Business calls for US to renew terrorism backstop
Ray Lehmann, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the R Street Institute, a think tank which promotes free markets and limited government, said the fact the letter to Congress has been sent is not surprising because of the TRIA renewals.
“And both times, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has weighed in.”
He said: “The industries most interested are commercial real estate and large employers who have a large concentration of employees in one location.”
He also pointed the regional nature of the interest in TRIA. “The cities of New York and Washington had the greatest interest in the renewal, (and to a slightly lesser extent) other regions such as Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco … Places where they have had perceived threats of terrorism,” as well as high profile locations such as Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
“It remains more of a regional issue than a national one,” he said.
Workers’ compensation is the most critical area of insurance coverage, Mr Lehmann explained.
“In this country workers’ compensation is a no-fault system. You must provide compensation for workplace injuries. Without TRIA, he said the pricing would be “quite a bit higher,” and that could have a significant effect on the U.S. economy.
….However, he said that R Street is interested in seeing as much private sector capital employed in providing insurance coverage as possible, and added that the law should also encourage employers to purchase that coverage. “But,” he said, “if the law takes the place of private capital, that is a bad thing,” he said.
“The law should be extended, but it should be amended, to allow companies who wish to take a larger role than they are currently,” he said, and referring to TRIA, added: “It’s very difficult to compete with free coverage.”
