Following weeks of intense negotiations, the House passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (S. 2244) by a vote of 417-7 on Wednesday. The bill now heads back to the Senate.

"This Legislation further demonstrates the commitment by a strong group of bipartisan members of Congress to reauthorizing the TRIA program, as it is vitally important to the U.S. economy, and the Big 'I' is grateful for today's action," said Bob Rusbuldt, Big "I" president & CEO. "This bill is important to ensure stability in the insurance, real estate and lending markets, as well as providing needed agent and broker licensing reform on a voluntary basis. We are optimistic that the Senate will soon pass this crucial legislation so it can be sent to the president's desk as soon as possible."

Among its provisions, the bill extends the TRIA program by six years and raises the amount needed in total losses before the TRIA program kicks in from the current $100 million to $200 million, at a rate of $20 million a year beginning in 2016. The bill also raises the federal government's mandatory recoupment from $27.5 billion to $37.5 billion, increasing by $2 billion each year beginning Jan. 1, 2016. For all events, the bill would raise the private industry recoupment total from the current 133% of covered losses to 140% of covered losses. The bill does not include so-called bifurcation for treating nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological attacks differently from more conventional forms of attack.