The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce has gained significant political clout over the past few years, pushing hard for the passage of the FasTracks transit expansion initiative and Referendum C, which loosened revenue limits on the state for five years.
Now, the chamber is attempting to broaden its reach, positioning itself as a statewide policy powerhouse.
To pursue its agenda at the statehouse, it has spun off a separate lobbying group privately funded by more than a dozen companies that have ponied up a total of $180,000 since January to participate. Initial investors included Brownstein Hyatt & Farber, Benson Minerals Group, Frontier Airlines and Qwest.
And while the nonpartisan chamber doesn’t endorse individual candidates, it is still working hard to make sure its voice is heard in the upcoming election. It has embarked on an education program designed to help Colorado business owners decide on the appropriate gubernatorial candidate.
The latter effort will culminate Tuesday, when the chamber leads 15 other groups in hosting a debate between the candidates, Republican Bob Beauprez and Democrat Bill Ritter.
“This is a venerable organization that has the resources to really transform Colorado’s future,” said president Joe Blake. “We’re taking that opportunity very seriously.”
Chamber leaders have interviewed both candidates about issues they feel will play a key role in Colorado’s future economic growth, such as transportation and education. The group also designed an extensive questionnaire to feather out differences between the candidates and is publishing the candidates’ answers.
The 139-year-old chamber has more than 2,800 business members representing roughly 300,000 employees.
Over the decades, the group has been influential on a wide variety of metro-area projects, from bringing the rail spur to Denver from Cheyenne in the mid-1800s to the construction of Denver International Airport.
In the past two election cycles alone, the chamber poured a total of $1.5 million into the pro-Referendum C and FasTracks campaigns.
“They were a key element in Ref. C passing,” said Bob Loevy, a professor of political science at Colorado College. “It’s significant that a business organization was willing to take such a pro-government, anti-tax-cutting stance.”
In January, buoyed by its growing statewide clout, the chamber formed the Colorado Competitive Council, a privately funded lobbying group that has the backing of more than 40 chambers from across the state.
“It’s a logical extension of the great relationships we’ve built statewide,” said Blake. “We’re all in this together. Everyone recognizes the importance of jobs and the economy to Colorado.”
During the last legislative session, the council’s three lobbyists worked on roughly 30 bills, including the successful $26.5 million economic-development package, which was supported by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver.
“That package is very significant, and a lot of credit for its success belongs to the chamber,” Romanoff said. “I intend to continue to turn to the chamber (for support) in the next two sessions on other big-ticket challenges, like health care and water.”
Funding the lobbying group was an easy decision for Frontier Airlines, said Andrew Hudson, spokesman for the Denver-based airline. “It was a no-brainer. Business needs a voice in terms of how these issues are addressed.”
But others disapprove of the chamber’s political maneuvering. Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, called the chamber “corporate welfare central.”
“The chamber has learned the process of using special-interest business to buy elections,” he said. “They are there to make sure their members get lots of corporate welfare, and they’re very good at it.”
There are no large “hot button” issues uniting Colorado’s business community this fall. But the chamber is opposing five ballot measures, mainly focusing on defeating Amendment 38, which would alter the petition requirements for changing state and local laws.
To date, it has spent $105,000 in cash contributions and polling on the issue.
It is also against Amendment 42, which would raise Colorado’s minimum wage.
Once the legislature is back in session, the chamber plans to keep pursuing the political agenda it introduced in June, touching on the 11 “industry clusters” it views as key to the state’s future prosperity, including bioscience and energy.
But Michael Kanner, a political science professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said he considers the chamber’s sway to still be mostly local.
“They’re not being mentioned as a player outside of the metro area,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to be that influential in the upcoming election.”
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
