Perennially frustrated backers of an effort to reform small-business regulations in Colorado are hopeful that next year’s legislative session will finally produce results.

For the last three years, Republican-led legislation to require the state to issue warnings rather than fines for some first-time small-business rule violations has failed.

Small-business groups have long argued that regulatory reform is necessary because it has become costly for owners to keep up with rule changes, which they contend has stunted companies’ ability to expand.

“People have been working on this for far too long,” said Jeff Wasden, president of the Colorado Business Roundtable. “It is such a simple concept. I liken it to when an officer pulls you over. You can write the ticket or issue a warning.”

But the process has been anything but simple for the likes of Wasden. This year, the bill passed the Republican-led Senate but died in March in the Democratic-controlled House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee — a committee which both parties use to kill legislation, usually on party lines.

Easing regulatory burdens on small businesses isn’t necessarily something Democrats oppose. But party leaders and labor groups say they don’t want to see regulations that have an impact on public safety watered down.

“That’s why you have regulations, to ensure the public is safe,” said state Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, D-Arvada, the vice chair of the House Business Labor and Technology Committee.

But legislation that’s expected to be introduced next year — just like this year’s effort — won’t apply to public-safety rules, bill supporters say. And they say the changes would be limited to minor violations on newly created regulations, such as fines for paperwork violations, ones with which businesses may not be familiar.

“There is no willful, wanton disregard,” Wasden said of many small businesses that violate new regulations. “These are new rules, not ones on the books you should know about.”

Wasden said it’s only fair for small businesses — many of which don’t have a team of lawyers at their disposal to deal with ever-changing regulations — to have an opportunity to adjust to new rules without penalty.

“Instead of throwing the book at them, you give them an opportunity to a right to a cure,” he said.

State Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, who sponsored last year’s bill, is in the process of crafting an updated piece of legislation that he plans to introduce next year.

“It forces down wages, forces down profits,” Neville said of the penalties. “It’s not good for anybody. I’d like to say there might be movement this time. I’m cautiously optimistic.”

If there was a positive spin supporters took away from this year’s defeat, it’s that 2015 marked the first time the legislation received Democratic support, with Sen. Cheri Jahn of Wheat Ridge voting it out of the Senate’s business committee.

In an effort to continue reaching out to Democrats in hopes of finding common ground, Wasden said he and others with a stake in the legislation have had conversations with Department of Regulatory Agencies Director Joe Neguse and state Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver, who chairs the House business committee. Wasden said he also plans to meet with House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Gunbarrel.

Next year’s effort will also include components of an amendment from last year’s bill. The amendment — inserted by Republican sponsors in hopes of saving it from being killed by Democrats — incorporates modifications raised after Democrats balked over bill specifics.

Those issues centered around definitions, such as what constitutes a minor violation and how many employees make up a small business and what’s the appropriate time for businesses to come into compliance after violating rules.

Last year’s amendment capped the size of affected companies at 50 employees, down from 100. And it required stricter timelines for companies to come into compliance after being found in violation.

It remains to be seen whether these efforts will woo Democrats and groups that have historically opposed the legislation.

“Honestly, I think that workers in general, working families, need to be at the table,” said Sam Gilchrist, executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. “We’re not opposed, by any means, to working on a reform bill that would actually help support Colorado small businesses, we just need to make sure we strengthen the protections within it.”

Democrats might also need to see some evidence that the fines are actually having a significant impact on small businesses.

“We haven’t had any presentations around that or testimony around that,” Kraft-Tharp said. “But I would never say that it’s not a problem and it’s not there just because I have not seen the evidence.”

Kraft-Tharp said she is keeping an open mind.

“This is a bill that I have been particularly interested in,” she said. “But we’ve been unable to compromise and come together around definitions.”

Tony Gagliardi, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said he hopes lawmakers can agree on those definitions and that the bill doesn’t end up in a pile of other failed party-line votes.

“I think there was a lot of misinformation put out about what we were trying to achieve,” he said. “It was never designed to be a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ program.”

— Twitter: @VicVela1