HBA-AMW H.B. 409 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 409 By: Shields State Affairs 7/27/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, a bondsman's name, address, and telephone number were not required to appear on a payment or performance bond. As a result, it might have been difficult to locate the bondsman to obtain payment on a government or private bond. House Bill 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 House Bill 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 or the Texas Department of Insurance's (TDI) 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 TDI for obtaining information concerning licensed insurance companies. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.