New Congress Opens with Flurry of Action

The 114th Congress convened on January 6 and has already passed a number of legislative items that were left hanging from last year. On January 12, President Obama reauthorized the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) which enables the federal government to pay businesses after catastrophic terrorist attacks exceeding $200 million in damage. The bill passed overwhelmingly (416-5 in the House, 94-4 in the Senate) even though it includes a roll back of some Dodd-Frank financial regulations. TRIA provides economic certainty when purchasing terror insurance in the private market and its extension will continue to allow major infrastructure projects to move forward.

On January 9 by a 266 – 153 vote, 28 House Democrats broke with their party in voting for the Keystone XL pipeline. There are currently 63 votes to advance Keystone in the Senate, which is still debating the measure. Last Congress, the Senate fell one vote short of passage. President Obama has vowed to veto the bill when it comes to his desk. The House is about 15 to 20 votes short of the two-thirds needed to overturn a veto. The Senate is expected to be at least four votes short as well. NRMCA cosigned construction industry letters to members of Congress supporting approval of Keystone XL.

H.R. 23, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2015, passed the House 381 - 39 on January 7. The bill coordinates research on windstorms among NIST, FEMA, NSF and NOAA and requires that FEMA work with building and standard stetting bodies to promote the implementation of research results and better building practices within the building design and construction industry. NRMCA has been lobbying for this bill with others in a package of resilient construction measures.