Five Ways Project 2025 Could Undermine Colorado Workers
Here’s the scoop on how Project 2025 plans to sideline the voices of hard-working Coloradans. The authoritarian strategy conveys a clear message: the opinions of working individuals are insignificant, and political choices should be determined by a select few who are neither accountable nor connected to the everyday needs of the workforce.
In this blog, CFI turns the tables to explore how instead of moving backwards, Colorado can strengthen policies we already have and continue to lead the nation in ensuring economic opportunity for all.
1) Project 2025 wants to reduce enforcement of basic workers rights, including minimum wage and overtime protections.
Project 2025 suggests that states and local governments be granted waivers to bypass the enforcement of essential federal labor laws, including the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. These laws are vital for protecting workers’ rights to minimum wage and overtime compensation.
It would restore Trump-era regulations that simplify the process for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors, denying them essential employment protections such as minimum wage and overtime. This misclassification would also allow employers to evade responsibilities for social security and Medicaid taxes.
This situation particularly affects women and people of color, who are more likely to occupy low-wage jobs that are often misclassified, such as childcare, rideshare, delivery, and janitorial positions.
Colorado has made notable progress in enforcing wage theft laws through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), recovering $2.04 million in stolen wages in Denver alone in 2023. Localities can set minimum wages above the state level, helping ensure living wages amid rising costs. Following a 2020 minimum wage increase, Denver saw job growth, higher earnings, and increased sales tax revenue. Starting January 1, 2024, the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (FAMLI) will offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave for various health and family needs. Since its approval in 2020, FAMLI has inspired similar laws in four other states, making it one of the most comprehensive programs in the U.S. Colorado aims to lead in equitable access to these benefits, particularly for marginalized groups.
Colorado must maintain its position as a leader in advocating for living wages and dignity for all workers by increasing wages at both the state and local levels. It is also essential to provide access to benefits such as our newly established state family and medical leave program. Having already set a national precedent by passing Paid Family and Medical Leave through the ballot and allowing self-employed and gig workers to join the program, it is crucial to ensure fair implementation for historically marginalized workers.
2) Project 2025 wants to strip workers of their right to organize and form unions under our already broken, poorly enforced federal labor laws.
Project 2025 aims to erode workers’ rights to organize, form unions, and engage in collective bargaining. For instance, it proposes the removal of card check neutrality, which is a crucial mechanism that enables unions to organize workers seeking union representation and achieve majority recognition.
In Colorado, we have the opportunity to enhance worker empowerment by lowering the significant barriers to unionization that workers face. We can achieve this by supporting policies such as the 2021 Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act at the national level, ensuring card check neutrality, and updating the Colorado Labor Peace Act. These steps will guarantee that all workers can freely organize and negotiate for fair wages, benefits, and working conditions.
3) Project 2025 would weaken child labor protections, including eliminating federal rules that protect children from working in mines, meatpacking plants and other dangerous workplaces.
During the recent legislative session, Colorado enhanced protections for young workers with the introduction of HB24-1095. This legislation significantly raised penalties and encouraged children and their parents to report any violations. An analysis by the Colorado Fiscal Institute reveals a troubling increase in violations since 2015, reflecting a national trend. This alarming data underscores the urgent need to further bolster protections for minors by monitoring violation data and enforcing minimum wage and overtime laws in high-risk industries, rather than reducing these fundamental safeguards.
4) Project 2025 would make it easier for employers to discriminate along the lines of race, sex, sexual preference, gender identity, and immigration status.
Colorado is exceeding the national average in narrowing the gender wage gap. Since the implementation of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act in 2021, the earnings of women working full-time in Colorado have risen from 78 cents to 85 cents for every dollar earned by similarly qualified men. Additionally, we have made significant progress in safeguarding Colorado workers from discriminatory employment practices through the Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act of 2023.
However, there is still work to be done to address the remaining 15-cent pay gap faced by women in Colorado, along with disparities based on race, ethnicity, and other identities. By implementing policies that enhance pay for female-dominated caregiving professions and public sector jobs—building on successes like the State Income Tax Credit for Careworkers and ensuring representation for home care workers on the Direct Care Workforce Stabilization Board—we can uplift women and workers of color. Furthermore, Colorado can promote workplace equity by enforcing workers’ rights to organize, as unions play a vital role in reducing racial and gender pay disparities. Research from the Colorado Fiscal Institute also highlights the importance of expanding access to affordable childcare for working parents, enabling women to remain in the workforce despite rising care costs.
Colorado has been at the forefront of addressing gender wage disparities and safeguarding employees against discrimination; we must enhance these protections rather than regress.
5) Project 2025 seeks to provide benefits to the wealthy while increasing the financial burden on lower and middle-income families.
The National Women’s Law Center outlines in this brief how, among many other regressive and inequitable economic policies, Project 2025 proposes a shift to two new income tax brackets that would increase taxes for lower- and middle-income families while providing even larger tax cuts for the wealthy. For instance, a family of four earning $100,000 annually would face an additional $2,600 in taxes, while a similar family with an income of $5,000,000 would benefit from a $325,000 tax cut.
Additionally, the Project 2025 plan enables the wealthy to evade accountability for their current tax obligations by reversing the $80 billion in extra funding allocated to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was intended to enforce tax compliance among the nation’s richest tax evaders.
However, Colorado takes a different approach. In the recent session, CFI was proud to support the passage of HB24-1311, the Family Affordability Tax Credit (FATC); HB24-1312, the Care Worker Credit; and HB24-1134, which enhances the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). These measures have helped to realign our imbalanced tax code, ensuring it serves working individuals rather than a privileged few.
When viewed as a whole, Project 2025 would undermine American workers and create obstacles to achieving a place in the middle class, all while providing substantial tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. Workers and their families in Colorado deserve improved conditions; let’s advocate for policies that require the wealthy and corporations to contribute their fair share.
