Colorado kills anti-BPO bill

While Democratic presidential hopefuls turn the heat on the Bush Administration over outsourcing, a Colorado Senate panel has killed an anti-outsourcing bill that sought to restrain movement of jobs overseas.

With Republicans and business interests opposing it while Democrats backed it, the Senate State Veterans and Military Affairs Committee killed bill SB 170 by a vote of four to three, with the panel voting to postpone action indefinitely.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Deanna Hanna (D-Lakewood), sought to prevent companies that send jobs overseas from getting lucrative state contracts. It sought, further, to force companies providing services to various state agencies to certify that all employees working on the project operate from within the US.

The defeat of the anti-outsourcing bill reflects the thinking that while politicians find it expedient, in the election year, to bash the BPO trend, they are not as ready to put laws where their mouths are, when it comes to voting for measures that seek to ban outsourcing. This year, eight states were set to vote on anti-outsourcing bills, with Colorado being the first.

The Colorado bill used examples such as EDS, the Texas-based company that specializes in information technology.

EDS has a contract with the state, to provide information about available benefits to unemployed citizens. Of approximately 150 workers on the project, six are based in India, according to a company spokesperson.

While presenting her bill, Hanna said that she believed taxpayer money should not be used to fund jobs in countries such as India and China. 'I'm talking about state jobs paid by taxpayer dollars,' Hanna said.

Presenting the case against the bill, Senate president John Andrews said the realities of the global economy should be kept in mind. 'I don't believe protectionism makes anybody richer,' Andrews said; a view that was backed by leading businesses who testified that such a bill would hinder their operations.