The industry has concerns about the bill because it would increase the losses insurers must cover significantly.

Under the Senate bill, the amount insurers would pay under a covered event, before federal recoupment is no longer mandatory and becomes discretionary, would rise by $2 billion annually from the current $27.5 billion, until it reaches $37.5 billion in five years. Another change would reduce the total amount the federal government will cover from the current 85% to 80% over the same five-year period.

However, in an acknowledgement that the bill reported out today is the best they will be able to get, insurance trade groups and groups representing insureds voiced support.

This included the American Insurance Association (AIA), the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA), and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA). On the insured side, the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) voiced support.

The Senate panel acted after a number of outside groups wrote letters urging renewal of the current program. This included a letter from all major professional sports leagues and the National Governors Association.

They did so because the leadership of the House Financial Services Committee has signaled it will support a much more modest bill. A leaked draft of the bill reveals the House would effectively phase out the current program and only cover a nuclear, biological, chemical radiation event.

However, while the initial House version might call for major changes in the program, including higher deductibles and a shorter reauthorization period, it appears likely that the Senate bill will form the basis for the final legislation.

In an indication that support for any reauthorization of TRIA that weakens the current bill is not unanimous in the House, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., ranking member of the FSC's Subcommittee on Capital Markets and GSEs, issued a statement after Senate Banking Committee action supporting the Senate bill. "The Senate's TRIA bill represents the type of bipartisan compromise we should work to foster in the House," Maloney said.

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said after the vote: "This seven year extension of TRIA will continue to help promote economic growth and provide certainty for commercial property development and job creation across the country while protecting the taxpayer. With such a substantial bipartisan vote out of the Banking Committee, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and plan to continue working with them to move the bill through the Senate in a timely manner."

Corrected to show that, under the bill, the recoupment is what rises to $37.5 billion, not the deductible.