Legislation

This page, updated regularly, tracks select Colorado legislative proposals and bills for the 2025 legislative session.

Felony Drug Possession: SB25-044 makes the possession of certain drugs such as fentanyl a felony, even if the person did not know that their drugs contained fentanyl, and courts cannot reduce the felony to a misdemeanor upon completion of probation or a community program. People have the right to possess and use drugs, so government violently confronting people for drug possession is profoundly unjust.

Ammunition Age: HB25-1133 would bar people under 21 from buying all ammunition. See the Colorado Sun report. This bill straightforwardly violates the rights of young adults to self-defense. Recently the Fifth Circuit "ruled that a federal ban on handgun sales to youths ages 18 to 20 violates the Second Amendment," the ABA Journal notes. Presumably the same reasoning applies to state-level bans of guns and ammunition.

Turf Restrictions: HB25-1113 would restrict turf grasses on private property. See CPR's report. This violates people's right to control their own property. If the problem is water shortages, then entities that provide water should price it such as to alleviate the shortage.

Autonomous Vehicle Protectionism: HB25-1122 would require a driver be present in autonomous commercial vehicles. See the Center Square report. Such decisions should be based on objective risk assessments. This bill obviously is about make-work and "protecting" jobs.

Liquor Licensing Limits: SB25-033 "prohibits the state and local licensing authorities . . . from issuing a new liquor-licensed drugstore license." See Robert Tann's report. The state should not be in the business of restrictive licensing of alcohol sales. Instead, the state should set minimum standards, then let all comers compete on an open market.

Child Care Regulations: SB25-004 regulates the wait-list and application fees that a licensed child care center may charge (hat tip Cory Gaines). Generally, people have the right to run their businesses as they see fit and to associate with their clients and prospective clients on mutually agreed terms. The aspect of the bill requiring child care centers to clearly post fees probably is okay, as a legitimate agreement requires a meeting of minds.

Criminalize Transporting a Minor for Abortion or Gender Care: HB25-1145 would criminalize bringing a minor into Colorado to get an abortion or gender-affirming care. Aside from the fact that most gender-affirming care is used by cisgender people, this bill totally denies the agency and rights of transgender minors seeking gender-affirming care.

Wage Theft Bill: According to Ed Sealover, a proposed wage theft bill (HB25-1001) would "Fine employers found guilty of misclassifying employees as contractors—a practice that often means workers don’t get benefits or workers' compensation insurance—from $5,000 for a first violation to $60,000 for subsequent violations not remedied within 60 days." This straightforwardly violates the rights of employers and employees to reach mutually agreeable terms of work. And, as Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Candace Carnahan said (as paraphrased by Sealover), "Employee misclassification . . . is rarely a black-and-white violation of law. . . . That's especially true with small employers who don't have a human-resources or compliance department able to explain the dividing line between employees and contractors, and the large fines proposed for it could have an immense impact." I haven't evaluated other aspects of the bill, but this part is bad.

Full Price Disclosure: HB25-1090 requires sellers to list the total price prominently, including all extra charges. The bill also prohibits owners of rental properties to charge various add-on fees. Although I worry this bill is a bit heavy-handed in some of its details, in principle I support the idea that sellers should transparently disclose the full price rather than try to omit tack-on fees or hide them in the fine print. The right to freedom of contract depends on a meeting of the minds.

Car Sales Licensure for Ex-Criminals: Bill SB25-075 reasonably expands licensing opportunities for ex-criminals to sell vehicles. It is in everyone's interests for people convicted of crimes, who have served their sentence, to reintegrate into society, and holding down a job is crucial to that effort. That said, I don't see why the state should even be in the business of licensing people to sell cars.

Voting Rights: Protecting people's right to vote is very important. SB25-001 is the wrong way to address that issue. The bill in effect creates (unenforceable) voting quotas related to minority groups. It also attempts to regulate elections regarding "polarity" in voting, but again only for select minority groups. Although various details of the bill probably are worth preserving, the bill as a whole is a disaster that would subject our elections to continuous lawsuits.

