2023 Legislative Agenda
The Chamber’s policy priorities were developed with direction from the organization’s first annual survey of business leaders released in October 2022. The survey found that the top two concerns among Colorado CEOs are the state’s regulatory climate and workforce issues.
The Chamber’s priorities for the 2023 session are outlined below:
Regulatory: Labor and employment
The Colorado business community drives our state’s economy, employing millions of Coloradans, providing the goods and services we all rely on, and investing in our local communities. The Chamber’s priority is to foster economic growth and elevate Colorado’s standing as a top state to do business. Based on our recent survey of 150 CEOs, Colorado’s regulatory climate is the most pressing concern when it comes to barriers to business. It’s critical that state leaders understand the burden and costs faced by the business community with each new, complex rule or requirement at the state-level.
- Do no harm: No new mandates and regulatory burdens on employers
- Allow for proper implementation of state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program
- Support improvements to the Equal Pay Act
- Ensure the solvency of Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to prevent premium hikes
- Ensure clarity and alignment of state and federal paid leave regulations
- Creation of an independent regulatory review process and time-out period
- Support improvements to workplace harassment laws
- Oppose legislation creating needless new private rights of action against business
Regulatory: Energy and environment
Businesses across the state are highly invested in a clean environment and healthy economy for their communities and the future of Colorado. The Colorado Chamber believes that the best environmental policy comes from collaboration between the business community, lawmakers and state agencies – working together, we can protect our environment without sacrificing economic growth. But Colorado job creators continue to face an increasingly costly environmental regulatory climate, making us less competitive with other states and hindering our economy. The following initiatives will help level the playing field by making Colorado’s environmental and energy cost structures more competitive.
- Ensure new and existing environmental regulations are cost effective and science-based
- Allow business to innovate and lead on environmental sustainability
- Support employee autonomy in commuting to work
- Avoid complex, costly new permitting schemes on manufacturing and industrial operations
- Support choice in energy consumption and appliances
- Oppose efforts to limit or end oil and gas production in the state
- Align state and federal environmental regulations
Building the workforce of the future
Workforce and labor issues were a pressing concern for business leaders in Colorado in the Chamber’s recent survey. The Colorado Chamber is committed to finding short- and long-term solutions to bolstering our talent pipeline so Colorado remains an attractive place to live and do business for years to come. We must ensure that students across the state are educated to their greatest potential, and all of Colorado’s businesses have the talented and innovative homegrown workforce they need to thrive.
- Support policies to increase workforce housing in Colorado
- Better prepare students for the workforce
- Increase funding for Career Development Incentive Program
- Expand apprenticeship programs
- Support improvements to state workforce development programs
- Support alternative, non-degree pathways to credentials
Economic growth and competitiveness
The Colorado Chamber is working to promote a future-focused vision of fostering a prosperous and inclusive economic climate. We want to be a top state where business leaders choose to invest, innovate, and create jobs and opportunities. To accomplish this, we need to ensure our transportation infrastructure reliable and efficient. Our workforce needs access to quality, affordable health care. And our tax climate needs to be competitive for businesses and workers. We believe that growth-focused policies will ensure Colorado is an attractive place to do business now and in the years to come.
- Oppose tax hikes that increase the cost of doing business in Colorado
- Preserve current computer software tax exclusion for businesses
- Preserve industrial energy use tax exemption
- Support the reduction and eventual phase-out of the business personal property tax
- Prioritize highways, bridges and roads in transportation funding
- Promote flexibility, oppose new mandates on health insurance policies
- Improve the safety of local Colorado communities