HBA-AMW C.S.H.B. 409 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 409 By: Shields State Affairs 3/30/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not require that a bondsman's name, address, and telephone number appear on a payment or performance bond. As a result, it may be difficult to locate the bondsman to obtain payment on a government or private bond. C.S.H.B. 409 requires that performance and payment bonds clearly display surety company contact information for sending any notice of claim, or display the toll-free telephone number maintained by the Texas Department of Insurance for obtaining the address of a surety company. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 409 amends the Government and Property codes relating to bonds executed by a contractor for a public work or to indemnify against a mechanic's, contractor's, or materialman's lien. The bill requires that certain surety company contact information and the Texas Department of Insurance's toll-free telephone number be contained on the bond or an attachment to the bond. The bill requires a governmental entity to furnish to any person who makes the appropriate request a certified copy of a payment bond, and any attachment to the bond, the public work contract for which the bond was given, and the toll-free telephone number maintained by the department for obtaining information concerning licensed insurance companies. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 409 differs from the original to provide that contact information can be displayed on an attachment to the bond, in addition to the face of the bond. The substitute also provides that the Texas Department of Insurance's toll-free telephone number may be placed on the bond or attachment to the bond for a claimant to obtain the surety company's contact information. The substitute addresses bonds executed by a contractor to indemnify against a mechanic's, contractor's, or materialman's lien, whereas the original only addressed liens executed for public work.