Success from the session: Unemployment, foreclosure bills to help hard-working Coloradans

Emailed to supporters June 2, 2009

Success from the session
Unemployment, foreclosure bills
to help hard-working Coloradans

By Rich Jones
Director of policy and research
jones@thebell.org

This evening, Gov. Bill Ritter will sign several bills that will help hard-working
Coloradans better make it through the recession. He plans to sign SB 247,
which modernizes, strengthens and reforms Colorado's unemployment
insurance system, and HB 1276, which delays foreclosure proceedings so
borrowers and lenders can avoid foreclosure. Last night, he signed HB 1064 to
create the Economic Opportunity and Poverty Reduction Task Force, which will
recommend actions to alleviate poverty in Colorado.

The bill-signing is being held in conjunction with a Help and Opportunity Fair for
Working Families, hosted by Gov. Ritter, state agencies, nonprofit groups and
other service providers. The fair will be from 5-7 p.m. at the Capitol and will
provide information about unemployment benefits, foreclosure prevention,
health care, utility assistance and job training. If it is raining, the fair will be
inside.

SB 247: Unemployment insurance reform
This session, the legislature and Gov. Ritter took significant action to modernize,
reform and strengthen Colorado's unemployment insurance system. This
legislation creates an alternative base period that helps mostly low-wage workers
qualify for unemployment benefits when they are laid off, rather than having to
wait up to three months under the current system. This is projected to help 1,800
workers receive unemployment benefits over the next year. Nationally, the
average wage of workers who benefit from the alternative base period is about $9
per hour.

The bill also makes minor changes to Colorado's laws relating to workers who are
forced to leave a job due to their own illness or disability or that of a family
member or because of domestic violence. It expands benefits currently available
to workers who leave a job to follow a spouse in the military to any worker whose
spouse changes employment location, making commuting impractical. These
provisions are projected to expand unemployment benefits to an additional 465
workers in the coming year.

It also provides additional unemployment benefits to workers enrolled in
approved training programs, so they can prepare to work in high-demand
occupations and the renewable energy sector. The training will help workers
qualify for better-paying and more stable jobs. The training provisions apply for
three years, ending in 2012.

Finally, SB 247 allows Colorado to access federal funds to fully pay extended
unemployment benefits during 2009 for those workers who have exhausted their
traditional unemployment benefits and still do not have a job.

By making these changes, Colorado will receive more than $127 million in federal
funds to bolster our unemployment insurance trust fund. Without the federal
money, the trust fund balance is projected to drop to $44 million in fiscal year
2009-10. However, with these federal funds the trust fund balance is projected to
grow to $179 million.

Unemployment insurance reform is often a contentious issue, pitting business
against labor, but labor, business and advocates for low-wage workers all
supported SB 247.

HB 1276: Foreclosure prevention
This legislation will delay foreclosure proceedings for up to 90 days to allow
qualified homeowners and mortgage holders to work out an agreement to prevent
foreclosure. To qualify, homeowners must contact a certified housing counselor
within 20 days after receiving a notice of foreclosure, and the housing counselor
must attest that the borrower meets designated requirements.

During the delay in the foreclosure process, the homeowner must make payments
equal to two-thirds of the monthly payment amount due before the delinquency.
This legislation will help create breathing room so homeowners can work out an
agreement that keeps them in their homes.

HB 1064: Economic opportunity and poverty reduction
This bill creates the Economic Opportunity and Poverty Reduction Task Force to
thoroughly examine and recommend actions to cut poverty in half in Colorado by
2019. The task force, a bipartisan group of legislators, will meet over the interim
to gather information, hear testimony and develop recommendations.

It will be assisted by subcommittees with a broad cross section of citizens
representing business, labor, state agencies, local governments, education
organizations, advocates and people affected by the work of the task force.
Between 2000 and 2006, Colorado had the highest increase in the rate of
children living in poverty of any state in the nation. This task force will focus on
developing strategic, long-term actions to reduce poverty and add to the state's
economy.