Colorado Sine Die 2019

Friday, May 3, “Sine Die” marked the end of the 2019 Colorado Legislative Session. Our Chamber has been involved in policy areas for many years. In 2019, we made plans to closely monitor the session and position the Chamber on bills that matter to our members. Whenever you try something new, it rarely goes exactly as you planned, but therein lies the challenge and the fun. I want to thank the members of our Public Policy Committee. Over the last few months since January, we’ve turned this committee into more of a “working” committee and with the amount of legislative bills during this session, committee members were up to the task.

Your Chamber took positions on a variety of bills. Here are a few: support of SB6 “Retail Sales and Simplification Act.” Oppose: HB19-1210 “ Local Control on Minimum Wage.” We also reviewed others such as SB19-188, the “FAMLI” bill. Chamber of Commerce and business organizations across the state raised their concerns with this bill as did the Governor. We will see FAMLI again in future years but most likely with significant changes proposed by the business community.

This year, the Longmont Chamber working with its partners, had a voice in the 2019 session on these bills and several others. I’m excited about that! I am excited about all of our work, but I mention SB6 and HB1210, because we reviewed those two bills due to direct requests from members. If you hear about a state or local issue that you believe will impact your business, as a member, you have the benefit of asking your Chamber to review it. Stacy Cornay, our most recent addition to the Chamber team in a public policy role, worked tirelessly following bills, reporting back to the Policy Committee and attending various meetings and conference calls.

The Chamber’s advocacy work on behalf of the business community and really the whole community doesn’t end with Sine Die. This fall, we’ll host a City Council Debate and we anticipate reviewing ballot questions in relation to HB19-1257 and 1258 which would allow the state to keep revenues for education and transportation. We will also continue to work on transportation.

Recently, Council Member Joan Peck asked the Chamber to work with our Northwest Chamber Alliance partners in supporting a FasTracks Committee resolution to the RTD Board to direct staff to research and formulate a possible plan to bring peak rail service to the Northwest Corridor. At our last Alliance meeting, RTD Directors Lubow and Guissinger thanked the Alliance members for their involvement and said that the large business voice did have an impact on the Directors decision to pass the resolution.

There’s a lot going on with the Chamber’s policy work and I realize that much of it happens “behind the scenes.” I encourage you to visit the Policy page on our website for more information. For next year’s session, there will be expanded information and you will have direct access to all that the Policy Committee is working on. In the meantime you are welcome to attend our next meeting, Friday, June 7; a Main Street Corridor study will be presented.