2023 Legislative Agenda

For questions or concerns on any of these policies, or if you have a story to share, please email angelique@goodbusinessco.org.

🍃 CLIMATE 🍃

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SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! 👉🏼✅SB23-016 Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures: Among several other provisions, this bill strengthens Colorado's greenhouse gas reduction targets to 100% instead of 90% by 2050, and adds interim goals (65% reduction goal by 2035, 80% by 2040, 90% by 2045). It also requires insurance companies to complete an Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey. Perhaps its most popular provision is to establish a 30% state income tax credit to incentivize the purchase of electric-powered lawn equipment.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1005 New Energy Improvement Program Changes: This bill expands and amends the existing Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (C-PACE), making it easier to obtain financing for measures that improve the water efficiency and overall resiliency of an eligible commercial property. Improvements can include measure to withstand wind, fire, flood, extreme temperatures, seismic events and other present and future environmental hazards.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1074 Study Workforce Transitions to Other Industries: This bill commissions a study on the workforce transitions that will be needed in Colorado's economy as a result of jobs that will be lost in the oil and gas industry specifically and through automation generally. The study will include making recommendations about how communities can prepare their workforce for these transitions with special attention to drawing down federal funds

FAILED -BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! ✅HB23-1154 Ballot Issue Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report: This bill requires the Legislative Council Staff (LCS) to prepare a preliminary report on greenhouse gas emissions over a 10 year period for any ballot initiative with a projected environmental impact. LCS’ annual ballot information booklet (Blue Book) will contain the findings of the report in the title as well as the preliminary greenhouse gas report and provide access to full reports.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1161 Environmental Standards for Appliances: Updates existing appliance standards laws by updating energy and water standards and adding additional products and accelerates phase-out of mercury-containing lightbulbs. Does not apply to existing products in use, only includes products screened for cost-effectiveness and product availability, allows a phase-in for each new standard, and allows retailers to sell out old inventory

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-291 Utility Regulations: Limits utility expenses that can be paid by ratepayers, such as lobbying and advertising, which are more appropriately paid by company shareholders. It also creates a cost-sharing mechanism to incentivize utilities to save their customers money on fuel costs, and allows the PUC to set a maximum monthly fuel cost to smooth out monthly bills and avoid sudden sharp increases.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-051 Conforming Workforce Development Statutes: This bill seeks to strengthen the ability of workers and employers to be prepared for economic and industry changes. It reinforces the Governor’s 2019 executive order to establish of the “Office of Future Work” by establishing the OFW in statute, and expands the Office’s duties. It clarifies rules around apprenticeships in new and emerging industries, such as solar, electrification and clean heat, giving more weight to projects that include training in these industries.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-092 Agricultural Producers Use Of Agrivoltaics: This bill expands eligibility requirements for grant awards made by the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to include the use or study of Agrivoltaics and Aquavoltaics, the integration of solar energy production with agriculture and the placement of solar energy production over water resources, respectively. CDA must also conduct a study to examine the effect of regenerative farming practices in mitigating greenhouse gas emission and carbon sequestration.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-198 Clean Energy Plans: This bill would ensure our utilities are meeting greenhouse gas reductions goals, reducing pollution, and moving away from price-volatile natural gas.

🤝🏼 EQUITY 🤝🏼

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FAILED -BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! TOP PRIORITY👉🏼✅HB23-1078 Unemployment Compensation Dependent Allowance: This bill will provide $35 per week, per dependent, on top of their weekly benefit for parents and other caregivers receiving Unemployment Insurance. The extra assistance will help support single women and their children who are especially impacted by job loss, and is not expected to increase UI rates for businesses.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-058 Job Application Fairness Act: By banning age identifying information on initial applications, this bill ensures that neither conscious nor unconscious age bias prevents qualified applicants from presenting their skills and experience to prospective employers, and prevents employers from inadvertently overlooking an important pool of highly qualified applicants.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-017 Additional Uses Paid Sick Leave: This bill would help workers attend to caretaking responsibilities that are due to circumstances beyond their control. Historically, caretaking responsibilities, which our society vastly undervalues, have fallen predominantly on women, thereby amplifying economic gender inequity. This bill helps address such inequity and benefits employers by increasing employee productivity and reducing turnover.

