NASBP Focal Point – March 24, 2026

Federal Report

Federal: The shutdown of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now over a month long, which could be the longest ever for a federal agency if Congress and the Whitehouse do not strike a deal this week. To complicate matters, Congress is scheduled for a two-week recess for Passover and Easter starting Friday and their return to Washington would be the week of April 13. While the Senate may stay in session if a compromise is not reached, it is unclear if the House will follow. The President has gone on record stating he would not support a deal unless it includes the Safeguard American Vote Eligibility (SAVE) Act, the GOP’s election reform bill. Democrats support funding for DHS with the exception of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs Border Protection (CBP). Lawmakers are starting to feel the pressure from their constituents as lines at U.S. Airports are growing as TSA security officers are refusing to work without pay.

State Report

IL HB5042/SB3760 Last week, the House Tax Policy/Taxes Subcommittee. conducted a hearing on HB 5042 (Davis) which raises the bond threshold from $500,000 to $10M for ILDOT and Toll Authority contracts. The bill also increases the bond threshold for other state/local public contracts from $150,000 to $5,000,000. NASBP, ASA, SFAA and the Surety Association of IL submitted statements in opposition. A total of twenty-four opponents signed the witness list opposing the bill, while only one group went on record as a proponent. In 2023, stakeholders agreed to compromise language to raise the bond threshold for ILDOT and IL Toll Authority contracts to $500,000. For all other state public works contracts, the bond threshold remained at $150,000. Both provisions are set to sunset on January 1, 2029, when the bond threshold reverts back to $50,000. NASBP will continue to keep you informed on this matter.

MD SB 388 (Augustine) Governor Wes Moore’s legislative package establishes the Delivering Economic Competitiveness and Advancing Development Efforts (DECADE) to strengthen the state’s economic competitiveness. The legislation promotes the administration’s ongoing commitment to delivering private investment to the state, which includes making structural and guarantee changes to MD’s Small Business Development Financing Authority (MSBDFA) by raising the guarantee a surety may receive up to the lesser of 90% or $3M of its loss under a bid bond, payment bond, or performance bond on a contract. SB 388 also gives the Program the authority to issue bonds to contractors up to $5M from it’s previous limit of $2.5M. On March 23, SB 388 passed the Senate 43-0.

UT HB 508 Substitute 3 (Brooks) As reported in the March 10 Focal Point, Senate Substitute 3, passed the Senate and House and was received by Governor Cox on March 17. Governor Cox will have twenty calendar days to take action by either signing the bill into law, vetoing it, or taking no action where the bill becomes law without his signature. NASBP, ASA, SFAA, the Associated General Contractors of UT and the UT Subcontractors Alliance (USA) and others submitted letters to the Governor requesting he veto HB 508. HB 508 amends Section, 63G-6a-1103, “Bonds or security necessary when contract is awarded,” by adding Section 5 and problematic subsections 5(b), and 5(c). Subsection 5(b) states: “the division (e.g., the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM)) is not required to obtain from a contractor a performance bond or payment bond for a construction contract administered by the division.” While Section 5(c) states that DFCM “may require” such bonds if DFCM “determines that the bond is necessary to protect the division from financial loss or performance risk.”

Should HB 508 become law, DFCM and the State Risk Manager will be charged with preparing draft regulations for public review and comment. The surety industry, in collaboration with other contracting groups, plan to play an active role in the commentary process with the goal of including a meaningful regulatory structure for bonding. NASBP will keep you apprised of these efforts.

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.