The Colorado General Assembly has passed its halfway point. The first half saw several repeal bills killed on party-line votes, with the House sending Republican-sponsored legislation to the trash compactor, and the Senate doing likewise to the Democrat bills. Bills repealing measures such as the Sue Your Boss Bill and a bill to remove punitive damages under the Sue Your Boss Bill were dismissed on party-line votes. These bills were Key Votes for NFIB. Legislators will be scored on their votes, and those scores will be published in the 2015-16 NFIB Voting Record.
The second half of the session appears to be focused on workforce development issues. Questions are already being asked about how many workforce development programs Colorado needs. Colorado State Director Tony Gagliardi, relying on his experience as chairman of a local workforce investment board for over five years and sitting on the state workforce board under Governors Owen and Ritter, is hoping the legislature realizes that valuable programs already exist and does not take up valuable time on issues that would reinvent the wheel. “There are many issues which could actually help small and independent business owners continue their climb out of the economic doldrums,” he said. Those issues include continuing efforts to reform Colorado’s regulatory environment and other labor issues concerning the use of independent contractors.
The Colorado Regulatory Reform Act of 2015 passed out of the Senate on a bipartisan vote. Unfortunately the bill was killed in the House State Affairs Committee. Labor unions and environmental organizations were the usual opponents, all marching in lockstep and saying that small businesses would be getting a “get out of jail free card” should the bill pass. Several bills being moved as pro-business bills have met the same fate once arriving in House State Affairs.
When a legislator introduces a bill that would benefit his or her own industry, and certainly themselves, when is it appropriate for the public to cry foul? This question is being asked more often behind closed doors than ever before. Beginning in 2013 when HB 1136, the “Sue your Boss” bill, was referred to publicly as a special interest bill by your NFIB state director, more bills have been seen as a direct benefit to certain bill sponsors. So far two bills introduced this session could easily be seen as conflicts of interest of the bill sponsors.
Sincerely,
Tony Gagliardi
NFIB Colorado State
Director
