On April 30, Small Business Majority State Policy & Advocacy, Vice President Awesta Sarkash submitted testimony on Senate Bill 26-180. She urged the state to prioritize addressing childcare funding gaps, but not at the expense of the FAMLI program.
Colorado Small Business Owner Highlight
Edwin Sandoval, the proud owner of Xatrucho Concepts, moved from Honduras to the Colorado Springs area when he was only 10 years old. At age 14, he began working at restaurants, where he quickly realized his potential and passion for the food industry. He pursued a degree in culinary arts and continued to work at various high-scale restaurants until he had the gumption to start a business of his own.
Colorado Events
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Colorado Policy
Browse our latest state-based regulatory comments and legislative testimony in this area below, or click the button to view all records.
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Thursday, April 30, 2026
On April 30, Small Business Majority State Policy & Advocacy, Vice President Awesta Sarkash submitted written testimony requesting an amendment to Senate Bill 26-178, which would provide stopgap funding for the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise (HIAE). This is a critical measure that would help lower healthcare costs for Coloradans on the individual market.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
On April 21, Small Business Majority Vice President, State Policy & Advocacy Awesta Sarkash submitted written testimony in support of HB26-1210. This legislation would prohibit discrimination against a consumer or worker through the use of a price or wage setting algorithm (PWSA), which would protect small businesses from an increasingly unleveled playing field.
Friday, March 27, 2026
On March 27th, Small Business Majority State Policy & Advocacy Vice President Awesta Sarkash sent a letter to Colorado Senate Health & Human Services Committee in opposition to SB26-140.
Colorado Research
Published:
Thu, 06/11/2026
Research by University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs graduate students Janet Perez Shensky, John Paul, Andre Cowan and Stephanie Mora, advised by Professor Dilawar Syed, examines how the 2025 U.S. tariff regime affected small businesses in California, Georgia, Illinois and Colorado. Using trade, employment and SBA lending data, the report finds that tariffs and policy uncertainty disproportionately burden small firms, particularly in the agriculture, manufacturing and retail sectors, limiting their ability to invest, hire and grow.
Published:
Wed, 04/09/2025
In January 2024, Colorado launched the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, offering up to 12 weeks of paid leave for workers dealing with serious health or family-related needs. While many small business owners support paid leave and value taking care of their employees, they’ve faced hurdles navigating FAMLI.
Published:
Thu, 03/07/2024
Small Business Majority’s new poll of Colorado small business owners reveals strong support for legislative solutions that would remove barriers for justice-impacted individuals by making reforms to occupational licensing and debt-based driver’s license suspensions. These politically diverse small business owners believe these measures would enable employers to tap into an underutilized workforce and open up opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Colorado voters approved Proposition 118 in November of 2020, paving the way for a state-run Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. FAMLI will allow small employers in Colorado to facilitate access to paid time off to their employees when they need to care for a family member. This is crucial for small businesses and their employees and a welcomed initiative in Colorado.
Colorado SecureSavings is a new state workplace retirement savings program created by the Colorado SecureSavings Board. The program is designed to help Colorado employers and employees set automatic payroll contributions to a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) account and save for the future. Colorado SecureSavings is an added benefit to offer and comes at no cost to employers.
The Colorado Option was established by the Colorado Legislature to give the Division of Insurance the ability to develop standard benefit plans. This allows small businesses to easily compare and choose the plan that is right for them through the individual and small group marketplace.
