NASBP Focal Point – April 21, 2026

Federal Report

Federal: Last week, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) announced he is targeting April 29 as the markup date for the surface transportation reauthorization bill. Graves is negotiating a topline number between $500 billion and $550 billion. Should the $550 billion hold, it would be well below the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure spending bill which totaled $1.2 trillion, with $550 billion of that going to new federal spending for roads, bridges, transit, broadband, resilience and water infrastructure. According to the Chairman, he wants the upcoming bill to be more traditional than the previous one with more focus on roads and bridges. Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) prefers a higher number than $550 billion. Reports are that the funding bill will include a registration fee for electric vehicles, which was removed during the previous surface funding bill.

State Report

NASBP Comment Letters: At the request of its local members, NASBP recently delivered letters to the TXDOT, and to TX Trinity River Authority. NASBP delivered these letters to Texas procurement officials to remind them of the importance that contractors furnish bid bonds, which is a cornerstone of public procurement practices at local, state, and federal levels, as the bid bond is a critical component of a fair, trustworthy competitive bidding process. NASBP Texas members also raised awareness to their local and state construction organizations concerning this matter.

NASBP also sent letters to the City of Littleton, CO and and to the Wyoming Department of Public Works for construction involving the Teton Trial Pass Pathway. The letters to public owners in CO and WY were to clarify that it is customary and standard in the construction and surety industries for performance and payment bonds to be written for 100 percent of the contract amount. The City of Littleton required contactors to furnish performance and payment bonds at 125% of the contract amount, while owners in WY for the Teton Trial Pass project also required performance and payment bonds for 125% of the contract. The owner for the Teton Trial Pass and the City of Littleton issued addendums to reduce the required bond amounts to 100% of the contract amount.

VT H.944 (Transportation Committee) amends 19 V.S.A. § 10 by waiving and/or increasing statutory bond threshold requirements for VTDOT projects from $100,000 to $250,000. On March 26, H.944 passed the House 84-46 and is currently before the Senate Transportation Committee. NASBP sent a letter to the House and Senate Transportation Committees in opposition to the bill. H.944 bill passed the House 84-46 and the Senate Committee on Transportation. The bill is now before the Senate Finanace Committee.

If you are aware of any bills impacting the industry, please reach out to Larry LeClair, NASBP’s Director of Government Relations, and let us know.