[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1219 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1219

 To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act and the Miller 
 Act, relating to payment protections for persons providing labor and 
              materials for Federal construction projects.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 1999

Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Gekas, Mr. Horn, Mr. Nadler, 
   Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Sessions, Mr. 
     Andrews, Mr. Davis of Virginia, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Filner) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act and the Miller 
 Act, relating to payment protections for persons providing labor and 
              materials for Federal construction projects.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Construction Industry Payment 
Protection Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR FEDERAL 
              PROCUREMENT POLICY.

    Section 6(d) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 
U.S.C. 405(d)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9), (10), (11), (12), and 
        (13), as aragraphs (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14), 
        respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(9) establishing appropriate Government-wide policies and 
        assuring Government-wide implementation through the Federal 
        Acquisition Regulation of policies assuring the timely payment 
        of contractors, subcontractors, sureties, and suppliers 
        consistent with existing laws, including chapter 39 of title 
        31, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Prompt Payment 
        Act''), the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270a-270d-1), and section 
        2091 of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 
        (Public Law 103-355; 108 Stat. 3306);''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE MILLER ACT.

    (a) Enhancement of Payment Bond Protection.--Subsection (a)(2) of 
the first section of the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270a(a)(2)) is amended 
by striking the second, third, and fourth sentences and inserting in 
lieu thereof the following: ``The amount of the payment bond shall be 
equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the contract unless 
the contracting officer awarding the contract makes a written 
determination supported by specific findings that a payment bond in 
that amount is impractical, in which case the amount of the payment 
bond shall be set by the contracting officer. In no case shall the 
amount of the payment bond be less than the amount of the performance 
bond.''.
    (b) Modernization of Delivery of Notice.--Section 2(a) of the 
Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b(a)) is amended in the last sentence by 
striking ``mailing the same by registered mail, postage prepaid, in an 
envelope addressed'' and inserting ``any means which provides written, 
third-party verification of delivery.''.
    (c) Nonwaiver of Rights.--The second section of the Miller Act (40 
U.S.C. 270b) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(c) Any waiver of the right to sue on the payment bond required 
by this Act shall be void unless it is in writing, signed by the person 
whose right is waived, and executed after such person has first 
furnished labor or material for use in the performance of the 
contract.''.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE PROCUREMENT 
              REGULATIONS.

    (a) Proposed Regulations.--Proposed revisions to the Government-
wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement the amendments made by 
this Act shall be published not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and provide not less than 60 days for public 
comment.
    (b) Final Regulations.--Final regulations shall be published not 
less than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 
shall be effective on the date that is 30 days after the date of 
publication.
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