FAILED -BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! ✅HB23-1124 “Funding For Services For Colorado Employment First Participants”: The Colorado Employment First (EF) program is designed to prepare low income SNAP recipients for meaningful employment through work-related education, training activities, and work-based learning opportunities. This bill draws down matching federal funds to expand these workforce development services to benefit more individuals and employers across the state.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-006 “Creation Of The Rural Opportunity Office” : This bi-partisan bill formally creates the Rural Opportunity Office (ROO) within the Office of Economic Development and International Trade. ROO is charged with serving as the central coordinator of rural economic development, supporting communities transitioning away from coal-based economies, and making recommendations to help inform economic development policy impacting rural communities.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1032 Remedies Persons with Disabilities: By making necessary clarifications about protections for persons with disabilities (PWD) in the Colorado Anti Discrimination Act (CADA), this bill addresses a persistent area of discrimination in public accommodation. The CADA has been critical to ensuring universal access to public spaces, including public-serving businesses, thereby promoting fairness and enriching the public realm with the diversity that generates innovation and creativity

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!!✅HB23-1057 Remedies for all genders in public buildings: This bill takes a phased approach to requiring that public buildings provide diaper changing stations in all restrooms, have a non-gendered restroom facility on each floor where public restrooms are available, and ensure all single-stall restrooms are non-gendered and are available for use by individuals of any gender. These changes will set the stage for providing greater equity in all buildings for employees and employers who are parents, caregivers, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals

🩺 HEALTHCARE 🩺

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SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! TOP PRIORITY 👉🏼 ✅Safe Access Bill Package: SB23-188, SB23-189, SB23-190

Abortion access is a business issue because women’s participation and advancement in the workforce is a critical component of economic growth. Safe access to abortion ensures that women are not forced out of the workforce by unwanted pregnancies. In fact, research by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that “abortion bans and targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP) laws cost state and local economies $105 billion annually by reducing labor force participation and earnings among women,” and the impacts fall harder on women of color. That is why Good Business Colorado supports Senate Bills 188, 189, and 190, a package of legislation that will guarantee safe access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services in Colorado.

• PASSED!! SB23-188 Protections For Accessing Reproductive Health Care: This bill would protect abortion patients and providers giving and receiving care in Colorado from facing criminal or civil consequences from other states in which abortion is illegal.

• PASSED!! SB23-189: Increasing Access To Reproductive Health Care: This bill would expand access to abortion and treatment for HIV and other STDs by requiring health insurance carriers to cover care (with some caveats for the small group and individual market).

• PASSED!! SB23-190 Deceptive Trade Practice Pregnancy-related Service: This bill would prohibit “crisis pregnancy centers” from advertising access to abortion or other medical services not actually available at their facilities.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1130 Drug Coverage for Serious Mental Illness: This bi-partisan bill would expedite effective treatment for patients with serious mental illness by requiring insurance to cover whatever medication their doctors deem needed after trying only one of the less expensive drugs on the insurer's approved list. This will reduce the societal costs of untreated mental illness and help employees who struggle with these illnesses to become more productive.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB12-1215 Limits On Hospital Facility Fees: This bill would appropriately prohibit facilities fees on telehealth visits, preventive services and primary care; provide cost transparency for patients; and put the attorney general in charge of enforcing violations so that laws on the books actually take effect. The savings for consumers will help the many small business owners who struggle to pay wages that can keep up with the soaring costs of healthcare.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1002 Epinephrine Auto-injectors

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1224 - Standardized Health Benefit Plan: This bill updates the Colorado Option Standardized Health Plans, strengthening the Division of Insurance’s (DOI) ability to hold carriers accountable for the premium rate reduction requirements and helping consumers easily find and compare plans that could lower their out-of-pocket costs. The savings for consumers will help the many small business owners who struggle to pay wages that can keep up with the soaring costs of healthcare.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1225 Extend And Modify Prescription Drug Affordability Board: In 2021, lawmakers passed the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) to evaluate and place upper price limits on the highest cost prescription drugs. HB23-1225 will increase the impact of the PDAB to save people money on out of pocket prescription drug costs by allowing the PDAB to set more than 12 Upper Payment Limits (UPLs) per year in the first three years, and improving the criteria for selecting drugs for an affordability review.

