Summary: <p>Republicans will control both houses of Congress starting this January. But before that happens, the current Congress has some unfinished business.</p> <p>One of those issues is deciding whether or not to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA. Passed shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, it provided a federal guarantee to cover losses sustained from a terrorist attack once they exceed certain thresholds. </p> <p>The original intent of the program was to give insurance companies time to develop pricing models that accurately assess the risk of a terrorist attack. Over time, the program would wind down as the burden shifted back to insurers.</p> <p>But TRIA was extended twice – in 2005 and 2007 – and is now set to expire again on December 31. </p> <p>The Senate passed a reauthorization bill 96-3 last summer to keep the program largely intact. But House Financial Services Chairman, Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/11/jeb-hensarling-terrorism-and-the-politics-of-risk/">supports a different version</a> that raises the cost threshold before the government intervenes.</p> <p>This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks with WNYC's <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/people/ilya-marritz/">Ilya Marritz</a> who's been covering the fight in Congress about why the stakes are so high for the real estate industry in New York.</p> <p>After that, a conversation about annual employee reviews. <a href="https://twitter.com/wallernikki">Nikki Waller</a> from The Wall Street Journal discusses new approaches companies are taking to evaluate employee performance.</p> <p>And <a href="http://www.pon.harvard.edu/faculty/sheila-heen/">Sheila Heen</a>, a contributor to the <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/01/find-the-coaching-in-criticism">Harvard Business Review</a> and co-author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thanks-Feedback-Science-Receiving-Well/dp/0670014664">Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well</a>, examines how employees can – and should – take more control over the feedback process.</p> <p>"One way to get coaching is to ask a very specific question,” said Heen. “'What’s one thing I’m doing or failing to do that you think is getting in my way or that you think would improve things?'"</p>
