2026 Legislative Agenda
The top priority of the agenda continues to be state-level regulatory reform, building on the Chamber’s work from the previous legislative session.
The Chamber’s priorities for the 2026 session are outlined below:
Regulatory Climate
The Colorado business community drives our state’s economy, employing millions of Coloradans, providing the goods and services we all rely on, and investing in our local communities. But based on recent research from the Colorado Chamber, our state regulatory climate is making us less competitive, threatening jobs and future economic growth. From employment mandates to environmental policies and more, regulations continue to top the list of concerns by Colorado businesses. It’s critical that state leaders understand the burden and costs faced by the business community with each new, complex rule or requirement at the state level.
- Expand and strengthen regulatory review processes and increase transparency
- Do no harm: no new mandates and regulatory burdens on employers
- Continue performance audits on certain agencies and programs
- Create more balanced regulatory framework for future laws
- Lead policy reforms through Chamber-initiated environmental sustainability working group
- Support policies that streamline and accelerate the permitting processes
- Oppose legislation that will increase costs and put the energy grid at risk
- Support feasible pathways for compliance with state and federal environmental regulations
- Oppose efforts that limit the operations of the energy sector
- Preserve Colorado’s Labor Peace Act
- Oppose efforts to over-regulate worksite climate conditions
- Protect workers’ compensation programs that ensure availability and affordability of policies for employers
- Protect and continue to promote the health of the Unemployment Insurance Fund
- Oppose attempts to interfere with employer-employee relationship
- Support rule review and performance evaluations by attorney general
- Preserve guardrails in Colorado Consumer Protection Act
- Oppose needless new private rights of action against business
Cost of Living & Competitiveness
The Colorado Chamber is working to promote a future-focused vision of fostering a prosperous and inclusive economic climate. We want to be a top state where business leaders choose to invest, innovate, and create jobs and opportunities. But our high cost of living is holding us back – from housing to child care and more. Recent rankings put Colorado in the top five most expensive states to live. More recently, the Colorado Chamber is bringing attention to the state’s skyrocketing homeowners insurance rates, which contribute to this economic strain. These challenges have major implications for our current and future workforce, and we must take steps to make living and working in Colorado more affordable in order to remain competitive.
- Expand existing funding sources for residential resiliency to homeowners to lower insurance premiums
- Create incentives to support future damage mitigation expenses through tax-exempt savings accounts
- Advance policies that make homeowners’ insurance more affordable
- Oppose fees and mandates that further increase homeowners’ insurance rates
- Support policies to increase housing in Colorado
- Oppose increased authority to levy new taxes that increase cost of doing business on the state and local level
- Oppose legislation authorizing local governments to tax short-term rentals
- Oppose legislation to allow local governments to levy vacancy taxes
- Oppose legislation allowing local governments to levy real estate transfer fees
- Oppose legislation that increases health care costs for business
- Improve access and affordability of child care
Protecting & Building Colorado’s Workforce
The Colorado Chamber is committed to bolstering our talent pipeline and ensuring our workforce is set up for success. Through its Education to Employment Alliance, the Chamber and its partners have collaborated on many new and innovative solutions in recent years to address our workforce gaps, including seven regional summits that concluded in the summer of 2025. The Chamber remains focused on ensuring new workforce and education programs are implemented and funded properly. In addition, a major priority in 2026 will be protecting our workforce from the unintended consequences of laws that could threaten jobs, create operational problems for employees, and negatively impact the benefits and flexibility employers are able to offer.
- Align workforce programs to ensure efficient and effective funding
- Support training in fields where workforce development is needed to boost growing sectors
- Protect workers from unintended consequences of labor regulations
- Oppose job killers
Tech Innovation & Economic Growth
Colorado’s economy is diverse, with strong asset clusters across multiple industries. The Colorado Chamber is the only organization representing all sectors statewide for businesses of all sizes. Our policy agenda focuses on unifying business issues that will improve our economic standing as a whole. Our technology sector in particular is poised to drive economic growth as the state’s economy and workforce modernizes. Through the Chamber’s Tech Alliance, we are focused on advancing policies that foster our tech community to ensure Colorado is an attractive place to do business now and in the years to come.
- Ensure artificial intelligence laws preserve economic competitiveness
- Support policies that ensure Colorado’s tech sector continues to thrive and grow
- Support balance in consumer interests while allowing for Colorado’s tech economy to thrive