NASBP Focal Point – January 12, 2023

Federal Report

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23rd) elected to serve as Speaker for the 118th session on Congress– After a contentious battle within this fellow Republican conference, on the 15th vote, Kevin McCarthy was elected House Speaker. House Republicans also announced that Representative Steve Scalise (LA) would take up McCarthy’s former role as House Majority Leader, while the Democrats selected Hakeem Jefferies (NY) as their Minority Leader.

House Rules–On Monday, by a vote of 220-213, House Republicans approved significant changes to House Rules, with a majority of those changes heavily influenced by the members of the House Freedom Caucus. Among those changes included limiting the power of the sitting Speaker by allowing one House member to call for a vote to remove the Speaker from the Chair, allowing House members 72-hours to review legislation before it can be called for a floor vote, limit future government spending to the level of 2022, and establishing a special committee to investigate the Justice Department.

House Committee Chairs– Chairs of committees of interest to NASBP: Appropriations: Chair, Kay Granger (R-TX); Armed Services: Chair, Mike Rogers (R-AL); Budget: Chair, Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Energy and Commerce: Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA); Financial Services: Chair, Patrick McHenry (R-NC); Judiciary: Chair, Jim Jordan (R-OH); Oversight and Accountability Chair, Jim Comer (R-KY); Small Business: Chair, Roger Williams (R-TX) Transportation and Infrastructure: Chair, Sam Graves (R-MO); Veterans’ Affairs: Chair, Mike Bost (R-IL); Ways and Means: Chair, Jason Smith (R-MO). A complete list of committee chairs and the House Leadership is available here.

Senate Rules–Unlike the House, the Senate is governed by a set of standing rules and precedents and does not formally vote on a rules package at the beginning of a new session of Congress.

Registration is now open–Federal Legislative fly-in, March 29/30–For the first time in nearly three years, an in-person fly-in is scheduled for March 29 and 30. March 29 will include an opening reception at the host hotel Kimpton The George, just a few blocks from the nation’s capitol.

Fly-in attendees must register separately for these three items: 1: Register for the reception/fly-in please see the 2023 fly-in page; 2: Register HERE to schedule your capitol hill appointments arranged by our outside consulting firm, Advocacy Associates; and 3: Reserve your room by accessing the NASBP Group Block . Please book your reservation before the cut-off date of February 27, 2023. After the cut-off date, the NASBP special rate will no longer be available.

Last week, Congressional Leadership announced that the U.S. Capitol was officially open to visitors. After nearly three years, the Capitol Building, House and Senate office buildings have fully reopened to the public. Capitol hill staffs are no longer required to escort guests in and out of the buildings. This is welcome news to fly-in attendees!!

State Report

IN H1078 (Heine)—Amends Sec. 2. IC 5-23-8-2, by requiring performance and payment bonds in an amount not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the cost to design and construct the qualifying project public-private partnership (P3) agreement. H1078 amends a 2022 P3 law that required performance bonds for 50% of the project’s cost. The bill was referred to the Committee on House Government and Regulatory Reform.

MT HB151 (Hopkins)–Amends 18-2-201 (MT LMA) by increasing the bond threshold from $50,000 to $150,000 for state construction contracts. HB 151 does not apply to school construction contracts where the bond threshold is currently set at $7,500.

TX HB 857 (Gervin) Amends Section 2253.021(a) TX LMA of the Government Code to increase the payment bond requirement for a governmental entity that enters into a public works contract with a prime contractor from $25,000 to $100,000 if the governmental entity is not a municipality or a joint board created under Subchapter D, Chapter 22, of the Transportation Code. The bill sponsor introduced the same measure in 2021, which did not advance in committee.

VA HB 1490 (Davis)–Allows localities to waive VA LMA bonding requirements (transportation and non-transportation) for indefinite delivery or quantity (IDIQ) contracts for the total sum of the contract amount and if the local governing body has adopted such an ordinance. The legislation does require bonds for IDIQ contracts for the dollar amount of individual tasks identified in the underlying contract. While the bill seems to be well-intended for the inclusion of small business contractors bidding on IDIQ contracts, the legislation may need additional clarification. NASBP has offered draft language to clarify the legislation. HB 1490 was referred to the Committee on House General Laws.