“I applaud my colleagues on the Resources Committee for taking action today to finally compensate these Arizona small business owners for the work they performed for the National Park Service,” said Rep. Renzi.  “Since 2004, the federal bureaucracy has been stringing these businesspeople along without adequately compensating them for their work.  This is completely unacceptable.  Today’s vote is a step in the right direction towards resolving this matter, and I hope it will serve as an example to all federal agencies in order to avoid similar dilemmas in the future.”    

According to invoices sent to the Park Service, the contractor certified that payments were being sent to subcontractors and suppliers.  However, in January 2004, complaints were received by numerous subcontractors that they had not received payment. In total, the general contractor did not pay $1.3 million to subcontractors who performed the work. In a review of the situation, it was discovered that the National Park Service had failed to ensure that the contractor had obtained the necessary payment and performance bonds required by law.

Renzi’s legislation authorizes the National Park Service to pay the subcontractors who have performed the work at the Grand Canyon National Park and were not paid by the defunct contractor.  This legislation only addresses this situation in the Grand Canyon National Park and the $1.3 million that the Park paid to the defunct contractor for work performed by the subcontractors.