The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019 passed rapidly through the U.S. Senate's Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, making its way quickly to the floor of the Senate. If its speed through this part of the legislative process is any indication, Congress may pass the bill before the holidays.

The original Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), which passed after the 9/11 attacks, creates a federal backstop for insurance claims that arise out of such acts. It is currently set to expire in December 2020. The bill now before Congress would extend TRIA to 2027.

The Senate committee approved the bill on Wednesday, just two days after it was passed by the U.S. House. Insurance industry leadership moved quickly to express their approval.

"NAMIC commends the leadership and bipartisanship of the Senate Banking Committee for taking up and passing S.2877, critical legislation that will reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, thereby safeguarding our country's national economic security from the threat of a catastrophic terrorist attack," Jimi Grande, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said in a press release. "With passage of TRIA reauthorization legislation out of the House on Monday, today's unanimous passage of an identical bill out of the Senate Banking Committee demonstrates that there is little daylight between the two chambers or between the two sides of the aisle."

The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National) also commended the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee for passing legislation to reauthorize the current iteration of TRIA for seven more years. "PIA made it a key priority this year to have the TRIA program reauthorized well before its scheduled expiration of December 2020," said Jon Gentile, PIA National vice president of government relations, in a statement. "We are pleased our advocacy has paid off with the Senate Banking Committee acting in a timely manner, the same week a companion measure passed the U.S. House. This bill makes minimal changes to the program and provides a long-term reauthorization."

Nat Wienecke, senior vice president for federal government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), issued the following statement applauding the Senate Banking Committee: "APCIA applauds the Senate Banking Committee for swiftly passing legislation to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for seven years. The broad bipartisan support in the House and the Senate Banking Committee sends a clear message of the critical role TRIA plays in stabilizing the economy."

Industry groups ultimately urged Congress to come together and commit to passing the TRIA extension before the end of 2019.

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Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Elana Ashanti Jefferson serves as ALM's PropertyCasualty360 Group Chief Editor. She is a veteran journalist and communications professional. Reach her by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

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