Since the end of January, Colorado lawmakers have advanced a slate of measures testing the boundaries of constitutional rights, state regulatory power and emerging technology governance. The following House and Senate bills stand out for their litigation exposure and compliance impact.
House Bills
HB26-1144 — Prohibit Three-Dimensional Printing Firearms and Components
- Issue: Regulation of online firearm schematics and 3-D gun files
- Why it matters: Moves firearm regulation into the realm of digital speech, raising questions about whether code and CAD files qualify as protected expression
- Legal lens: First Amendment, Second Amendment
- Sponsors: L. Gilchrist (D), A. Boesnecker (D), T. Sullivan (D), K. Wallace (D)
HB26-1108 — Colorado Bureau of Investigation Access Federal Fingerprint Search Service
- Issue: Authorizes the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to participate in the FBI’s Rap Back system
- Why it matters: Moves Colorado toward persistent background surveillance
- Legal lens: Privacy rights, employment law, firearm permitting, professional licensing
- Sponsors: M. Lukens (D), A. Hartsook (R), D. Michaelson Jenet (D), J. Rich (R)
HB26-1050 — Optional Individualized Readiness Plan for School
- Issue: Education intervention mandates
- Why it matters: Allows schools to forgo individualized readiness plans for students meeting assessment benchmarks, shifting compliance
- Legal lens: IDEA and disability accommodation exposure, education funding accountability, administrative rulemaking authority
- Sponsors: L. Garcia Sander (R), E. Hamrick (D), L. Frizell (R)
HB26-1024 — Raising Age of Voluntary Relinquishment of Child
- Issue: Safe-haven child surrender laws
- Why it matters: Extends the legal relinquishment window for infants from 72 hours to 30 days, expanding immunity protections while altering abandonment enforcement thresholds
- Legal lens: Child welfare liability, hospital compliance procedures, criminal abandonment statutes
- Sponsors: R. Keltie (R), L. Frizell (D)
HB26-1155 — Department of Health Care Policy & Financing Supplemental
- Issue: Mid-cycle Medicaid and public health funding adjustments
- Why it matters: May trigger downstream provider disputes and rule revisions
- Legal lens: Administrative procedure challenges, provider reimbursement litigation, Medicaid compliance enforcement
- Sponsors: E. Sirota (D), J. Bridges (D)
Senate Bills
SB26-070 — Ban Government Access Historical Location Information Database
- Issue: Warrantless acquisition of geolocation data
- Why it matters: Addresses the growing law-enforcement practice of bypassing warrants via commercial data purchases
- Legal lens: Fourth Amendment protections, data broker regulation, criminal suppression remedies
- Sponsors: J. Amabile (D), L. Zamora Wilson (R), Y. Zokaie (D), K. Nguyen (D)
SB26-043 — Record Keeping & Regulation of Sale of Firearm Barrel
- Issue: Expansion of regulated firearm components
- Why it matters: Imposes serialization, transfer tracking or record-keeping requirements on standalone gun barrels
- Legal lens: Second Amendment, interstate commerce
- Sponsors: T. Sullivan (D), M. Froelich (D), K. Brown (D)
SB26-051 — Age Attestation on Computing Devices
- Issue: Minor access to digital platforms
- Why it matters: Shifts liability for youth platform toward tech companies
- Legal lens: Federal COPPA preemption, privacy and biometric verification law
- Sponsors: M. Ball (D), A. Paschal (D)
SB26-10 — Large-Load Data Centers
- Issue: Establishes regulatory, energy-procurement, infrastructure-cost and siting requirements for large-load data centers
- Why it matters: Aims to protect ratepayers, support clean-energy targets and ensure environmental and community safeguards keep pace with growth
- Legal lens: Energy law, administrative regulation, environmental justice, land use, utility ratemaking
- Sponsors: C. Kipp (D), K. Brown (D)
SB26-096 — Justice-Involved Veterans
- Issue: Creates a framework for veteran deferred sentencing
- Why it matters: Aims to expand treatment- and service-oriented alternatives for justice-involved veterans
- Legal lens: Eligibility thresholds, judicial discretion, data reporting mandates
- Sponsors: N. Hinrichsen (D)
— State Bill Special Report is a biweekly feature of bills to watch while the Colorado General Assembly is in session. The report is courtesy of State Bill Colorado, a product of our publisher Circuit Media.