February 26, 2020

Representation | Legislation | Advocacy

Western Slope Business Leaders Travel to the State Capitol:

Tomorrow morning, 50 business professionals from across Mesa County will head to Denver for the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce’s 27th Annual Trip to the Capitol for two days of briefings and interaction with state policy makers. The lineup of speakers for the trip includes Joe Barela, Executive Director of the Department of Labor, Dr. Angie Paccione, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, Governor Jared Polis, Lauren Larson, Executive Director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, Michael Conway, Colorado Insurance Commissioner and Shoshana Lew, Executive Director of CDOT.

For more information, click here.

CMU Physician Assistant Building Receives High Ranking on CDC Funding Listl:

Last week, Colorado Mesa University’s Physician Assistant/Physical Therapy/ Occupational Therapy building project ranked as # 8 on the Capitol Development Committee’s prioritized funding recommendation list. The list will now move to the Joint Budget Committee who will ultimately decide if the project is funded or not. The Chamber has long championed this project to provide graduate programs in the health care field on the Western Slope for a number of reasons, chief among them the critical shortage of health care providers throughout the Western Slope.

For more information on this project, click here, and to contact the members for the Joint Budget Committee and voice your support for the project click here.

Sponsors Pull Names from Family Medical Leave Bill:

On Sunday evening Representative Monica Duran and Senator Angela Williams, pulled their names from the state Family Medical Leave bill. Both Duran and Williams have stated that they dropped their names from the bill because they believe it does not go far enough to protect workers. The most recent draft of the bill required that employers provide paid family medical leave for all employees who have held the position for at least six months. Prime sponsors of the bill, Senator Faith Winter and Representative Matt Gray say the future of the bill is now uncertain.

To read more, click here.

HB20-1193 Presents Alternative to FAMLI Bill:

HB20-1193 “Income Tax Benefits for Family Leave”, introduces in late January, will be heard in the House Finance Committee on Monday, March 9th. The bill presents an alternative to the family medical leave mandate, by encouraging businesses to contribute to family and medical leave for their employees with tax incentives. The bill also offers tax incentives for employees who contribute to a leave savings account.

For more information on this bill, click here.

Governmental Affairs Update:

The Chamber’s next legislative video conference with Western Slope lawmakers will be held on Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 AM in the FCI Board Room at the Chamber. Thank you to videoconference sponsor: Entrada Consulting.

‌