By Ed Sealover, Denver Business Journal Colorado businesses that anted up to bail out the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund during the last recession may be asked to do so again even before the next downturn hits, in order to try to prevent insolvency of the fund. State Rep. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat and […]
In the News
The Colorado Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the state’s labor department expressing reservations about a proposal to gradually raise the salary threshold for workers’ overtime exemption. Read the complete article in The Daily Sentinel.
Colorado Chamber’s Loren Furman Talks Denver Minimum Wage on KOA Radio
Loren Furman, Senior Vice President of State and Federal Relations, joined Colorado’s Morning News on KOA this morning to talk about the City of Denver’s proposal to fast-track a local minimum wage increase beginning in January 2020. If passed, Denver’s minimum wage would raise to $15.87 per hour by January 2021, a $4.77 increase from […]
OPINION | Business community seeks common ground on family leave
Op-Ed by Loren Furman for Colorado Politics The latest developments arising from Colorado’s newly-formed Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Task Force are cause for concern that the process to create balanced policy on such an important issue could be undermined. The task force was created by the legislature this year after a proposed state-run, […]
COLORADO POLITICS: Colorado Congress reps talk economy, health care, immigration at Denver luncheon
By Caitlin Curley, Colorado Politics A panel of Colorado’s U.S. congressional representatives discussed the state’s recent successes and current issues at a Colorado Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday in Denver. U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, Doug Lamborn, Joe Neguse and Jason Crow answered questions about trade deals, the economy and Colorado’s growth at the […]
COLORADO SUN: How an obscure tax case became a $250 million political fight at the end of the legislative session
In a momentous session, Senate Bill 233 may have been the most important bill of the year that few outside the Gold Dome even noticed. By Brian Eason With only days left in the 2019 legislative session, Colorado lawmakers were presented with an extraordinary plea from the Polis administration: Pass a law to help the […]
5 contentious wins for Colorado business during the 2019 legislative session
“I think the concepts are easy to identify as a party message. But once you get into the details, it gets harder,” said Loren Furman, senior vice president for state and federal relations for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, who was involved in negotiations over each of the five key bills. “The reason may be […]
Denver Post: Colorado equal pay bill passes General Assembly after years of trying
“There was a provision in (the original bill) that said if an employer acted in good faith, a court still had discretion to award damages. That, to us, was just a totally unreasonable provision,” said Loren Furman, chief lobbyist for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. So, the bill was amended to say courts should not […]
Daily Sentinel/Watchdog.org: Colorado business groups support EPA’s proposed change to Obama-era rule
By Derek Draplin | Watchdog.org Business groups in Colorado support a proposed change to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule. The EPA and the Department of the Army at the end of last year proposed changing the definition of “waters of the United States” – known as WOTUS – in order […]
BIZ JOURNAL: New memo increases debate over potential insolvency of Colorado’s paid-family-leave program
By Ed Sealover for the Denver Business Journal Colorado’s proposed paid-family-leave insurance program could tilt quickly into insolvency if projections about the number of workers who will use it are off by just 2%, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Council — an analysis that left business groups urging sponsors again to […]