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2023 Annual State Chamber Report
Every year the Colorado General Assembly convenes for a 120 day Legislative Session to adopt legislation that impacts the citizens of Colorado. The State Chamber’s lobbying team works directly with policymakers and governmental officials to inform and educate them about the importance of supporting the business interests of the state. Many victories have been achieved through the work of the Chamber and have saved businesses millions of dollars each year. Over the years, the State Chamber has won critical reforms for the business community on such issues as environment, government spending and taxation, tort and civil justice, health care, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and K-12 education. In the area of taxation, for example, victories have included simplifying the income tax, repealing the state unitary method of taxation and lessening the burden of the onerous local business personal property tax.g reviews every bill and works to pass, amend or kill bills based on their impact to the state’s business climate. Each year The Colorado Chamber prepares a summary of those most relevant to The Colorado Chamber’s work of impact to the business community.
2023 Legislative Report
New Privacy Act Regulations
Colorado employers who collect and store significant amounts of personal data on customers must allow those individuals to review, correct and delete that data and must get permission from them if they want to sell any of their information.Controllers of the data for these companies also must undertake significant data-protection assess-ments to ensure not only that the information is safe from hackers but that the information is necessary for company operations. Those who fail to comply with the newly enacted Colorado Privacy Act could face penalties that reach as high as $20,000 per violation.The new regulations stem from a law passed with overwhelming bipartisan backing in 2021 and aimed at ensuring that consumers can control the amount of personal data that is available on them. Colorado is just the third state to enact such a law, following similar statutes in California and Virginia, but its rules are in some cases more strenuous than those of other states, which has generated national attention on the local efforts.
New Privacy Act Regulations
Protecting Manufacturers
With the passage of HB21-1266, the State’s Industrial sector must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by the year 2030, compared to what it released in 2015. The industrial sector in Colorado includes traditional heavy and light manufacturing along with energy use by other non-manufacturing industries like oil and gas, construction, and agricultural operations. The Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) has submitted a proposal for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Management for Manufacturing Phase 2 (or GEMM Phase 2) rulemaking to the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) in 2023.The GEMM Phase 2 rulemaking impacts 18 companies in Colorado, 11 of which have joined a Chamber-led coalition.Through the work of our attorneys, the Chamber filed for party status in the rule-making on June 15. In the Chamber’s motion, we outlined several issues with the current draft Reg 27. These include, but are not limited to, providing adequate time for companies to comply, not creating overly burdensome penalties, and still allowing for companies to grow in the future.
Greenhouse Gas Rules
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