State Legislation

Over the past year the Chamber has worked with more than 30 health care organizations to identify industry-wide strategies to address Colorado’s rising health care costs. The group developed robust transparency and disclosure recommendations, understanding that they are key to analysis and consumer education. This bill will provide more transparency in health care, which can help consumers better navigate their care as well as other components of the industry better understand the factors contributing to health care costs.

It is important that we invest in our career and technical education system statewide and equip our students with the skills that will prepare them for the workplace of the future. Colorado employers in every industry face challenges finding skilled, talented workers, and that impacts their own productivity and our economy. This bill will enhance opportunities across Colorado for students following a technical career path and assist in alleviating an across-the-board labor market shortage.

This bill ensures that free-standing emergency departments align with other specialties in that they have their own specific license. It allows better tracking of data related to free standing emergency departments, which is helpful for consumers and other components of the healthcare industry.

We strongly oppose mandates that dictate how our members do business, because we believe that businesses should be allowed to determine a hiring policy that works best for them. However, we recognize the work the bill sponsors have done to address serious concerns in prior versions of the bill, the significant stakeholder effort and willingness to help with the additional minor technical concerns that remain in this version.

This bill encourages businesses to create and invest in a family and medical leave insurance program for their employees and incentivizes employees to contribute to their own accounts. It also rewards companies that are already providing such programs to their employees. The Chamber supports the flexibility this legislation gives to businesses while also encouraging them to provide a program of this kind to their employees.

This bill encourages local workforce housing in rural Colorado, which supports the growth of our state’s economy by providing diverse housing options for our workers throughout Colorado communities.

While the needs of those experiencing homelessness must be addressed, this proposal does not impact the underlying issues causing homelessness and comes significantly short in providing the resources necessary to help communities struggling with homelessness. By creating a right to legal action, the bill will subject the state and local governments to frivolous and costly lawsuits. As a community, we can and should do better when addressing the needs of our homeless population.

This bill makes necessary technical changes to statutory law regarding deed preparation, which will reduce confusion, streamline the property sale process and clarify what entity is responsible for tracking critical information about this business process.

The Chamber has consistently opposed any efforts to weaken the existing Labor Peace Act because its statutory framework has provided a balance to ensure a healthy relationship between business and labor in this state. Colorado’s Labor Peace Act is a unique legal middle ground between right-to-work and union states that has contributed to Colorado’s economic well-being.

The Chamber is committed to helping Colorado companies grow and thrive, attract new businesses and build a strong and healthy workforce. We advocate for policy that makes Colorado the best place to do business and oppose legislation that hinders our ability to do so. If passed, this bill would set Colorado back over several decades and allow for rampant discrimination, sending a message that conflicts with the inclusive and collaborative culture the business community has worked hard to build and maintain here in Colorado and putting our ability to attract top companies and workers at risk.

Chamber members have consistently identified rising cost as the biggest concern regarding health care. This bill undermines the ability of health plans to negotiate with pharmacies to provide patients with lower-cost options thereby making it more costly for businesses to afford these benefits. Although access is a critical component in any health care conversation, the benefits of increasing access in this case do not outweigh the significant impact to cost and quality this legislation stands to generate.

This bill helps alleviate the burden that new rules and regulations can impose on small businesses by providing a more precise analysis on the impact to small businesses before rules are put in place. The Chamber supports this increased outreach and consideration because small businesses typically don’t have the capacity to employ full-time regulatory staff members and therefore addressing rule changes can be especially challenging for them.

Over the past year the Chamber has worked with more than 30 health care organizations and dozens of non-industry members to identify strategies to address Colorado’s rising health care costs. During that process, addressing out-of-network charges at in-network facilities was discussed and prioritized by the Chamber’s members. This bill will help reduce surprise billing and ultimately help lower overall costs of health care.

Colorado ranks 47th in the nation for FAFSA completion, with only 50 percent of high school seniors completing it. A major barrier to attaining post-secondary education for individuals is financial. Investing resources in helping students complete the FAFSA could increase access to higher education opportunities.

