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Senate Passes Bill to Delay Spike in Flood Insurance Rates

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to delay sharp increases in flood insurance rates for millions of property owners in coastal and flood-prone areas.

The bill, co-sponsored by Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, passed by 67 to 32. It would effectively gut a 2012 law that had aimed to overhaul the nearly bankrupt National Flood Insurance Program.

Although the effort had strong bipartisan support in the Senate, it has drawn criticism from a broad spectrum of outside groups, including fiscal conservatives, environmental groups, bipartisan research organizations and budget watchdog groups.

“It will return the program to a state of insolvency,” said Shai Akabas, an analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington research group. “General taxpayers will be footing the rest of the cost.”

The prospects for passage in the Republican-controlled House remain unclear, but the debate over who will pay for the nation’s rapidly rising costs for flood damage highlights what scientists say is one of the many risks of climate change.

The 2012 law, the Biggert-Waters Act, ended longstanding federal subsidies for insuring buildings in flood-prone coastal areas. Over the past decade, the cost to taxpayers of insuring those properties has soared, with payouts for damage from Hurricanes Katrina, Irene, Isaac and Sandy driving the program to $24 billion in debt.

The aim of the Biggert-Waters Act was to shift the financial risk of insuring flood-prone properties to the private market from taxpayers. It was backed by fiscal conservatives, who said it would cut government spending, and by environmentalists, who said it would accurately reflect the true cost of rising sea levels caused by climate change.

But over the past year, millions of coastal property owners were hit with flood insurance rate increases that sent their premiums soaring up to five or 10 times the previous amounts. As their insurance bills soared and their property values plummeted, homeowners begged lawmakers to block or delay the Biggert-Waters provisions.

Senators from New York and New Jersey, where homeowners faced flood insurance rate increases after Hurricane Sandy, also backed the bill.

“When this bill passes the House, millions of homeowners across America will breathe a sigh of relief,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

Fiscal conservatives criticized the bill.

“It busts the budget,” said Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania. “We go right back to the insolvent, unsustainable program we had before.” Mr. Toomey offered an amendment that would have phased in the rate increases at 25 percent of the existing rate each year. Senators rejected that plan, 65 to 34.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 19 of the New York edition with the headline: Flood Insurance Bill Moves to House. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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