Ritter signs more Colorado business bills - Washington Business Journal:

ejyceh.wordpress.com
Shouting grocery-store workers interrupted Ritter's 5:30 p.m. bill-signing demanding to know why he vetoed a bill that would have benefittedr union members who are locked out oftheir ( .) Leading up to that those workers released a statement sayinh even more working families would have been helped if the third-yea r governor hadn’t vetoed House Bill 1170. HB 1170 woulx have allowed workers who are locked out duriny contract negotiations to collectg benefits fromthe state’s Unemploymeny Insurance Trust Fund. Ritter vetoed the measure May 19, saying that signingb it during the current negotiations between Uniteed Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal No.
7 and three grocer chains — , and — would have tilted the balances of power inthe talks. “We’re all in this togetherr when it comes to supporting the safet net forworking families,” said Communications Workers of Americas representative Sheila Lieder in a statementy issued by UFCW. “HB 1170 would have helped all Coloradlo workers who are trying to do their best in thes tougheconomic times.” Instead, Ritter signesd six bills at the “Help for Workingv Families Fair” at the Capitol, includinfg Senate Bill 247 by Sen. Lois D-Thornton.
SB 247 expands the pool of those eligibles for unemployment benefits inColorado and, in turn, allows the statew to receive $121 million more in federal benefit aid beingy issued under the stimulus plan this year. House Bill 1129, sponsored by Rep. Marshqa Looper, R-Calhan, which allows for a series of 10-yea r pilot projects in new, mixed-use developments to study what happen s to water levels in nearby streams and groundwater levels when rainwater and snowmeltt in the developments is captured and divertedfor landscaping.
A 2007 feasibilitt study done for the Colorado Water Conservation Boar d measured the rain that fell on northwesty Douglas County and found that just 3 percent actually reachefda stream. The remainder, 97 percent of the water, eithe evaporated or was consumed by plantsa inthe area. • Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Senatr PresidentBrandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, which requires private health insurer s to cover expensive therapies for the treatment of autism. Some insurers, includinhg Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of dropped their initial oppositionj to the bill after lawmakers agreed to limitt the benefit to childrenunder 8.
Mike Polakowski, actuarial directo of Anthem, estimated the legislatio would cost the average policyholder in thestatre $8 a month. But despite the compromise, the Colorado Association of Commerce andIndustry (CACI) and othed business groups encouraged Rittee to veto the bill. Loren Furman, a lobbyist for CACI last mont h said goodintentions aside, SB 244 “adds new mandates and increased the cost of health care at a time when businessex are trying to control costs.
” House Bill 1346, sponsore by Speaker Terrance Carroll, which makes changes in statew law to allow local governments to take advantage of low-interest loans on public-workas projects in the federal stimuluxs package.