U.S. Senate Banking Committee Members Laud TRIA Passage Today
Jul 17, 2014
Today, July 17, 2014, the United States Senate approved S. 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 (“TRIA”), by a strong bipartisan vote of 93-4. This bill extends the existing TRIA program for seven years while taking steps to further protect taxpayers.
To access complete bill information, click here.
“I am pleased that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the Senate came together today to pass this critical, bipartisan reauthorization, which passed out of the Banking Committee unanimously,” said Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee (“Committee”) Chairman Tim Johnson. “This long-term, seven year extension of TRIA promotes national security, economic growth, market certainty and job creation across the country all while protecting the taxpayer.”
“Getting terrorism risk insurance right is important in order to protect taxpayers and to limit the economic and physical impact of any future terrorist attack on the U.S.,” said Ranking Member Mike Crapo. “This bill will help us maintain a properly balanced terrorism risk insurance program that increases the nation’s economic resilience to terrorism. I thank Chairman Johnson, and Senators Schumer, Kirk and Heller for their partnership in passing this reauthorization.”
S. 2244 adds two additional changes to TRIA, gradually raising both the insurer co-payment from 15 percent to 20 percent, and the mandatory recoupment threshold from $27.5 billion to $37.5 billion. The bill, however, does not raise the trigger – which was expected to drive smaller insurers out of the market and reduce the availability and affordability of coverage for businesses nationwide – nor does it give preferential treatment under the program to certain kinds of terrorist attacks that are perpetrated on the United States.
In June 2014, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted to report the bill to the floor by a unanimous and bipartisan vote.
Stakeholders, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Hotel and Lodging Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, NCAA, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, Real Estate Roundtable, and Realtors strongly supported the Senate’s approach to extending TRIA.
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