Colorado business fared well in the recent legislative session.
“Because of the partisan balance in the legislature and a new, pro-business governor, the business advocates had more success in the legislature than in the recently past sessions,” said Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry.
Major business wins during the session include restoring three tax breaks, addressing the state’s insolvent Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and creating a business-friendly health-benefits exchange. Business interests also were protected by the demise of some proposals, such as a bill that would have allowed increased damages in employment-discrimination cases.
Overall, the recent legislative session demonstrated a civil climate toward business, said Tamra Ward, vice president of public affairs for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Typically, the Denver chamber takes a position on about 60 bills each session and opposes roughly twice as many bills as it supports. This year, the chamber supported 21 bills and opposed 24. Ward said the lack of business-hindering legislation reveals “a heightened awareness about the important role that business plays in Colorado.”
“I think we are reaping the benefit of split power,” Ward said. “Legislators know it requires more cooperation and collaboration if you wanted to see a bill laid on the governor’s desk.”
The budget-balancing package restored three tax breaks that were suspended last year:
• The budget partially restored a “vendor fee” benefit (Senate Bill 223) to retailers for collecting state sales tax. The partial restoration lets retailers keep 2.2 percent of the sales tax they collect. The Retail Vendors Allowance gives business owners $45.6 million, $48.2 million and $50.4 million over the next three years, respectively.
• The budget agreement also reinstated a sales-tax exemption on some agricultural products, like bull semen and fertilizer.
• The budget agreement also reinstated a sales-tax exemption on downloaded and installed — i.e. “nonpackaged” — software (House Bill 1293). The deal is expected to save computer users more than $21 million in the 2012-13 fiscal year and $25.2 million the following year, according to the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry.
Business advocates across the state hailed the passage of Senate Bill 200, which will create a health-benefit exchange as required by new federal health care laws. The exchange, which will be run by a nine-member board and a legislative oversight committee, addresses the cost and availability of health insurance, which has been the top issue for small-business owners for more than 20 years, said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado’s state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
“Whether or not the federal law is ruled valid, a mechanism is now in place that will offer small-business owners and individuals a place to shop and compare the policies on offer from a variety of health insurers. One that will allow employees to enhance their policies with their own money if so desired, and one that does not eliminate or supplant the current marketplace for health care,” Gagliardi said. “Health care exchanges open up one more avenue for them to try.”
Insolvent fund addressed
Colorado’s business community also celebrated the passage of House Bill 1288, which changes the financing of the state’s unemployment system and helps the Colorado Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund repay a $530 million debt to the federal unemployment insurance program.
“This proposal allows the fund to repay its debt and rebuild at a slightly faster rate in order to save employers from higher costs in interest and penalties,” Gagliardi said.
Addressing the state’s automotive industry, House Bill 1188 prevented automakers from requiring expensive dealership facility upgrades more than once every seven years. The bill also strengthened dealer rights when it comes to dealership franchise contracts with carmakers, requiring 90 days’ notice before a manufacturer terminates a contract and giving dealers the ability to appeal contract changes to the Colorado Department of Revenue. Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the bill Friday.
Also helping a blossoming industry, Senate Bill 47 could generate $2 million a year in seed money and grants for nascent clean technology and bioscience companies by diverting half of the future growth in income tax from existing bioscience and clean technology businesses.
It wasn’t just the passage of business-friendly bills but the defeat of bad-for-business bills that characterized the recent session.
The indefinitely postponed Senate Bill 72 would have allowed higher civil-lawsuit payouts in employment discrimination cases. Current law allows only actual economic damages such as lost wages.
Business advocates said the bill would have made it more lucrative for employees and their lawyers to file lawsuits against employers, essentially incentivizing more lawsuits.
A significant disappointment to business interests in Colorado was the defeat of Senate Bill 26, which would have exempted an increasing percentage of business personal property from property taxes.
“The legislature once again failed to take any steps to phase out the business personal property tax, an anti-manufacturing tax that forces companies using expensive equipment to pay millions in property taxes whether the company is making a profit or not,” Berry said.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
