The General Assembly returned to the State Capitol last week facing a very different set of circumstances from where it started in January. We’ve been thrust into a public health and economic crisis with no clear end, and it has disrupted our way of life as we know it in a matter of weeks.

Such a dramatic change of events requires a thoughtful reassessment of priorities. Lawmakers are faced with serious decisions about how to move forward with cutting $3.3 billion from the state budget while still remaining responsive to the needs of Coloradans. Legislative leadership has rightly abandoned some of their most controversial and expensive agenda items this year – like a public health insurance program and state-mandated family and medical leave program – so as not to create new costs for the state, businesses, and workers in these challenging financial times.

But the current COVID-19 crisis has created new legislative questions that, if not thoroughly considered, could lead to unintended consequences that will exacerbate the economic fallout of the pandemic. Legislators are floating proposals that would hurt businesses and, in effect, hurt their employees and customers – from increasing workers compensation premiums, to creating a new tax on employers to pay for the state’s reinsurance program, to raising fees on the energy industry. And yet another last-minute bill coming our way would take away a valuable tax exemption that small businesses receive under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and instead redirect those funds to the state budget for lawmakers to spend however they please.

This is on top of rising unemployment insurance premiums and an additional surcharge on all Colorado businesses, as the state’s Unemployment Insurance Fund becomes insolvent due to a pandemic that has forced hundreds of Colorado businesses to close.

“Helping” Coloradans by sending the bill to their employers isn’t help at all, and lawmakers should understand that this approach will have the opposite intended effect. Increasing costs on business doesn’t happen in a vacuum – they must make up for these costs elsewhere – whether that be through increased prices for consumers, reduced salaries or additional employee layoffs.

This is all happening in the context of major revenue reductions for businesses across Colorado, which will have very real long-term impacts on the state and local economies. A new study conducted by the state’s economic development office of more than 2,400 businesses revealed that the majority of Colorado companies project they will suffer revenue losses of 25% or more this year. Combined with mass layoffs and the highest unemployment rate the state has ever seen – Coloradans can’t afford costly new mandates and fees.

Colorado businesses are already struggling to make ends meet. And even in the face of adversity, we’ve heard inspiring stories from our Colorado Chamber members about how they are stepping up in extraordinary ways to help their communities. An effective way to get our economy back on track and help Coloradans get back to work is to help the businesses that employ them.

Loren Furman is senior vice president of state and federal relations for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.