CIAT just sent a letter to Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, encouraging the senator and his colleagues to expedite the passage of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of 2005. The proposed legislation would postpone TRIA's expiration to the end of 2007.

"S 467 would extend the current TRIA program for a short period of time while creating a group of insurance and risk-management experts to work with the Presidential Working Group on Financial Markets to develop a longer-term solution," CIAT writes in the letter. CIAT is an organization of business insurance policyholders in industries ranging from real estate to entertainment.

Martin DePoy, CIAT spokesperson and vice president of government relations at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, tells GlobeSt.com that CIAT's calls for swift passage of S 467--as well as the US House of Representative's companion legislation, HR 1153--have not fallen on deaf ears. "There's strong bipartisan support among members of the House and Senate for an extension," DePoy says. "There remains work to be done to convince certain members, but we have facts to support the need for an extension. We have confidence that they will extend TRIA and come up with a long-term solution."