For Democrats, Senate Bill 21 is the most current example of a problem they have faced all session: how to be pro-labor and pro-family without getting labeled “anti-business.”
Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, the House sponsor of the parental-leave bill, argued vehemently for it Thursday, with only a few Democrats chiming in.
“I don’t think we should be running scared,” Carroll said. “Being pro-worker and pro-family is not anti-business at all.”
But Republicans keep using the catchword – “anti-business” – that has emerged as their rhetorical weapon of choice this session.
The charge has gotten under the skin of some Democrats, even as they have forged strategic partnerships with business leaders to craft a revamping of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights for the November ballot.
In caucus meetings, House Democrats have discussed their concerns about the label. They are so worried about casting votes that can be spun as bad for business that they are becoming the “Republican Lite” caucus, Carroll said Thursday.
One House Democrat who said she will vote against the bill, Rep. Cheri Jahn of Wheat Ridge, bristled at that.
“I’m very disappointed with (Carroll’s) words,” she said. “I’m sorry that if I support small businesses and entrepreneurs, that that makes me anti-family, or ‘Republican Lite.”‘
The owner of a small cleaning business, Jahn said the parental-leave measure would be onerous for Colorado companies.
This bill and others have caused the business community some concern, said William Mutch, executive director of Colorado Concern, an alliance of Colorado business leaders.
But on the whole, Democrats have exceeded the business community’s expectations as they walk a fine political line, he said.
“When you have labor as a key constituent, but you also are trying to work with the business community, you’re in a difficult position,” he said. “But the Democrats are being very thoughtful and deliberate, I would say, on how they handle business issues.”
