The legislation, the Multiple Peril Insurance Act, is sponsored by Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., the primary sponsor of similar legislation in the last Congress.

The bill was added as an amendment on the House floor to the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007, which passed the House overwhelmingly, but which failed to win support in the Senate.

Its inclusion in the House bill is the primary reason a stalemate holding up reauthorization of the NFIP has existed since last September.

Currently, legislation extending the old version of the NFIP until Sept. 28-so the differing versions of the bill passed by the House in 2007 and the Senate last year can be reconciled-is awaiting action in the Senate.

A provision extending the program is included in the budget reconciliation bill passed by the House last week. It is awaiting action in the Senate. The current extension expires Friday.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America immediately issued a statement voicing opposition to the bill, saying it is "misguided and would needlessly displace the private market, disrupt existing state funds and create a significant burden for U.S. taxpayers."

The rest of the industry, both carriers and agents, also oppose adding wind to the program. The reinsurance industry opposes the legislation as well.

David Sampson, PCI president and chief executive officer, said the trade group's members oppose the bill, the Multiple Peril Insurance Act of 2009, because wind coverage is already available either through private insurers or state wind pools.

"While this legislation is well-intentioned, it is both unnecessary and fraught with unintended negative consequences, and it ultimately will not help homeowners in need," Mr. Sampson said.

"Right now, we can best serve homeowners by reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program and by educating insurance consumers about the options that already exist to protect their homes, their families and their financial security," he said.

Mr. Sampson said that private or state residual markets for windstorm coverage already exist for more than 99 percent of all coastal properties in the United States. "Only properties in significant disrepair, representing less than 1 percent of the total, are uninsurable through these programs," he said.

In reintroducing the bill, Rep. Taylor said, "Apparently, the insurance industry no longer wants to cover people for wind damage in coastal America or will not provide that coverage at a cost that is reasonable."

He said, "Throughout coastal America, property insurance companies have dramatically increased premiums on existing policies, cancelled existing policies, or have stopped writing new policies altogether for our nation's home and business owners," adding that his bill "will solve this problem."

Mr. Taylor also said that passage of the bill "will also stimulate the economy throughout coastal America, particularly here in the Katrina area of the nation."

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