Flurry of floor votes, reproductive and election bill debates, and more in the Colorado legislature this week

The Colorado legislature’s two-week-long budget blitz has (mostly) ended, and we’re now in the final weeks of the 2025 legislative session.

That means a continuous flurry of floor votes in both chambers as sine die approaches in early May. In the House this week, representatives will debate House Bill 1321, which would dedicate $4 million to the governor’s office to defend against “adverse” action from the Trump administration, including possible criminal investigations, as we reported last week. That will likely be a tense debate: The House’s top Republican, Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, foreshadowed her concerns with the bill in brief comments on other legislation last week.

The House will also debate bills seeking to implement policies around book bans in schools; to allow small cars common in Japan — called “kei vehicles” — onto (most) Colorado roads; and to institute an easier licensing system for food trucks. House Bill 1174, which would cap certain hospital reimbursements, is also up for a first House vote this week.

Also calendared for a first full vote in the House: Senate Bill 5, the pro-union bill backed by Democrats and opposed by businesses and Gov. Jared Polis. The measure has been floating while lawmakers and labor leaders seek to find a deal that would see the bill signed into law while advocates pull down a union-backed ballot measure proposal that, if it wins voter approval, would represent a more significant win for workers and a bigger threat to the state’s businesses.

Across the Capitol, the full Senate is still waiting to debate House Bill 1169, the so-called YIGBY — or “Yes in God’s Backyard” — bill allowing housing to be built on religious and educational properties. The measure’s been rolled over repeatedly in recent weeks, apparently at the request of its sponsors, according to the Senate’s majority leader.

The Senate is set to give final approval to a bipartisan bill that seeks to prevent landlords from charging fees to the families of tenants who’ve died. The Senate was initially set to vote this week on Senate Bill 201, which would require people to verify their ages before looking at pornographic websites. But the chamber’s leaders then summarily moved to table the bill late Monday morning, killing it entirely.

Senate Bill 276, which would expand existing state law to further limit federal immigration authorities’ ability to work in the state, is also scheduled for a floor vote this week.

Here is what else is scheduled this week:

Reproductive health bills

On Monday, the Senate’s Judiciary Committee will discuss Senate Bill 130, which generally would require hospital departments — including labor and delivery caregivers — to provide emergency treatment to patients who need it. It effectively places existing federal protections into state law, with an emphasis on abortion care. The bill has undergone some changes, and supporters are holding a news conference Monday afternoon to rally support for it.

Then, on Tuesday, the House’s Appropriations Committee will vote on House Bill 1259. The bill is partially focused on enhancing protections for in vitro fertilization in state law. But it would also roll back and alter some regulations related to sperm and egg donors that were passed nearly three years ago. That’s made it controversial, and it’s been held up amid negotiations and opposition.

More committee votes

Elsewhere Monday afternoon, the House’s State, Civic, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee will debate two election bills. One — the Colorado Voting Rights Act — would enshrine federal voting protections in state law amid fears of federal intervention. Right after that, the committee is set to vote on House Bill 1327, which would make some changes to the ballot measure process, including a requirement that voters be told how much revenue would be generated by tax increases.