BATON ROUGE- U.S. Senator John Kennedy has proposed a bill to stop flood insurance rates from increasing for hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

He wants congressional approval before any changes can be made by FEMA.

"The Biden administration, through its new FEMA leadership, is about to increase flood insurance premiums. I'm not going to repeat how important flood insurance is to the people in Louisiana," said Kennedy.

David Earle and his wife Penny have been through a lot in life. Last month's flood destroyed their home in Jefferson Terrace.

"We had three feet of water and then we had to be rescued. We walked out in chest high water," said David.

Twenty-two years ago they found moved into a home off Landsbury Avenue. They never thought the neighborhood would flood. Because of the high cost, they never got flood insurance.

"It was too expensive and it never floods," said David.
U.S. Senator John Kennedy is fighting for homeowners like David. He believes his new bill could be the answer.

"It says that FEMA can not implement new premium increases which FEMA calls risk rating 2.0 without congressional permission," he said.

Kennedy says the new rating system could potentially make flood insurance unaffordable for Louisiana families in flood-prone areas. As for residents like Penny, she's learned a thing or two after experiencing a total loss from a flood.

"I don't want a hike in flood insurance because I know what it's like not to have it. I'm just afraid most of us in Louisiana won't buy it because it's too high," Penny said.

Kennedy's bill would also freeze premiums at the date of the bill's enactment until congress agrees to change them.