Declarations

Alarming Statistic

“Flood insurance will not keep rising water out of your home or business, but it will help protect the investment you have in them.”

— Alabama Emergency Management Director Brian Hastings comments after FEMA reported only 57,000 of the estimated 1.8 million households in Alabama have flood insurance. Hastings called that an alarming statistic.

Pot Enthusiasm

“The Legalize ND campaign was able to successfully channel the grassroots enthusiasm for recreational marijuana.”

— David Owen, chairman of the citizen group behind a petition to place a measure aimed at legalizing marijuana in North Dakota on the November general election ballot, said supporters submitted 17,695 signatures in favor of the petition. Signatures of 14,637 supporters were deemed valid; 13,452 valid signatures were needed to get the proposal on the ballot.

Help Not Wanted

“There is definitely a group of people in Louisiana who because they went and got their house rebuilt, they’re resilient, whatever, their son-in-law came and helped, they never asked us for money…There’s just a population in Louisiana that’s like that. They don’t want help.”

— Pat Forbes, director of Louisiana’s Office of Community Development, comments on the fact that 44 percent fewer households than anticipated are expected to access money allocated for homeowners whose properties were damaged in massive flooding in the state in 2016. Louisiana expects to spend $649 million on homeowner rebuilding aid after the 2016 floods, only about half the federal money Congress set aside for the effort.

Vindicated Plaintiff

“Vindicated, vindicated. It doesn’t replace what we’ve lost, but we feel a great sense of satisfaction because we were right and we didn’t give up.”

— Plaintiff Debbie Sheltra was pleased that a jury found the Nevada Division of Forestry liable for the loss of 23 homes and 17 other buildings in a 2016 wildfire after strong winds re-ignited a prescribed burn.

Into the Void

“New York stepped into the void and took decisive action to ensure appropriate minimum standards protecting financial institutions’ data systems, including consumers’ sensitive personal information.”

— New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Maria T. Vullo said in a press release regarding the end of the third transitional period for New York’s first-in-the-nation cybersecurity regulation for all DFS regulated entities. By Sept. 4, 2018, banks, insurance companies and other financial services institutions are required to have come into compliance with several additional provisions of the cybersecurity regulation.