WASHINGTON, D.C., July 17, 2014 — The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) today praised the U.S. Senate for passing S. 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), in a 93-4 vote. An amendment that added the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers legislation (NARAB II) was also included in the final version of the bill.
 
“The Big ’I’ is grateful to the U.S. Senate, and especially Sens. Schumer and Heller, for today’s bipartisan action on TRIA and NARAB II,” says Bob Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “Agents and brokers must have the ability to provide terrorism protection to their customers in the event of another unthinkable attack on American soil. The current TRIA program has worked well to ensure the availability of this coverage and it is imperative that a lapse be avoided. We thank the Senate for their work to promptly move S. 2244 through the legislative process.”

 

S. 2244 would extend the authorization for the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) program for seven additional years. Along with extending the program, the bill also makes some changes to its mandatory recoupment amount ($27.5 billion to $37.5 billion) and increases the co-pay for private industry's insured losses from 15% to 20%.

 

“The Big ‘I’ is also grateful to the Senate for overwhelmingly passing an amendment to S. 2244 to include the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers legislation (NARAB II),” says Charles Symington, Big “I” senior vice president of external and government affairs. “We especially want to thank Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) for offering the NARAB II amendment. While the amendment contains a ‘sunset’ provision that the Big ‘I’ would like to see changed before the measure is enacted into law, it was critically important to move the bill forward in the legislative process. We look forward to working with the Senate and House on final passage of NARAB to send this common-sense legislation to President Obama’s desk as soon as possible.”