GALLEGO CELEBRATES COMMITTEE PASSAGE OF HIS BIPARTISAN BILL TO EXTEND TERRORISM RISK INSURANCE

The following information was released by the office of Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego:

Nearly 60 percent of American businesses that rely on terrorism risk insurance could be left without coverage if Congress fails to act

WASHINGTON Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), along with Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), celebrated the unanimous passage of their Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 out of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs bipartisan legislation that would safeguard the availability of terrorism risk insurance coverage.

Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, many insurance companies began excluding terrorism risks from commercial insurance policies, leaving businesses and industries without access to coverage. Since insurance is a precondition for commercial lending and real estate transactions, this gap in coverage threatened broad economic damage across real estate, construction, energy, transportation, and related industries.

Congress responded by passing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), creating a federal reinsurance backstop to stabilize the private market and ensure that commercial policyholders could continue to obtain terrorism risk coverage.

The private insurance market has relied on the TRIA backstop ever since. When TRIAbriefly lapsed in December 2014, terrorism exclusions that insurers had pre-filed with state regulators took effect automatically, making terrorism coverage effectively unavailable across commercial policies nationwide. As a result, terrorism risk coverage was removed from policyholders immediately and without notice. Given that the current threat landscape remains elevated, allowing a similar lapse in terrorism coverage would expose policy holders to unnecessary financial risk and uncertainty.

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 would extend TRIA by seven years. Acting before the program expiration date of December 31, 2027, provides long-term market certainty and would prevent policyholders from facing a gap in coverage.

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 is supported by: The American Property Casualty Insurance Association, Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Nareit, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Real Estate Roundtable, and Reinsurance Association of America.