This year’s legislative session produced some big wins for the state’s business environment, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s annual report.

The report measured the progress in the chamber’s legislative agenda across policy areas like labor and employment, technology and health care.

Among the chamber’s top priorities for this year’s legislative session was Senate Bill 137, a measure sponsored by the Colorado General Assembly’s leaders from both parties and chambers.

The bill, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law, requires periodic reviews of state regulations and expands lawmakers’ ability to scrutinize agency programs during oversight hearings.

Under the new law, each major state department will be required to review all of its rules and regulations every five years and make determinations, including whether they are outdated or obsolete, whether funding levels to support a program or function are appropriate, whether the rule can be improved and whether they create administrative burdens on the agency, consumers or businesses without providing adequate public benefit.

“Ensuring that Colorado’s laws and regulations are working as intended is critical for good governance,” Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, said in a statement. “SB 137 strengthens the transparency and accountability of our rulemaking processes by ensuring regular, meaningful review of existing regulations. Bolstering regulatory review across the board will improve how state government functions, which will benefit Colorado businesses, workers and local communities across the state.”

The report also noted that all 15 bills on its opposition agenda were either killed or amended — a first. Among those measures is House Bill 1005, which would have eliminated the requirement that employees hold two elections in order to impose dues on all workers, regardless of their union membership. The second election requirement is unique to Colorado and comes from a 1943 law known as the Labor Peace Act.

Bill sponsors and labor unions argued that the two-election requirement was outdated and presents an unnecessary barrier for workers.

“Colorado workers power the state, and yet the state has a burdensome, bureaucratic barrier to accessing the power of a union,” said Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, who sponsored the bill. “It is high time that we break down that barrier for workers who wish to join a union.”

While the bill passed through both the House and Senate, Polis vetoed it for the second year in a row.

“In the wake of (last year’s) veto and the substantial negotiations that preceded it, I would have hoped that both business and labor leaders could have worked to craft a long-term and durable agreement on this matter that would have served Colorado workers and businesses alike,” Polis wrote in his veto letter. “Unfortunately, because that did not happen, this issue will likely come up again next year and every subsequent year until it is addressed, which creates uncertainty for both workers and businesses.”

The chamber celebrated the veto, arguing House Bill 1005 would have made it easier for “a small minority of employees” to impose mandatory union fees on all employees in a workplace.

“The measure would fundamentally alter Colorado’s unique labor framework, reduce employee choice, and make the state less competitive for business investment and expansion,” the group’s report said.

As part of its opposition campaign, the chamber launched what it called a “Wallet Watchdog” list, which included legislation it believed would harm Colorado’s business environment. Six of the nine bills were defeated, and the other three were amended and signed into law, according to the group.

“We delivered practical policy solutions and defeated proposals that would further strain businesses across the state,” said Meghan Dollar, the chamber’s senior vice president of governmental affairs. “Our success on key tax, technology, regulatory, legal and employment issues this session emphasized the value of a strong, united business voice at the Capitol led by the chamber.”