In December the Colorado Chamber of Commerce released the results of a commissioned third-party regulatory impact study that determined Colorado has the sixth highest number of business restrictions in the nation, with “nearly 45% of its 200,000 regulations being excessive or duplicative.” Formally titled, the “Regulation Impact Analysis Report 2024,” the study further concluded that, “for every 10% increase in state regulations, there is a direct loss in Colorado of 36,000 jobs and 9,000 firms,” which — shock and surprise — reduces productivity, slows economic growth, increases consumer costs, and disproportionately hurts low-income residents. The study contains loads of data that correlates high regulatory costs and burdens with a wide range of economic decline (see the Jan. 4, 2025, Summit Daily article for a more extensive summary).
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