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The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today highlighted the victories for business achieved with the conclusion of the 2024 legislative session. The Chamber played a key role in the defeat of a series of “job killing” bills in front of the state legislature and was instrumental in the passage of proactive legislation aimed at improving Colorado’s economy.
“At the beginning of the legislative session, we set out to accomplish major priorities to make Colorado more economically competitive,” said President and CEO Loren Furman. “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made toward the ambitious goals laid out in our legislative agenda. Our collaborative work with our members and state lawmakers has led to the passage of historic legislation addressing many of the state’s pressing business issues, even preventing a series of expensive conflicts from reaching the ballot this year. From finding a balanced, long-term solution to property tax reform to tackling critical workforce development issues, the Colorado Chamber continues to deliver on its 10-year strategic action plan to elevate the state’s business climate.”
The Colorado Chamber’s 2024 legislative agenda prioritized big-picture economic issues to improve the business climate, which was guided by the Chamber’s long-term strategic blueprint launched last year. The agenda highlighted four key focus areas, which included reining in costly regulations, boosting workforce development, improving the state’s cost of living, and bolstering tech innovation and growth.
“One of the most important victories for business this session was the defeat of a series of bills that would have further deteriorated Colorado’s regulatory environment,” said Senior Vice President Meghan Dollar. “Our key focus has been to bring attention to the financial impacts that overly complex regulations have on the statewide business community, and it’s clear that our message has been effective in our advocacy efforts this year. We’re grateful to the Governor’s Office and legislative leadership for working with us on major initiatives to boost our economy and for supporting the voices of business across the state.”
In March, the Colorado Chamber unveiled an aggressive campaign against eight bills it labeled as “job killers.” The impact of these bills spanned across a variety of sectors, from energy industries to manufacturing to health care and more. Through the Chamber’s grassroots action alerts, supporters of the business community made more 4,300 contacts with legislators in opposition to these bills. In total, seven out of the eight “job killer” bills were defeated in the legislative process.
The Chamber’s work to find compromise on major legislation also led to the withdrawal of several potential fights at the ballot box that would have cost millions and created confusion among voters. This includes a property tax package that emerged from the work of a special task force, which the Chamber’s Loren Furman served on. Furman was recognized by the bill’s sponsors as being instrumental in bringing stakeholders together on the final proposal.
The Colorado Chamber also played a lead role in a legislative compromise on noneconomic damage caps. Earlier this year, competing ballot initiatives were filed with the state’s title board that would have made changes to damage awards in civil cases, included efforts to completely remove noneconomic damage caps in the state. The Chamber released a studydemonstrating a $2.1 billion annual loss in GDP and over 15 thousand lost jobs if such a proposal were to pass. An agreement was ultimately reached, which takes the ballot measures off the table and provides predictability for the business community.
Proactive legislation on workforce development, housing and environmental sustainabilityalso were a key focus of the Chamber’s advocacy team this session. The passage of critical legislation addressing these issues will help improve Colorado’s competitive standing and set us on course to becoming a top state for business.
The Chamber will release its 2024 Annual Report in the coming weeks providing a full picture of its advocacy accomplishments this session.
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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.