Editor: After the challenges brought by the pandemic, with our lives upended in unimaginable ways, I have been especially grateful for the tools and services that made it possible to stay connected with each other and keep up some degree of routine when things felt so uncertain.
One of the greatest resources during these times has been our access to technology, which allowed small businesses to reach customers, kept our students learning in remote-classrooms, and maintained up a sense of community. Tech resources have been an incredibly important part of our lives these past two years and have continued to be influential in driving Colorado’s future – not to mention the considerable investments maintained by the sector across the state.
So, that is why the recent anti-tech rhetoric coming out of Washington is so threatening to the positive impacts that tech companies have had on the Aurora community, and throughout Colorado. The posture in Congress today is one that sees tech companies as a threat to our businesses and consumers. Not only are they wrong, but some of the legislation currently being proposed – like the American Innovation and Choice Online Act – could have dire consequences for small businesses and communities more broadly.
The bill includes a number of provisions that put distance between small businesses and consumers – including a ban on search results that present potential customers with core information about their favorite local businesses. And of course, forcing private companies to change the way their platforms operate could very well result in increased costs for the businesses who use their tools.
For small businesses that are looking to grow and make their products more widely known, access to online retail platforms or being searchable on large servers are critical to success. Now, more so than ever before, consumers are dedicated to browsing and buying online, and if this legislation passes, the diversity of the online marketplace will be restricted, not improved.
This is all not to mention the huge impact that tech companies have had on the state of Colorado more generally. The expansion of tech opportunities has led to growth of our economy, and a new set of engaging opportunities for our workforce to pursue – a workforce that is increasingly skilled and educated, thanks to investments from companies like these. Tech is continuing to do more for our communities, and our elected officials should focus their time on how to work with, rather than against, the industry.
If politicians in Washington really want to get things done for the American people, they have plenty of other priorities to focus on. Many constituents are still waiting for economic stability, for their children’s schools to be running normally, and of course to see supply chain issues and inflation addressed.
People appreciate practical politics. And that’s what they are hoping to see from Washington this year. Especially as the midterm elections draw closer, it would serve them well to buckle down on the kitchen table issues, policy areas where people can feel real impacts, and avoid these nonsensical battles with the companies that are currently making an effort to help everyday families.
— Curtis Gardner, via [email protected]
* Note: Curtis Gardner is a member of the Aurora City Council
LETTERS: Washington politicians need not further complicate tech policy for Americans - Sentinel Colorado
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