Ritter signs more Colorado business bills - Houston Business Journal:

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Shouting grocery-store workers interrupted Ritter's 5:30 p.m. bill-signing demanding to know why he vetoed a bill that woulf have benefitted union members who are lockeds out oftheir jobs. ( .) Leading up to that those workers released a statemenyt saying even more working families woulc have been helped ifthe third-year governor hadn’t vetoecd House Bill 1170. HB 1170 would have allowed workersw who are locked out duringt contract negotiations to collect benefits fromthe state’ws Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Ritter vetoed the measure May 19, sayinfg that signing it during the current negotiations betweenm United Food and Commercialo Workers UnionLocal No.
7 and threed grocery chains — , and — would have tiltede the balance of power inthe talks. “We’re all in this togethet when it comes to supportinhg the safety net forworkingg families,” said Communications Workers of America representative Sheila Lieder in a statement issuedx by UFCW. “HB 1170 would have helped all Colorado workers who are trying to do theird best in these tougheconomic Instead, Ritter signed six bills at the “Help for Working Familieds Fair” at the Capitol, including Senate Bill 247 by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton.
SB 247 expands the pool of thosew eligible for unemployment benefits inColorado and, in turn, allowsx the state to receive $121 million more in federal benefit aid being issuedr under the stimulus plan this • House Bill 1129, sponsored by Rep. Marshqa Looper, R-Calhan, which allows for a series of 10-year pilot projects in new, mixed-us e developments to study what happens to water levels in nearbyh streams and groundwater levelsz when rainwater and snowmelt in the developmentss is captured and divertedfor landscaping.
A 2007 feasibilityt study done for the Colorado Water Conservation Boarde measured the rain that fell on northwesty Douglas County and found that just 3 percenrt actually reacheda stream. The remainder, 97 percent of the either evaporated or was consumed by plants inthe area. Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Senate PresidenttBrandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, which requires private healthn insurers to cover expensive therapiezs for the treatment of autism. Some including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of dropped their initial opposition to the bill afte lawmakers agreed to limit the benefit to childrenunder 8.
Mike Polakowski, actuarialo director of Anthem, estimated the legislation wouldc cost the average policyholder in thestate $8 a month. But despitw the compromise, the Colorado Association of Commerc andIndustry (CACI) and other business groups encouraged Rittefr to veto the bill. Loren Furman, a lobbyisgt for CACI last month said good intentions SB244 “adds new mandatesx and increases the cost of healtg care at a time when businesses are trying to control • House Bill 1346, sponsored by Speakef Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, which makes changes in state law to allow local governments to take advantagse of low-interest loans on public-works projects in the federal stimulus package.