A bill to accelerate flood protection projects along the Pajaro River made further traction as the California Senate passed legislation to expand contracting tools available to the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency Thursday. Senate Bill 1055 — authored by Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz — aims to authorize the agency to utilize additional methods to expedite construction, including job order contracting, design, build, best value and construction manager/general contractor contracting. It also seeks to expand the number of contracting tools available to the agency from three to seven, help reduce project costs, accelerate construction timelines and improve project delivery for levee maintenance and flood control improvements.