The House followed the Senate’s lead today and passed S. 2232 by a voice vote, extending the federal flood insurance program through 2008. Funded through homeowner premiums and backed by the credit lines of the Treasury Department, the program covers almost 4.4 million homes in flood prone areas. Efforts to reduce overall costs and repeated payments to homes in frequently flooded communities yielded a $40 million pilot program that will shift payments towards federal buyout and relocation of damaged homes rather than repeated rebuilding. The House was acting under a June 30 deadline, when a temporary authorization for the program expires.