The U.S. Senate passed a bill Thursday halting massive flood insurance rate hikes across the country.

The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.

Local officials are breathing a sigh of relief. More than 30,000 properties in Lee County alone were expected to acquire devastating insurance premiums in the coming years.

Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker led a coalition of Southwest Florida mayors to Washington this year to lobby for the bill. He said the bill had to weather a lot of political battles during its passage.

“There were a lot of people who thought, ‘well, if I live in Illinois or Iowa, this doesn’t affect me,’” Kiker said. “It took a little bit education, even on my part to explain to them how it did affect them-- and I think everyone bought into it eventually.”

The bill delays most of the major flood insurance hikes for a couple of years and creates an 18 percent cap for increases in the future.

The measure also funds a study that will look into a better way to deal with the national flood insurance program’s $24 billion debt.