'Wal-Mart', after-school bills vetoed by Gov. Owens

Legislation among 12 measures Owens rejected on Friday

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, June 3, 2006

A bill that would have required large companies to report how many of their employees receive public-health benefits was among 12 vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens on Friday.

Another bill he killed would have expanded funding for after-school programs.

The health-benefits measure, Senate Bill 227, would have required state officials to give the legislature a yearly report on companies with 50 or more workers who qualify for programs such as Medicaid.

Owens said the so-called Wal-Mart bill was meant to "harass" companies that do not provide health benefits and could violate privacy laws.

House Bill 1363 would have created a funding source to pay for after-school grants in the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program. Under the bill anyone convicted of a crime, other than a traffic violation, would have paid a $75 surcharge into a fund, 80 percent of which would help pay for before- and after-school programs.

"I support these types of programs, but I cannot support a bill that taxes an unpopular class of citizens to finance a narrow range of programs," he wrote in his veto letter.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada decried the governor's action.

"This bill is about broadening after-school programs, keeping kids safe, and providing them with positive adult role models," said Benefield in a statement released Friday. "When we keep our young people safely engaged after school, crime rates drop."

Other vetoes:

• HB 1006: Prohibits insurance companies from recommending personal property repair businesses

• HB 1147: Requires utilities to launch energy efficiency programs

• HB 1251: Prohibits price gouging during an emergency

• HB 1317: Creates Colorado Energy Profile for state energy planning

• HB 1397: Creates system for early education councils

• SB 11: Requires study of health insurance costs in Pueblo County

• SB 152: Gives the governing boards of two universities authority to invest in securities

• SB 203: Requires Commission on Higher Education to follow requirements of the State Administrative Procedures Act

• SB 205: Requires two members of the Colorado Commission of Higher Education to have higher-education experience

• SB 234: Authorizes state to award construction contracts through a competitive proposals process

To read Gov. Owens' veto messages, go to www.colorado.gov/governor/press- office.html