayers;
(8) the present and long-term financial condition of State
residual markets and natural disaster funds in high-risk
regions, including the likelihood of insolvency following a
natural disaster, the concentration of risks within such funds,
the reliance on post-event assessments and State funding, and
the adequacy of rates;
(9) the various risk-sharing mechanisms for natural
disasters (including the private insurance and reinsurance
markets, State residual insurance markets, catastrophe bond
markets, and government insurance programs) and the relevant
benefits, risks and practices for providing insurance
protection to different sectors of the population of the United
States;
(10) the role that innovation in financial services could
play in improving the financial risk-sharing of the costs of
natural disasters, specifically addressing measures that could
foster the development of financial products designed to cover
natural disaster risk, such as alternative risk transfer
mechanisms, including parametric insurance and catastrophe
bonds;
(11) whether, and how, such risk-sharing mechanisms can be
modified to resolve key obstacles currently impeding broader
take-up rate of catastrophic risk management and financing;
(12) the ability of the United States private insurance
market to cover insured losses caused by natural disasters,
including an estimate of the maximum amount of insured losses
that could be sustained during a single year and the
probability of natural disasters occurring in a single year
that would inflict more insured losses than the United States
insurance and reinsurance markets could sustain;
(13) the need for financial feasibility and sustainability
of a national, regional, or other cooperation designed to
promote adequate property and casualty insurance take-up,
including in current impacted or constrained markets;
(14) the appropriate role, if any, for the Federal
Government in the stabilization of property and casualty
insurance, reinsurance, or other impacted markets following
catastrophic loss events;
(15) methods to promote the take-up of flood insurance
policies through the National Flood Insurance Program to reduce
financial losses caused by natural disasters in the uninsured
sectors of the population of the United States; and
(16) any unique needs of low-income communities to promote
risk reduction and property and casualty insurance take-up in
such communities.
(b) Consultation and Public Engagement.--In conducting the
assessments required in subsection (a), the Commission shall--
(1) coordinate with State insurance commissioners, both
individually and collectively, on all insurance matters;
(2) consult with relevant Federal agencies, as described in
subsection (c), on matters related to the prevalence and cost
of Federal financial assistance related to losses resulting
from natural disasters; and
(3) engage with relevant public stakeholders, including--
(A) insurers, reinsurers, and insurance agents and
brokers; and
(B) capital market participants with a focus on
alternative risk transfer mechanisms.
(c) Executive Branch Assistance.--The heads of the following
agencies shall advise and consult with the Commission on matters within
their respective areas of responsibility:
(1) Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(2) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(3) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(4) Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(5) Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(6) Federal Housing Finance Agency.
(7) Federal Housing Administration.
(8) Department of the Treasury.
(9) Department of Agriculture.
(10) Environmental Protection Agency.
(11) Any other agency, as determined by the Commission.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Financial Services of the
House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report that
contains--
(1) a detailed statement of the findings and assessments
conducted by the Commission pursuant to section 4; and
(2) any recommendations for legislative, regulatory,
administrative, or other actions at the Federal, State, or
local levels that the Commission considers appropriate to
address the issues described in section 4.
SEC. 6. TERMINATION.
(a) In General.--The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the
date on which the Commission submits the report under section 5.
(b) Data and Information.--Upon the termination of the Commission,
all data and information in possession of the Commission and its
members shall be destroyed or returned to the respective owners of such
data and information.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act, to remain available until
expended.
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