BATON ROUGE — The National Flood Insurance Program is set to expire at the end of the month unless Congress renews it yet again.

In an interview with WBRZ, Sen. John Kennedy said he is confident the program will win renewal but that he hopes that some day the program will enjoy a more-permanent funding stream.

"It is seen by a lot of senators from states that don't have any flooding problem as being unnecessary," Kennedy said. "That means that not only is it an uphill climb to reform the program, but sometimes, like every time it's about to expire, it's an uphill climb to get it renewed."

See all of the interview on our YouTube channel

"Our flood insurance program, as bad as it is, is going to expire at the end of September," Kennedy said.

The senator said that each year, it seems, he battles with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky over whether the program is necessary.

"Rand contends that our flood insurance program just takes care of millionaires who are in multi-millionaire beach houses with subsidized insurance, and I tell Rand, I have to debate with him, that that may be the case in some states but our coast is a working coast. My people are working people."

Kennedy said that one option might be to expand the program so that more people pay in. About 5 million participate in the program now, with about a tenth of those in Louisiana.

"Long-term I would like to add to it — say wildfire insurance or earthquake insurance and as the climate does change, you see more and more people subject to flooding," he said. "As I tell some of my colleagues, 'Look, I don't care if you're in the middle of Kansas if you get 12 inches of rain and two hours you're going to flood. You better have flood insurance."

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, if the program lapses, claims can still be paid with existing funds, but sales of new policies would stop. In March, the agency urged passage of a new plan.

"The level of damage from recent catastrophic storms makes it clear that FEMA needs a holistic plan to ready the nation for managing the cost of flooding under the NFIP," it said.