Lobbyists optimistic on TRIA nuclear, doomsday language

Lobbyists for policyholders and large insurers remain hopeful that a final bill renewing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) will add coverage for nuclear and other doomsday attacks to the program, even though a Senate Banking panel markup on Wednesday isn’t expected to include such language.

{mosads}In contrast to the eleventh-hour reauthorization of TRIA in 2005, there could be time to conference this year’s bill, thanks to a deal struck between the panel’s chairman and ranking member, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), on a seven-year extension of the federal program.

Speedy Senate passage of TRIA could create an opening to mold the legislation to look more like the House-passed bill that would extend the federal backstop to terrorism risk by 15 years and add coverage for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (NBCR) attacks, lobbyists said.

“The Senate agreement is very meaningful. It provides a sustainable solution and moves the bill along under regular order, where the duration of the program and inclusion of NBCR can be fully debated,” Brendan Reilly, senior vice president for government relations at the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association, said.

“We’re very pleased that the Senate is moving forward on a bipartisan basis,” said Martin DePoy, who coordinates the steering committee of the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, a group of large policyholders. “We certainly hope that somewhere along this legislative process Congress will affirmatively deal with this issue in some fashion.”

After seeming far apart on the issue for months, Dodd and Shelby late last Friday agreed on draft legislation to extend TRIA by seven years, keeping the current trigger levels at $100 million.

The move delighted lobbyists pushing for a lengthy extension of the federal program, which is set to expire at the end of the year, because Shelby was thought to support only a three- to five-year extension.

Though the Dodd-Shelby compromise is more than many lobbyists expected, it is far narrower than the House-passed bill. Aside from extending the program for 15 years and adding NBCR coverage, the House legislation would include group life insurers in the program and lower the program triggers to $50 million.

“We’re all pretty positive about the development,” Reilly said. “Obviously we’d still prefer the 15 years in the House, but seven years is still a pretty sustainable duration.”

The business lobby is split on the issue of NBCR risk, with large insurers and policyholders pushing hard for its inclusion and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies set firmly against it.

The House included NBCR risk in its 2005 legislation to reauthorize the program, but the Senate acted in a large omnibus bill shortly before adjourning, so the two chambers never met in conference.

Lobbyists for large insurers hope Congress will ultimately add NBCR risk.

“In the Senate, NBCR was seen, unfortunately, as a huge expansion of the program,” said Leigh Ann Pusey, the senior vice president of government affairs at the American Insurance Association. “We will certainly work with the policyholders to try to address this concern.”

Lobbyists for smaller insurers doubt that NBCR will be included in final legislation, pointing to White House opposition to any substantial expansion of the program. “Of all the things the administration cares about, not having NBCR in the program is the most important,” one lobbyist argued. “I think in conference, that will be recognized.”

In a statement of administrative policy issued last month, the White House wrote that TRIA “should be phased out in favor of a private market for terrorism insurance,” saying that it “strongly opposes efforts to expand the Federal government’s role in terrorism reinsurance.”

One lobbyist speculated that Shelby didn’t have much interest in allowing the TRIA legislation to move speedily through the Senate: “If you’re Richard Shelby, I’m not sure you want to go to conference. You’ve already given ground on duration.”