Small businesses in Colorado could be hit hard with possible corporate tax increases as a result of the revived Build Back Better plan, now rebranded brazenly as the “Inflation Reduction Act.”

Colorado business owners have been putting their best foot forward, trying to revamp their operations after two years of disruption. With inflation, rising gas prices and a tough job market, the economy in Colorado does not need any more setbacks while trying to recover and improve the lives of business owners and consumers alike. Lawmakers in Washington are working to pass the latest version of their Build Back Better plan — now the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.

It is a small improvement over the original version, in that it has scaled back the enormous spending increases and no longer imposes a global minimum tax on foreign earnings. Iif it is passed, however, small businesses and consumers in Colorado will still face large tax increases and even higher inflation — despite the bill’s title — compounding an already bleak economic environment in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Colorado business owners and consumers are confronting several economic hurdles at this moment: the nation is facing a recession, as the economy has now contracted for two straight quarters in a row; Americans continue to be battered by historically high inflation and consumer price increases; supply chains continue to experience constant disruptions; and small-business owners continue to struggle with finding employees to help keep their businesses afloat, despite a shrinking economy. Amid these historic difficulties, the last thing businesses need is an investment-crushing tax increase, and the last thing consumers need is yet another price increase. Coloradans want their state economy to improve, and to grow, and to restore what the pandemic shattered, consequently bettering the lives of those affected. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act proposal that is under consideration by Congress will halt any progress and act as a weight on the state’s economy.

This new version of the Build Back Better plan fails to explain, much less justify, the costs of the tax increase it proposes. In order to make good on its spending promises, the plan imposes a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on businesses, which will discourage investment and could eliminate as many as 125,000 full-time jobs. Cutting jobs will only make it harder for business owners to expand their operations — as well as begin to add unemployment to our growing list of economic woes, effectively putting a halt to any chance of renewed economic growth. In addition, the proposal in the bill to impose higher taxes on carried interest will, just as the corporate book income minimum tax, undermine incentives for investment, further weakening the economy.

Increasing taxes on businesses, and ultimately consumers, especially at a time when the economy is already shrinking and in desperate need of investment, would set Colorado’s economy up to fail. Those representing us and our communities in Congress need to prioritize the interests of small businesses and do their part to prevent a recession, not demand more money from consumers. The reworked Build Back Better agenda will only create more financial turmoil for working Coloradans.

Colorado business owners need Congress to look for economically responsible ways to reduce debt and rein in inflation, not to look for more ways to penalize and discourage investment. Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have an opportunity to provide the kind of leadership and representation that is needed by blocking the detrimental corporate tax increases of the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act proposal. Our senators have a chance to offer Colorado consumers and business owners the reassurance that their voices will be heard and not allow our economy to be further weakened by debilitating tax increases. We hope that they will take advantage of this opportunity and provide that leadership.

Juliet Abdel is President & CEO of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce