Congress Adjourns for Spring Break 

On March 27, the U.S. Senate approved a Republican budget resolution just after 3:00 a.m. by a vote of 52-46, capping a grueling day of floor work that required lawmakers to take sides on dozens of amendments. Only two Republicans voted against the budget bill, Senators Ted Cruz (TX) and Rand Paul (KY). Earlier in the week Senator Cruz announced that he will be running for President in 2016. Senator Paul also announced his candidacy for President as well. The House passed its own budget resolution earlier in the week. The two budget bills will have to be reconciled in conference committee once Congress returns after the recess. Congress is scheduled to reconvene on April 13.

NASBP Appreciates U.S. Representative Hanna’s Knowledge of the Construction Industry

U.S. House of Representative Richard Hanna (R-NY 22^nd) is considered a moderate commonsense legislator by his colleagues and his constituents and someone who had experience with the construction industry prior to being elected to Congress. Be sure to read the profile of Hanna in the spring issue of the NASBP Surety Bond Quarterly magazine to learn more about his background.

To show NASBP’s and other organizations’ appreciation for his work in support of the construction industry, NASBP recently co-hosted with the Associated General Contractors of America and the American Subcontractors Association a fundraising event for Hanna. Many of the organizations that participated in the event are members of the Construction Procurement Coalition (CPC), including the following: Associated General Contractors (AGC), American Council of Engineering Companies, American Subcontractors Association, Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Electrical Contractors Association, and Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association. The event was held at the AGC townhouse located on Capitol Hill.

Representative Hanna has reintroduced H.R. 838, the Security in Bonding Act of 2015, to require individual sureties to pledge assets described as “eligible obligations” by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and to deposit them in the custody and control of the federal government. H.R. 838 also increases the guarantee to 90% from 70% for those surety companies that participate in the Preferred Program of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Surety Bond Guarantee Program. H.R. 838 is co-sponsored by the House Small Business Committee Chair, U.S. House of Representative Steve Chabot (R-OH 1st), and Representative Grace Meng (D-NY 6th). H.R. 838 was referred to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, which has committee jurisdiction over the individual surety provision. In addition, H.R. 838 was referred to the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce of the House Small Business Committee, which has committee jurisdiction over the SBA Bond Guarantee Program. NASBP is pleased that Representative Chabot has agreed to speak at this year’s Fly-in.

Over the course of the past few weeks, NASBP and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America have met with nearly every congressional office that serves on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law to reacquaint staff with or introduce them to H.R. 838 and the individual surety issue. Thus far, those meetings were with the offices of the following representatives: Tom Marion (Subcommittee Chair) (R-PA 10th), Mimi Walters (R-CA 45th), John Ratcliffe (R-TX 4th), Dave Trott (R-MI 11th), Mike Bishop (R-MI 8th), Suzan DelBene (D-WA 1st), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY 8th), David Cicilline (D-RI 1st), Scott Peters (D-CA 52nd), as well as the Majority and Minority Legislative Counsels. The goal of these meetings is to ensure that these congressional offices are comfortable and familiar with the legislative intent of H.R. 838, which the industry hopes will be included in the 2016 House National Defense Authorization Act.

Hanna has sponsored several other measures while working with his fellow Republicans in the 114th Congress, which include the following:

For more information contact NASBP Director of Government Relations Larry LeClair at lleclair@nasbp.org.