If there was any question about how wide the ideological divide is between Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the state legislature, look no further than House Bill 1290, a measure to compel Colorado businesses with at least five employees to participate in an state-run employee retirement investment plan. Every single member of the Democrat controlled House of Representatives voted for this ill-conceived measure. Thankfully, the bill was summarily killed in a Senate committee this week.
This notion that the state should compel small businesses to provide retirement plans for their employees shows just how detached Democrat lawmakers are from the high-stress, low-margin, fiercely-competitive environment that small businesses operate in every day. These companies that employ most working Coloradans deserve the legislature’s support, not the roadblocks that are continually thrown before them. The mandatory paid sick leave is another “good idea” that would prove devastating g for so many Colorado businesses.
Democrats feel so strongly about state-run retirement that State Rep. Brittney Patterson, a candidate for U.S. Congress, has volunteered to be the face of this misadventure that is uncomfortably similar to a ponzi scheme.
Unwavering Democratic support for this failed mandatory retirement plan, along with forced paid sick days, Obamacare, and the litany of other anti-growth measures reveal at least an embarrassing level of cluelessness about small businesses, and, at the worst, blatant hostility for the very people that a majority of Colorado jobs depend on.
Good thing for small businesses that Republicans held on to a one-seat majority in the Senate, otherwise, Colorado would be well on its way to out-liberal-ing California.