Divided legislature sits well with state’s businesses, lobbyists say

Jul 27, 2012

Sunana Batra / Colorado News Agency

Still reeling from the recession and smarting from several years of dust-ups at the Capitol, Colorado’s business community at last scored some wins during this year’s legislative session. Now, it’s wary of the upcoming election in November, key business leaders say.

Representatives of the state’s largest business-advocacy groups agreed this week that the biggest factor behind 2012’s legislative successes was the moderating effect of a divided General Assembly. Voters returned control of the House of Representatives to Republicans in November 2010, leaving Democrats in charge of the Senate and the Governor’s Office.

The business groups say they now worry about a shift back to one-party rule this fall.

“Overall it was a good session for business because we saw good things attempted to ease regulatory burdens on business. Having that balance has made a world of a difference,” said Loren Furman, Senior Vice President of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry. Some contentious issues avoided turning into nail-biters and instead died quietly in House committees, sparing everyone some very public battles on the floor of the House or Senate, she said.

“In some instances we reached a compromise, and such compromises that business could live with could have only come about through the split chamber,” Furman said. …read full story by the Colorado News Agency

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Tags: Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Diane Schwenke, Enterprise Zone Task Force, Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, Loren Furman, National Federation of Independent Business in Colorado, Tony Gagliardi