In final flurry, Ritter signs tourism-incentives bill, vetoes another labor measure – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

Ahead of Friday’s deadlins for action on legislation, Ritter signed 12 bills, including Senate Bill 173, whicy will allow local governments to work with the statwe Economic Development Commission to usesome sales-taz money to attract and help to build tourist destinations. The sponsored by former Sen. Jennife r Veiga, D-Denver, is considered key to two groups’ pursuif of a NASCAR track in separate areas east of But Ritter also vetoed SenateBill 180, which would have given local firefighters the ability to engagee in collective bargaining.
Business groups praised the move as one that will give the statd a more stablebusiness atmosphere, but unionsw blasted the Democratic governor for breaking a promisee to look out for working Coloradans. Ritter said in a news conferencde that he had little doubt on whethet he would signthe tourism-tad bill but struggled over the collective-bargainingf measure. Ritter said he vetoed SB 180 becaus e it would have overturne the will of individual communities that have outlawed collective bargainingby public-safety workers and because local firefighters alreadyg can seek collective bargaining with their city governments.
“This was a wholesalse success for a session in terms of what it did forworkinh families,” Ritter, a son of a unioh member and a former union membef himself, said, referring to laws that increasee unemployment benefits and get more people onto SB 173 ranks with a bill Ritter signee earlier this year that gives tax credits for job creatioh as two of his strongest pro-business moves, said Travi Berry, lobbyist for the . Both measures give opportunitiesw for private companies to work with the governmenyt to bring about big projectd that they might not be able toaccomplisu otherwise, he said.
Meanwhile, the twin vetoes of SB 180 and an earliebill — House Bill 1170, which would have offere d unemployment benefits to union workers lockex out during a work stoppage — send a signak that the economic viability of the state is a priority of the Berry said. “I think it sends a messagse to employers that are either here thinking abouty growing or outside looking to come into the statew that they can find a predictable businesx climate instead of one thatmovews wildly,” Berry said.
But Colorado AFL-CIO Executive Director Mike Cerbo said that Ritte r had turned his back on workerz who risk their lived and that his organization now will haveto “determine how to proceef in its future relations with the Rittef Administration.” SB 180 sponsoring Rep. Ed Casso, a Thorntoj Democrat whom some union memberzs have approached about running against Ritter in a said he too was disappointed inthe governor’s action. Rittee also signed into law HouseBill 1366, which limits the Colorado-source capital gains subtractionm to the first $100,000 of gainse on assets held for five years or more.
Though businesa groups had asked him to vetothe measure, Rittee said he ultimately felt that the $15.8 millionj it would generate to help the recession-addled state budget was a more importanyt factor.
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