FAILED -BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! ✅ HB23-1209 Analyze Statewide Publicly Financed Healthcare: This bill would follow up on and leverage the significant data already compiled in a 2019 report by conducting a detailed feasibility analysis of a statewide publicly financed healthcare system in Colorado, including how to finance it, and the impact to the economic sector. Whether or not such a system turns out to be the right one for Colorado, we need non-biased data to allow good decision making and it is important for the analysis to be carried out in the public’s view.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅ HB23-1126 Consumer Reports Not Include Medical Debt information: This bill stops medical debt from being included on credit reports by adding it to the list of types of information that consumer reporting agencies are not allowed to report. Most of the over 700,000 people in Colorado with medical debt did not have a choice about incurring it, and data shows that people with medical debt make on-time payments at significantly higher rates than their credit scores suggest.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅ SB23-093 Increase Consumer Protections Medical Transaction: This bill, along with HB23-1126 Consumer Reports Not Include Medical Debt Information, is very much needed in Colorado. It will have positive impacts to a lot of small businesses and their employees by reducing employee stress over the time and effort needed to respond to billing errors, doubt about the possibility of a payment plan, and concern about high interest rates on medical debt. It will also increase transparency and reinforce the regulations against surprise billing.

🏠 HOUSING 🏠

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FAILED -BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME! TOP PRIORITY 👉🏼✅SB23-213 Land Use: This bill would require local jurisdictions to conduct a housing needs assessment and create a plan to meet them through zoning changes chosen from a state provided menu of options for housing affordability and anti-displacement. If the local jurisdiction fails to do so it would be required the state’s default zoning regulations. The bill’s provisions apply primarily to urban areas of the state.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1099 Portable Screening Report For Residential Leases: Allows a rental applicant to use the same screening report for multiple applications and prohibiting a landlord from charging an additional fee if the applicant provides this report. Currently renters are paying multiple times to submit the same information to different landlords

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1184 Low-income Housing Property Tax Exemptions : Creates tax exemption for non-profit affordable housing providers.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1186 Remote Participation In Residential Evictions: This bill allows for remote participation in residential eviction cases. For people with families, disabilities, transportation issues, who live in more rural locations, or simply struggle to get time off of work, this creates an undue burden and results in 40% of tenants failing to appear.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-001 Authority of Public/Private Collaboration Unit for Housing: Currently, the public-private collaboration unit lacks the power to raise and use funds for housing projects. This bill effectively allows the unit to enter into agreements to purchase, sell, lease, transfer, or exchange state-owned property for housing projects (including mixed-use development).

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅SB23-035 Middle Income Housing Authority: Last year the Colorado legislature passed Senate Bill 22-232 establishing the Middle Income Housing Authority (MIHA), a pilot program with a $1 million budget intended to produce about 3,500 housing units through public-private partnerships. This year’s bill clarifies the power of the authority and expands the board of directors from 14 to 16.

💲 TAXES, FEES & REGUALTIONS 💲

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SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1006 Employer Notice of Income Tax Credits: Currently the law requires an employer to provide its employees with an annual statement showing the total compensation paid and the income tax withheld for the preceding calendar year. The bill requires employers to also provide written notice at least once per year to employees about the availability of earned income and child credits. Written notice may be sent electronically, including via email or text message. 

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅HB23-1017 Electronic Sales And Use Tax Simplification System: Currently, the Sales and Use Tax system for Colorado is confusing and difficult to use. This simplifies the system and allocates funds for the state to modify SUTS so that it will notify local taxing jurisdictions of a change, ensure missing tools work, create a simplified process for filing a 0 return, and much more

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW!✅HB23-1061 Alcohol Beverage Retail Establishment Permit: The bill broadens permits to serve complimentary alcohol beverages to all retail establishments that derives less than 50% of their gross sales from food. Previously this permit was only for art galleries.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-143 Retail Delivery Fees: This bill creates exemptions from the state Retail Delivery Fee for businesses that have $500,000 or less of retail sales in the previous year or is a new business. It also makes the definition of “retail delivery” more clear.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-050 Eligibility For Agricultural Future Loan Program: This bill broadens the eligibility for the Colorado Agriculture Future Loan Program.

SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR - IT’S LAW! ✅SB23-053 Restrict Governmental Nondisclosure Agreements: Prohibits any state agency or institution, or any school district or local government entity, from requiring employees or prospective employees to sign agreements that keep them from disclosing “factual circumstances” concerning their employment, except when the circumstances of employment “reasonably implicate privacy interests” of the employee or it concerns a matter required to be kept confidential by state or federal law.