Kristy Schloss, president of Aurora-based Schloss Engineered Equipment Inc., considers international trade vital to her business.
A manufacturer of equipment used in water-treatment plants, Schloss Engineered Equipment has contracts in 40 foreign countries, including Mexico, Jordan and Egypt. The company also has contracts in all 50 states.
Schloss says those overseas contracts could be in jeopardy if Colorado lawmakers pass a bill that could remove the state from a slew of international trade agreements.
“It has the potential to be very destructive to our business,” said Schloss, who this month testified in the state Senate against the bill. “I’ve seen the results of other protectionist measures, and I know there is pushback from these kinds of actions.”
The bill is up for a final vote today in the Senate. The House passed it last month.
As proposed, the bill would exclude state procurement rules from international free-trade agreements unless the state legislature “explicitly authorizes the governor to do so.”
Maryland lawmakers enacted a similar restriction in 2005.
The effect in Colorado, say the bill’s sponsors, would be to allow the state to give priority to U.S. companies bidding for state contracts over foreign-based competitors or those with operations overseas who might underbid domestic companies.
Gov. Bill Owens is concerned that the bill could hinder the state’s ability to attract new companies and compete globally, spokesman Dan Hopkins said.
The bill’s backers say it’s needed to give U.S. companies, particularly those in Colorado, a better shot at landing millions of dollars in state contracts awarded each year.
If passed, the bill would apply to construction contracts of more than $7.4 million and other state contracts of more than $526,000, according to the bill’s sponsor in the House, Democrat Paul Weissmann of Louisville.
Carolyn Siegel, a Colorado official with the AFL-CIO, testified before the Senate this month that the bill “adheres to the philosophy that states have control over procurement contracts.”
Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, has actively lobbied against the bill.
“All this will do is shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Berry, who was Republican Speaker of the House from 1991 to 1998. “It would put us in a noncompetitive position.”
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce is also urging the Senate to spike the bill, said Tamra Ward, the chamber’s vice president of public affairs.
“If we have companies with relationships overseas, this could be a nail in the coffin instead of flowers at the door,” she said.
Deanna Hanna, the Lakewood Democrat who sponsored the bill in the Senate before resigning this month, said the state’s businesses would not be hurt by the bill.
“(Critics) are talking about private businesses, and I’m talking about how to spend state dollars,” Hanna said.
She added that Colorado would not necessarily be removed from all existing international trade agreements. Rather, the bill would require approval from the General Assembly on those agreements and any future ones.
Currently, the governor has the power to sign international trade agreements.
Hanna last year pushed for an anti-offshoring bill that would have banned the state from contracting with non-U.S. companies. The bill was defeated after research indicated it would cost taxpayers $24 million this year.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
