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, which disallows contractors from using paperwork changes as a reason not to pay subcontractors promptly, received unanimous support in Senate on Monday and now is going to Gov. John Kitzhaber鈥檚 desk for approval.

If approved, the bill would require all contractors to use the same form and administrative procedures for processing payments. Contractors can still make changes to the forms, but subcontractors now must be notified of changes 45 days beforehand and the new or changed forms must be presented at that time.

The bill also calls for higher penalties of late payments on public construction projects 鈥� a 9 percent fee on the amount owed. The previous system was based on enforcing penalties three times the discount rate on 90-day commercial paper, which presently sits at 0.45 percent a year.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good solution that will help alleviate a real problem,鈥� said John Killin, president of the Pacific Northwest chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors and executive director of Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon. 鈥淭he industry was complemented for coming in with a concise and broad resolution that everyone agreed upon; we鈥檙e very pleased with our ability to move it through so quickly.鈥�

Killin wrote about the bill last week for the 91视频.