June 2025 CCRW President’s Letter: Legislative Re-Cap

The Colorado Legislature adjourned on May 7, 2025.

At our May 13 luncheon we heard from Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer about what happened during the 2025 State Legislative session, and what our courageous Republican minority tried to do, in response to some pretty egregious Bills.  The following is a re-cap of some of the 2025 Laws.

The CO State Legislature voted to:

(“$” Bills)

·    …Pass the Long (Appropriations) Bill - SB25-206

o   Despite a $1.2 billion budget shortfall, a $44 billion budget passed - increasing Colorado’s spending by $3 billion!

o   Cuts were made to transportation/local government, but health/education skyrocketed.

·    …Update Colorado’s school finance system by adding new funding formulas, and extending  current ones through 2030–31 - HB25-1320.

o   This changed how district funding is to be phased in; adjusted pupil count calculations; delayed a new “at-risk” measure to 2026–27; and set new base-funding levels statewide.

(“Gun” bills)

·    …Require someone wanting to purchase a firearm to take a government-approved training class + ban the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, and purchase of specified semiautomatic firearms - SB25-003 (Lawsuit ahead! Violates 2nd Amendment?)

·    …Add penalties for firearm theft (part of new rules on gun access/enforcement) - HB25-1062

·    …Raise the age of ammo-buying to 21 + limit access to ammo displays in stores - HB25-1133  

·    …Create a centralized background check system, run by the State - HB25-1225.

o  Opposition: This duplicates federal processes + causes potential “registry abuse”.

·    …Tighten regs on gun show transactions + impose new data-sharing requirements-HB25-1238 

·    …Allow local governments to pass stricter firearm ordinances than in State law - overriding local protections- HB25-1250 (An attack on local control?)

(“Gender” Bills)

·    …Add protections for gender ID and “expression” to schools, public spaces and courts - HB25-1312(Lawsuit ahead! Unconstitutional assault on parents’ rights, religious freedom, freedom of speech. Shifts parental authority to State government (!) 

o   Adds “deadnaming”/“misgendering” - as acts of discrimination - to the CO Anti-Discrimination Act, considering those to be “child abuse” or “coercive control”, as they “purposefully” disregard [i.e. conflict with] an individual’s gender identity or gender “expression”.

o   Adds penalties for parents “disregarding” their child’s transgender self-ID (e.g. could potentially, strip their custody of their own child/ren!) + non-complying private citizens/businesses could be fined, have their business closed, and/or be forced to take “anti-discrimination” training.

o   Outlaws gender-based dress codes + requires campuses to enforce “inclusive” policies that allow students’ use of “chosen names” (over legal names).

o   Opposition: HB 1312 endorses ‘gender transition’ without parental consent” + requires insurance to cover ‘gender-affirming care’ + removes monitoring of ‘certain medications’.

·  …Require State-regulated health insurance to cover gender-affirming care - including for minors, andwithout parental notification - HB25-1309.

(“Fed” Bills)

·    …Expand Colorado’s Sanctuary State policies (i.e. ends cooperation between local CO governments and ICE) - SB25-276 (Lawsuit ahead! Limits ICE access to schools/hospitals. Removes requirement for providing identifying personal data to get a driver’s license.)

·    …Set aside $ for lawsuits against the Federal government - HB25-1321: 

o   $4 million(!) allocation to fund legal action against “federal overreach,” i.e. CO will use federal Jobs Act funds to sue the Feds for regulations it doesn’t like - using taxpayer money!

  (“Political Action” Bills)

·    …Cut the timeline for CO Ballot Measures + add reporting requirements/fines - HB25-1327 

o   Opposition: Deters citizen-led initiatives (cuts the timeline + makes it harder/cost more.)

·    R’s Bill Passed (!) HB25-1315 (Vacancy reform)  - now requires holding special elections to fill legislative vacancies, instead of filling those by non-public party insiders (Yay!)

(“Book + AI” Bills)

·      … School Boards must pass “Transparency Rules” that allow for publicizing the names of parents who question the appropriateness of books in a school library - SB25-063 

o   To be included in the CO Open Records Act, the law requires all school districts/schools to have written policies/standards about how library materials will be chosen/displayed/kept/ considered/removed.

·      …Make it a crime to distribute AI-generated explicit content - SB25-288. 

o   Bipartisan bill - dealing with tech/privacy ethics.

(Other)

·      …Increase transparency/accountability in the governance of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) - SB25-147.

o   ID’s the PERA Bd of Trustees as a “local public body”, per CO’s Open Meetings’ law.

o   Sets term limits for Bd. members; mandates public access to meeting/financial records on the PERA website; reiterates that the Board has final authority in administrating PERA.

·      …Codify State-funded abortion coverage for Medicaid and CHIP recipients, based on Amendment 79’s passage - SB25-183 

·      …Create a Sexual Assault Forensic Review Board to tackle the growing backlog of rape kit testing across Colorado - SB25-304

(Failed – i.e. did not pass) – among MANY others: 

·       HB25-1169 would have required local governments to allow churches/schools to build high-density housing on their land, bypassing zoning, density limits, and community input.   

·       HJR25-1023 would have initiated a lawsuit against TABOR - allowing the Legislature to sue over the Constitutionality of TABOR. (Will be back, next year, in another form – count on it!)

Gov. Polis Vetoed 10 Bills – the list below shows a few that may return next year (w/changes in wording?) (Quotes are from Gov. Polis. re his reasoning for his vetoes…)

·      SB25-077  - Would have limited access to government records (Open Records violation?) for non-media entities + raised costs, + would have led to discrimination - re access - based on who was requesting the info (!)

·       Senate Bill 256 - “The management of the reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado is best left to the Parks and Wildlife Commission as the voters explicitly mandated.”

·       Senate Bill 273 - Would have allowed agricultural land to be included in urban renewal areas under certain circumstances. “Changes would create more uncertainty and discourage investment in housing.” 

·       House Bill 1190 - Would have given local governments a right of first refusal to purchase certain multifamily properties listed for sale. “I support local governments’ ability to buy these properties on the open market and preserve low-cost housing opportunities, but am not supportive of a required right of refusal that adds costs and time to transactions”. 

·       House Bill 1258 - Would have created a task force to study the costs associated with enforcing drug laws, + the effects of investigating drug crimes, + rehabilitating those convicted of drug crimes. “A task force should also study the costs and risks of reducing such enforcement.”

o   “The study would have been an appropriate project for the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice…” (The House Judiciary Committee voted to disband this Commission.) 

o   Polis will take executive action to continue the Commissions’ work + may present a request similar to what was in House Bill 1258 to address that new panel.

·       House Bill 1259 - Would have changed how open meetings law violations related to executive, or closed-door, meetings are handled – in particular, school board executive sessions. The “bipartisan” bill could impede legitimate challenges to open meetings. “We should strive for increased transparency and accountability,” Gov. Polis wrote.

Problems ahead:

·      The budget deficit in Colorado will increase next year.

·      Lawsuits (see above) will be costly.

·      TABOR will be under serious attack. (The Dems want YOUR $ for their pet projects/agendas!)

·      The local control issues (one raised in HB25-1169, see above) won’t go away. There will be future legislation to take away local land-use authority – and give it over to state control!

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If we stand for the Constitution, individual freedom, law and order, less government, equal opportunity, fairness, free markets, personal responsibility, etc. - i.e. values that are good for our State and Country, and for us - how do we connect with voters – and win?

COME JOIN US!   Become a CCRW member - and be a part of an informed, active, involved group of wonderful women (and some great guys…)

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to CCRW and to our Party.

Best, Dorothy Gotlieb, President, CCRW, 2024-25