Just a few months ago, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), an Act that limits the amount of losses insurers would be responsible for in the event of a terrorist attack, seemed like a sure bet to be extended for a third time. Though both the House and the Senate had significant disagreements, for the most part, both believed that the program should be extended further into the future than it had been in the past, when it was given just a two-year re-up. But with the Dec. 31, 07 expiration date looming and new promises of a presidential veto, the fate of TRIA is suddenly looking grim.

There are several important differences between the House and the Senate bills. While the House asks for a 15-year extension of TRIA, the Senate requests just seven. Furthermore, the House bill mandates that coverage be made available by insurers to cover nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks, a point the Senate has yet to adopt in its version. Both bills, however, propose eliminating the domestic terrorism exclusion, thereby classifying all attacks -- domestic or international -- under the terrorism banner.

A similar pattern occurred in Dec. 2005, the last time TRIA was extended. A year-long debate ended with last-minute negotiating, and the resulting stripped-down bill was given approval for another two years shortly before the Dec. 31, 2005 deadline.