TRIA Extension Passes in the House; Awaits Consideration in the Senate

The extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) remains one of the last items for the Senate to address before it adjourns for the holidays.  In fact, Harry Reid (D-Nev) has told his colleagues not to expect to leave for the recess until all the work, including consideration of the TRIA extension, is done.  “We’re going to have to be here until we finish our work, whether that’s Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday,” he said. “So everyone should understand you can’t be leaving.”

Making the situation more difficult for the Senate is a provision of the spending deal that modifies provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.  As reported by several media outlets, Senate Democrats have made clear they will pass the spending bill (and TRIA) only if Republicans agree to strip the Wall Street language.

The provision that Democrats object to would repeal one of the more contentious provisions in Dodd Frank, a requirement that forces banks to “push out” some derivatives trading into separate units that are not backed by the government’s deposit insurance fund.

Read more about the House’s passage of the spending bill and TRIA here.

Information about the agenda for the Senates’ final days of 2014 is here.

For a discussion of the amendment to Dodd Frank, see here.