The Hill – by Kevin CirilliThe National Football League is pushing Congress to reauthorize a long-term insurance program during the lame-duck session.
Most attention on pro football’s presence in Washington these days has centered on the league’s response to the Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal and hometown team’s mascot. But NFL officials have quietly been working with a broad coalition of business groups pressing Congress for a long-term reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).
Congress must reauthorize TRIA, which provides emergency insurance funding to businesses impacted by massive terror attacks, by the end of the year — or the program will expire.
“While domestic violence issues have been grabbing headlines, the NFL has been a more effective advocate on TRIA,” said one senior aide to a House Republican.
For the NFL, it’s a matter of protecting its more than 30 stadiums nationwide that can seat hundreds of thousands of spectators. Those stadiums, TRIA supporters note, are home to thousands of jobs each Sunday.
The NFL declined repeated requests to comment for this story.
The league has teamed up with a coalition of prominent, inside-the-beltway business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to push for a longer-term TRIA reauthorization.
The “Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism” (CIAT) includes all of the other major sporting leagues and nearly 80 top business groups spanning the retail, banking and tourism industries.
All are urging a long-term TRIA reauthorization and oppose a short-term TRIA extension.
“CIAT is a broad coalition representing nearly every sector of the US economy including professional athletic organizations,” said CIAT-steering coordinator Martin Depoy. “It only makes sense that the NFL, with its large national fan and employee base, would be part of our coalition and have a vested interest in TRIA’s long-term reauthorization.”
The coalition backs the Senate’s seven-year TRIA reauthorization bill, which passed in July by a 93-4 vote — a rare feat for a politically divided upper Chamber. The House hasn’t voted, in part because of Tea Party opposition.
Tea Party critics say that TRIA must be overhauled to better protect taxpayers against having to spend billions of dollars bailing out businesses after a large-scale attack. And they stress that the program was pitched as temporary when it was
created in 2002 following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) — a top TRIA critic whose Committee has jurisdiction on the issue — reluctantly supported a five-year TRIA reauthorization bill that moved through his committee in June.
But the legislation lacked enough support by House Republicans, and it was never brought to a vote.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/225425-insurance-industrys-lame-duck-hail-mary-the-nfl
Meanwhile, police homes average twice the norm for domestic abuse.
Holy Kryste!! The non-profit statused NFL gets to steer legislation forcing even non football fans to pay for “security”. Security from what? Check that ALL terror acts in the US have been government jobs. The insurance industry/banking infrastructure rely on the govt. to legislate more insurance upon us from healthcare (whoa) to wealthcare (FDIC). Follow the money.
We must stop feeding these beasts. LOSE THE NAME already!!
Love, not conflict.
http://kateofgaia.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/babylon-is-fallen-by-kate-uv-kaia.pdf
Sounds like a lousy idea to me. Common knowledge most stadiums are bank owned (joos) and over 80% of team owners are joos. Hmmm, let me think a moment. A collective of joos with an insurance policy that has an enormous payout. What could possibly go wrong and where have I seen this before?!?!
Give it time. It’ll go through. Bet on it