The Chamber was supportive of HB17-1375 because the bill remedied key funding disparities that charter public schools face. Tax revenue collected from all taxpayers in a school district should benefit all public-school students in that district and be distributed equally. It is important that all students have the opportunity for a quality education and are prepared to fill current and future jobs. Equitable funding is imperative to providing a quality education.

We have underfunded transportation for decades, and it’s costing us $7.1 billion each year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency – and those costs will only continue to increase if we don’t fund transportation appropriately. This bill will further reduce funding for transportation and encourage single occupant driving by exempting certain vehicles from paying toll lane fees regardless of the number of passengers in the vehicle. This will only exacerbate the underfunding and congestion problems we face rather than helping to fix them.

This proposal addresses one of the primary causes of accidents and congestion on the I-70 mountain corridor, especially during peak periods in winter conditions. Traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and the related lost gas efficiency add to the $7.1 billion Colorado citizens pay each year in transportation related costs – and those costs will only continue to increase. This proposal can reduce accidents and congestion on the I-70 mountain corridor and assist in mitigating the increase in transportation cost along the I-70 corridor.

In 2016, Colorado voters adopted an amendment to our state constitution that sets one minimum wage for the entire state. This legislative proposal aims to overturn the will of most Colorado voters and create an unpredictable business environment harmful to our economy. In Colorado, many businesses operate across multiple cities and counties. Allowing wages to vary by municipality would create unnecessary complication and increased administrative burden for businesses.

Since the original bill was signed into law in January 2015, the state has seen the impact of the low-income housing tax credit. This program has leveraged over $465 million in private sector investment into Colorado and has helped support the development and preservation of over 4,000 affordable apartments. The Chamber will continue to support solutions that incentivize the building of attainable housing for our workforce so that Colorado remains an attractive place to do business and live.

This is a commonsense approach that will allow Colorado housing manufacturers to be more competitive in the national market.

An accurate census count is critical for ensuring Colorado receives adequate federal funding and appropriate congressional representation in Washington. Businesses also use census data to drive market decisions, so an accurate count is important to both the private and public sectors.

Colorado is among the states with the most complicated sales-and-use tax systems in the country, with over 550 jurisdictions that levy sales taxes. We are supportive of and encourage the continuation of efforts to simplify and develop a sales tax system that serves the interests of Colorado businesses, our local governments and special districts while moving our economy forward.

The maximum of $1,000 outlined in the bill is an arbitrary number chosen without adequate analysis and without input from retailers who will be adversely affected by this legislation. Businesses affected by these changes want to provide more feedback to bill sponsors, because our businesses rely on these fees to meet the collection burdens of our complicated sales tax system.

This study, which will be paid for by grants and donations, will allow the state to analyze the use of this new technology to help solve long-existing challenges, streamline processes and potentially reduce legal costs for agriculture, a major industry in our state.

Our competitive advantage is our talented workforce, but if we don’t get more of our kids to and through college, we could jeopardize that advantage. It is important that all students have access to an education that will prepare them to enter the workforce successfully. This proposal can help us address the Colorado Paradox by strengthening credit transfer policies, which would help more students get a post-secondary degree and close the skills gap.

We support allowing the state to retain the revenue it collects under our current tax structure and maximizing the state’s investment in critical and historically underfunded areas like transportation and education.

We support allowing the state to retain the revenue it collects under our current tax structure and maximizing the state’s investment in critical and historically underfunded areas like transportation and education.

The Chamber is supportive of efforts to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. However, this bill sets standards that are unattainable for most smaller utility providers with limited resources; it lacks clear direction on how to achieve the standards; and it delegates all authority to the Colorado Air Quality Commission, an appointed regulatory body with no experience in this type of regulation and one that does not allow for appropriate citizen engagement in their rule-setting processes. For Colorado to get this right, there must be a more thoughtful, deliberate process involving all stakeholders.

