Transportation funding continues to be a challenge in Colorado and an issue that has seen many bills and ballot questions in the past decade. During the 2021 General Assembly Session a $3.9 billion transportation funding plan was introduced. While the bill would address a number of current shortfalls in our transportation policy and utilize $1.2 billion in existing funds, it would also implement $2.7 billion in new fees, including on gas and diesel fuel, electric-vehicle registrations, deliveries, car-sharing services, rental cars, taxis, and more, to cover the majority of its cost. Given the complexity of the bill we are working with fellow stakeholders to determine the impacts to businesses.

As with any other major metropolitan area experiencing significant growth, there is a challenge to keep up with the needs of an aging infrastructure.  According to a recent report, 41% of Colorado’s major urban roads are in poor condition and 6% of Colorado’s bridges are structurally deficient.  And from 2000 to 2015, vehicle miles traveled in the state increased by 22% (the tenth largest increase in the nation) while our population increased by 25%. 

Without a major change in how we fund transportation infrastructure in Colorado, this presents a significant risk to our economic prosperity. And the longer we continue without a solution, the bigger the gap grows. Having a sustainable and reliable funding source for transportation dollars is crucial especially if that funding can provide maximum flexibility for local governments to spend their allocations as they see fit. A dedicated source of funding will not just be a shot in the arm for our economy. It would send a clear message to companies both inside and outside Colorado that we are serious about our commitment to economic development. However, any funding for transportation priorities cannot be financed solely, or disproportionately, by businesses.

Our Advocacy Efforts

We have testified at numerous state legislative hearings for the last several years and advocated for transportation funding policies at the state level with our Governor, the Administration, and the General Assembly.  Our members have been vocal about this issue as well and we have and will continue to partner with them to find a solution to this issue. 

The idea of growth restrictions have been seen throughout the Metro area due to our increasing population and the effects that increase has had on everything from traffic to housing prices and the overall cost of living.  We have seen a steady uptick in anti-growth initiatives at both the local and state levels. 

Initiative 4 in 2017, Initiative 66 in 2018, Initiative 109 in 2019, and Initiative 122 for 2020 all sought to limit building permits for new housing in the Front Range to just 1% of existing units for two years following passage.  To date, none of those specific statewide initiatives have passed.  However, in July, 2019, the City of Lakewood did pass Question 200 by a vote of 53-47 that limits construction of new homes and apartments each year to no more than 1 percent of the existing housing stock in the city and would require City Council approval of large development proposals (based on Lakewood’s current housing stock of about 67,000 residential units, Question 200 would permit fewer than 700 new homes to be built per year).

Anti-growth sentiment and initiatives have far-reaching impacts on economic development, housing supplies, local government revenues, and more.  While there are no initiatives currently set to appear on the 2021 ballot, the proponents of these initiatives continue to work on a ballot question in the future that could impose a statewide restriction on overall growth. 

Our Advocacy Efforts

Given the likelihood of this issue returning year after year, we continue to educate our state and local elected officials, our member organizations, community stakeholders, etc. about the numerous repercussions such a detrimental policy would have on our economy and way of life in Colorado.

In any economic downturn, new sources of revenue are usually sought after in order to replenish coffers. However, very few governments relinquish such revenue raising policies enacted during downturns after the economy has rebounded.  These policies, when compounded with one another constitute an ever-increasing fiscal burden on employers, and, in turn, employees and consumers.

While we have not yet seen any detrimental tax bills introduced during the 2021 legislative session there are a number of proposals being floated by both the Governor and members of the General Assembly. Ranging from increased taxes to pay for specific programs and funds like the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, to ending certain tax breaks for industries like oil & gas, insurance, and IT, these proposals will undoubtedly hurt businesses already suffering due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the need to make up budget shortfalls is understandable, placing that financial burden solely on businesses trying to survive is not the answer. Tax increases and other revenue raising measures will hamper small business efforts to hire back their workers or hire additional workers, or worse, could cause them to close altogether. This is not the solution to put Colorado back on the right fiscal track.

Our Advocacy Efforts

In an effort to stave off detrimental tax policy, we fiercely advocate against these types of legislation. While these proposals will undoubtedly generate some short-term budgetary relief for the state, detrimental tax policies will not help Colorado’s economy or our residents. Rather they will contribute to a statewide economic decline and cause unneeded economic harm to our residents.

Colorado has been one of the top healthiest states in the U.S. for more than a decade, yet in almost every General Assembly session legislation is introduced related to increasing the state’s role in healthcare. In recent years healthcare related proposals have gotten larger, more invasive, more expensive, and much more bureaucratic.

In the 2021 legislative session, a major public health insurance option proposal was introduced. The legislation would allow the state to create and implement a state-run health insurance plan, the contours of which would be designed by the state Commissioner of Insurance. The bill would encourage insurance companies to offer the plan in any areas they already offer their own plans, but would put artificial caps on rate increases. In addition, if the arbitrary cost reductions laid out in the bill are not met, it allows the state to create the Colorado Option Authority, a nonprofit organization which will be allowed to offer its own insurance plan that would be at least 20% cheaper than the average premium rates offered in each county by those private insurers. Unfortunately, most of the burden for financing this program would rest on insurance providers, thereby increasing fees to employers, including small businesses.

Our Advocacy Efforts

Each session when these healthcare-related legislative initiatives are introduced, we turn to our members who are in the healthcare arena to fully understand these issues, their costs, and the repercussions on businesses.  Armed with that information, we then advocate against any such policies that have a detrimental effect on employers so that Aurora can maintain a healthy workforce while at the same time ensuring that the business climate is just as healthy.