Currently, thirty-eight state legislatures are in session : Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Federal, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Territories : Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands * Click here for a complete 2020 calendar of the state's legislative session dates .

In This Issue Federal Report Infrastructure Issues State Report Bid Bonds Bond Threshold Increase Bonding/Lien Laws Commercial Surety Performance Bonds Private Construction

Federal Report: Infrastructure Issues Three issues of interest were addressed yesterday. First, the House Democratic Leadership unveiled their infrastructure plan called the "Moving Forward Framework." The plan includes priorities from the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce committees. The Framework calls for investing $760 billion over five years in the nation’s roads, bridges, transit systems, railways, airports, ports, inland waterways, wastewater and drinking water systems, brownfields, and broadband. According to House Transportation Committee Chairman, Peter DeFazio (D-OR-4th), this Framework is an opportunity to get our existing infrastructure working again and fund new transformative projects that will create an estimated 10 million jobs, while reducing carbon pollution, dramatically improving safety, and spurring economic activity. Chairman, DeFazio expects bill text to be available in a few months. Second, the House Ways and Means Committee conducted a hearing entitled, “Paving the Way for Funding an d Financing Infrastructure Investments,” which included discussions on the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), the main funding mechanism for the surface transportation highway bill. Members of the T&I Committee will be tasked with approving various funding mechanisms in an election year, which could be politically difficult, such as raising the federal gas tax to ensure the HTF’s solvency. The Committee also addressed other funding tools, such as the vehicle miles traveled tax/fee (VMT), which is a mileage-based and/or road user charge, and authorizing tax-exempt bonds. Testimony from the hearing is available at the link above. Third, the House Energy and Commerce Communications & Technology Subcommittee considered proposals to expand access to broadband internet service. According to Chairman Frank Pallone’s (D-NJ-6th) statement , recent studies indicate that 28 million—or 22 percent of— American households do not subscribe to home internet service, primarily due to a perceived lack of need or expense. Improving access to rural broadband connectivity appears to be an issue that has received bi-partisan support in Congress. NASBP will keep you apprised of these important infrastructure issues.  State Report Bid Bonds Wyoming House Bill 50 WY H.50 (House Appropriations Committee) Amends the current bid bond requirement for Administration Services. Instead of requiring a bid bond amount equal to 10% of the aggregate amount of the bid or contract when a contract is expected to exceed $1,500, this bill would have the requirement kick in when the contract is expected to exceed $150,000. See Wyoming Draft Bill 41 (below) for additional information applicable to this legislation. Bond Threshold Increase Oklahoma House Bill 3275 OK H.3275 (Boles) Amends the current law (Title 61 §§1-113) by increasing the bond threshold for all public construction contracts from $50,000 to $75,000. Oklahoma House Bill 3879 OK H.3879 (Wallace) Amends the current law (Title 61 §§1-113) by increasing the bond threshold for all public construction contracts from $50,000 to $100,000. Wyoming Draft Bill 41 WY D.41 (Joint Interim Committee on Appropriations) Raises the bond threshold both for the Department of Administration (WY Stat. §9-2-3004(c)) and for the city, county, state, and local governments (WY Stat. §16-6-112) from $25,000 and $50,000, respectively, to $150,000 each. Bonding/Lien Laws Indiana House Bill 1021 UPDATE (amendments in bold) : IN H.1021 (Torr)  Amends Indiana's Mechanic's Lien Law to permit the discharge of liens by filing an "indemnification," payment bond, or cash bond with the recorder's office in an amount equal to 150% of the lien or $7,500, whichever is greater . The bill requires the surety responsible for issuing the bond to be authorized to conduct business in the state and be at least A- rated by a recognized rating agency. H.1021 requires that the filing of the bond discharges the liability of a person served by a lien claimant not less than 30 days after the filing of a bond. The bill is sponsored by Representative Jerry Torr (R-37 th ) who Chairs the House Judiciary Committee where the bill was referred. Yesterday, the legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee as amended and was then adopted on the House floor. Commerical Surety South Dakota House Bill 1025 SD H.1025 (House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee) Makes revisions to the performance bond requirements for the plugging of oil and gas wells. West Virginia House Bill 4090 WV H.4090 (Anderson) Creates the Oil and Gas Abandoned Well Plugging Fund and requires bonds to be furnished in accordance with 22, Article 6 §22-6-23. The bill passed the House Committee on Energy and was referred to the House Committee on Finance. Performance Bonds Hawaii House Bill 2019 HI H.2019 (Matayoshi) Amends Hawaii's Little Miller Act (HRS §103D-324) to add the term " post-performance bond ." The bill would require public contractors to post a post-performance bond to cover the state's costs of curing construction defects discovered within 10 years after the contract's completion. The bond would be in the amount of 100% of the contract price, and prior to the contract's completion, the contractor would be required to provide proof satisfactory to the purchasing agency that the bond is paid in full for the 10 years following the contract's completion. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Finance. As introduced, H.2019 contemplates a bond product that does not exist in the current surety market. A "post performance bond" appears to mimic a warranty bond, but, with a 10-year commitment to the surety and the contractor, the legislative intent is unclear and the legislation seems impractical. NASBP will continue to keep you apprised of this legislation moving forward. ____________________________________________________________________________ Private Construction/Performance Bonds Maryland Senate Bill 75   UPDATE (in bold): MD S.75 (Ellis) Requires performance bonds for the construction of new homes. The bill states that liability under the performance bond shall be for the duration of the construction and for a period of five years after completion. NASBP has reached out to the bill sponsor, Senator Arthur Ellis, who represents Charles County, to inquire about the bill’s intent. S.75 is scheduled for a hearing on January 30 in the Senate Finance Committee.   The bill sponsor withdrew his bill for consideration and it was removed from the hearing calendar.

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The National Association of Surety Bond Producers www.nasbp.org Focal Point is an e-bulletin sent to members and friends of the  National Association of Surety Bond Producers  when most state legislatures are in session and as needed thereafter. To obtain copies of Bills or other materials discussed above, contact  [email protected] . Copyright © 2018. NASBP. All rights reserved.

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