Bill sponsors have amended the employee and employer definitions to be in line with the federal definitions. The Chamber feels confident that these changes will allow the sponsors to address the issue they are seeking to address without having adverse, unintended effects on the business community.

The Chamber has consistently opposed any efforts to weaken the existing Labor Peace Act because its statutory framework has provided a balance to ensure a healthy relationship between business and labor in this state. Additionally, this change will cost taxpayers upwards of two-thirds of $1 billion in the first year of implementation just to administer partnerships and negotiations – money our state doesn’t have. Colorado’s Labor Peace Act is a unique legal middle ground between
right-to-work and union states that has contributed to Colorado’s economic well-being for 76 years; on the contrary, this type of policy only increases the polarization of labor policy for our state.

This bill will result in unnecessary and costly lawsuits and jeopardize the use of proven and less costly means of addressing disputes via arbitration.

This bill risks exposing proprietary and trade secret information in a way that could ultimately result in increased health care costs.

This bill seeks to shame businesses that operate call centers in Colorado by putting them on a public list should their business needs require them to relocate their call centers.

The Chamber is supportive of efforts to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. This bill creates a sound regulatory pathway for large utility providers to achieve aggressive carbon emission reduction goals while ensuring system reliability and comprehensive transition planning for employees -- without mandating a one-size-fits-all plan for smaller utility providers with more limited resources do the same.

This bill creates another incentive and, importantly, a market-driven solution to help grow the affordable housing stock in Colorado. With this tool, developers can partner with the state and local communities to build more affordable housing by removing regulatory burdens, which have made it more difficult to secure financing for projects. The Chamber will continue to support solutions that incentivize the building of attainable housing for our workforce so that Colorado remains an attractive place to do business and live.

This tax proposal is estimated to generate $8.5 million in its first year, fulfilling a small but much needed portion of the $100 million per year necessary to fund the Colorado Water Plan. Fully funding the water plan is a high priority for the Chamber because it will help protect our state’s water supply for families, businesses and ranches while ensuring we comply with interstate and international water compacts.

Colorado has one of the more complicated sales and use tax systems in the country. This bill would allow the state to create the framework for a system to ease tax collection for cities and municipalities at point of sale and begin the conversation about how to simplify and create a sales tax system that serves the interests of Colorado businesses and our local governments while moving our economy forward.

This bill diminishes the vote of Coloradans when our election results differ from the national popular vote. The business community has long advocated voter engagement and this is contrary to that effort. Further, Colorado voters defeated the last attempt to alter how we award electoral college votes in 2004 by a sizeable margin. Finally, for those who want a change to the electoral college, that change should be made to our Constitution.

We have underfunded transportation for decades, and it’s costing us $7.1 billion each year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency – and those costs will only continue to increase if this issue goes unaddressed. The Chamber is supportive of proposals that will provide ongoing investments in our transportation system. Without significant investment in our state’s infrastructure, our economy and ability to attract workers will suffer.

The Chamber is supportive of advanced courses, as research shows that access to college-level classes while in high school prepares students for post-secondary success – a critical component of future workforce development. This bill helps ensure that more students access advanced courses.

End-of-life care is one of most costly parts of the health care system. This bill streamlines this process by creating a single electronic repository, allowing health care providers to more easily locate advance medical directives for treatment. This will honor and respect a patient’s wishes and, in some cases, may help contain costs by allowing physicians to more quickly access this important information. Best practices should be considered when implementing this legislation to ensure ease of use and ability to update, should a patient change their mind on their directive.

While the Chamber does not oppose the notion of net neutrality, we believe it is a matter of federal jurisdiction. This bill, in its current form, is an overly burdensome regulation that expands the current Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulatory powers and allows the state to issue preferential contracts, thereby creating an unfair playing field for Colorado internet service providers.

