Colorado legislative Democrats stormed out of the gate Wednesday by introducing two major pro-labor efforts as well as several cost-of-living bills that are likely to generate significant debate because of the methods they use to bring down costs.
Meanwhile, legislators from both parties revived previously killed bills on the first day of the 2025 session, including a proposed limit on grocery-store liquor sales, a proposed study of a single-payer health-care system and a now-bipartisan effort to boost nuclear energy. Plus, a pair of Democrats introduced a bill calling for state regulators to consider the impact on workforce of potential new air-quality regulations.
In all, legislators introduced 126 bills on the first day of the session, quite of few of which would have direct impact on business. And that’s before they have put forth any proposals on construction-defects reform, federal drug-pricing program limitations, regulatory reform or artificial-intelligence regulation, all of which will take up significant time at the Capitol.
Here then is an overview of what the first round of bill introductions holds.
Labor issues
Colorado Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez speaks Wednesday on the opening day of the legislative session.
As expected, Senate Minority Leader Robert Rodriguez and fellow Democratic Sen. Jessie Danielson introduced Senate Bill 5, which would repeal the second election required under the Labor Peace Act for unions to deduct fees from workers’ paychecks to fund negotiations. The second vote, which only comes if a majority of workers vote to unionize and which must get 75% approval for unions to even begin negotiating with employers to enact the fees, is viewed as a compromise by business and an obstacle to unionization by labor leaders.
Rodriguez said the bill would “eliminate unnecessary barriers Colorado workers face when they want to level the playing field with their employer.” Colorado Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Loren Furman, part of a business coalition fighting the effort, responded: “Colorado’s current labor laws strike a unique balance between unions, employees and the business community. Protecting this balance is a top priority.”
Less expected was House Bill 1001, a revived effort from House Majority Leader Monica Duran and fellow Democratic Rep. Meg Froelich to bolster protections for workers against wage theft. Gov. Jared Polis last year vetoed a bill from the duo that sought to hold general contractors accountable if subcontractors failed to pay workers.
This new effort, which Duran called a “stronger wage theft bill,” drops the upstream payment mandate and replaces it with increased penalties for employers who misclassify employees as contractors and fail to pay certain benefits. It also allows the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to investigate and adjudicate claims of a larger nature and includes anti-retaliation measures for undocumented immigrants who report theft claims.
Affordability bills
Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese speaks on the House floor Wednesday.
After legislative leaders from both parties called during opening-day speeches for a focus on increasing affordability, legislators offered several bills that are likely to stir debate and may not be easy bipartisan sells.
Democratic Reps. Yara Zokaie and Kyle Brown proposed HB 1010 to prohibit price gouging of any products like diapers that are necessary for public health, safety and welfare and define gouging as raising prices more than 10% above the average price of the past 90 days. Meanwhile, SB 4, from Democratic Sens. Faith Winter and Janice Marchman, would limit private-sector childcare application or wait-list fees to $25 and require the deposit to be applied to the cost of the first month of care.
House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese and fellow Republican Rep. Ryan Gonzalez, meanwhile, introduced HB 1051, which would repeal the 10-cent fee that retailers are required to charge for every recycled paper bag they provide to customers.
Health care
Democratic Sens. Marchman and Sonya Jaquez Lewis are hoping the third time is the charm for SB 45, which would require the Colorado School of Public Health to analyze draft legislation for creating a single-payer healthcare system. Similar bills have died in the Senate at the end of the past two sessions.
Democratic Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet similarly reintroduced SB 48, which would require private insurers to cover pricy chronic-obesity drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy and require the state to apply to the federal government to have Medicaid cover them too. Last year’s bill carried a fiscal note of some $200 million just for the state, but this year’s version states that the state would have to cover the costs through existing resources.
Energy and environment
Colorado State Rep. speaks on the House floor on Wednesday.
Democratic Rep. Shannon Bird introduced HB 1042, which would require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to establish an advisory council to discuss how the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission should consider workforce impacts when passing emissions-reduction regulations. The topic has been discussed frequently at AQCC hearings, and both business and labor leaders say the state should not pass rules so impractical that they cause oil-and-gas or manufacturing facilities to cut staff or shut down.
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Larry Liston has reintroduced his quest to get the state to add nuclear energy to its list of sources for meeting clean-energy targets and being eligible for clean-energy funding. However, this time he’s picked up bipartisan sponsors in both the House and Senate for HB 1040, seemingly breathing new life into the twice-killed effort.
Other business bills
Colorado state Sen. Jeff Bridges speaks on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
Democratic Sens. Judy Amabile and Dylan Roberts likely will reignite the long-running Capitol “liquor wars” with introduction of SB 33, which would bar grocery stores from acquiring any more licenses to offer full liquor sales. A more expansive bill aimed at grocery stores died last session.
HB 1005, sponsored by House Speaker Julie McCluskie and fellow Democratic Rep. Brianna Titone, would create new tax incentives for the state to attract the Sundance Film Festival and other smaller movie festivals. HB 1021, from Democratic Rep. William Lindstedt and Republican Rep. Rick Taggart, would expand incentives for business owners that convert their companies to employee ownership.
On the housing front, SB 2, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Jeff Bridges and Tony Exum, would reduce regulatory barriers to the construction and installation of modular housing and tiny homes. And HB 1004, from Democratic Reps. Steven Woodrow and Rebekah Stewart, would put restrictions on landlords’ use of algorithms in establishing rent prices.