Governor Signs Unemployment Insurance Modernization

Opens Doors for $127.5 Million More in Federal Dollars

Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. signed into law bill SB 09-247, making modest changes in Colorado’s unemployment insurance law, and adopting new standards included in the Federal Stimulus Package that automatically qualify the state for more than $127.5 million in new federal incentive dollars. The new policy and the money are expected to bring much needed relief to the more than 2 million Coloradans currently unemployed.

“Especially in these challenging economic times, the unemployment safety net should be available to all Colorado workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own,” said Linda Meric, Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women, and one of the leading advocates of the bill. “UI is an important foreclosure and bankruptcy avoidance tool, a tool to avoid pushing more Colorado families onto the welfare rolls, and an economic stimulus strategy to help families and our local economies as workers try to maintain some basic economic security while temporarily out of work. SB-247 will provide access to the unemploy-ment safety net for women and very low-wage workers who have previously been left out.”

Dawn Duvall, a Colorado mother of two who has been out of work since she was laid off on December 5th noted, “This bill will provide much needed extensions of benefits for people like me who are desperately seeking work and are finding the process much harder than it has ever been before.”

The bill makes the following changes in current law:

1. Allows for an Alternative Base Period (ABP) to assess eligibility for UI benefits.

Explanation: When workers lose jobs through no fault of their own and file unemploy-ment claims, all states use a base period, or “look-back” period, to determine eligibility and benefits. The ABP provides an option for some unemployed Coloradans, mostly very low-wage workers and recent entrants to the workforce, to shift the look back period to include more of their recent earnings when determining UI eligibility.

2. Allows UI for spouses of transferred/relocated employees.

Explanation: Under current law, Colorado workers who quit a job to follow a spouse in the military who is relocated are already eligible for unemployment benefits. SB 09-247 expands this provision to include any worker whose spouse is transferred or finds employment in a location where commuting is unreasonable, as required by the Federal guidelines to draw down the stimulus money.

3. Provides Additional UI Benefits for Workers in Retraining for Green Jobs, High Demand Occupations or More Stable Employment.
   

Explanation: SB 09-247 temporarily allows unemployed workers who are involved in approved training programs to receive an additional 50% of their regular weekly benefit amount for a period of up to 20 weeks.

SB 09-247 also includes language required to draw down federal funds to provide UI benefit extensions for unemployed Colorado workers who have exhausted their initial award of benefits and have still been unable to find work. These federal funds are in addition to the $127.5 million in stimulus money.

Learn about the new unemployment law that 9to5 Colorado helped pass! Learn how to advocate for yourself and others – how to file a successful unemployment claim, how to win an unemployment appeal.

Handling An Unemployment Insurance Case

Monday, June 29, 2009

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

At Mile High United Way

2505 18^th Street, Denver

Free parking

For more information or to receive a registration form and agenda, please email Bridget@9to5.org.

Governor Bill Ritter Signs Bill Creating Poverty Reduction Task Force

On June 1, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law HB 09-1064, a bill that will create a legislative task force charged with coming up with a plan to reduce the number of Coloradans living in poverty by 50% by 2019.

The bill, “The Economic Opportunity Poverty Reduction Task Force”, was sponsored by Fort Collins Representative John Kefalas and Denver Senator Paula Sandoval, and was supported by 9to5 National Association of Working Women and a number of other Colorado-based advocacy groups in the All Families Deserve a Chance (AFDC) coalition, a coalition working to improve policy affecting Colorado families living in poverty.

“It is time to stop pretending that poverty will resolve itself,” said Bridget Reavy, 9to5 Colorado Organizer.  “This bill will focus our state leaders on the problem and charges them to develop a strategic, integrated and comprehensive plan to both expand economic opportunity and drastically cut the number of Coloradans living in poverty.”

The legislative task force will be made up of five Senators and five Representatives. The members will focus on expanding the circle of economic opportunity. They will seek a holistic approach to reducing poverty, inspecting gaps in the safety net and analyzing issues such as food, housing, health care, jobs, utilities, child care, education, disabilities and domestic violence. None of these issues can be solved in isolation. The task force will seek collaborative solutions involving the private sector and all levels of government: local, county, state and federal.

“Poverty will only be reduced if we are strategic and think about poverty reduction in holistic ways that encompass food, housing, health, utilities, employment, child care, education, disabilities, and domestic violence,” said Patricia Ramirez, board member at 9to5, National Association of Working Women.

For more information, please contact the 9to5 Colorado office: 303-628-0925 or 9to5colorado@9to5.org

Governor Ritter Signs Parental Involvement Bill

Workers Get Job-Protected Leave to Attend Parent-Teacher Conferences

One June 2, Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law a bill (HB09-1057) that allows parents to take time off from their jobs in order attend parent/teacher conferences and other academic activities.

“We’ve known for years that parental involvement can make the difference between a student succeeding and a student failing. Now we’re actually doing something to help parents help students succeed,” said Lorena Garcia, Lead Organizer of 9to5 Colorado, the organization which led the charge on the bill.

 

The bill is modest in its scope. It allows employees of Colorado businesses to take up to 18 hours per academic year of leave to attend academic activities. It only applies to businesses with 50 or more employees. The leave is limited to 6 hours per month and the employer may require that the leave be taken in increments of 3 hours or less. Parents are required to provide employers with at least one week’s notice of leave, except in an emergency. Employers may require written verification of the reason for the leave. Part-time employees accrue their leave at the percentage rate of full-time hours they work (For example, if an employee works 20 hours per week, s/he receives half of the leave time received by a full-time employee.)

 

“This is a reasonable measure that allows working parents limited time off from their jobs to make this critical contribution to their children’s education,” said Garcia. “Our economy depends on a well-educated workforce, but many students in Colorado have not had adequate access to their most important education resource – their parents. Now they will.”

 

Twelve other states (CA, GA, HI, IL, LA, MA, MN, NV, NC, RI, TX, VT)  and the District of Columbia have laws on their books providing for school-related leave for working parents.

Polling shows that 69% of Colorado adults support the idea of ensuring that all working parents have access to such leave.

 

For More information please contact the 9to5 Colorado office: 303-628-0925 or 9to5colorado@9to5.org