2021 GBC Member
Legislative Priorities
GBC’s policy priorities are member-driven. our three policy working groups, staff, board and member businesses prioritize how GBC will engage.
Please contact angelique@goodbusinessco.org for more information about GBC’s policy positions.
PROSPEROUS ECONOMY
Legislation that helps build a prosperous economy: one that enables everyone to thrive, with jobs that provide fair workplaces, livable wages, career growth opportunities and good health.
*affordable healthcare - see bills
Access to quality affordable healthcare is a fundamental need, but the costs for healthcare services, insurance and medicines climb higher each year. Our small business members want better options to ensure that they and their employees can get preventative care to stay well, and treatment if they need it.
*disaster relief for small businesses - see bills
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, yet they are often the hardest hit businesses when disasters happen. They need access to flexible economic aid to weather these difficult times and make it out the other side to continue serving their communities. Our small business advocacy group supports Colorado policies that will help businesses endure and thrive.
employee benefits
GBC members depend on their employees and their employees depend on them for fair workplaces and supports such as paid family medical leave to help them balance demanding work with the other demands in their lives.
*fair business tax policY
Businesses of all sizes and types should pay their share, but too often those with greater political power enjoy breaks unavailable to others. Small businesses deserve a fair playing field when it comes to tax policy.
living wages - see bills
Members of our small business advocacy group believe their Colorado employees deserve a livable wage that shows respect for their work and their dignity. No one who works a full time job should be unable to meet their most basic needs for housing, food and transportation.
*identified as a top priority issue in the 2021 member policy survey.
EQUITABLE COMMUNITIES
We support legislation in Colorado that helps build equality in businesses and equitable communities: ones in which residents can find affordable housing, access to affordable childcare, live in a safe neighborhood and are treated equally, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability and other characteristics.
*Affordable Housing - see bills
People burdened with spending half or more of their paycheck on housing have no disposable income to spend and suffer stress and instability. Small businesses need sufficient affordable housing in their communities to foster a vibrant economy and to recruit and retain employees who can focus on their work and not on keeping a roof over their heads.
anti-discrimination - see bills
Our members believe all people deserve respect and that protections are needed to ensure equity for those groups who have experienced generations of discrimination from those with greater socioeconomic and political power.
childcare - see bills
Whether they are employers or employees, full time working parents need access to quality affordable early childhood education. The shortage of childcare usually lands much harder on women as the most likely primary caretakers, and, as a result, women’s workplace equality still hinges in large part on this issue.
fair individual tax policy
GBC members understand that business success depends largely on tax-funded infrastructure - from the schools that educate our future workforce to the roads utilized to transport our products - and they are willing to pay their share. But too often large corporations and those with greater political power enjoy breaks unavailable to others. Small businesses deserve a fair playing field when it comes to paying and benefiting from taxes.
immigration - see bills
Our broken US immigration policy fails to consider real workforce needs and fosters the worst sort of dehumanization, yet many of Colorado’s immigrants without documents pay taxes, start businesses, and work jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. Until the US implements just and humane immigration reform, our small business advocacy group supports Colorado legislation that recognizes the contributions of these immigrants and respects their humanity.
*identified as a top priority issue in the 2021 member policy survey.
SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT
Legislation that helps build a sustainable environment: one with clean air and water, renewable energy, as well as public lands that preserve our unique outdoor heritage and lifestyle.
*air pollution/ghg reduction - See Bills
Whether the focus is mitigating climate change or addressing the adverse health impacts from air pollution, these issues affect our small to medium size businesses at their workplace and homes. GBC advocates for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and overall air toxins through community focused economic solutions in which business owners are part of the solution.
circular economy (reuse, recycling, compost) - See Bills
Business activities and consumer transactions are key contributors to the waste crisis from single-use plastic packaging to hard to recycle items to low waste diversion rates. Small to medium size businesses have the opportunity to address this dilemma through operational changes, innovation, and considering the full lifecycle of a product from inception to end.
natural and working lands
Management of natural lands such as national parks (outside visitor areas), forest service and wilderness areas, and of working lands such as ranches and farms, determines the level of GHG emissions and sequestration for those areas, and impacts ecosystem biodiversity and health.
transportation carbon footprint
Small to medium size businesses can have an important impact on Colorado’s (and the U.S.’s) largest GHG emitter, the transportation sector by establishing employee commuter programs, incentivizing public transit, reviewing supply chain emissions, considering operational transportation emissions, and supporting transportation regulation and programs that incorporate the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from this sector.
water issues
Water is such a key issue in Colorado that it has its own court system. GBC members are concerned with both quality and quantity, seeking to protect our water supply from pollution and promote conservation through policies and business operations. This includes the embodied water in products which are sold and consumed.
*identified as a top priority issue in the 2021 member policy survey.