Legislation to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) advanced last week in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. With TRIA set to expire at the end of 2020, Congress has made it a priority to consider legislation reauthorizing the program prior to the end of 2019.
On Nov. 18, the House passed H.R. 4634, the “Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019,” by an overwhelming vote of 385-22. This bill reauthorizes the program for seven years without making any substantive changes to the current program. On Nov. 21, the Senate Banking Committee adopted S. 2877, a measure similar to the House bill, by a unanimous vote. Nareit strongly supported both proposals when they were introduced, and commended House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) for moving these proposals forward.
With only a few legislative days remaining in 2019, it is highly unlikely the Senate will have time to consider S. 2877 as passed by the Senate Banking Committee. However, with such strong bipartisan and bicameral support now in Congress to reauthorize TRIA, Nareit anticipates that key policymakers will make an effort to include the legislation in any funding measure Congress “must pass” prior to the end of the year. Nareit intends to aggressively support this effort.
(Contact: Robert Dibblee at rdibblee@nareit.com)