(a) In order to facilitate the participation of women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises and small businesses in contract procurement, any corporation subject to this article may consider the following measures to include those businesses in all phases of their contracting:

1. (1) Timely or progressive payments to those businesses.
2. (2) An amendment of the performance bond requirements so that bond requirements of electrical, gas, and telephone corporations do not prohibitively burden those businesses from procuring the corporation’s business.
3. (3) The provision of assistance to those businesses by securing contract payments to those businesses with letters of credit, negotiable securities, or other financing arrangements or measures.