In the biggest legislative win for the Big “I” in well over a decade, the U.S. Congress passed H.R. 26, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015, during the first full week of January. This legislative package includes BOTH a six-year extension of TRIA and the Big “I” preferred, permanent version of NARAB II to streamline nonresident licensing.
As you know, the TRIA program expired on December 31, 2014 because of the Senate’s failure to act on this identical legislation before adjourning for the year. The passage today of this bill will reauthorize the TRIA program “retroactively” to that expiration. Because of the quick action on this measure, most experts expect little market disruption to occur because of the limited expiration.
Our national association has prepared a number of documents to give you background on this landmark insurance legislation:
This is a monumental win for the Big “I” as TRIA and NARAB II have been our top two legislative priorities for the last several Congresses. In particular, the Big “I” has been pushing for enactment of NARAB II since 2007. While we have worked with industry partners on these efforts, the Big “I” has literally led the way on NARAB II at every stage of the process, from its inception working with our state associations to come up with the NARAB II concept to today and it’s crossing of the Congressional finish line.
While other groups may attempt to take credit for these efforts, please watch this Youtube clip from Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) from the Senate floor today as he recognizes the Big "I" first in referencing insurance industry groups, especially notable because the Big “I” is the only group representing independent property & casualty agents. This accomplishment is a direct result of the effort by Big “I” members and both national and state association staff over the past several years. We would like to thank all of you for your dedication and perseverance.
We expect the President to sign this legislation into law in the coming days. In addition to the “Big I Member Guide” we will also be sending a detailed legislative memo after the measure is signed into law.
As detailed in the “Big I Member Guide,” while implementation of NARAB II will begin almost immediately after enactment there is a lot of work to be done and we likely will not see NARAB II “go live” for approximately two years. While implementation will continue to require much work from both your government affairs staff and Big “I” agent leaders, right now we can all take a moment to catch our breath and congratulate each other on this important achievement.
Congratulations to you all on this huge victory for Big “I” members and insurance consumers.