[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6497 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6497

 To make available insurance coverage for business interruption losses 
          due to national emergencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 2020

Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Hurd of Texas, and Mr. 
   Suozzi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To make available insurance coverage for business interruption losses 
          due to national emergencies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Never Again Small Business 
Protection Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF COVERAGE FOR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION 
              LOSSES DUE TO NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.

    Effective only upon the publication of certification by the 
Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 5 and subject to sections 
3 and 4, each insurer that offers or makes available business 
interruption insurance coverage shall make available, to for-profit and 
nonprofit businesses and other entities, optional additional coverage 
that--
            (1) covers solely losses that--
                    (A) result from business interruption due to any 
                order, by any officer or agency of the Federal 
                Government or of any State or local government, 
                requiring cessation of operations during a national 
                emergency; and
                    (B) occur in any area to which such national 
                emergency applies and during the period of such 
                application; and
            (2) covers such losses for a continuous period that begins 
        upon the declaration of the national emergency and is not 
        shorter than 30 days.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION.

    Coverage provided pursuant to section 2 shall not cover any losses 
of any insured business which has, during the period that the national 
emergency is in effect--
            (1) involuntarily terminated the employment of any employee 
        of the insured business; or
            (2) terminated the health care insurance coverage, if 
        provided, for any employee of the insured business.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF EXCLUSIONS.

    A contract for business interruption insurance coverage may exclude 
coverage for business interruptions resulting from national emergencies 
only if--
            (1) the insurer has received a written statement from the 
        insured that affirmatively authorizes such exclusion; or
            (2) the insured fails to pay any premium charged by the 
        insurer for providing such coverage.

SEC. 5. STUDY REGARDING ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL BACKSTOP.

    The Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance established by the 
Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 313(h) of title 31, 
United States Code, shall conduct a study regarding the effectiveness 
and efficiency of using a Federal backstop mechanism, private equity 
pools, risk assessments, and market pricing to reinsure insurers for 
excessive losses under coverage made available pursuant to section 2 of 
this Act. The Committee shall submit to the Congress a report setting 
forth the findings of the study not later than the expiration of the 
180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Upon a determination that there is in effect a Federal backstop 
mechanism to reinsure insurers for excessive losses under coverage made 
available pursuant to section 2 of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall issue a certification that such mechanism is in place, 
and cause such certification to be published in the Federal Register.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall 
apply:
            (1) Business interruption insurance coverage.--The term 
        ``business interruption insurance coverage'' means property and 
        casualty insurance coverage provided or made available for 
        losses resulting from periods of suspended business operations, 
        whether provided under broader coverage or separately.
            (2) Insurer.--The term ``insurer'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 102 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 
        2002 (15 U.S.C. 6701 note).
            (3) National emergency.--The term ``national emergency'' 
        means any--
                    (A) emergency or disaster declared by the President 
                pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
                Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or
                    (B) public health emergency declared by the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to 
                section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
                247d).
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