Dems Dump the Beach House Bailout

Just moments before a vote on the proposed beach house bailout, House Democratic leaders pulled the bill from the floor. But is the plan really dead?

The first effort to pass the beach house bailout legislation, Rep. Gene Taylor’s (D-MS) “Multiple Peril Insurance Act,” appears dead. Just moments before the House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday, Democratic leadership pulled it from the floor, an action that may kill it for this Congress. The bill still could come back, Jason Voohrees like, at some point in the future.  But, if it remains dead, it’s a big victory for the strange bedfellows—environmentalists and free-market groups—that led the fight against it.

The bill, which would have set up a huge wind insurance entity in the federal government, would have encouraged enormous amounts of development in places where it shouldn’t happen while simultaneously saddling taxpayers with multi-billion dollar liabilities.  Everyone had a reason to hate it but, in the wake of disorganized opposition, it sailed through Congress in 2007 even though it was exactly the type of legislation that the country didn’t need. That said, another, similar bill proffered by Rep. Ron Klein could well come to the floor soon. For now, at least, the battle rages on.