Senate Approves Federal Terrorism Insurance

The Senate Friday passed a seven-year extension of the federal government’s terrorism insurance backstop.

Now the real work begins: House and Senate negotiators have some big time gaps to close.

The House, under the stewardship of Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), passed a 15-year extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA. The House measure also added a controversial requirement, sought by corporate real estate interests, that insurers offer coverage against nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological attacks.

The Senate bill does not include that.

Lobbyists had speculated that Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and ranking Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama would try to bypass conference negotiations by delaying floor passage of their bill until right before TRIA’s Dec. 31 expiration.

But Frank publicly warned against such take-it-or-leave it tactics, and threatened to push a 120-day extension to make time for a conference rather than meekly take the Senate bill.