If you are an advocate for society’s ever-expanding range of rights – sexual, gender, reproductive … you name it – Colorado’s ruling Democrats have got you covered.

But if you happen to be concerned about the slice of our society that creates most of its jobs, pays the bills and, essentially, makes Colorado’s economy go ’round, you might be out of luck.

Last November’s balloting resulted in an ever-firmer grip on power statewide by Colorado’s Democratic Party. That meant the continued erosion of electoral support for the Republicans who historically have championed the business community.

Dominant Democrats now hold a 69-seat supermajority out of 100 seats in both legislative chambers at that General Assembly. As a result, Republicans lost their percentage of seats in 11 out of 21 legislative committees. That’s that much less say in which bills live or die or linger in limbo.

Alongside their legislative entrenchment, Democrats continued to hold statewide elected posts in the executive branch, from Gov. Jared Polis on down, in the wake of last month’s election.

Aside from the political humiliation it implies for Republicans, it also arguably is foreboding for the state’s businesses, whether large, medium or mom ‘n’ pop.

Hence, the exasperation and perhaps even desperation expressed by the business community in a Gazette news report this week. Notably, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce – the preeminent voice of state business – issued a statement urging lawmakers to “do no harm” when they convene for the new legislative session next month.

It could be taken almost as a plea for mercy. Policy after policy imposed by Democrats in recent years – touching on everything from energy and the environment to employee benefits – have raised the cost of doing business and made it harder for businesses to stoke the economy.

As noted by The Gazette, the chamber statement said legislators should refrain from heaping even more “new mandates and regulatory burdens” on companies. The chamber is asking lawmakers to take a breath, in other words, before doing more damage.

Thus, the chamber’s call for the Legislature first to ensure that Colorado’s unemployment insurance trust fund is solvent and allow for “proper implementation” of the state’s costly new Family and Medical Leave Insurance program. The chamber maintained that many of the recently passed regulatory changes are either in their infancy or haven’t taken effect, and policymakers should give the business community time to adapt.

Of course, business is keeping a stiff upper lip. Chamber President and CEO Loren Furman, quoted in the statement, said the chamber looks forward to collaborating with legislators and others on “unifying policy issues to move our state forward.”

But the elephant in the room – no, it’s not the GOP – is this: Who, in an even more left-leaning Legislature, will run interference for the employers who keep our economy afloat?

If the newly ensconced Democratic leadership in the Legislature wishes to preside over more than a “party of pronouns,” among other priorities of their party’s fringe, they had better fine-tune their tin ear for business. And they ought to cultivate more than the handful of their members who know business and care about its ability to thrive.

Coloradans are well aware by now that their state’s ruling party can advance an agenda for equity and inclusion. What rank-and-file voters are waiting to see is if Democrats know how to foster prosperity.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board