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DENVER – The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today announced a list of bills it has identified as job killers, threatening the state’s business climate, economic opportunity and future growth. The impact of these bills spans across a variety of sectors, from energy industries to manufacturing to health care and more.
“Colorado’s competitiveness is declining, and our data shows that business leaders are deeply concerned with the direction of our economy,” said President and CEO Loren Furman. “But rather than focusing on policies that encourage economic growth, innovation and opportunity, state legislators continue to pursue job-killing legislation that makes us a cautionary tale for other states. We should be taking action to preserve jobs and attract business, not making our regulatory environment even worse. The Colorado Chamber will be an aggressive voice for the business community against bills that drive employers – and jobs – out of Colorado.”
Legislation on the Chamber’s “job killers” list includes:
- SB 159: The bill imposes a complete ban on all new oil and gas development statewide, upending the entire industry and threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs tied to the energy sector.
- SB 165: This revives a previously-failed effort to mandate how Coloradans commute to work, requiring reduced use of personal vehicles. The bill also creates a seasonal oil and gas ban.
- HB 1330: Creates more red tape for business, adding layers of new complex regulations to obtain environmental and construction permits, intentionally creating costly barriers to industry.
- HB 1008: Strains the construction labor market by putting general contractors on the hook for the actions of independent subcontractors and rewarding bad actors.
- HB 1339: This bill moves the goal posts on emissions yet again, making Colorado’s complex and ever-changing environmental regulations even worse.
- HB 1075: Creates model legislation for a single-payer health care system in Colorado, which would disrupt the entire industry, costing the state billions of dollars and disrupting health care jobs.
- SB 166: Creates complex and severe enforcement regulations on a broad range of businesses, from manufacturers to hospitals to hotels. This will force businesses to reduce operations, lay off workers, or shut down altogether.
- SB 33: Imposes heavy property tax increases on short term rental owners, devastating small businesses and property owners in mountain resort communities.
SB 159 and HB 1339 are scheduled for committee hearings this week. The Colorado Chamber is taking aggressive action to oppose these bills and ensure committee members hear from the business community through grassroots action alerts launching today.
The Colorado Chamber last month circulated a petition in opposition to job killing legislation, which has garnered approximately 600 signatures statewide.
The Colorado Chamber will continue to monitor legislation introduced in the 2024 session and will update the list as bills move through the legislative process. Visit www.cochamber.com/jobkillers for updates.
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The Colorado Chamber of Commerce champions free enterprise, a healthy business environment and economic prosperity for all Coloradans. It is the only business association that works to improve the business climate for all sizes of business from a statewide, multi-industry perspective. What the Colorado Chamber accomplishes is good for all businesses, and that’s good for the state’s economy. It was created in 1965 based on the merger with the Colorado Manufacturers’ Association.