In a post election analysis after yesterday's GOP House and Senate election victories, their consensus on the terrorism measure is that the issue is so important to President Bush that Republicans will not want to sidetrack it, despite some anger over the tort provisions, which allow U.S. businesses to be held liable for punitive damages in the event of a terrorist attack.

"There clearly will be Republicans who say ?let's not do this because we can get a better deal on tort reform in the next Congress'," said Robert Rusbuldt, chief executive officer with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Alexandria, Va.

However, he said, the reality is that if the legislation dies this year, Congress will have to start from scratch. That means, Mr. Rusbuldt said, it could take six months or more to get a bill through.

There is a chance to move legislation now, he said, during the upcoming lame duck session, and he believes Congress will act.

Monte Ward, vice president of federal affairs for the Indianapolis-based National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, agrees there is a good possibility that some Republicans will try to delay the bill.

But if they wait until next year, he noted, they will still have to negotiate with Senate Democrats on the tort provisions, since 60 votes are needed to invoke cloture and cut off debate.

Gary Karr, a representative of the Washington-based American Insurance Association, added that both President Bush and Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., have spoken up since the election and insisted that the terrorism insurance bill should get done.

"President Bush is committed to this bill," adds David Farmer, senior vice president of federal affairs for the Downers Grove, Ill.-based Alliance of American Insurers. "The change in the Senate should not have an impact on the issue."

Looking ahead to the next Congress, industry representatives expect civil justice reform to be a major issue.

Mr. Karr said that with Republicans in control of both chambers, it will be easier to get medical malpractice reform, asbestos litigation reform, and class action reform on the agenda.

Asbestos litigation reform, he noted, would have been a major issue even if the Democrats had held on to the Senate, but the chances are now enhanced.

Nonetheless, Mr. Karr said, it will still be necessary to put together a bipartisan coalition in order to get any reform legislation passed by Congress and sent to the president.

Mr. Farmer agreed with Mr. Ward that while the change in leadership and the Senate committee structure will put the tort reform issues on the agenda, there is not a 60-vote margin.

"Despite the change in leadership, the Democrats clearly can be effective in opposing legislation," Mr. Farmer said.

Turning to taxes, insurance agents see an opportunity to move two important issues.

One is estate tax repeal, Mr. Rusbuldt said. One of the major goals of Republicans in the next Congress will be to make the temporary tax cuts that were approved last year permanent.

Under the current law, the estate tax will phase out on Jan. 1, 2010. However, because of a sunset provision in last year's legislation, the estate tax will come back into being, exactly as it existed in the year 2000, on Jan. 1, 2011.

Permanent repeal of the estate tax is a major issue for independent agents, Mr. Rusbuldt noted, because of the impact the estate tax has on agency perpetuation.

Maria Berthoud, IIABA's senior vice president of government affairs, adds that another priority for agents in the next Congress will be accelerating the amortization of intangible assets, such as expirations.

The Treasury Department is working on a major reform of the nation's tax code, and corporate taxation will likely be part of the package.

Ms. Berthoud said that accelerating the amortization schedule will be agents' top issue.

One issue that could cause concern for insurers is privacy, industry representatives said. The new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee will be Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who is a strong privacy advocate.

He supports legislation that would require financial institutions to obtain the affirmative assent of customers before sharing their personal financial information with other parties.

Ms. Berthoud said that Sen. Shelby could make things very difficult for the insurance industry. IIABA, she said, will try to work closely with him to explain agents' privacy concerns.

Mr. Karr said that AIA would wait to see what Sen. Shelby does.

"We will take it as it comes," he said.

As for optional federal chartering of insurance companies, Ms. Berthoud said she believes the change in the Senate is important.

Republicans, she said, usually have a knee-jerk reaction against any federal regulation. This, Ms. Berthoud said, is helpful to IIABA's position in favor of regulatory reform without creating a new bureaucracy.

Mr. Farmer said he does not think the change in the Senate will affect the issue that much at this stage. He noted that most of the action has been on the House side, and the House Financial Services Committee's oversight hearings on state regulation will continue.