Bill sponsors have offered and accepted various amendments on this bill, which make compliance attainable for businesses and ensure that businesses that are acting in good faith are not penalized for those that aren’t. They also added a process for dispute resolution at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, a high priority change for this bill. The Chamber feels confident that these changes will allow the sponsors to address the issue of equal pay – an issue that we support – without having adverse, unintended effects on the business community.

This bill jeopardizes CDOT’s ability to utilize public-private partnerships (P3s) by increasing costs of using such innovative funding options at a time when transportation is greatly underfunded in Colorado. We support P3s as a funding strategy to complete much-needed infrastructure projects across our state and therefore oppose legislation aimed at curbing their use.

Colorado is among the states with the most complicated sales-and-use tax systems in the country, with over 550 jurisdictions that levy sales taxes. We are supportive of and encourage the continuation of efforts to simplify and develop a sales tax system that serves the interests of Colorado businesses, our local governments and special districts while moving our economy forward.

Colorado is among the states with the most complicated sales and use tax systems in the country, with over 550 jurisdictions that levy sales taxes. We are supportive of and encourage the continuation of efforts to simplify and develop a sales tax system that serves the interests of Colorado businesses, our local governments and special districts while moving our economy forward.

This bill will result in increased health insurance premiums, which is the opposite of what we need in Colorado. Chamber members have consistently identified rising cost as the biggest concern regarding health care. The benchmark payments in this proposal are set at such a high rate that they will result in higher costs well beyond current rates.

The analysis outlined in this bill will help determine if the state procurement system provides an equitable bidding process. It is important for the state to know whether its procurement processes are reflective of the diversity of available contractors in our state.

This legislation requires contractors to purchase specific software created by the proponents of this bill, giving undue competitive advantage to one company. Said software captures an inordinate amount of data beyond the state project, which raises serious privacy concerns. Additionally, because each contractor would have to purchase this software, it would create unnecessary burden for small companies and make them less competitive in bidding for these contracts if they couldn’t afford the software.

This bill encourages increased understanding and awareness of concurrent enrollment offerings and costs, ensures class credits are transferable and is mindful of students’ limited resources. The Chamber is supportive of concurrent enrollment, because research shows that access to college-level classes while in high school helps prepare students for post-secondary success – this is a critical component of future workforce development.

Colorado is recognized as a national and international model of responsible oil and gas development. The Chamber has long supported developing oil and gas regulations in a collaborative manner that includes multiple stakeholders. This legislation was drafted without a robust stakeholder process and does not take into account differing sides on this issue or modern research and technology. The Chamber affirms its commitment to work on energy regulations and urges our legislative leaders to consider additional stakeholder input that would take this from one-sided legislation to sound public policy for Colorado.

This study will allow the state to analyze the use of this new technology to help solve long-existing challenges, streamline processes and potentially reduce legal costs.

Bill sponsors have accepted various amendments on this bill to:
• create a task force to be appointed by the governor and General Assembly;
• have the task force study options of a third party to run a family leave program;
• require a study of the costs and financial impact of a family and medical leave program;
• require recommendations be presented to members of the General Assembly and the governor; and
• require that the General Assembly introduce a new bill next session to implement the program based on the results of the study.
Legislators took a critical step to better understand a program that will undoubtedly impact all working Colorado families. The Chamber feels confident that these changes will allow for a thorough analysis of the implications of such a program and that the results will be taken into account when reviewing the proposed program next legislative session.

The Chamber is appreciative of the approach to incorporate apprentices into existing projects – an opportunity to continue education and training while fulfilling talent needs of our businesses. However, this bill goes beyond adding opportunities for apprentices. The additional provisions in this bill would increase costs for infrastructure projects upwards of 10 percent, will make it harder for small and minority-owned businesses to compete and could jeopardize safety by prolonging construction and repairs as contractors go through this process.

This bill will allow more students to participate in apprenticeships and other programs that will give them real-world work experience, allowing more students to be prepared to meet the future needs of businesses and the jobs on which our economy depends. It is imperative we continue to work together to ensure all students have access to a quality education that will prepare them to enter the workforce successfully.

