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The Colorado Chamber today released its 2024 Annual Report, providing an overview of the biggest victories and policy issues facing the business community. The report also charts the progress and status of key issues addressed in the Colorado Chamber’s 2024 Legislative Agenda which was guided by Vision 2033, the Chamber’s long-term strategic blueprint launched last year.
At a time when Colorado’s economic competitiveness is slipping on the national landscape, the Colorado Chamber’s work has been more important than ever as the Chamber advocates for a healthy business climate. This legislative session the Chamber secured many victories for its members with the passage of historic legislation improving Colorado’s business landscape and the resounding defeat of several bills that would have threatened businesses and jobs.
“Through the effective work of the Colorado Chamber’s team, we’ve saved the business community billions in the form of tax relief, investments in our economy, and the defeat of many expensive proposals that would have strained our competitiveness,” said President and CEO Loren Furman. “I’m proud to say that Colorado employers statewide are better off because of the incredible success rate of our advocacy team this session. We look forward to building on our efforts to improve Colorado’s business climate and deliver on our promises laid out in Vision 2033.”
Some of the Chamber’s victories took the form of striking down bad bills, including eight job-killing proposals that would have delivered a significant blow to Colorado’s economy, creating new costs that would drive jobs out of state. Through the Chamber’s grassroots action alerts, supporters of the business community made more 4,300 contacts with legislators in opposition to these bills.
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.
Overall, 82% of the bills the Chamber opposed were killed and 76% of Chamber-supported bills were passed into law. One of the biggest testaments to the Chamber’s tireless efforts is the $17.2+ billion saved for the business community on various bills, including the passage of major property tax legislation and the defeat of job-killing proposals on government-run health care, noneconomic damage caps, short term rental tax increases and more.
Read the Colorado Chamber’s 2024 Annual Report here.
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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.