Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB99                                                                                     LB99
                                                                                   2019
                               LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                            ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
                                     FIRST SESSION
                       LEGISLATIVE BILL 99
       Introduced by Wayne, 13.
       Read first time January 10, 2019
       Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs
   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Prompt Payment Act; to amend sections
       81-2402, 81-2403, 81-2404, and 81-2405, Reissue Revised Statutes of
      Nebraska;   to define    a term;    to change requirements for bills
      submitted by   small businesses;    to harmonize provisions;      and to
      repeal the original sections.
  Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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LB99                                                                                    LB99
                                                                                  2019
      Section 1. Section 81-2402, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
       81-2402   As used in   the Prompt Payment Act,   unless the context
   otherwise requires:
       (1) Agency shall mean the state and any agency, department, office,
   commission, board, panel, or division of the state. Agency shall include
   the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska state colleges;
       (2) Bill shall mean a proper billing or invoice which requests a
   payment and which is supplemented by all necessary verification and forms
   required by agency rules and regulations to process payments;
      (3) Creditor shall mean any person, corporation, association, or
  other business concern engaged in a trade or business, either on a for-
   profit or not-for-profit basis, and providing any goods or services to an
   agency;
       (4) Good faith dispute shall mean:
       (a) A contention by the agency that goods delivered or services
   rendered were of less quantity or quality than ordered or specified by
   contract, faulty, or installed improperly; or
       (b) Any other reason giving cause for the withholding of payment by
   the agency until the dispute is settled, except that failure to give
  notice as prescribed in section 81-2405 shall preclude an agency from
   claiming a good faith dispute in the case of a defective or improper
   billing;
       (5) Goods shall mean any goods, supplies, materials, equipment, or
   other personal property but shall not mean any real property; and
       (6) Services shall mean any contractual services, including, but not
   limited to, architectural, engineering, medical, financial consulting, or
   other professional services, any construction services, and any other
   personal services but shall not mean any services performed as an officer
   or employee of any agency; and .
       (7) Small business shall mean a business which is classified as a
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LB99                                                                                                LB99
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  small business according to the Table of Small Business Size Standards
   Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes of the
  United States Small Business Administration as    the table existed on
  October 1, 2018.
          Sec. 2. Section 81-2403, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
         81-2403 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section,
  each agency shall make payment in   full for all goods delivered or
  services rendered by a creditor which is a small business on or before
  the fifteenth calendar day, or by any other creditor on or before the
  forty-fifth calendar day, after (a) the date of receipt by the agency of
   the goods or services or (b) the date of receipt by the agency of the
  bill for the goods or   services,       whichever is     later,   unless other
   provisions for payment are agreed to in writing by the creditor and the
   agency.
         (2) Any agency making payment for goods or services provided for
  third parties shall make payment in full for such goods or services on or
  before the sixtieth calendar day after the date of receipt by the agency
  of the bill.
         (3) No goods or services shall be deemed to be received by an agency
  until all such goods or services are completely delivered and finally
  accepted by the agency. For purposes of determining whether payment was
  made in accordance with this section, payment in full by an agency shall
  be considered to be made on the date the warrant or check for such
  payment was mailed or otherwise transmitted.
         (4) In order to qualify as a small business for purposes of the
  Prompt Payment Act,    the creditor shall submit evidence of     its
   classification status according to   the Table of    Small Business Size
   Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes
   of the United States Small Business Administration as the table existed
   on October 1, 2018, with the bill for the goods or services.
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LB99                                                                                               LB99
                                                                                             2019
          Sec. 3. Section 81-2404, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
          81-2404 Any creditor of an agency not receiving payment in full for
   goods delivered or services rendered within the applicable forty-five-day
   or sixty-day time period under section 81-2403 , whichever is applicable,
   may charge the agency interest on the unpaid principal balance at the
   rate specified in section 45-104.02, as such rate may from time to time
   be adjusted. Interest charges shall begin to accrue on the thirty-first
   calendar day after (1) the date of receipt by the agency of the goods or
   services or (2) the date of receipt by the agency of the bill for the
   goods or services, whichever is later, and shall terminate on the date on
   which payment in full of the amount due is made. Each agency shall pay
   the interest charge upon request unless the bill is the subject of a good
   faith dispute between the agency and the creditor. No claim by a creditor
   for interest charges shall be allowed unless the agency is requested to
   pay the interest charges within ninety calendar days from the date on
   which payment in full is due.
          Sec. 4. Section 81-2405, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
          81-2405        (1) When a bill submitted to an agency is filled out
   incorrectly or    when there is     any defect or   impropriety in   a bill
   submitted, the agency shall notify the creditor in writing prior to the
   date on   which payment in   full is   due.     The notice shall contain    a
   description of the defect or impropriety and any additional information
   necessary to enable the creditor to correct the bill.
          (2) Upon receiving a properly corrected bill, the agency shall make
   payment in full of the bill (a) on or before the fifteenth calendar day
   after the receipt of the corrected bill from a creditor which qualifies
   as a small business for purposes of the Prompt Payment Act, (b) on or
   before the forty-fifth calendar day after the receipt of the corrected
  bill from a creditor which does not so qualify, or (c) or, when the
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LB99                                                                        LB99
                                                                      2019
   agency is making payment for goods or services provided by a third party,
   on or before the sixtieth calendar day after the receipt of the corrected
   bill.
       Sec. 5.   Original sections 81-2402, 81-2403, 81-2404, and 81-2405,
   Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, are repealed.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 81-2402, 81-2403, 81-2404, 81-2405