Colorado House Passes Pro-Employee Ownership Legislation
Executive Director
On April 25, the Colorado state legislature passed a pro-employee ownership bill (HB17-1214). The bill creates a revolving-loan program to be operated by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), to be funded by gifts and donations. The bill, which now goes to Governor Hickenlooper for signature, also requires that the OEDIT train its employees to be sufficiently knowledgeable about employee ownership to be able to recommend it when appropriate and to promote it in their materials.
The bill was sponsored by state Rep. James Coleman, D-Aurora, and Rep. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, who said, "Anything we can do to encourage ownership helping facilitate getting folks on the path of wealth creation, I think it's a good thing." The Rocky Mountain Center for Employee Ownership helped promote the bill.