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DENVER – The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today celebrated key victories for the statewide business community with the conclusion of the 2025 legislative session. The Chamber’s government affairs team advanced legislation that will improve the state’s regulatory environment and defeated bills that would have made it more expensive to live, work and operate a business here.
“As the sixth most regulated state in the country, regulatory reform was the most important issue for Colorado businesses heading into the 2025 legislative session,” said Colorado Chamber President and CEO Loren Furman. “Over the course of more than three years of research and data-driven studies, it’s clear that these state-level regulations have been the greatest risk factor for our business climate and future growth. Thanks to our partners in the legislature, we made significant progress in passing meaningful, bipartisan improvements to the state’s regulatory processes this year, and the Colorado Chamber looks forward to building on this important priority as we work to make our state more competitive.”
In December 2024, the Colorado Chamber released the findings of a year-long study on the state’s regulatory climate, finding that 45% of its nearly 200,000 regulations are excessive or duplicative, which is impacting jobs and economic growth. In response, the Chamber made regulatory reform its top issue in the organization’s 2025 legislative agenda.
As the first step getting Colorado’s regulatory climate under control, the Chamber worked with legislative leadership to unanimously pass Senate Bill 306, which places certain state agencies experiencing a high level of regulations under performance audit by the state. In addition, the Chamber also played a key role in the passage of SB 305 and SB 254, which will improve regulatory processes by expediting permitting and creating more accountability in state government.
“Colorado’s growing cost of living is creating significant concern among employers statewide and their ability to attract and retain employees,” said Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Meghan Dollar. “Coupled with price pressure and inflation at the national level, it was imperative for the Colorado Chamber to be a leader in defending against legislation that would increase costs on hardworking Coloradans this session. From blocking health insurance premium hikes to protecting consumers from increased costs on local businesses, the Chamber lived up to its reputation as a fierce advocate getting results for business.”
In February, the Colorado Chamber launched its “Wallet Watchdog” campaign, which identified proposals that would worsen the state’s cost-of-living crisis. Out of the nine bills targeted by the chamber, so far five have been defeated or amended, pending veto requests with the governor. The Colorado Chamber will be requesting a veto on Senate Bill 5, which would overhaul the state’s longstanding Labor Peace Act and threatens worker choice in union due deductions.
The Colorado Chamber will release its 2025 Annual Report in June outlining the organization’s advocacy work in full detail.
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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.