Never Again Small Business Protection Act of 2020

I 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 Com- mittee on Financial Services A BILL To make available insurance coverage for business interrup- tion losses due to national emergencies, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Never Again Small 4 Business Protection Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Apr 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6497 IH SEC. 2. REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF COVERAGE FOR BUSI- 1 NESS INTERRUPTION LOSSES DUE TO NA- 2 TIONAL EMERGENCIES. 3 Effective only upon the publication of certification by 4 the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 5 and 5 subject to sections 3 and 4, each insurer that offers or 6 makes available business interruption insurance coverage 7 shall make available, to for-profit and nonprofit businesses 8 and other entities, optional additional coverage that— 9 (1) covers solely losses that— 10 (A) result from business interruption due 11 to any order, by any officer or agency of the 12 Federal Government or of any State or local 13 government, requiring cessation of operations 14 during a national emergency; and 15 (B) occur in any area to which such na- 16 tional emergency applies and during the period 17 of such application; and 18 (2) covers such losses for a continuous period 19 that begins upon the declaration of the national 20 emergency and is not shorter than 30 days. 21 SEC. 3. LIMITATION. 22 Coverage provided pursuant to section 2 shall not 23 cover any losses of any insured business which has, during 24 the period that the national emergency is in effect— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Apr 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6497 IH (1) involuntarily terminated the employment of 1 any employee of the insured business; or 2 (2) terminated the health care insurance cov- 3 erage, if provided, for any employee of the insured 4 business. 5 SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF EXCLUSIONS. 6 A contract for business interruption insurance cov- 7 erage may exclude coverage for business interruptions re- 8 sulting from national emergencies only if— 9 (1) the insurer has received a written statement 10 from the insured that affirmatively authorizes such 11 exclusion; or 12 (2) the insured fails to pay any premium 13 charged by the insurer for providing such coverage. 14 SEC. 5. STUDY REGARDING ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL 15 BACKSTOP. 16 The Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance estab- 17 lished by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to sec- 18 tion 313(h) of title 31, United States Code, shall conduct 19 a study regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of using 20 a Federal backstop mechanism, private equity pools, risk 21 assessments, and market pricing to reinsure insurers for 22 excessive losses under coverage made available pursuant 23 to section 2 of this Act. The Committee shall submit to 24 the Congress a report setting forth the findings of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Apr 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6497 IH study not later than the expiration of the 180-day period 1 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 2 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 Upon a determination that there is in effect a Federal 4 backstop mechanism to reinsure insurers for excessive 5 losses under coverage made available pursuant to section 6 2 of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 7 a certification that such mechanism is in place, and cause 8 such certification to be published in the Federal Register. 9 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 10 For purposes of this section, the following definitions 11 shall apply: 12 (1) BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE COV- 13 ERAGE.—The term ‘‘business interruption insurance 14 coverage’’ means property and casualty insurance 15 coverage provided or made available for losses result- 16 ing from periods of suspended business operations, 17 whether provided under broader coverage or sepa- 18 rately. 19 (2) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ has the 20 meaning given such term in section 102 of the Ter- 21 rorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 6701 22 note). 23 (3) NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘na- 24 tional emergency’’ means any— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Apr 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6497 IH (A) emergency or disaster declared by the 1 President pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford 2 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 3 (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); or 4 (B) public health emergency declared by 5 the Secretary of Health and Human Services 6 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 7 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d). 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Apr 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6497.IH H6497 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS