For a summary of our work in the most recent session, see here: 2023 Legislative Report
The 2023 session of the Colorado General Assembly adjourned on May 9. Below are summaries of few of the bills we worked on this year.
Don't forget to visit our Advocacy Action Center to see active alerts for federal issues throughout 2023.
HB 23-1126 - Consumer Reports Not Include Medical Debt Information (Reps. Naquetta Ricks & Ron Weinberg, Sen. Tony Exum)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1126
Status: Passed!
Medical debt can show up on consumer reports, impacting the perceived "credit worthiness" of those who hold it. Many factors have contributed to a health care system in which costs are ever-rising, and medical debt can quickly add up and impact a person's ability to access credit and the things credit scores are used for: rental housing, payment methods, mortgages, and more. This bill prevents medical debt from appearing on credit reports, and prevents collection agencies from falsely asserting that medical debt will impact one's credit score. An amendment will sunset the bill after 5 years, but the legislature may renew it.
The bill has a small fiscal note (view here).
HB 23-1008 - Food Accessibility (Rep. Mike Weissman, Sen. Rhonda Fields)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1008
Status: Passed!
Communities across Colorado face the impact of food access, even in an economy of abundance such as ours. This bill transfers $1 million per year for the next 7 years to the Colorado Division of Prevention Services, directing the division to partner with a statewide nonprofit organization to provide healthy eating program incentives among Colorado's low-income populations. One purpose of the program incentives is to increase access to fresh Colorado-grown produce among these populations. The bill also creates and funds the Small Food Business Recovery & Resilience Grant Program in the Department of Agriculture
The bill carries a fiscal note (view here).
HB 23-1112 - Earned Income & Child Tax Credits (Rep. Shannon Bird, Sens. Chris Hansen & Chris Kolker)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1112
Status: Passed!
This bill increases the Colorado Earned Income Tax Credit and makes the state credit's definition of an eligible child's age match the federal definition. It also increases the percentage that a filer can claim for the federal Child Tax Credit.
The bill does not require an appropriation, but it will reduce state revenues by around $400 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 (see fiscal note here).
HB 23-1158 - Colorado Commodity Supplemental Food Grant Program (Reps. Jenny Willford & Rick Taggart, Sen. Kyle Mullica)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1158
Status: Passed!
The bill creates the Colorado commodity supplemental food grant program to provide grants of money to aid county departments of human or social services, food banks, and food pantries in purchasing and distributing food packages to qualifying low-income older Colorado adults.
The bill carries a fiscal note (view here).
HB 23-1171 - Just Cause Requirement in Eviction of Residential Tenant (Reps. Javier Mabrey & Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Sen. Julie Gonzales)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1171
Status: Postponed Indefinitely (failed) in Senate Local Government & Housing Committee
The bill prohibits a landlord from evicting a residential tenant unless the landlord has just cause for eviction. Just cause exists when the tenant continues to fail to pay rent after the landlord provides the tenant timely written notice of such nonpayment; the tenant commits a substantial violation and does not cure it within 10 days after the landlord provides the tenant written notice of the substantial violation; conditions exist for a no-fault eviction; the tenant refuses to allow the landlord to enter the residential premises after the landlord has provided written notice of such entry at least 48 hours before attempting such entry, unless the rental agreement specifies a longer period of advanced written notice; or the tenant refuses to sign a new rental agreement with terms that are substantially identical to the tenant's current rental agreement, so long as the landlord proffers the new rental agreement at least 30 days before the expiration of the current rental agreement.
The bill has no fiscal note.
HB 23-1186 - Remote Participation in Residential Evictions (Reps. Mandy Lindsay & Iman Jodeh, Sens. Tony Exum & Sonya Jaquez Lewis)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1186
Status: Passed!
For residential evictions filed in county court, the bill requires the court to allow either party or any witness to choose to appear in person or remotely at any proceedings, lets pro se defendants file answers by e-mail or e-filing, prohibits the assessment of fees on e-filers, and requires the court to create provisions for people with disabilities or low English proficiency.
The bill has a small fiscal note (view here).
SB 23-016 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Measures (Sen. Chris Hansen, Reps. Karen McCormick & Emily Sirota)
Bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-016
Status: Passed!
The bill attempts to address several issues related to climate change and warming and energy production. Among other things, it requires Colorado's output of greenhouse gases to be reduced to zero percent of 2005-level emissions by the year 2050. It creates a tax credit for the purchase of electric (that is, non-gas powered) lawn equipment from 2024-2026. And it requires insurers to participate in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' "Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey".
The bill carries a fiscal note (view here).