A Thursday vote has been scheduled on the House FinancialServices Committee's version of legislation reauthorizing theTerrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).

The current version sunsets Dec. 31, and industry officialslauded the decision of the House FSC leadership to move the billthrough the committee and hopefully through the House floor beforethe August recess.

They are, however, hopeful that the Senate version of thelegislation, approved June 3 unanimously by the Senate BankingCommittee, will ultimately be the template for final legislationenacted by Congress.

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American InsuranceAssociation says the House bill creates a bifurcated approach fornuclear, biological, radiological and chemical (NBCR) attacks vs.conventional attacks and “falsely assumes that the insurance marketoperates based on the same distinctions.”

She adds, “We are also concerned about the steep increase in theprogram trigger and co-share, which could also lead to a reductionin capacity.”

Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and politicalaffairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies,says, “With just months until the TRIA program expires, any sign ofprogress is a welcome one.”

Nat Wienecke, senior vice president, federal governmentrelations at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America(PCI), warned that, “Understanding that legislating is the art ofthe possible, we call on Congress to ensure that any increases tothe trigger and co-share not be so high or so steep that theyinhibit the availability and affordability of terrorisminsurance.”

Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association ofAmerica, appeared to support the House bill. Nutter says the“public-private partnership will ensure that terrorism coverage isprovided, especially for NBCR risks.”

He adds, “We are particularly pleased the Financial ServicesCommittee recognizes the importance of moving forward with TRIAreauthorization.”

NARAB and TRIA

At the same time, the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokersdisclosed that it will seek to have separate legislationre-creating the National Association of Registered Agents andBrokers attached at some point to the TRIA reauthorizationlegislation.

“We're hopeful that this legislation—which has been separatelyapproved by both the House and the Senate—can be ultimatelyincorporated into the TRIA legislation,” says Ken A. Crerar, CIABpresident and CEO.

The House bill would extend the current program for five years;the Senate version, S. 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance ProgramReauthorization Act of 2014, would extend it for seven years. But,it did increase industry co-shares by one-third under a 5-yearphase-in period.

The House bill is H.R. 4871, the TRIA Reform Act of 2014.