WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                   Ch. 686

(b) "Authority" means the Maryland Small Business
Development Financing Authority.

(C) "CONTRACT TERM" MEANS THE TERM OF THE GOVERNMENT
CONTRACT INCLUDING THE MAINTENANCE OR WARRANTY PERIOD OF UP TO 2
YEARS FROM THE DATE ON WHICH FINAL PAYMENT UNDER THE CONTRACT IS
DUE.

[(c)] (D) "Fund" means the Small Business Surety Bond
Guaranty Fund.

[(d)] (E) "Principal" means a small business entity that

has assets, income or employees that do not exceed limits

established by the Authority pursuant to regulation or
administrative determination.

[(e)] (F) "Program" means the Small Business Surety Bond
Guaranty Program created by Part VI of this subtitle.

13-234.3.

(a)  Subject to the restrictions of this Part VI, the
Authority, on application, may guarantee any surety up to 90
percent of [any] ITS losses incurred [as a result of a
principal's breach of a bid bond, a payment bond, or a
performance bond on any government contract of not more than
$1,000,000 in face value] UNDER A BID BOND, A PAYMENT BOND, OR A
PERFORMANCE BOND OF NOT MORE THAN $1,000,000 FOR EACH BOND ON ANY
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT.

(b)  The term of a guaranty under this Part VI may not
exceed the CONTRACT term [of the contract].

(c)  The Authority may vary the terms and conditions of the
guaranty from surety to surety, based upon the Authority's
history of experience with that surety and upon any other factor
that the Authority considers relevant.

(D) (1) THE AUTHORITY MAY NOT APPROVE  A GUARANTEE UNDER

THIS PART VI UNLESS THE AUTHORITY CONSIDERS THE    ECONOMIC IMPACT

OF THE CONTRACT, FOR WHICH A BOND IS SOUGHT TO  BE GUARANTEED, TO
BE SUBSTANTIAL.

(2) TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF A CONTRACT,
THE AUTHORITY MAY CONSIDER:

(I)  THE AMOUNT OF THE GUARANTEE OBLIGATION;

(II)  THE TERMS OF THE BOND TO BE GUARANTEED;

(III)  THE NUMBER OF NEW JOBS THAT WILL BE
CREATED BY THE CONTRACT TO BE BONDED; AND

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