The Honorable Maxine Waters
Chairwoman, Financial Services Committee
United States House of Representatives
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Urgent Need for Nonprofit Property Protection Act

Dear Chairwoman Waters:

We urgently request that you support the Nonprofit Property Protection Act.

During a time when nonprofits are stretched thin because of Covid-19 to meet essential community services, many commercial insurance companies across the country are unwilling to insure those on the frontline: homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, food banks, drug and alcohol treatments programs, foster family and adoption services, animal rescues, child and family services and many more. Affordable insurance is never easy for nonprofits to find, but we are now in an insurance crisis on top of a national health emergency.

The Nonprofit Property Protection Act, H.R. 4523, is a no-cost solution that will allow nonprofits to fix this problem for themselves. The bill will allow certain financially strong risk retention groups serving 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofits to offer property coverage in addition to the more difficult liability insurance they already provide. Because commercial insurance companies only offer property and liability together as a package for small and mid-sized nonprofits, it hinders these organizations from providing the help nonprofits so desperately need now.

Nonprofits across the country are facing an unprecedented crisis as we struggle to serve our communities during this pandemic. And, we are also facing the worst insurance crisis in 35 years forcing us to use already strained resources to pay more for insurance when our resources are stretched thin.

We fervently ask you to do whatever you can to allow this legislation, that costs the government nothing, to become law and protect nonprofits on the frontline of the Covid-19 outbreak.