Beginning New Year’s Day, if you provide a deposit to reserve a spot at a child care facility, family home, or neighborhood youth organization, you must receive a refund if your child is not enrolled after 6 months. S.B. 25-004, which regulates child care center fees and enacted by the 2025 legislature, is one of 19 bills that will go into effect on January 1. Also going into effect is S.B. 25-053, which designates wild bison as big game, making hunting or taking one as illegal. The legislation excludes bison classified as livestock.
Here is the list and summary of each bill that will become a law on New Year’s Day. To read the entire list of Session Bills, visit the Colorado General Assembly Website.
H.B. 25-1002 – Medical Necessity Determination Insurance Coverage
Requires health benefits plans to offer coverage for behavioral, mental health and substance use disorders that is no less extensive than the coverage provided for any physical illness.
H.B. 25-1030 – Accessibility Standards in Building Codes
Requires certain building codes to have accessibility standards that are at least as stringent as international building codes.
H.B. 25-1056 – Local Government Permitting Wireless Telecommunications Facilities
Requires that an application by a telecommunications provider for the siting and construction of a new wireless service facility for telecommunications or for the substantial change of an existing wireless service facility for telecommunications submitted to a local government is deemed approved by the local government if certain requirements are met.
H.B. 25-1090 – Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices
Prohibits a person from offering, displaying or advertising pricing information for a good, service or property unless the person clearly and conspicuously discloses the maximum total (total price) of all amounts that a person may pay for the good, service or property, not including a government charge or shipping charge unless voluntarily included (total price disclosure requirement.)
H.B. 25-1154 – Communication Services People with Disabilities Enterprise
Creates the communication services for people with disabilities enterprise and the division for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind (division) within the department of human services to provide services and resources. It also creates the Colorado division for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind cash fund.
H.B. 25-1179 – Auto Insurance Coverage Child Restraint System
Requires an insurer that issues or renews an automobile insurance policy to include in the applicable coverage the replacement cost of a child restraint system that is in a motor vehicle at the time of a motor vehicle accident and to which the coverage is applicable.
H.B. 25-1222 – Preserving Access to Rural Independent Pharmacies
Prevents a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) from prohibiting a rural independent pharmacy from using a private courier or a delivery service to deliver a prescription drug to a patient and a PBM is required to reimburse a rural independent pharmacy for a prescription drug in an amount not less than the national average drug acquisition cost for the dispensed prescription drug ingredients, plus pay a dispensing fee.
H.B. 25-1236 – Residential Tenant Screening
Amends the definition of a “portable tenant screening report” to specify that a prospective tenant using a housing subsidy is not required to include a credit history report, a credit score, or an adverse credit event with the tenant’s screening report.
H.B. 25-1238 – Gun Show Requirements
Requires a gun show promoter to prepare a security plan and submit the security plan to each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the gun show and places certain requirements on a gun show promoter.
H.B. 25-1285 – Veterinary Workforce Requirements
Specifies how an individual can register as a veterinary professional associate (VPA in Colorado and clarifies the circumstances under which a VPA can practice veterinary medicine.
H.B. 25-1295 – Food Truck Operations
Establishes a definition of a “mobile food establishment” and establishes reciprocity between state-issued and Denver-issued licenses so that either are valid in both jurisdictions.
H.B. 25-1296 – Tax Expenditure Adjustment
Adjusts several state tax expenditures.
H.B. 25-1330 – Exempting Quantum Computing Equipment Right to Repair
Exempts devices, components or systems designed to perform or facilitate quantum information processing, as well as quantum sensing devices that exploit quantum phenomena, from the right to repair law.
S.B. 25-004 – Regulating Child Care Center Fees
Makes application, deposit and wait list fees for child care centers, family child care homes or neighborhood youth organizations refundable if the child is not enrolled after six months.
S.B. 25-010 – Electronic Communications in Health Care
Allows electronic communications in health care (that is related to a provision of a health insurance contract or that is to serve as evidence of health insurance coverage) to be delivered, stored and presented by electronic means if the electronic means meet the requirements of the “Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.”
S.B. 25-053 – Protect Wild Bison
Classifies bison as big game unless the bison are livestock. Also, classifying bison as wildlife means that hunting or taking one is illegal unless authorized by rule of the parks and wildlife commission.
S.B. 25-079 – Colorado Vending of Digital Assets Act
Enacts the “Colorado Vending of Digital Assets Act”, which requires an owner or operator of a virtual currency kiosk to provide certain disclosures, an electronic receipt and fully refund a customer’s first virtual currency transaction if the virtual currency transaction is to a virtual currency wallet or exchange located outside of the United States.
S.B. 25-158 – State Agency Procurement & Disposal Certain Items
Creates state procurement policies for state agencies in the treatment of certain items related to weapons.
S.B. 25-183 – Coverage for Pregnancy-Related Services
Makes conforming changes to state law relating to abortion care as a result of Amendment 79 and expands the definition of “family-planning-related services” to include abortion care.