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A bill to help create family-wage jobs that was championed by Gov. John Kitzhaber and supported by commercial real estate professionals聽 passed out of the Joint Ways and Means Committee today.

would protect certain industrial areas from being converted for other uses, like commercial or residential, which would make the areas cheaper to develop but wouldn’t allow as many jobs. The bill would also speed up the permitting process on those lands when capital projects are being performed.

The bill was first presented by Kitzhaber when he came into office at the beginning of the year. He pitched it as a bill meant to help turn around Oregon’s economy and improve state employment numbers.

鈥淪.B. 766 is an important part of Oregon’s economic recovery strategy and I applaud the Ways and Means Committee for moving it,鈥� Kitzhaber said in a statement this afternoon. 鈥淭his bill will provide a strong competitive advantage for Oregon and a high level of predictability for investment by the business community while maintaining our great quality of life.

鈥淚 urge the legislature to pass it.鈥�

The bill has not only gained broad support from both commercial real estate and industrial officials, which say prime industrial land is often converted to other uses because it’s cheaper and quicker to develop, but also the statewide land-use advocacy group 1000 Friends of Oregon.

The bill will now move to the Senate floor for a vote. If passed, the bill will go through a similar process in the state House of Representatives.