Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Business Climate

Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026
No Comments
The Sum & Substance, Approved, Commentary, State

Lawmakers Put Reliability And Energy Costs Ahead Of New Climate Mandates In 2026

By: Ed Sealover | Commentary, The Sum & Substance This legislative session was supposed to be a defining one for the utility and energy sectors — one in which legislators would debate and pass a long-discussed plan to move up the net-zero emissions deadline by 10 years and also remake the Public Utilities Commission. But the story of the 2026 session for energy advocates instead turned out to be all about what didn’t happen. No 2040 net-zero plan got introduced. No radical changes came through the extension of the PUC. And for the first time in over a decade, no existential threats to the oil and gas sector received debate in the 75th General Assembly. The topics that took center stage instead were reliability and affordability of energy sources. Legislators h...
Read More
Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Polis Pushes Back As Employers Cite Rising Challenges In Colorado Economy

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics How does Colorado get back to the climate in the early 2000s, when there was collaboration between state government, companies and colleges and universities? That was the question posed to Gov. Jared Polis and a panel convened Tuesday by the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce as part of its annual state of the state luncheon that follows the end of the legislative session. Mowa Haile, the CEO of Sky Blue Builders who chairs the chamber board, noted that, in the last year, the state has gained more than $2 billion in capital investment, along with 1,000 jobs. Colorado is still an amazing state, he said. “But we see cracks,” Haile said. Several issues today make Colorado less competitive for businesses, he said,...
Read More
Tax Fight At Capitol Ends As Polis Signals Veto Threat
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Tax Fight At Capitol Ends As Polis Signals Veto Threat

By Nash Herman | Complete Colorado Governor Polis played an important role in killing two of the most anti-business bills introduced this legislative session, in a rare moment of follow through on his proposed tax policy.   Is it too little too late?  How Polis killed the bills House Bills 1221 and 1222 were part of a four-bill package by progressive lawmakers that Mike Rosen dubbed the “Four Big Ugly Bills,” for their obvious hostility to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and anti-business aims.  Because Democrat lawmakers could not stand that the OBBBA cut taxes for most Coloradans, they designed the four bills to decouple aspects of the Colorado tax system from federal policy and eliminate certain tax break...
Read More
Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signs Letter Criticizing Colorado Business Climate Critics Say He Created

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER – An open letter expressing concern over the number of businesses leaving Colorado and the inability of the state to attract others was recently sent to numerous Colorado elected officials. The several hundred business, technology, and civic leaders who signed the letter are asking for consideration in easing the regulatory burden that they say is the driving factor behind Colorado’s “deteriorating” foundation. That same letter was both sent to and signed by Gov. Jared Polis, the irony of which is not lost on State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer (R-Brighton) who points out that Polis is the man behind the pen that has caused much of the trouble the letter outlines. “Basically, he’s a hypocrite,” Kirkmeyer told Complete Colorado. “Th...
Read More
Less Pay. Less Jobs. Businesses Blame Overregulation
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Red State, Top Stories

Less Pay. Less Jobs. Businesses Blame Overregulation

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado has spent five years building one of the most expansive labor regulatory environments in the country. Paid family leave. Wage transparency requirements. A lowered standard for harassment claims. Minimum wages that rise automatically every year, with several cities setting their own higher rates on top. Each law arrived with the same promise: this is good for workers. The workers' employers tell a different story. In late 2024, before federal tariffs became a headline and before trade policy gave anyone a convenient explanation for rising costs, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce commissioned an independent survey of 169 Colorado business leaders. Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates, a nationally recognized ...
Read More
Polis Joins Business Leaders Warning State Policies Driving Companies Out Of Colorado
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Joins Business Leaders Warning State Policies Driving Companies Out Of Colorado

By Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette Is Colorado scaring away corporate expansions and entrepreneurs that had once made the state a magnet for high-tech business growth? That’s the assertion of a letter signed by more than 200 business and technology leaders, addressed to Gov. Jared Polis, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Democratic senatorial candidates and other political leaders. Notably, one of the signers is Polis himself. Boulder entrepreneur Dan Caruso told The Denver Gazette that after he drove an effort to draft the missive, warning that political messaging is damaging the state’s business competitiveness, Polis had reached out. The governor offered to join in signing the letter and presenting it. “It wasn’t hard to get huge support,” Caruso ...
Read More
Colorado loses jobs as nearly 100 companies exit, business leaders demand change
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado loses jobs as nearly 100 companies exit, business leaders demand change

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Colorado is losing businesses and jobs at an alarming rate. Now, the ones who've stuck around are calling on state leaders to make changes before things get even worse. The Colorado Chamber of Commerce has been sounding an alarm for years about excessive regulation and, last year, more people moved out of Colorado than into the state. The chamber says companies are also relocating out-of-state. It released data showing, since 2019, 98 companies have either left the state, expanded elsewhere, or scrapped plans to move here. That's resulted in more than 13,000 lost jobs. Since 2022, Colorado has also had a net loss of 34 public company headquarters. Some of the states seeing gains from Colorado's losses included Texas, California a...
Read More
She moved her company to Colorado: Seven months later she decided to leave
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

She moved her company to Colorado: Seven months later she decided to leave

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Heather Florio didn’t move her company to Colorado for a short stay. When she arrived in early 2025, she thought she was putting down roots. “We came here… at the beginning of January, 2025 with anticipation of this being our permanent home.” About seven months in, she said the company was having to leave. “We found out that some laws had changed here in the state of Colorado,” Florio said. “Specifically regarding tax thresholds. We’re looking at double the amount of taxes if we stay here. We are unfortunately having to leave my home state.” Florio described that decision in a video from the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, which was shared with RMV by the Colorado Chamber. https://youtu.be/J0BkXb59iPs?si=du...
Read More
Douglas County Launches Red Tape Reduction Task Force To Speed Commercial Development
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County Launches Red Tape Reduction Task Force To Speed Commercial Development

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette Douglas County kicked off its first Red Tape Reduction Task Force Thursday aimed at speeding up commercial and industrial development timelines in the county, a move leaders said is necessary to keep the county competitive with other regions nationwide. The task force will review the county’s development and regulatory processes to identify permitting “hurdles” in an effort to attract and retain businesses. Douglas County Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle said delays can stem from a range of issues, including complex regulatory requirements or delays with referral agencies. “Sometimes it might be securing power or water for a project and what that looks like. Other times, it could just be administrative hurdles that are unne...
Read More
Colorado Legislative Malpractice
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado Legislative Malpractice

By Michael Hancock | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When Ideology Replaces Stewardship, the Patient Doesn’t Recover — It Declines There is a reason malpractice carries such moral weight in medicine. A physician is entrusted with the care of a patient. When that trust is violated—through negligence, arrogance, or ideological blindness—the consequences are not abstract. They are physical, measurable, and often irreversible. What we are witnessing in Colorado today is a different form of malpractice. Not medical, but legislative. The patient is the state itself—its economy, its infrastructure, its fiscal health, and ultimately, its people. And the pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: policies enacted not in service of long-term stability, but i...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds