Governor Jared Polis has called the session they just ended “historic”.
The head of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce uses a different H word.
Chamber CEO Kelly Brough said much of the legislature felt like a “hard harvest” for the business community.
Colorado corporations have been at the center of the battles for a number of high-profile policies this year – from grocery delivery charges, which help fund transportation initiatives, to health insurance tariff setting, to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in certain sectors.
As they ponder the meeting, some of Colorado’s top business leaders agree that it was historic, both in terms of the number of bills the legislature passed and the substantive guidelines the Democrats put through each Chamber brought, often despite business objections.
“(It was) one in which we were constantly on the defensive, it felt like. Fight against the wall for our members and their employees, ”said Brough. “The session felt longer because we are still recovering from a global pandemic and the scope of the legal issues was bigger than ever.”
She also pointed out some legal bright spots for the business world, such as more than $ 130 million in grants to help small businesses recover from the pandemic.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual state of the state event Tuesday. Polis made comments on the virtual forum, and representatives from companies like Southwest Airlines and Xcel Energy discussed many of the bills that hit his desk and some didn’t.
A measure that would have updated and changed the definition of workplace harassment in Colorado failed on the eve of the last day of the meeting. Corporations, as well as state and local governments, felt the proposal would have been costly as it would have drawn good employers into more litigation and out-of-pocket settlements.
“You can imagine how difficult it is to express our commitment to protecting every employee from harassment and discrimination while highlighting critical flaws in this policy,” said Brough.
She criticized the Democrats, who control the legislature and governor’s office for the third year, for generally failing to listen to outside perspectives.
“It is the luxury of one-party control, no matter which party it is. Less reach of stakeholders, less compromise, less incentive to find common solutions to achieve common goals. And frankly, further consequences, intentional or not, ”she said.
She specifically called on House Bill 1232, which created what supporters call “the Colorado option” for health care. For the Polis and many Democrats, that was a top priority. The aim is to reduce health costs for people who take out their insurance in the individual and small group market. Democrats believe the measure could cut insurance premiums by 15 percent by 2025.
The move requires insurance companies to sell the Colorado option plan across the state while state regulators would set medical service prices for savings.
While Brough said she believes the new plan could save some people money, she fears prices will rise for people who buy their insurance through larger employers.
“Many of our lawmakers know this,” said Brough. “For many of them, it was more important to give the impression that the problem was being solved than to actually solve this problem.”
Polis made no mention of the Colorado option in his address. Instead, he pondered other great achievements, saying that the legislature was nothing short of “transformative”. He highlighted Senate Bill 260, which will raise $ 5 billion for transportation projects through new fees and existing taxes and federal funding.
“I am proud to sign a comprehensive transportation finance plan that will make the necessary improvements to our roads, reduce traffic, improve our quality of life, create thousands of jobs in the construction and transportation sectors, and modernize Colorado to keep Colorado competitive.” said Polis. “Modernizing the way we move people and goods to help businesses improve efficiency, improve air quality and empower communities.”
Improving the state’s transport infrastructure has long been a goal of the economy, which last supported a failed tax increase initiative in 2018.
Polis noted that lawmakers have also lowered business tax for smaller businesses. And he said the business community will be a key partner in determining how Colorado will spend some of the nearly $ 4 billion federal COVID aid.
“Is there any way I can back up the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to avoid costly wage tax hikes in the future? Are there any additional ways to cut regulations or cut taxes to make the Colorado economy even more competitive? ”He asked rhetorically.
The governor also highlighted the work of lawmakers on tax breaks for restaurants and incentives for the events industry, as well as a proposal to lower house taxes.
He commended the business community for its commitment, focusing on critical guidelines that “affect our prosperity as individuals, as a company, and as a state. This commitment to our state was there long before I arrived. “
Brough said she wanted to move forward with the realization that “we can and should do better for one another.”