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Witnesses back MVP+ trust fund, resilient-home grants and private flood-insurance framework
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Summary
Environmental groups, coastal senators and insurers endorsed measures to fund municipal resilience (MVP+), fortify homes to reduce claims, and create a statutory private flood-insurance framework to expand options beyond the NFIP.
Multiple witnesses urged the committee to support proposals to expand funding and policy tools for climate resilience, private flood insurance and home hardening.
MVP+ (H.1310 / S.686): Mystic River Watershed Association and the Charles River Watershed Association urged creation of an MVP trust fund and formula funding for municipal resilience staffing so communities can plan year-round, avoid fiscal-year construction timing problems, and hire climate-resilience coordinators. "If MVP funding were held in a trust fund, EEA and municipalities would have greater flexibility to program their project activities at the times of the year that make most sense," Nasser Rahim (Mystic River Watershed Association) testified.
Resilient-home grants and fortified standards (S.720 / S.719): Insurer representatives, including Christopher Stark and Nick Vinchelakis, supported programs that help homeowners retrofit roofs and other features to fortified standards (IBHS "Fortified" standard) and grant programs to help retrofit lower-income homeowners. Stark cited global catastrophe trends and resilience benefits, and Vinchelakis described programs in other states where grant dollars have funded roof retrofits that reduced catastrophic damage.
Private flood insurance framework (S.719): Senator Julian Cyr testified that a statutory private flood-insurance framework would provide predictability for insurers and more options for homeowners, especially in coastal communities where flood risk and NFIP coverage limits (single-family cap $250,000 for building coverage under the NFIP) leave homeowners exposed.
Industry perspective and next steps: Industry witnesses said private flood products and fortified-home programs can increase availability of coverage and reduce severity of claims. The committee invited additional technical details, including language aligning private flood policies with federal NFIP minimums, mechanisms for consumer protection, and options for grants or tax credits to incentivize retrofits. No committee action was taken at the hearing.