More Price Controls: Yes, Democrats are trying to expand price controls in the name of stopping "price gouging," an inherently nonobjective term. The bill in question, HB25-1010, cracks down on a seller who "unfairly or unconscionably raises the price of necessities." Each of those terms is completely arbitrary. Then the bill says, "Increasing the price of a necessity by ten percent or more above the average price that the necessity cost during the ninety days preceding the price increase is presumed to be engaging in the unfair and unconscionable act or practice of price gouging." The figures of ten percent and ninety days are, again, completely arbitrary. As anyone with any economic sense knows, prices properly reflect not only past cost of supplies but anticipated future cost of supplies as well as anticipated future demand. All that price controls accomplish is to muck up the market, violate people's rights to transact freely, and create shortages in certain conditions. See also Seth Klamann's article and Joshua Sharf's criticism of the bill.

Hollywood Tax Break: Taxing different businesses radically different net tax rates is fundamentally unjust and a violation of the principle of equal treatment under the law. Hence, the Colorado Freedom Institute generally opposes discriminatory taxes. HB25-1005 seeks to create "a new refundable tax credit" for large film festivals (in practice, the Sundance Film Festival), worth $34 million over ten years. Asking existing Colorado businesses to pay higher net tax rates than the Sundance Film Festival is wrong.

Insurance Mandates: Properly, insurance contracts are left to the voluntary agreements of providers and consumers. When government requires insurers to cover certain conditions and treatments, it drives up premium costs (or, insofar as price controls are in effect, drives down quality), thereby forcing people who do not need the care in question to subsidize those who do. Government should repeal all insurance mandates, not add more. SB25-048 would add mandates regarding obesity and the like; HB25-1002 would add mandates regarding mental health. If the legislature wishes to subsidize health care for such things, it should do so directly with tax dollars, not use insurance premiums to transfer wealth. See also a Colorado Sun article.

Semiautomatic Gun Ban: According to the Denver Post, some legislators wish to ban "the sale, manufacture or purchase of semiautomatic weapons that use detachable magazines." This profoundly unjust proposal flagrantly violates the U.S. and Colorado constitutions and violates peoples' rights to self-defense. This proposal was introduced as Senate Bill 003 and covers "a semiautomatic rifle or semiautomatic shotgun with a detachable magazine or a gas-operated semiautomatic handgun with a detachable magazine."

Gun Theft Penalties: Marissa Ventrelli reports, "Current penalties for firearm theft depend on the value of the items stolen. House Bill 1062 would make theft of a firearm, regardless of its retail value, a Class 6 felony, with subsequent violations constituting separate Class 5 felonies." This is a good idea.

Voluntary Waiver Restricting Gun Purchases: Marissa Ventrelli reports that Senate Bill 034 "allows individuals to voluntarily sign a waiver that temporarily prohibits them from purchasing a gun. Sponsors believe this will help reduce suicide by firearm in Colorado." Offhand this seems like a good idea. However, I'd like to see some serious protections in the bill to guard against law enforcement officers and others threatening people with arrest or other legal action unless they "voluntarily" sign a waiver.

Labor Laws: Some Democrats want to change existing rules pertaining to unions to "end [the] requirement for a second election before union negotiators can collect fees from workers," writes Ed Sealover. The legislature should recognize people's rights to freedom of association. This proposal is a step in the wrong direction.

Vacancy Committees: Government should stop the practice of allowing political parties to form vacancy committees to replace elected officials. One possible reform in this area is to require each candidate for political office to name, in their filing paperwork, the specific individuals who would form the vacancy committee if needed.

Land-Use Reform: One of the major issues facing people in Colorado and across the country is the high cost of housing, which is driving some families out of the state and stopping many others from moving here. The fundamental problem is local land-use restrictions on the building and provision of housing; the fundamental solution is to remove those controls and free the housing market. Local government should do this unilaterally; this also is a proper area for state intervention to stop local governments from violating people's property rights to build, develop, and provide housing.

Property Management Software: Last year the House passed bill 1057, "Prohibit Algorithmic Devices Used for Rent Setting," and legislators planned to try to pass this bill (or one like it) again. HB25-1004 is this year's reworked attempt. The Colorado Freedom Institute opposes any such bill. The fundamental cause of high housing costs and limited options for renters are the land-use regulations that artificially restrict the supply of housing. The solution to this problem is for government to remove or at least ease those regulations. The proposal to regulate property management tools will do nothing to address the root cause of the problem. Moreover, people have the right to associate freely with others and to run their business as they see fit, rights the proposal in question would violate.