This bill will legitimize a practice that essentially incentivizes the inflation of damages, driving up costs for everyone involved in a personal injury case and making it easier for health care lien companies to operate in Colorado. It also puts injured parties at risk for extensive claims if they lose their case. Additionally, it will result in similar companies moving to Colorado and increase the volume of personal injury claims.

Rent stabilization policies do not accomplish what they set out to achieve. Rent controls worsen housing shortages, cause existing buildings to deteriorate and disproportionately benefit higher-income households.

This bill will codify rules into statute that allow the secretary of state to review complaints without independent oversight. Campaign finance complaints should be reviewed by independent or bi-partisan parties to ensure protection against abuse of the system.

This bill attempts to intervene and change the outcome of a pending Colorado Court of Appeals case that excludes holding companies without property or payroll from filing combined reports for instances of apportioning income prior to the court process being complete.

These peer reviews help ensure patient safety and maintain a high quality of care. We join the health care industry in support of protections that allow for this peer review process to continue.

This bill will result in increased unnecessary and costly lawsuits and thereby make it much more expensive for businesses to operate in Colorado, which will dampen economic development efforts currently underway to attract more good paying jobs to this state. It also incentivizes bringing class actions for smaller classes by making attorney fees available, as opposed to only being available in individual claims, as they are currently.

This bill will reduce access to care for individuals needing these services by increasing costs to a point that will likely be unsustainable for home-care agencies, potentially putting them out of business. It also created significant privacy concerns for workers. Most importantly, however, it jeopardizes Colorado’s balance between right-to-work and union agreements by creating a back-door option for unionizing these workers. The Chamber has consistently opposed any efforts to weaken the existing Labor Peace Act because its statutory framework has provided a balance to ensure a healthy relationship between business and labor in this state. Colorado’s Labor Peace Act is a unique legal middle ground between right-to-work and union states that has contributed to Colorado’s economic well-being.

In 2006, the Chamber convened leaders from public and private sectors, via an initiative called Mobility Choice, to develop key strategies to plan for the future of transportation in the metro Denver area, leveraging both current assets and new technologies. This bill conducts a similar study that’s statewide, complementing and expanding this type of work. The mobility agencies should collaborate, in partnership with community, nonprofit and private sector leaders, to carefully consider a range of effective and efficient solutions to the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging mobility technologies.

This legislation contains rules that change the current education performance evaluation systems in Colorado before the study portion of the bill has even started. These rules should be considered by the working group rather than introduced in the same legislation. Additionally, a diverse group of stakeholders should be included in the process, and the current makeup of the study group lacks two very important voices: organizations that work deeply with parents whose children are enrolled in schools with higher levels of racial diversity and poverty as well as the business community, which has a vested interest in ensuring our students are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.

Tiered rate structures incentivize conservation, enable greater utilization of renewables and lower the bills of efficient users and low-income consumers. This bill would increase rates for many users and remove this important tool that can help incentivize behavior that helps utilities achieve policy goals.

We have underfunded transportation for decades, and it’s costing us $7.1 billion each year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency – and those costs will only continue to increase if this issue goes unaddressed. The Chamber is supportive of proposals that will provide ongoing investments in our transportation system. Without significant investment in our state’s infrastructure, our economy and ability to attract workers will suffer.

The Chamber is supportive of proposals that will provide ongoing investments in our transportation system. By delaying this referral measure, CDOT will be able to issue a Certificate of Participation (COP), which will give them an additional $500 million in funding now, rather than having to wait for funding through bonding. Without significant investment in our state’s infrastructure, our economy and ability to attract workers will suffer.

Gas tax is a diminishing source of transportation funding because cars are becoming increasingly fuel efficient. The Chamber, along with a broad coalition of partners from across the state, identified sales tax as an appropriate method for funding the maintenance of our roads. This resolution would remove a diminishing revenue source and replace it with a stable one, also allowing tourists to pay a share in maintaining our transportation infrastructure.