Editor's note: Ted Besesparis is seniorvice president of communications for PIA.

The end of summer is in sight, a time that usually marksthe start of a very productive period as people return fromvacation, schools are back in session, and businesses operatewithout interruption.

This, of course, does not apply to Congress.

It is easier to list the insurance-related issues Congress hasnot addressed this year than those it has. The list ofaccomplishments is very short, while the tally of inaction islong.

Flood and TRIA

Renewal by Congress of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act(TRIA), which faces expiration at the end of this year,should have been a no-brainer. The entire insurance industry urgedsupport for a seven-year reauthorization bill that was ultimately passed in the Senate in July by an overwhelming,bipartisan 93-4 vote.

Given the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed most significantlegislation in Congress over the past several years, the voteproved that legislators can still act when something is decidedlyin the national interest.

Almost. It is usually in the House where consensus hits a brickwall. For a time, it looked like TRIA renewal would be exempt fromthis hyper-partisanship. But it was not to be.

No sooner had the Senate acted than House Financial ServicesCommittee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) threw cold water on anyidea that the House would quickly follow suit and take up TRIAreauthorization. Hensarling issued a statement deriding theSenate bill, and that it “is going to take several more months” toreauthorize the program.

Despite the fact that TRIA does not cost the federal governmentanything unless, God forbid, America suffers a terrorist attack,some House Republicans want to reduce the scope of TRIA and put iton a path to elimination. This is part of a disagreement betweenthose who think that the federal government has a role in helpingthe business community, especially on matters of national interest,and those who would like to remove the “public” from successfulpublic-private partnerships.

On one insurance issue, a full agreement was reached. Earlierthis year, a flood insurance bill passed both the House and theSenate with overwhelming, bipartisan votes. It rolled back someflood insurance rate increases that were mandated in another billCongress had passed overwhelmingly two years earlier.

Members of Congress had heard from their constituents who facedbig rate increases in policies backed by the National FloodInsurance Program (NFIP), some so large that they could have losttheir homes. That prompted them to contact their electedrepresentatives and plead for relief.

So the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 (H.R. 3370)was signed into law on March 21, 2014 by President Obama. Itrepealed portions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act(BW-12), passed in 2012.

A major focus of BW-12 had been moving NFIP flood policies toactuarially sound rates—only it did so too fast. “As insuranceagents, we have to support risk-based rating,” said PIA NationalPresident-elect Richard A. Clements, who also chairs the FloodInsurance Producers National Committee (FIPNC). “But we want to doit on an affordable basis.” He noted that H.R. 3370 mandated anaffordability study and also included key provisions ongrandfathering and mitigation that PIA supported.

Two other insurance-related bills have cleared one chamber:

The U.S. Senate passed the Insurance Capital StandardsClarification Act (S. 2270), that would modify theDodd-Frank law to provide the U.S. Federal Reserve with greaterflexibility in tailoring capital rules for insurers deemedsystemically important financial institutions (SIFIs). The measurecorrects the idea that capital rules for banks and insurers shouldbe the same under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law.

In something of a surprise, the National WindstormImpact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2013 (H.R. 1786)was approved by the House in July, under a suspension of Houserules. Written by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex.), chairman of theHouse Financial Services Housing and Insurance subcommittee, itwould establish the National Institute of Standards and Technologyfor planning and coordinating the National Windstorm ImpactReduction Program.

Effect of Mid-term Elections

What can we expect Congress to accomplish regarding insuranceissues between now and the end of the current session? Littleor nothing, because we are just weeks away from the midtermelections, with members of Congress focused on their campaigns.

Many other insurance-related bills have been proposed, but fewwill see any action before the election. These include:

• The Insurance Data Protection Act (not yetintroduced), which would rein in the power of the Federal InsuranceOffice (FIO) to subpoena data from insurance companies. The billwould require the FIO to obtain data through the insurancecompany's state regulator.
• The Service Members Insurance Relief Act (H.R.4669) would allow members of the U.S. military to retain their autoinsurance policies when they are transferred to new bases.
• Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of2014 (H.R. 4510) would clarify the application of capitalrequirements to insurance companies that are subject to supervisionby the Federal Reserve Board.
• The Insurance Consumer Protection and Solvency Act of2013 (H.R. 605) clarifies that state insurance laws governthe liquidation or rehabilitation of an insurance company.
• The Risk Retention Modernization Act of 2014(not yet introduced) would expand the authority of risk retentiongroups, which are a mechanism for self-insurance, to offercommercial lines of insurance, such as property and auto physicaldamage.
• The Secure Constructing Code Incentive Act of2013 (H.R. 1878 and S. 924), would supply extra federalhelp to states that strengthen their building codes.
• The Catastrophe Financial Savings Account Act(H.R. 3989 and S. 1991), calls for a $5,000 tax deduction for homeowners who deposit money into a newly created type of cost savingsaccount to offset catastrophe mitigation expenses.
• The Catastrophe Savings and Resilient Building Act of2013 (H.R. 2241) would give tax credits for more resilientconstruction.

Apart from pending legislation, federal agencies are continuingto engage in rule-making. On May 16, the Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services (CMS), in the Department of Health and HumanServices (HHS), issued final rules that would permit unlicensednavigators to perform some of the functions of licensed insuranceagents and brokers, while prohibiting the states from requiringthat they obtain an agent or broker license.

“These new rules seem to regard efforts to protect consumersfrom fraud as obstacles to more people signing up for theAffordable Care Act (ACA),” said PIA National Executive VicePresident & CEO Mike Becker. “Preventing states from protectingtheir citizens should never be viewed as a path to success; it is aprescription for failure.”

Most of the insurance proposals pending on Capitol Hill willremain bottled up in the pressure cooker of partisanship thatprevents consensus on most legislation. Is there a chance thatafter the 2014 elections, there will be more agreement? Perhaps—butthen again, preparations are already underway for the 2016elections.