The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce announced its position on four bills working their way through the Colorado General Assembly.
HB15-1354 Selection of Candidates by Primary Elections/Rep. Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City)
Summary: The bill permits an unaffiliated elector to vote in the primary election of a major political party without affiliating with that political party. It requires that all political parties that participate in the primary election have their candidates placed on a single combined ballot to be used by unaffiliated voters. The bill clarifies that an unaffiliated eligible elector may declare a political party affiliation when the elector desires to vote at a primary election. To vote in a political party’s primary without declaring an affiliation with the political party, the eligible unaffiliated elector is required to declare to the election judges the name of the political party in whose primary election the elector wishes to vote.
The Chamber supports HB15-1354. Of Colorado voters, 35 percent—or 1 million people—are unaffiliated, which means although their tax dollars help fund primary elections, they are not allowed to participate in them. This bill provides a simplified means for this group of voters to participate in the primary process, which would lead to more engagement, voter participation and collaboration in finding solutions on the many tough issues we face in Colorado.
HB15-1346 Taxation of Corporate Income Sheltered in Tax Haven/Rep. Mike Foote (D-Lafayette) and Sen. Matt Jones (D-Louisville)
Summary: This bill would subject C corporations to taxation of their foreign-source income if the affiliate is incorporated in a “tax haven” overseas with low income tax rates. Companies would be required to disclose income that was reported to each tax haven for the year and their liability to the tax haven. Additionally, the bill requires the secretary of state to submit a ballot question, to be treated as a proposition, at the statewide election in November 2015 on whether the state may retain the additional tax revenue.
The Chamber opposes HB15-1346 because it makes a significant change to long standing Colorado tax policy and penalizes companies that do business or have affiliates that do business in certain foreign countries. This change will make Colorado less attractive to businesses operating here already or considering relocating to Colorado.
SCR15-003 Colorado Constitution Minimum Wage/Sen. Michael Merrifield (D-Colorado Springs)
Summary: This resolution would ask voters in the November 2016 general election to amend the Colorado Constitution, raising the state minimum wage, currently $8.23 per hour, incrementally to $12.50 per hour by 2020, after which it would be annually adjusted for inflation.
The Chamber opposes SCR15-003 because it would continue to place prescriptive minimum wage levels in our constitution, making it difficult to respond to market changes.
SB15-269 Independent Contractor Unemployment Insurance/Sen. Ellen Roberts (R-Durango)
Summary: Currently, the Colorado Employment Security Act (unemployment insurance) lists factors to be considered in determining whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor. The bill establishes a bright-line test to make this determination, including:
- Repealing the test of whether the individual is customarily engaged in an independent trade;
- Setting a numerical standard of six factors out of 11 to show an independent contractor relationship;
- Adding a factor of whether the individual has executed a contract that says the individual is an independent contractor;
- Adding a factor of whether the individual is required to perform the services at a place of business;
- Clarifying the relationship between the factors and compliance with state or federal law; and
- Repealing the rebuttable presumption that an independent contractor relationship exists if the parties have executed a contract with certain disclosures.
The Chamber opposes SB15-269. While we are open to a conversation clarifying the definition on when an individual is an employee versus an independent contractor, we believe we don’t have the stakeholder engagement needed or the time (given the stage of session this is being introduced) to understand the full implications of these changes due to their complexity.
Click here to view all the Chamber’s positions this session.
Jennifer Jones is the director of public affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
[Photo by: Ken Lund]