With Congress scrambling to pass legislation extending the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program before its expiration at the end of the month, New York lawmakers requested yesterday that any final extension act include a “reset” provision. Such a provision would lower the trigger levels for federal reimbursements under the TRIA program in areas already hit by a terrorist attack. Proponents of the provision insist that it is necessary to encourage private insurers to provide adequate terrorism coverage to large, densely populated areas like New York that are vulnerable to catastrophic terrorist attacks. While the extension legislation passed by the House of Representatives in September includes a reset provision, the Senate’s extension legislation does not. As President Bush has promised to veto any extension legislation containing language similar to the bill passed by the House of Representatives, it is unclear at this point whether the reset provision stands a chance of being included in any final extension legislation.
We will continue to monitor developments and report them here on insurereinsure.com.
Our previous coverage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program’s long road to extension can be found.
