WASHINGTON, DC—The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act is set to expire at the end of the year. Now that the Congressional mid-term elections are over and the lame duck session set to begin this Wednesday, Nov. 12, the commercial real estate industry and other sectors that will be severely impacted if TRIA expires, are stepping up their pleas to Congress.

Last week American Hotel & Lodging Association CEO and president Katherine Lugar issued a statement that was to the point regarding the act: "Now that Election Day is over, Congress should immediately get to work tending to unfinished business."

"Before recessing for the year, the House of Representatives should pass TRIA, bipartisan legislation that promotes stability and job growth across many sectors," she said. "The Senate passed this bill by a vote of 93-4, sending a clear message to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi about the strength and force of this legislation. The House of Representatives must move swiftly to pass TRIA before it expires at the end of December."

The American Insurance Association has also asked Congress to move swiftly in reauthorizing the federal backstop.

Last week's "election results will undoubtedly lead to a new set of priorities in the next Congress, but the fact remains that the current Congress has unfinished business — the long-term reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA," CEO and president Leigh Ann Pusey said in her statement.

"The goal of TRIA is to ensure that an orderly economic recovery would follow any major terrorist act," she said.

Unfortunately, as The Real Estate Roundtable pointed out in its recent alert, the endgame of the lame-duck session is very difficult to predict at present.

"Given TRIA's role in assuring the availability of terrorism insurance as well as credit for new and existing projects — lenders will not lend if the underlying asset lacks terrorism coverage — Roundtable Chairman Robert S. Taubman (Taubman Centers, Inc.) and Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer have said that, 'No single issue before Congress could have a greater effect on liquidity for our industry.'"

Lame-duck session notwithstanding, TRIA must still navigate a charged political climate on the Hill. The Senate and the House of Representatives have both passed their respective measures, but the House's version is more stringent in its terms. Congress is not likely to let this measure expire given the business community's near unanimous demand for it, but the final version hammered out in committee could favor the House.