Price-gouging, housing bills get hearings as gun and labor bills reach halfway point this week in the Colorado legislature

After a busy end to last week, the Colorado legislature is back today for another jam-packed — if holiday-shortened — week of lawmaking.

The Senate began with final votes on two Democratic priority — and contentious — bills: Senate Bill 3, which would limit the sale of semiautomatic weapons that accept detachable magazines; and Senate Bill 5, which would eliminate a provision of state law that requires unions pass a second election before organized workers can negotiate dues and fees in their contracts.

Both measures passed initial Senate votes by this afternoon, after lengthy debates and — in the case of the gun bill — negotiations that introduced a loophole into the policy. They each received a final, recorded vote in the Senate before they will cross over to the House.

It’s unclear how quickly either bill will begin their journeys through the House, though supporters of both policies said they don’t want to delay either measure.

Here’s what else is happening in the legislature this week:

After 2 years, health care bill gets Senate vote

This session marks a third attempt by Democratic lawmakers to create a program to study implementing a universal health care program in Colorado. The previous years’ attempts both started in the House, made it to the Senate and then died on the Senate calendar at the end of the 2023 and 2024 sessions.

Basically, they got stuck in the late-session queue and were allowed to atrophy there, to the growing frustration of their House sponsors.

Now, the latest version — Senate Bill 45 — started in the Senate and is up for its first full vote in the chamber. Lessons learned.

Book bans, liquor license limits

Other bills up for their first full Senate votes this week include Senate Bill 63, which would seek to slow book bans by requiring schools to set and follow policies and Senate Bill 33, which would limit liquor licenses in drugstores.

In the House, lawmakers are this week set to consider House Bill 1010, which would limit price-gouging in Colorado. House Bill 1040, which would change state statute to include nuclear energy in the definition of clean energy, and House Bill 1133, which would allow ammunition to be sold only to people who are at least 21 years old, are also both headed to the House floor this week.

Hefty committee votes

Several significant bills are also up for initial committee votes this week.

Let’s start with the House’s Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. On Wednesday, that group will vote on the so-called YIGBY bill — which would make it easier for churches to build housing on their property — as well as a measure to streamline homelessness response services in state government and another bill to prevent rental companies from charging fees when a tenant dies before their lease ends.