As for state ballot measures, the biggest uncertainties have been in Colorado. But as reported by the Rocky Mountain News and others, a deal has been cut between some in Colorado’s business community and labor union leaders.
Is this a good deal or not?
Colorado’s business climate and economy faced an unprecedented and dangerous assault from four union-backed ballot measures.
Amendment 53 would expose business executives to criminal liability if a business fails to discharge a duty under the law. Amendment 55 would have the government set permissible reasons for firing or suspending an employee. Amendment 56 would force businesses with 20 or more employees to provide health insurance to workers, or pay a tax so the government could. Amendment 57 would fuel frivolous lawsuits against businesses for failing to establish “a safe and healthy work environment.”
As I noted in a recent Dolan Media/Long Island Business News column, “These amendments seem specifically designed to chase businesses and jobs out of Colorado.”
So, what’s the deal? Well, in exchange for these four measures being dropped from the ballot, various business leaders agreed to fork over $3 million to support the labor union’s fight against three ballot measures that they dislike. As explained in the Rocky Mountain News story, those amendments are:
• Amendment 47: A "right-to-work" amendment that would do away with the current practice of allowing workers to vote on whether they want an "all-union" agreement that requires employees to pay dues to cover the cost of being represented by a union that negotiates wages and other benefits.
• Amendment 49: A measure that would bar governments in Colorado from taking union dues directly out of workers' paychecks. Prohibit automatic deductions for special interest groups and unions from public payrolls, such as those for state and county government workers, as well as cities and special districts.
• Amendment 54: A proposed ban on sole-source government contractors contributing to political candidates. Opponents have said that the measure takes aim at unions, which hold exclusive-rights bargaining contracts with some governments.
One can, and should, debate the merits of such a deal. But it is good news that the anti-business measures are off the ballot, and voters will still have the opportunity to rein in the powers of labor unions that so often work against business investment, job creation and overall economic growth. It would be particularly good news if voters approved Amendment 47, and made Colorado the 23rd “right to work” state.
As for the deal itself, perhaps it was best summed up in The Wall Street Journal as follows: “Not every business leader could stomach the compromise. Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, said he was glad to see the union-backed measures off the ballot. But he couldn't bring himself to back labor's ballot agenda. ‘We just wouldn't do that,’ he said.”
Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
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