Unemployment on the rise, Unemployment Insurance bill on the move

Last week, Colorado received yet more bad economic news about the unemployment rate rising to 7.2 percent, a 21-year high. That means there are about 200,000 Coloradans looking for work, but it does not include those who are under employed or who have given up looking for work.

On the plus side, the Senate Business Affairs Committee approved SB 247, which would make minor changes to modernize Colorado's unemployment insurance system and in turn draw down $127.5 million in federal funding.

More from the Senate Majority Office:

FACT: 57,578 people in Colorado are receiving unemployment insurance
benefits every week.

FACT: The unemployment insurance fund will fall close to insolvency near
the end of FY 09-10.

FACT: This fund is expected to hit close to $45 million near the end of FY
09-10.

FACT: SB 247 will help Colorado make small but significant changes to its
unemployment eligibility.

FACT: In doing so, SB 247 will help Colorado draw down close to $128
million in federal aid from the federal stimulus money. People in Colorado need
help when they are unemployed and Colorado needs help supporting them.

That’s why SB 247, sponsored by Senator Lois Tochtrop (D-Thornton), is so
important and that’s why it passed Business, Labor and Technology Committee
today on a vote of 5 to 1. “It is during times like these, when more and more
people are losing their jobs, we need to make sure we can help Coloradans as
best we can,” said Sen. Tochtrop. “We can do that by protecting workers who lose
their job and getting them job training to help them get a job with a future. If
we can do that by drawing down over $127 million federal money- even better.”

SB 247 will do the following things:

Adopt an Alternative Base Period (ABP) which helps low-wage workers qualify
for unemployment benefits. If a worker doesn’t qualify using the traditional
base period because he or she doesn’t have sufficient earnings in that period,
the ABP would help qualify more workers who need unemployment insurance (UI)
benefits.

Improves unemployment insurance eligibility in the following areas:
Modifies eligibility for unemployment benefits when a worker separates from a
job due to domestic violence.

Expands compelling family reason to include a worker who quits a job to
follow a spouse whose employment location has changed.

Restructures Colorado’s good cause exemption for workers who are separated
from a job to care for an ill or disabled immediate family member.

Temporary enhanced unemployment benefits for workers involved in
re-training for green jobs, high-demand occupations or more stable employment.

SB 247 will head to Senate Appropriations Committee next.