Costs associated with FAMLI Leave Act unsustainable
State Director Tony Gagliardi reports from Denver on the small business agenda as of the April 19 legislative date
Fourteen days remain in the 2019 Legislative session, with 624 bills introduced as of April 19, 2019.
Paid Family Leave
Senate Bill 19-188, the FAMLI Leave Act, remains at the top of the NFIB Colorado legislative list of priorities. At present, the bill is scheduled for second reading in the Senate on Monday, April 22. The bill has been amended over 24 times and has had two Fiscal Notes prepared due to some of the amendments added.
As recently as Wednesday afternoon, a memo from the office of legislative services was released stating, should utilization of 12 weeks of paid leave exceed 3 percent, the fund would be in a deficit position. One scenario given indicated a 5 percent utilization rate by 2024 would result in a deficit of $355 million. Most states that have a FAMLI Act see an average of 7 percent utilization. SB 188 is a billion-dollar program that cannot sustain itself. NFIB Colorado continues to join with other groups in an all-out front to oppose this legislation.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
While some business organizations are neutral, NFIB Colorado continues to oppose SB 19-085, Equal Pay for Equal work. First, that act of knowingly paying someone less than others for substantially the same work is already prohibited by both state and federal law. The reason NFIB Colorado opposes SB 085 is because of the legal action an employee would be allowed to take against an employer with the entitlement of reimbursement for court costs and attorney fees while the employer would not be eligible to collect their legal costs should he or she be successful in their defense. Unlike other states, the legislation does not exempt small businesses from the enormous amount of record keeping and liabilities. SB 085 is in the House of Representatives awaiting second reading.
Sales and Use Tax Simplification
Gov. Jared Polis has signed Senate Bill 006, the Electronic Sales and Use Tax Simplification System, into law. SB 006 is a bill from the interim Legislative Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force created in 2016 to further the development and implementation of an electronic sales and use tax simplification system.
2019 NFIB Small Business Day
On March 28, NFIB in Colorado hosted its annual Small Business Day. This event attracted more than 80 participants, who heard from top legislative leaders in the morning and from Governor Polis during lunch at the beautiful History Colorado Center. At the center, Pinnacol Vice President Edie Sonn and Sharon Sussin, NFIB’s national political director, also made presentations.
Federal Update
NFIB continues to advocate for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to be made permanent. Although the corporate rate-reductions were made permanent in the Act, the cuts for small business, including the all-important 20-percent reduction in Section 199A, are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2015.
According to a recent NFIB member ballot, 91 percent of small business owners support permanently extending the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. H.R. 216, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and its Senate counterpart, S. 1149, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), are the legislative vehicles for making the small-business tax cuts permanent.
