Please Help Raise the Profile of H.R. 776 in the 113th Congress! 

In every two-year Congressional cycle, approximately 10,000 bills and resolutions are considered and approximately 400 or so of those become law. As plainly evident, the odds of passage are not high, historically just around 4%. Congressional productivity—that is, the number of public bills passed in a given Congressional cycle—was at low ebb for the 112th Congress, with around 220 bills or about 2% becoming law. Much has been made of the reasons for that lack of productivity, such as the rancor and partisanship that exist on Capitol Hill. The difficult state of our political environment, however, mandates that we do more, not less, to show that our issues are common-sense, bipartisan, and important to the interests of federal taxpayers. Successes have and can be realized in such an environment.

Despite the overall lack of productivity in the 112th Congress, NASBP made significant strides in advancing its federal legislative agenda. H.R. 3534, the “Security in Bonding Act of 2012,” the predecessor bill to H.R. 776, the “Security in Bonding Act of 2013,” passed the U.S. House of Representatives, no insignificant feat. Moreover, legislative goals relating to the Surety Bond Guarantee Program of the U.S. Small Business Administration—namely, increasing the contract cap of the program and vesting discretion in the program administrator to assume program liabilities—were realized when specific amendments were inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act that were accepted and became law.

We recently were able to raise the profile of H.R. 776 in oral and written testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce. The hearing, titled Building America: Challenges for Small Construction Contractors, occurred on May 23rd and focused on issues that impact the utilization of small construction contractors on federal contracts. I testified on behalf of NASBP in support of H.R. 776, pointing out that the bill was needed to prevent the continued victimization of small businesses by unscrupulous and unregulated individuals who promise surety guarantees without valid or sufficient assets backing those guarantees. To view the written testimony NASBP provided to the Subcommittee, click here. See a video clip of my testimony by clicking here. Representatives of other organizations also testified about issues impacting small business utilization. During their oral testimony, representatives of the Associated General Contractors of America and of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce indicated their support of H.R. 776.

In terms of the House Judiciary Committee, it was the Judiciary Committee that passed the predecessor bill to H.R. 776, H.R. 3534, last Congress. It is our hope that the Judiciary Committee’s past familiarity with the issue will allow it to expedite the passage of H.R. 776 out of the committee, placing H.R. 776 before the U.S. House of Representatives.

NASBP continues to work the U.S. Senate to identify possible Senate champions, as the Senate typically is a challenging environment in which to move any legislation. This proved to be the case for H.R. 3534; we do not want it to be the case for H.R. 776. H.R. 776 was the prime issue for the NASBP Fly-in this month, but the bill will need to remain in the spotlight throughout this Congress, especially when it reaches the U.S. Senate. To keep it traveling on its journey to passage, every surety professional will need to contact Congressional representatives, especially in the Senate, and follow-up periodically to assess their position on the bill. Resources to assist you are available on NASBP.org. Please also explain the significance of the bill to your contractor and subcontractor clients; their own industry associations, such as the Associated General Contractors of America, the American Subcontractors Association (ASA), the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA), and the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), among others, support H.R. 776. In the typically gridlocked political environment in Washington, only those who are dogged and vocal have the chance to educate on and to advance their issues.