COLORADO - Two weeks ago, the Peak Report detailed the House and Senate bills that had come before the Colorado General Assembly for final discussion and review as the Regular Session came to a close on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

Ten of those bills debated in the Regular Session came to the desk of Governor Jared Polis, where he signed seven into law on Friday, May 16, and vetoed three. 

Governor Polis signed:

HB25-1312, sponsored by Representatives Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart and Senators Chris Kolker and Faith Winter, was heavily contested by Republicans during the Regular Session, though it eventually passed by a 20 - 14 vote. 

The bill, titled “Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals,” defines deadnaming and misgendering as discriminatory acts, and prohibits such acts in “places of public accommodation.” Though language was added to specify that “the bill does not prevent a public entity from using an individual's legal name when required to do so by law to ensure that the identity of the individual can be verified.”

Section 2 also states that a court can consider deadnaming, misgendering, and threats related to gender-affirming healthcare as “coercive control,” which should be a factor in determining parental responsibilities in such cases. 

Section 3 prohibits any Colorado court from adhering to another state’s law regarding permitting a state agency to remove a child from their parent or guardian’s custody because they allowed that child to receive gender-affirming healthcare.

HB25-1296, described as a bipartisan bill, sponsored by Reps. Lorena Garcia and Yara Zokaie, and by Senator Mike Weissman, adjusts several state tax expenditures, including adding excluded or deducted overtime compensation to a taxpayer's federal taxable income, to determine their state taxable income.

The bill also: “allows an individual to present a copy of their federal tax return to be exempted from the medical marijuana registry application fee”; “limits the existing business personal property tax credit so that a taxpayer may only claim the tax deduction for income tax years commencing before January 1, 2026”; “clarifies and modifies definitions for the qualified care worker tax credit”; and “exempts the sale of medical marijuana to an individual who presents a valid electronic benefits transfer card or certain other identification from sales tax.”

HB25-1321, titled Support Against Adverse Federal Action, was sponsored by Reps. Julie McCluskie and Shannon Bird, and Senators Jeff Bridges and Judy Amabile.

The bill reallocates $4 million from the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” cash fund to the Office of the Governor to be used to hire personnel or contractors for “purposes related to federal government actions that impact federal disbursements, grants, contracts, or money received by or transferred to the state.”

The Office of the Governor may also utilize the funds to cover certain expenditures to protect state sovereignty or preserve any federal funding that benefits the state. 

HB25-1305, sponsored by Reps. Cecelia Espenoza and Brandi Bradley, and Senators Tony Exum and Marc Catlin, extends the repeal date of the reporting section of the "Colorado Child Abuse Prevention Trust Fund Act" from July 1, 2027, to July 1, 2030.

The extension is required due to SB24-135, which enacted a deadline extension of the report evaluating the Colorado child abuse prevention trust fund from November 1, 2026, to November 1, 2029.

Polis also signed into law HB25-1306, which reorganized the definitions under the profession of Plumbing to be listed in alphabetical order; SB25-054, amending the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act to “update restrictions and requirements concerning the posting and forfeiture of financial warranties relating to mine reclamation projects”; and SB25-204, which instituted grammatical revisions to HB24-1266 regarding local government utility relocation arrangements. 

Governor Polis vetoed: 

SB25-005, “Worker Protection Collective Bargaining,” which advanced through the House and was passed by a 43 - 22 vote on Tuesday, May 6. The bill, sponsored by Senators Robert Rodriguez and Jessie Danielson, and Reps. Javier Mabrey and Jennifer Bacon, removes the requirement “for a second election to negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining process.” 

Polis has previously stated he would veto the bill if a compromise between labor union organizations and business leaders could not be met, and followed through on his statement, which he clarified in an official letter.

“I am pro-union, pro-worker, and have worked throughout my career in public service to protect the right of workers to organize,” Polis wrote.

“During my time as Governor, we have made immense and historic progress for workers. At a time when worker rights are under unacceptable assault at the federal level, we are proud of this progress in Colorado and look forward to continued transformation.

“To my mind, mandatory dues deduction should require a high bar of both participation and support, particularly at a time when hardworking Coloradans are concerned about the cost of groceries, the economy, and their job security.

“I believe there must be a high threshold of worker participation and approval to allow for bargaining over mandatory wage deduction. And SB 25-005 does not satisfy that threshold, which is why I am vetoing the bill.”

HB25-1147, sponsored by Reps. Javier Mabrey and Elizabeth Velasco, and Senators Amabile and Weissman, would institute a cap on the maximum incarceration sentence for a municipal violation at the same length as a comparable state-level offense.

“I appreciate the bill sponsors' good intentions of bringing forward policies that address transparency and the right to counsel in municipal court,” Polis wrote in an official letter explaining his reasons for vetoing the bill. “However, the bill also significantly restricts a municipality's ability to react to local crime trends in ways that a local government deems most appropriate to improve public safety in their community.

“It is not in the interest of increasing public safety to constrain a municipality's ability to set appropriate sentences for crimes within their borders. Further, this bill runs counter to previous legislation that I have signed giving more tools to local governments to improve public safety.”

HB25-1065, sponsored by Reps. Carlos Barron and Bob Marshall, and Senator Lisa Frizell, would have permitted individuals of 70 years of age or older, as well as those actively working or enrolled in a college out of state, to opt out of jury duty. 

In a letter to Members of the Colorado State House of Representatives describing his reasons for vetoing the bill, Polis described the right to trial by a jury of one’s peers as a cornerstone of American democracy.

“Older adults have so much to contribute to our communities and a state law that creates an arbitrary age-based threshold for exclusion from one's civic duty isn't warranted,” Polis wrote.

 “A jury of one's peers means representation from all age groups. This broad brush bill is not consistent with our notion of civic responsibility in general, and, more specifically, to building a Colorado for all, which includes older Coloradans who have a wealth of life experience and accumulated wisdom to offer through jury service.”