By Liliana Soto

My family has spent the last 30 years building a small piece of Colorado’s food culture.

My father founded Las Dos Americas Tortilleria three decades ago with a simple idea to make authentic flour and corn tortillas from scratch and serve our community with pride. What started as a small tortilleria has grown into a family business that now includes a bakery and restaurant. Like many small businesses, we’ve grown step by step, through long hours, careful budgeting and the support of loyal customers.

That’s why I’m concerned about a proposal moving through the Colorado legislature, Senate Bill 26-134, that would make it harder for small businesses like mine to serve our customers. The bill would prohibit credit card processing costs, often called interchange or swipe fees, from being applied to the sales tax portion of a transaction. On paper, that might sound like a small technical change. In reality, it would disrupt the payment systems small businesses rely on every day.

For my business, credit cards aren’t a luxury. They’re a critical tool that helps us operate and grow. We use credit cards to purchase ingredients, supplies and equipment for our kitchen. Like many small businesses, we rely on the rewards we earn from those purchases to reinvest in our business. In fact, I used rewards points from our business credit card to purchase two commercial refrigerators for our restaurant, equipment that costs thousands of dollars each and helps us safely store ingredients and keep serving our customers.

Our customers benefit from rewards programs too. Many rely on credit card points or cash-back rewards when they come in for a meal or stop by for fresh tortillas or baked goods. The system works because it is simple and universal. A customer can walk into almost any business, tap their card and the transaction is processed instantly. Businesses can focus on serving their customers instead of worrying about complicated payment systems. Accepting credit cards can also reduce the costs and risks that come with handling large amounts of cash, such as time spent counting registers, making bank deposits, and preventing theft.

SB26-134 would upend that process.

If the bill becomes law, businesses will no longer be able to process the sales tax portion of a purchase through a credit card transaction. That would mean splitting a single purchase into two payments, one for the product and another for the tax. Instead of a quick tap of a card, customers would be forced to pay the tax portion of a transaction with cash or a check. For a busy restaurant, that’s not just inconvenient, it would slow down service, create confusion at the register, and add new accounting headaches.

There’s another problem many people don’t realize. Today’s payments system works because businesses can accept credit cards from customers anywhere in the world through standardized networks. This bill would require businesses to negotiate payment terms with hundreds of individual banks. Mega retailers have the resources to negotiate those agreements. Small businesses like mine do not.

Ultimately, the companies that stand to benefit from this proposal are the large corporate mega retailers, while small businesses would be forced to navigate complicated transactions and new barriers to accepting payments. It’s no surprise similar proposals were rejected in 26 states last year. Colorado’s small businesses deserve policies that help us grow, not rules that complicate everyday transactions. I urge Colorado lawmakers to stand with local businesses and oppose SB26-134 before it disrupts everyday transactions for small businesses and the communities we serve.

Liliana Soto is owner of Las Dos Americas Tortilleria in Commerce City.