House Committee on Business, Labor, Economic, & Workforce Development (03/26/2013)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, LABOR, ECONOMIC, & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Date:	03/26/2013	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:40 PM to 03:39 PM	DelGrosso	X
		Exum	X
Place:	LSB A	Hamner	X
		Holbert	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Navarro	X
	Representative Williams	Nordberg	X
		Rosenthal	X
This Report was prepared by		Ryden	X
	Erin Vanderberg	Szabo	X
		Kraft-Tharp	X
		Williams	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB13-1262 SB13-157 Wage Theft Presentation		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Presentation Only

01:41 PM -- House Bill 13-1262

Representative Young, prime sponsor, introduced House Bill 13-1262 to the committee. The bill expands the Fraudulent Claims and Arson Reporting Act to allow any person to report a fraudulent insurance claim to a secondary agency and defines a secondary agency as any for profit or nonprofit organization funded directly or indirectly by insurers that collects and disseminates information on insurance fraud. Representative Young distributed a letter from the National Insurance Crime Bureau to the committee (Attachment A) and prepared Amendment L.002 (Attachment B).

130326 AttachA.pdf

130326 AttachB.pdf

The following individuals provided testimony to the committee:

01:45 PM -- Jeff Ruebel, Colorado Defense Lawyers Association, and Julie Mowry, State Farm, spoke in favor of the bill. Ms. Mowry discussed the bill and prepared Amendment L.002. Mr. Ruebel discussed examples of insurance fraud.

01:49 PM

Representative Young discussed the provisions of Amendment L.002, which included technical changes recommended by the Department of Regulatory Agencies' Division of Insurance; and the striking of the immunity section of the bill, which needs more work according to Representative Young.


BILL:	HB13-1262
TIME:	01:50:43 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Ryden
		VOTE
	DelGrosso
	Exum
	Hamner
	Holbert
	Navarro
	Nordberg
	Rosenthal
	Ryden
	Szabo
	Kraft-Tharp
	Williams

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

01:51 PM

Representative Young made closing comments. He stated that no Coloradan wants to pay higher insurance premiums because of fraud.


BILL:	HB13-1262
TIME:	01:53:17 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 13-1262, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Szabo
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Exum	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Navarro	Yes
	Nordberg	Yes
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Szabo	Yes
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:53 PM -- Senate Bill 13-157

Representatives Exum and Kraft-Tharp, prime sponsors, presented Senate Bill 13-157 to the committee. The bill extends the Colorado Work Share Program in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) indefinitely and implements recommendations of the Department of Regulatory Agencies' (DORA) sunset review. Representative Exum discussed the merits of the bill and Representative Kraft-Tharp discussed DORA's sunset review. The sponsors responded to a question from Representative DelGrosso on the reason behind continuing this program indefinitely, to which the response was to qualify for federal grants. Representative Navarro asked how this legislation would affect part-time employees. Representative DelGrosso asked a question about the program's vulnerability to fraud. Representative Kraft-Tharp responded that businesses must submit specific criteria and a plan. Representative DelGrosso asked if this bill gives advantages to mismanaged businesses. Representative Kraft-Tharp discussed the bill's ability to bring federal funds to the state to restore unemployment insurance (UI) funds.

The following individuals provided testimony to the committee:

02:10 PM -- Brian Tobias, Senior Policy Analyst with DORA's Research and Regulatory Reform department, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Tobias presented an overview of the sunset process and responded to questions from the committee. Representative DelGrosso asked a question on the sunset process. Representative Szabo asked questions on UI benefits. Representative Hamner asked a question on the indefinite nature of the bill. Representative Szabo asked a question on federal reimbursement.

02:21 PM -- Pat Teegarden, CDLE, spoke in favor of the bill. He stated that nine companies and 65 employees benefit currently benefit from the program. Mr. Teegarden reiterated the federal reimbursement component of the bill, and discussed the UI trust fund. Representative Szabo asked if the bill affects an employers' UI cost. Mr. Teegarden discussed employers' experience rating's effect on premium payments. Mr. Teegarden continued to respond to technical questions on UI benefits.

02:29 PM -- Angela Pfannenstiel, CDLE, came to the table to discuss specifics on the UI program. Ms. Pfannenstiel responded to Representative Szabo's question on how the workshare program differs from regular UI benefits. Representative Hamner discussed her perceptions of the program. Ms. Pfannenstiel stated that after the 26-week workshare program period, employees are still eligible for regular UI benefits for another 26 weeks.

02:32 PM -- Rich Jones, Bell Policy Center, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Jones distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment C). Mr. Jones stated that the program was working effectively in 24 other states and responded to questions from the committee.

130326 AttachC.pdf

02:39 PM

Committee discussion ensued on the funding of the UI benefits program.

02:39 PM -- Pat Teegarden, CDLE, returned to the table to clarify questions about federal UI benefit funding.


BILL:	SB13-157
TIME:	02:46:14 PM
MOVED:	Exum
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 13-157 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:	Kraft-Tharp
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	No
	Exum	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Holbert	No
	Navarro	No
	Nordberg	No
	Rosenthal	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Szabo	No
	Kraft-Tharp	Yes
	Williams	Yes

YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:47 PM -- Wage Theft Presentation

Representative Singer, who had previously presented House Bill 13-1227, Income Protection Act, to the committee and requested that the committee move to postpone that bill indefinitely so that he could continue to work on it over the summer with stakeholders, returned to the committee to give a presentation on the issue of wage theft. Representative Singer discussed the scope of the problem and introduced a panel of members from the faith community, the employment community, the legal community, and victims of wage theft.

02:51 PM

Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs, who owns the Pumphouse Restaurant, expressed that a wage theft bill would level the playing field in the restaurant industry.

02:54 PM

Jennifer Lee, Colorado Legal Services, discussed examples of employees who have experienced wage theft, issues related to Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) enforcement, and small claims courts. Ms. Lee distributed two handouts to the committee, Battling Wage Theft in Colorado's Current System (Attachment D) and Where Theft is Legal (Attachment E).

130326 AttachD.pdf

130326 AttachE.pdf

03:02 PM

Alexis Mendez, a wage theft victim, discussed his personal experience with wage theft.

03:07 PM

Marcos Nunez, Executive Director of El Centro Humanitario para los Trabajadores, discussed examples of wage theft which have impacted his community. Mr. Nunez distributed two handouts to the committee, Workers' Rights on ICE (Attachment F) and The Movement to End Wage Theft (Attachment G).

130326 AttachF.pdf

130326 AttachG.pdf

03:13 PM

Reverend Anne Dunlap, United Church of Christ and Liberation Community, discussed issues of wage theft facing her faith community and the unsuccessful efforts undertaken by her church to recover stolen wages. She distributed a pamphlet to the committee, Wage Theft in Colorado: Victims' Voices (Attachment H).

130326 AttachH.pdf

03:20 PM

The panel was brought to the table to respond to committee questions on existing wage theft laws and current mechanisms to combat wage theft. Questions focused on: the role of the CDLE, the success of small claims courts, and the issue of verbal agreements.

03:27 PM

Questions from the committee to the panel continued on solutions specific to paperwork and employers.

03:39 PM

The committee adjourned.