Given the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed most significant legislation in Congress over the past several years, the vote proved that legislators can still act when something is in the national interest.

Almost. It is usually in the House where consensus hits a brick wall. For a time, it looked like TRIA renewal would be exempt from this hyper-partisanship. But it was not to be.

No sooner had the Senate acted than House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) threw cold water on any idea that the House would quickly follow suit and take up TRIA reauthorization. Hensarling issued a statement deriding the Senate bill, and that it “is going to take several more months” to reauthorize the program.

The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 (H.R. 3370) was signed into law on March 21, 2014, repealing portions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act (BW-12), passed in 2012.

A major focus of BW-12 had been moving NFIP flood policies to actuarially sound rates—only it did so too fast. “As insurance agents, we have to support risk-based rating,” said PIA National President-elect Richard A. Clements, who also chairs the Flood Insurance Producers National Committee. “But we want to do it on an affordable basis.” He noted that H.R. 3370 mandated an affordability study and also included key provisions on grandfathering and mitigation that PIA supported.

Many other insurance-related bills have been proposed, but few will see any action before the election. These include:

The Insurance Data Protection Act (not yet introduced), which would rein in the power of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) to subpoena data from insurance companies. The bill would require the FIO to obtain data through the insurance company's state regulator.

The Service Members Insurance Relief Act (H.R. 4669) would allow members of the U.S. military to retain their auto insurance policies when they are transferred to new bases.

Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014 (H.R. 4510) would clarify the application of capital requirements to insurance companies that are subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve Board.

Most of these and other proposals will remain bottled up in the partisan pressure cooker that prevents consensus on most legislation. Will there be more agreement after the 2014 elections? Perhaps—but preparations are already underway for the 2016 elections. And on it goes.