Committee approves bill to limit good‑faith bond deposit to winning bidder to reduce cyber risk

Summary

Senate Bill 149 would modernize the State Bond Commission statute by requiring the 2% good‑faith deposit only from the winning bidder (within a set timeframe) rather than from every bidder, citing cybersecurity and efficiency concerns; committee adopted technical amendments and reported the bill as amended.

Leila Fales, director of the State Bond Commission, told the committee that current law requires a 2% good‑faith deposit from every bidder on state general‑obligation bond sales and that SB149 would limit that requirement to the winning bidder only within a timeframe set by the commission. Fales said the change would reduce cybersecurity risk associated with multiple same‑day wire transfers and would modernize a 1968 statute to match market practice: "One in nineteen states require the good faith deposit from the winning bidder only... and one in five currently require it from every bidder, and we are one of those five."

The amendment set 1,427,749 itemized acceptable deposit methods (wire transfer, certified/cashier's check, surety bond) and clarified payment to the state treasurer. Fales cited a December 2024 news report of a township wire fraud incident in another state as a motivation for reducing same‑day wires and administrative burden. Senator Bass asked whether limiting deposits would impede competition; Fales said it could modestly increase competition and substantially reduce cybersecurity risk by cutting multiple same‑day wires down to one.

The committee adopted the amendments and reported SB149 as amended.