Vote No on HB 1258 – Mandating Costs on Colorado Workers and Employers
Sponsors: Reps. Winter, Salazar & Sen. Ulibarri
Opponents of House Bill 1258
Associated Builders & Contractors
CO Association of Commerce & Industry
Concern Concern
Colorado Bankers Association
Colorado Competitive Council (C3)
Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce
Independent Bankers of Colorado
Northern CO Legislative Alliance
Nat’l Fed. of Independent Businesses (NFIB)
Steamboat Chamber of Commerce
Aurora Chamber of Commerce
Colorado Civil Justice League
CO Springs Regional Business Alliance
Colorado Restaurant Association
Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
Douglas County Business Alliance
Rocky Mountain Food Industry Association
Professional Independent Insurance Agents of CO
Description of HB 1258: HB 1258 creates a new government program in CDLE requiring CO workers to
receive a wage replacement for up to 12 wks of leave per year. Each employee would be mandated to pay a
premium based on yearly wages to support the program and all employers would be required to administer
the program. Additionally, a solvency surcharge could be imposed to ensure the program stays solvent. The
Department would also be required to conduct a study to determine whether the program is feasible.
Concerns with HB 1258:
 Unlike the Federal Family Medical Leave Act which applies to employers with 50 or more
employees, all employers and employees would be mandated to comply with this legislation;

HB 1258 requires employers to guarantee the same or equivalent position for the employee when
they return – a costly mandate for businesses that do not have the resources to hold a position or hire
an additional worker for up to 12 weeks of leave;
The State would be required to fund this program until every worker pays their share to keep the program
solvent. Previous fiscal impacts have shown huge revenue shortfalls:
2014 Fiscal Impact Statement = $774,000,000 over 4 years & 200+ FTE’s

Based on failures in other states that inaccurately projected participation, Colorado should not
assume that all workers will participate;

Employees are subject to "solvency surcharge" if program becomes insolvent, forcing them to pay
even more to keep the program afloat;

The amount of time an employee needs to have worked to be eligible for the paid time off (680 hours
or 13 hours per week), is significantly less than the one year requirement under Federal law;

The three states that have adopted a paid leave program allow for significantly less leave time and
operate the programs through employee payroll taxes and disability programs.

HB 1258 allows an individual the ability to collect paid leave in addition to collecting
Unemployment Insurance which creates no financial incentive for them to return to work.
Contact information: Loren Furman, Sr. VP of State & Federal Relations, CACI, at 303-888-9387, or Larry Hudson, 303-249-4234