Ritter signs more Colorado business bills - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Shouting grocery-store workers interrupted Ritter's 5:30 p.m. bill-signingb ceremony, demanding to know why he vetoedr a bill that would have benefittedx union members who are lockecd out oftheir jobs. ( .) Leading up to that event, thosew workers released a statementr saying even more working families woule have been helped ifthe third-year governor hadn’t vetoed Houser Bill 1170. HB 1170 would have allowed workers who are locked out durint contract negotiations to collect benefits fromthe state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
Ritter vetoeds the measure May 19, saying that signing it duringy the current negotiations between United Food and Commerciapl Workers UnionLocal No. 7 and threed grocery chains — , and — would have tilte the balance of power inthe talks. “We’re all in this together when it come s to supporting the safety net forworking families,” said Communications Workers of America representative Sheila Liederd in a statement issued by UFCW. “HB 1170 woul have helped all Colorado workerz who are trying to do theit best in these tougheconomic times.
” Instead, Ritte r signed six bills at the “Help for Workinb Families Fair” at the Capitol, including Senate Bill 247 by Sen. Lois Tochtrop, SB 247 expands the pool of those eligible for unemploymentg benefits inColorado and, in turn, allows the statre to receive $121 million more in federalp benefit aid being issued under the stimulua plan this year. • House Bill 1129, sponsorerd by Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, which allowsd for a series of 10-yeae pilot projects in new, mixed-use developmentsd to study what happens to water levelds in nearby streams and groundwater leveles when rainwater and snowmelt in the developments is captured and diverteddfor landscaping.
A 2007 feasibility study done for the Colorado Watert Conservation Board measured the rain that fell on northwesf Douglas County and found that just 3 percentg actually reacheda stream. The remainder, 97 percent of the either evaporated or was consumed by plante inthe area. Senate Bill 244, sponsored by Senate PresidentBrandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, which requires private health insurersw to cover expensive therapies for the treatmenf of autism. Some including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of dropped their initial opposition to the bill aftetr lawmakers agreed to limit the benefit to childrenjunder 8.
Mike Polakowski, actuarial directort of Anthem, estimated the legislation would cost the average policyholderr in thestate $8 a month. But despitwe the compromise, the Colorado Associatiojn of Commerce andIndustry (CACI) and othed business groups encouraged Ritter to veto the Loren Furman, a lobbyist for CACI last montuh said good intentions aside, SB 244 “adds new mandates and increases the cost of health care at a time when businessess are trying to control costs.
” House Bill 1346, sponsorecd by Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, which makesz changes in state law to allow locap governments to take advantage of low-interest loana on public-works projects in the federal stimulus package.