House votes 373-15 to extend terrorism insurance backstop through 2034
The House of Representatives has approved a seven-year extension of the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, sending a broadly bipartisan signal that Congress wants to keep a public backstop in place for catastrophic terrorism losses on commercial property.
On June 29, 2026, lawmakers passed H.R. 7128, the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, by a vote of 373-15. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, would keep the program in force through 2034. It is now before the Senate, where a companion bill has already been introduced.
Congress created the program after the September 11, 2001, attacks, when insurers pulled back from terrorism coverage and commercial real estate markets seized up. Under the existing framework, private property and casualty insurers must offer terrorism coverage. The Treasury Department shares losses only after a certified act of terrorism and only above defined industry retentions. Insurers absorb the first layer of losses; the federal government steps in for exceptionally large events. No claims have been paid since the program began—a fact supporters cite as evidence that TRIA works more as a market stabilizer than as a frequent payout vehicle.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., framed the vote around that original purpose. “The purpose of TRIA is spelled out in the original law,” Hill said. “The law states that TRIA is designed to provide for a transparent system of shared public and private compensation for insured losses resulting from acts of terrorism in order to protect consumers. That’s the goal here: to give policyholders access to the financial protection they need and the confidence they need to build skyscrapers, sports venues, and malls, and employ workers that drive our economy.”
Flood, the bill’s lead sponsor, paired the extension with tighter taxpayer protections. “This legislation would reauthorize TRIA … through 2034,” he said. “We are so fortunate that we have never seen a TRIA claim in the program’s entire history, and I hope that we never, ever see one. However, if this program is going to continue to exist with a public backstop, we should ensure we update its charter to protect taxpayers in the event of future claims, and we should work to ensure the certification process is transparent.”
The current authorization expires at the end of 2027. H.R. 7128 would add seven years. Beginning in 2029, it would raise the minimum insured-loss threshold for certifying an event as terrorism for program purposes from $5 million to $10 million. It also gives Treasury explicit statutory authority to issue public notifications about how it decides whether an event qualifies—an effort to make certification more predictable for carriers and policyholders.
Industry groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association backed the bill. They argue that lenders will not finance large commercial projects, stadiums, malls, or high-rise construction without reliable terrorism coverage. A lapse, they warn, could shrink availability, raise premiums, and slow development in major cities and at high-profile sites. Commercial real estate and related sectors employ millions in construction, property management, retail, and hospitality; supporters say predictable coverage is part of the financing stack that keeps those projects moving.
The program is designed as a last-resort partnership, not a first-dollar subsidy. Private insurers remain on the hook for initial losses. Federal participation is reserved for events large enough to threaten market capacity. Raising the certification threshold is meant to keep smaller incidents from triggering government involvement and to account for inflation since the original $5 million floor was set.
Opponents of an open-ended backstop have long argued that taxpayers should not stand behind private insurance without stricter limits. The House bill answers some of that concern by lifting the certification bar and clarifying Treasury’s public process, while leaving the core make-available requirement intact.
The Senate companion, which has drawn bipartisan cosponsors, differs only modestly from the House text. Industry advocates are urging Congress to finish the work well before the 2027 expiration so that multiyear construction loans and commercial mortgages do not face a cliff. Until the Senate acts, the House vote stands as a near-unanimous endorsement of extending a program that has never paid a claim—but that markets still treat as essential insurance against a risk few private balance sheets can absorb alone.
