Priority issues for the NCLA
Historically, the NCLA’s key issues have been in the areas of transportation, economic development, health care, tax policy, higher education, labor and water.
Setting the priority agenda in action
Once the board of directors has refined the NCLA’s policy statements and set the priority agenda for the year, the NCLA’s issue manager goes to work. At the state level, the issues manager monitors all legislative proposals that are introduced for potential impact to the Northern Colorado business community by putting the proposals through the filter of the Alliance’s policy statements and priority agenda.
Upon determining bills that affect Northern Colorado businesses – often over 100 bills during a legislative session – the issues manager brings those legislative proposals before the NCLA board for review and official positions if positions are not clearly discernable.
The board of directors has three options in dealing with legislative proposals:
- Take an official position in support or opposition of the legislative proposal
- Determine the board has no opinion on the matter and, therefore, an official “no position” is taken
- Send the issue back to the individual chambers and the NCEDC for positions.
Either way, a two-thirds plus one vote must be achieved on any action of the board. This safeguard ensures that two communities cannot take a position opposed by the third. If the two-thirds plus one requirement is not achieved, each chamber and the NCEDC board has the opportunity to take a position on the issue. This has only happened a few times in the history of the NCLA.
If the board decides to take a position in support or opposition of a legislative proposal, the NCLA issues manager is charged with carrying the NCLA’s position to Colorado legislators, lobbying the merits of NCLA’s position and seeking legislators’ commitment to support the NCLA’s position.
Because fewer regional and federal positions are taken annually, each of those is handled on a case-by-case basis. Action on those issues often involves building coalitions with other business organizations and targeting specific members of local government or the Colorado congressional delegation. To assist with developing a priority agenda for federal legislation and identifying the best way for the NCLA to affect change on theses issues, the NCLA's Federal Issues Subcommittee was established in 2009.
