TRIA Reauthorization Hearing in the House
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIP) expires at the end of 2020 unless Congress reauthorizes it. Terrorism insurance is a vital aspect of financing for commercial real estate in many areas, and TRIP has successfully kept coverage affordable and available for commercial real estate of all sizes and types throughout the country since it was reauthorized in 2015. The 2015 reauthorization made changes to the program to reduce the federal government's exposure to risk, including increasing the "trigger amount" of losses that initiates the program, reducing the government's share in the losses amounts, and increasing the mandatory recoupment amount from insurers. During the hearing, members expressed bipartisan support for the program and its reauthorization; however there was a divide on the question of whether to have a "clean" reauthorization for several years versus a reauthorization that makes further changes to further reduce the government's risk. Those that argued against changes to the program pointed out the risk that increasing the burden on insurers beyond the changes made by the 2015 TRIP reauthorization may negatively affect the cost and availability of terrorism insurance. https://www.nar.realtor/washington-report/tria-reauthorization-hearing-in-house
DC Circuit Court Decision on Net Neutrality
In November 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), under Chairman Ajit Pai, voted to dismantle regulations that prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing internet traffic and ban them from offering fast lanes to companies willing to pay more to reach consumers faster than competitors. The FCC’s decision was challenged by several groups in court. On October 1, 2019, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s decision but found that the FCC had overstepped its authority when it banned states from enacting their own net neutrality rules. California, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have already enacted legislation or adopted resolutions protecting net neutrality. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have introduced bills and resolutions. NAR will continue to work with Congress and the FCC to protect our members’ ability to freely share lawful content on the internet. https://www.nar.realtor/washington-report/dc-circuit-court-decision-on-net-neutrality