WASHINGTON, DC—True to its word, the House of Representatives swiftly passed a bill extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act in a 416-5 vote on Wednesday. Now the measure needs to be re-introduced and passed in the Senate – the chamber where the 2014 bill unexpectedly died last year when Sen. Tom Coburn,(R-Okla.) blocked the bill. Coburn, long an opponent of a federal backstop for terrorism insurance, has since retired. However, nervous onlookers say the bill bumps up against other priorities in the Senate. Momentum is high to pass a Keystone XL Pipeline bill, for instance; meanwhile a TRIA bill is not yet on the Senate calendar.

Without passage the impact will be dire, warns Jeff DeBoer, CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable. "….a substantial number of financings and refinancing simply will not occur, causing unnecessary job losses," he says. "TRIA will prevent commercial property owners from technical default on existing loans (if they lack terrorism coverage), and allow them to obtain financing for new projects, as lenders require terrorism insurance on the loan collateral."

The House measure that just passed is very similar to last year's bill. It extends TRIA until year-end 2020, and in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack, gradually increase the loss threshold that triggers federal assistance, from $100 million to $200 million.