(The Center Square) - The 2026 Colorado legislative session has been busy as lawmakers worked to pair a budget shortfall with efforts to make life more affordable for Coloradans and pushback on federal changes under the Trump administration.
While hundreds of bills would never see a final vote to pass the state legislature this year, dozens made it to Gov. Jared Polis' desk in time to meet Wednesday's deadline.
Here are nine of the most consequential bills that made it out of the session this year, and three that died on the Legislature's floor.
Senate Bill 5, if signed into law by Polis, would allow Colorado citizens to sue federal agents who violate their civil rights while participating in civil immigration enforcement. Any legal action against federal officers would have to have taken place within the last two years. The Colorado bill, along with several similar state laws across the country, have been questioned by critics who believe they violate the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Under that clause, states can't pass laws that interfere with or conflict with federal laws.
Senate Bill 43 would have required gun barrels to be purchased in-person at federally licensed arms dealers. It faced wide opposition from gun rights advocates and was widely discussed alongside House Bill 1144, which was passed and bans the amateur building of 3-D printed guns. The bill died in the House.
Senate Bill 115 would allow people incarcerated in Colorado who are 60 or older and have been in prison for at least 20 years to petition for a new sentence and make a case that they no longer present a danger to the community. It identified 98 people currently incarcerated that could possibly meet the requirements. The bill would, however, only create a temporary three-year period for the petitions. Passing the Legislature largely along party lines, it now awaits Polis’ signature.
Senate Bill 134, a highly contested bill between the business and banking industries, would prohibit credit card companies from including sales tax on their merchant fees. The 1.5-3.5% credit card fee applied to state and local sales tax was valued at an estimated $217 million in 2024. Polis has not signed the bill or indicated his stance on the heavily lobbied legislation.
Senate Bill 135, the State Public K-12 Education Funding bill, will go before voters this November after passing the Legislature along party lines. Voters will be asked whether they would like to give up their annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights refunds for a yet-unspecified number of years to increase K-12 public education funding by 2% for the next 10 years.
House Bill 1030, the Data Center & Utility Modernization bill, would have given data center companies a 100% sales and use tax break for 20 to 30 years to encourage the sector’s development in the state. The bill died before making it out of the House
House Bill 1114 would have allowed single-family homes to be built on smaller lots, banning local minimum lot sizes above 2000 square feet. The bill, aimed at reducing housing costs in the state, died in the Senate.
House Bill 1144, or the Prohibit Three-Dimensional Printing Firearms & Components law, was signed by Polis after passing along party lines in the Legislature. Starting July, amateur 3-D printing of guns or certain parts of a firearm will be banned with first-time violations a misdemeanor and any repeat offenses a felony.
House Bill 1210, the Prohibit Surveillance Price and Wage Setting bill, would prohibit companies from setting prices or wages based on their personalized data. The issue of surveillance pricing has gained national attention in recent months as a wide variety of the country’s biggest companies quietly use personal data to drive people to their personal highest price. If signed into law by Polis, violations would be considered deceptive trade practice.
House Bill 1263 would set up additional guardrails for minors who use chatbot AI models, such as ChatGPT. The bill would require AI companies to make "technically feasible measures” to prevent models from creating sexually explicit content that could create emotional dependence on the model and create suicide protocols. It comes as one of the bill’s sponsors’ neighbor’s young daughter died by suicide after a chatbot sexually exploited her. Polis has yet to sign the bill into law.
House Bill 1410, the state’s $46.8 billion budget for 2026-2027 has already been signed into law by the governor. The budget drafting process was said to have been incredibly difficult as the state faced a $1.5 billion deficit, with several Medicaid programs subject to massive cuts.
House Bill 1419, the Over-Refund of Excess State Revenues bill, would reduce taxpayer refunds required by the state’s constitution for the next two budget years to make up $289 million in over-refunds from 2024-2025. The bill cited federal tax policy changes as the cause for the over-refund. Polis has not yet signed the legislation.
