Colorado House Must Budget for Small Business Support

“We know that Colorado lawmakers have difficult choices to make this year when it comes to the budget given the state’s $1.2 billion shortfall. One decision, however, should be easy: do all they can to support small businesses.

In order to help our small firms succeed, the Colorado House of Representatives should move forward with approving $15 million in FY 24-25 and $10 million in FY 25-26 to increase support for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), a vital resource for low-income families to help ensure access to quality child care, an issue that is of great concern to small businesses and their employees. The House should also vote to protect recent eligibility expansions to Colorado’s Medicaid program (Health First Colorado) and access to oral health care through Medicaid. Shoring up Medicaid benefits is particularly important now in light of the threat of Medicaid cuts on the federal level this year.

Beyond moving ahead with these critical items that offer support to small businesses, Colorado lawmakers must also prioritize fiscal reform and enact forward-thinking budget proposals that ensure continued delivery of essential resources to the small business community and promote inclusive small business growth. If they do not, our budget situation will only get worse in future years and small businesses in Colorado will suffer the consequences.”