Susan Robertson, CAE, the president and CEO of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), participated this week in a congressional roundtable with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and other trade association leaders interested in ensuring that businesses and associations can financially recover from future waves of COVID-19 and other pandemics that may occur. Maloney, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, is lead sponsor of the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act of 2020 (PRIA). The bill would create a system of shared public and private compensation for business interruption losses resulting from future pandemics or public health emergencies. ASAE has endorsed Maloney’s bill since its introduction in May.
“ASAE called for a PRIA-like package back in March when this crisis first hit and now we are so proud to vigorously support the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act,” Robertson said during the roundtable today. “It is essential to the sustainability of associations and so many others during this crisis.”
Under PRIA, covered business interruption insurance losses would include commercial lines of property and casualty insurance, event cancellation insurance, or other non-property contingent business interruption insurance. Like the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the federal government would serve as a backstop to maintain marketplace stability and to share the burden alongside private industry.
ASAE delivered a community sign-on letter to Congress in July, alongside 2,200 organizations, calling on Congress to pass PRIA, among other requests. “This bill is essential for the nonprofit association community whose lifeblood courses from in-person meetings and events,” the letter said. “PRIA offers the security nonprofit associations need to fully reignite our community’s far-reaching economic impact through industry-focused conferences, workforce development, educational programming and other critical services.”
This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.