Owners seek a bigger voice in legislative issues.
1. A law requiring a cost-benefit analysis before any legislation is passed that would affect small business owners.
2. A law requiring a fiscal statement from regulators estimating how much any rule that’s just been passed would cost small business owners. For instance, a proposed state-run sick leave program in Colorado, which NFIB opposes, would impose new rules on employers. But under the law small business owners seek, regulators would have to tell employers how much it would cost to comply with those new rules.
3. An open comment period before legislation is signed. “What we want is the opportunity for our members to have a voice in how this legislation is going to affect them before the legislation passes,” says Tony Gagliardi, NFIB state director for Colorado.
4. A rollback of the law that removed an exemption from discrimination lawsuits for small businesses. The bill, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2015, means businesses with fewer than 15 employees could be forced to pay punitive or compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and back pay over discrimination claims.
5. Opposition to family leave. A bill proposed last session would’ve created a fund to cover part of a participating worker’s wages if he or she took leave from work to care for a new child or a sick family member, or for personal health issues. Employers would have to collect a percentage of wages from workers in the form of a payroll deduction.
