To expand the surety bond program under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes.
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Ms. Ernst, with an amendment
Mr. Markey introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Summary
What This Bill Does
Increases the Small Business Administration surety bond guarantee limits from $6.5 million to $20 million for individual contracts and total work orders, enabling small businesses to compete for larger construction projects.
Who Benefits and How
Small construction contractors gain access to larger federal and private contracts. The SBA receives up to 5% of program funds for administrative costs. Surety companies benefit from expanded government guarantees.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Taxpayers bear increased risk exposure from larger guaranteed bonds. The SBA surety fund may face larger potential claims. Larger contractors face increased small business competition for mid-sized projects.
Key Provisions
- Raises bond limits from $6.5 million to $20 million
- Allows 5% of fund for SBA administrative expenses (IT, personnel, outreach)
- Applies to both individual contracts and total work orders
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Expands SBA surety bond program limits from $6.5 million to $20 million for small businesses
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Enable small business participation in larger construction projects"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_administrator"
- → SBA Administrator
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology