EDITOR’S NOTE: Denver voters this fall are being asked to approve Initiative 300, which would require all employers in the city to provide paid sick time to employees. We asked a supporter of the measure and an opponent to weigh in.
Denver’s most trusted leaders oppose Initiative 300 because it will make it harder for people to find work in a down economy. It will cost our city $700,000 a year when we are already taking drastic measures to close a $100 million budget shortfall. And it misses its mark, hurting small, community businesses the most.
There are simply too many flaws with Initiative 300, which is why Mayor Michael Hancock called it “the wrong approach” in his State of the City address. Gov. John Hickenlooper told The Denver Post it is “the worst possible initiative at this time,” and a majority of my City Council colleagues encourage Denver citizens to vote “no” on 300.
Small businesses, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce all oppose Initiative 300 because it will ensure important community services and businesses we count on in our neighborhoods move outside of Denver, making it more expensive and less convenient for the way we live our lives.
Proponents are using scare tactics to exaggerate health issues and distract voters, but major health organizations like the Colorado Hospital Association oppose this initiative.
With so much misleading information out there, here are the facts you need to know about Initiative 300:
• It unfairly targets local, family-owned businesses like day care centers, dentists and restaurants struggling the most in this down economy.
• Other cities examining similar measures, like Seattle, exempted small businesses, but Initiative 300 would apply to all businesses including even a single, part-time employee. Thus, your corner bookstore and your neighborhood market will be hurt the most by 300.
• Initiative 300 makes it harder for businesses to hire staff, and with an unemployment rate of just under 9 percent in Denver, we shouldn’t make it harder for people to find work.
• It also threatens Denver’s ability to serve our citizens. According to an analysis by the city attorney’s office, Initiative 300 requires a new bureaucracy for enforcement, imposing more costs on the city while exempting the state and federal government. All told, Initiative 300 could cost the city nearly $700,000 a year when we already have a systemic budget crisis. Even without Initiative 300, Denver’s budget shortfall will shut down city services for five days next year, via employee furloughs. Initiative 300 will only deepen those cuts to services we depend on.
• Finally, buried in Initiative 300’s red tape are serious flaws with unintended consequences for Denver’s economy. Only Denver voters have a say in whether Initiative 300 passes, but it affects businesses all over our region. As written, anyone who works in Denver, including a plumber from Golden or Castle Rock who takes even one job in Denver is required to comply with the costs and bureaucratic red tape of this initiative. At a time when we should work to attract more businesses to our region, this initiative is a disincentive for doing business in Denver and the entire metro region.
If passed, Initiative 300 will create an enormous legal liability for small, family-owned businesses that cannot afford the kind of attorney’s fees Initiative 300 invites.
My neighborhood in far northeast Denver and other pockets of our community were dealt a significant blow throughout this recession. My priority is to put constituents back to work in good jobs in our city. These hard- working people want Denver to encourage small, local, family-owned businesses that help our neighborhoods.
However well-intended the proponents of Initiative 300 may be, this flawed measure hurts our community at the worst possible time. All of Denver should vote “no” on Initiative 300.
Chris Herndon is a city councilman for Denver’s District 11.
