The Colorado Chamber continues to deliver results through its “Job Killers” campaign by addressing legislation that would threaten Colorado jobs, investment and economic growth. A construction bill likely to put jobs at risk was successfully amended last Wednesday to address concerns from the construction industry, while two burdensome tax bills and a proposal likely to prevent data center development were defeated in committee on Monday.
With the death or resolution of these four bills, the Chamber has now been successful on five of the six “job killing” bills it identified this legislative session, continuing the momentum of the Chamber’s opposition agenda to protect Colorado’s business climate, workforce and affordability.
As introduced, Senate Bill 93 would have required construction permit applicants for projects of any size to provide proof of workers’ compensation insurance for every contractor and subcontractor working on the project. The Chamber’s Labor and Employment Council opposed the bill because the original proposal created unrealistic requirements that would threaten significant construction delays and put construction jobs at risk.
The bill was amended last Wednesday in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee to instead require permit applicants to file a signed declaration confirming that all contractors maintain workers’ compensation insurance. This change helps avoid duplicative requirements for applicants who already verify coverage and reduces the risk of unnecessary project delays. The amendment also removed the requirement for permitting agencies to proactively revoke permits, shifting enforcement to complaints alleging noncompliance.
House Bill 1221 would have raised taxes on Colorado businesses by limiting the use of existing tax credits, restricting net operating loss deductions and narrowing the alternative minimum tax credit. These are long-standing provisions that many employers rely on and scaling them back increases costs for job creators and weakens Colorado’s economic competitiveness.
A similar bill, House Bill 1222, would decouple Colorado from certain federal tax provisions, limiting deductions that are currently allowed under federal law. This would require businesses to calculate taxes differently at the state level, discouraging growth in Colorado and driving investment and jobs out of the state.
Both tax proposals were defeated in the Senate Finance Committee on Monday after sustained opposition from the Colorado Chamber and the business community, addressing concerns about the burden of managing different state and federal requirements and allowing employers to grow their workforce without additional barriers.
Senate Bill 102 would have imposed extensive new requirements on data centers, threatening their development and construction across Colorado. The bill would drive investment in these facilities out of state, and Colorado would lose out on the benefits of constructing data centers along with the jobs these projects create. After opposition from the Colorado Chamber, the broader tech community and labor groups, the proposal died on Monday in the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.
View the Colorado Chamber’s full opposition agenda here.