Deadline Approaches for Governor to Act on Bills

Date: May 31, 2022

Small business asking for veto of four measures that only add to regulatory burdens

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, [email protected],
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]

DENVER, May 31, 2022—The June 10 deadline approaches for Gov. Jared Polis to either sign or veto bills sent to him by the Legislature. Today, Colorado’s leading small-business association reiterated its request for a veto on four measures that will only add to the regulatory burdens Main Street entrepreneurs already labor under.

“Colorado’s small-business owners already labor under the great weight of local, state, and federal compliance of rules and regulations,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “They needed the burden lessened not increased. We’re not going to hold our breath given the political climate and constituencies Governor Polis has to deal with, but it sure would be nice if he vetoed four bills that would bring Main Street enterprises a sigh of relief.”

The four bills small business is asking a veto of are:

  • House Bill1244, the Toxic Air Contaminants measure, which only interferes with Colorado’s efforts to meet federal air quality standards by duplicating existing state and federal programs, creating litigation landmines if the state fails to meet the requirements, forcing state agencies to divert scarce resources, and adding needless regulatory and cost burdens on the regulated community.

  • House Bill 1317, which would greatly restrict what noncompetition restrictions are legal and enforceable as compared with current, long-existing, law in Colorado. Allows the Colorado Department of Labor to set an arbitrary wage level when non-compete agreements may be used. Small high-tech startups and most small businesses need the ability to protect trade secrets in addition to customer and vendor information.

  • House Bill 1355, which would require the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to designate a nonprofit organization to implement and manage a statewide program that provides recycling services to covered entities in the state. The program would be funded by annual dues paid by producers of products that use covered materials. Covered materials are defined as packaging materials and paper products that are sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state. This program would be the first of its kind to be implemented in the United States. Several other similar programs have faced constitutional legal questions still to be resolved.

  • Senate Bill 161, which would upend an agreement business groups reached with the Colorado Department of Labor by redefining wage theft as criminal theft. The bill also changes current rules applying to employee misclassification. It would expand the parameters under which an employer who knowingly withheld payment of earned wages would be penalized. SB 161 tilts the field in favor of the employee who would now be allowed to file a civil action for any infraction.

Keep up with the latest Colorado small-business news at www.nfib.com/colorado or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CO or on Facebook @NFIB.CO

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For nearly 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB Colorado
1700 Lincoln Street, 17th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
303-860-1778
www.nfib.com/colorado
Twitter: @NFIB_CO
Facebook: NFIB.CO

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