Advocacy Report

Barratt Appointed to Postsecondary Talent Development System Advisory Committee

AGC President & CEO Jeff Barratt was appointed by House Minority Leader Jarvis Caldwell to be the representative of an association that represents business on the new Postsecondary Talent Development System Advisory Committee that was established in HB26-1317 Unified Postsecondary Talent Development System. The appointment reflects both Barratt’s deep expertise in merging higher education and workforce development in Colorado and other states, and AGC’s significant progress in this area including Project Scale, a new AAS Degree in Construction Management available to those who complete a 4-year apprenticeship program, and the Careers in Construction high school trades program now in 93 high schools with 5,000 participants statewide.

 

AGC supported the bill, which creates the postsecondary talent development system transition advisory committee (transition committee) to develop a transition plan that includes recommendations to integrate oversight of higher education and workforce development programs (transition plan). The transition plan must include recommendations about the structure of the department of higher education (department), including a recommendation to rename the department; recommendations about transitioning various offices, agencies, programs, and functions to the department or other state agencies; and recommendations about how the department will coordinate with the department of education's postsecondary workforce readiness and student support activities.

 

AGC Scores Big Wins in 2026 Legislative Session by Working with Partners

AGC scored some big wins in the 2026 legislative session by working with partners in several coalitions. Some of those wins include:

• State OSHA - Stopping the State OSHA Bill HB26-1054 (AGC took the lead role in the coalition with the Colorado Chamber, developed the coalition Fact Sheet to distribute to legislators, and worked the Senate Floor to help gain an 18-17 vote to stop the bill in the Senate, as it was on it’s way to the Governor for signature)
• Arbitration Reform - Helping Gain a Gov Polis Veto of the Bad for Business Arbitration Reform bill HB26-1236 (via our work with the Colorado Civil Justice League and C3)
• Workforce Development - Getting AGC President & CEO Jeff Barratt appointed to the Talent Development Advisory Committee established in HB26-1317
• Extreme Temps Regulation - Reducing the Extreme Temps Bill HB26-1272 to a study bill
• Clean Energy Mandates - Stopping a bill from being introduced to accelerate the state’s clean energy mandate from 2050 to 2040 (through the creation of the innovative CO Energy Crossroads Coalition)
• Economic Development – AGC took a lead role in supporting HB26-1014 which extends the successful Colorado Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit program. The credit helps recruit significant new business to the state.
• Tax Increases - AGC supported stopping HB26-1221 & HB26-1222 which would have decoupled state tax policy from the tax breaks in the federal tax cut bill, raising taxes on CO businesses including construction firms. Both bills were stopped in committee.
• Labor Policy - AGC and partners opposed a major change to the Labor Peace Act (removing the 2nd state election to allow mandatory union dues or fees) and helped gain a Gov Polis veto of the bill for the 2nd year in a row.

2026 State Legislative Session Recap

Check out the AGC 2026 End of Session Report for a review of what happened in the 2026 state legislative session.

 

AGC State Bill Tracker

The AGC Bill Tracker lists all bills AGC worked on in the 2026 Legislative Session and AGC positions on each bill. You can access the bill tracker through the AGC Website at www.agccolorado.org/advocacy or access it from the button at the top of this weekly AGC Advocacy Report. The same link works all year so you can also bookmark it on your computer for easy access!

 

June 30, 2026 Primary Election in Colorado

The primary election in Colorado is set for June 30, 2026. Ballots will be mailed starting June 8, and polls will open on June 22. Ballots must be returned by June 30 at 7:00pm to a drop-off location. Check out the AGC Primary Election Preview Report.

 

At the federal level, the AGC America PAC has made contributions to:

 

US House of Representatives

US Rep Jeff Hurd (R), District 3

US Rep Jeff Crank (R), District 5

US Rep Brittany Petersen (D), District 7

US Rep Gabe Evans (R), District 8

 

In the past several elections the Democratic Primary has been the election for CO statewide offices like Governor and Attorney General and Treasurer. 2026 looks to follow that trend. The AGC CO PAC has made contributions to the following statewide office candidates:

 

Statewide Offices

Attorney General - Michael Dougherty (D)

Treasurer - Jeff Bridges (D)

 

For state Senate & House Seats, AGC CO PAC has made contributions to the following incumbents that have a strong record of support for the construction industry:

 

State Senate

Senate District 8 - Dylan Roberts (D)

Senate District 22 - Monica Duran (D)

Senate District 24 - Kyle Mullica (D)

Senate District 31 - Matt Ball (D)

*Senators serve 4-year terms so some Senators supported by the AGC PAC, including Republicans, are not up for election this cycle.

 

State House

House District 6 - Sean Camacho (D)

House District 20 - Jarvis Caldwell (R)

House District 44 - Anthony Harstook (R)

House District 48 - Carlos Baron (R)

 

AGC Legislative Committee to Meet on July 7

The AGC Legislative Committee will meet on July 7 to review the results of the June 30, 2026 Primary Election, discuss strategy for the November 2026 General Election, and approve any recommended AGC PAC contributions to state legislative candidates.

 

There are 50+ members of the AGC Legislative Committee and all member firms are eligible to have a representative on the committee. To attend as a guest or join the committee email Nicole at the AGC office at nicole@agccolorado.org.