Time to call a lobbyist: the competitive edge of knowing and understanding the state legislature.

• Author: Karakoulakis, John
• Position: LEGAL INSIGHT SPECIAL SECTION

The Colorado General Assembly considers an average of 600 bills each legislative session. Remarkably, the legislature passes about half of those bills--an average of three bills every day they are in session. Many of these laws are narrowly targeted toward a specific issue or problem but often they have broad impacts on businesses with Colorado operations, such as new laws impacting labor and employment, tax, licensing, business regulation, economic development incentives, or resource and environmental issues. These types of laws impact every business in Colorado.

With the Colorado General Assembly reconvening on January 9, 2013, companies with operations in Colorado should assess whether there is value in monitoring state legislative activities. While most of the focus of the 2012 election was squarely on the Presidential race, the local races for State House will have distinct impact on Colorado's 2013 legislative session. Two important developments may create a reason for Colorado companies to track the 2013 Colorado legislative session.

First, the Democrats will now control both houses (37 to 28 in the House and 20 to 15 in the Senate) as well as the Governor's office. Such single party control typically leads to more pieces of legislation being introduced, usually about 100 additional bills as opposed to years with split control. Single party control could also typically lead to more partisan bills making it to the Governor's desk for signature, since bills will be able to clear both houses without bipartisan support.

Secondly, 31 legislators will be new to the Capitol this session and an additional 17 legislators will have two years or less of experience. Employers understand that when nearly 50% of the workforce has little or no experience there are bound to be implications. This high turnover rate is due to term limits, retirements, and reapportionment. While this drastic turnover may incentivize certain legislators to make an immediate impact with bold legislation, it also provides a good opportunity for businesses to create new relationships.

Companies that monitor or engage in the legislative process typically discover that the service is a value-add from a pure financial perspective. Identifying legislation that creates a financial or competitive disadvantage to the company adds value. Likewise, being in a position to proactively identify and drive legislative solutions adds value. Companies are increasingly active in allocating...