Photo: Colorado House Majority Leader Monica Duran speaks with Rep. Alex Valdez on the House floor during the last day of the 2025 legislative session on May 7, 2025 at the Colorado Capitol. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
This story by Sara Wilson appeared on Colorado Newsline on May 8, 2025.
The 2025 regular lawmaking term in Colorado wrapped up Wednesday evening after 120 days of policy proposals.
Lawmakers grappled with a year of financial strain — an extraordinarily tight budget situation prevented new programs or many new spending attempts — and an ever-changing federal landscape as President Donald Trump began his second term in office, two themes that colored much of the session.
Democrats controlled both chambers of the Colorado Legislature with a 43-22 majority in the House and a 23-12 majority in the Senate. Those margins, combined with Democratic Governor Jared Polis, allowed Democrats to pass most of their priority bills, though not all. A bill supported by Polis that would allow churches to build affordable housing on their land could not pass the Senate, and a resolution to direct the Legislature to sue over the constitutionality of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights did not get a debate.
Here are five of the most important bills to pass this year.
Training standards for some gun purchases
Senate Bill 25-3 was introduced as a ban on the sale of semiautomatic firearms that accept detachable magazines, a description that includes a huge portion of guns sold in the state. The idea was to bolster enforcement of the state’s large-capacity magazine law, passed in 2013, by allowing in gun sales only fixed magazines that accept no more than 15 rounds.
But pushback from the governor’s office resulted in a major change in the Senate — the addition of a permit-to-purchase program to access the otherwise-banned firearms. The bill passed the Legislature with entirely Democratic support, and Polis signed it into law on April 10.
Starting in August 2026, anyone who wants to buy most semiautomatic guns with a detachable magazine will need to complete either a four- or 12-hour safety training, depending on whether the person already has a hunting license. Course completion will result in a five-year purchasing ability. Colorado joins a handful of states with similar training requirements.
Supporters see the law as a way to reduce accidents and injury, because people who buy the powerful weapons will have education about how to use them safely. Opponents say it is an additional hurdle in Colorado to exercise Second Amendment rights and worry about a lengthy wait time to get into a necessary safety course.
A coalition of Republican lawmakers and gun rights advocates recently asked the U.S. attorney general to review the constitutionality of the new law. It is also possible opponents will attempt a legal challenge in court.
Union election requirements
Though it was announced last year and became one of the first bills introduced this year, Senate Bill 25-5 didn’t pass until the penultimate day of the session, after months of negotiations between labor and business groups broke down. The bill now heads to a likely veto from Polis.
The bill would repeal a second election that’s required for union formation in Colorado. The first election, governed by federal law, requires a majority vote to form a union. Colorado’s unique second election requires a 75% vote for a union to negotiate union security, the term for compelling all workers to pay into the representation a union provides, regardless of membership.
Bill supporters say the second election creates an opportunity for employers to intimidate workers and represents a barrier to forming strong unions.
Supporters immediately faced a call from Polis to rework the bill around a compromise that both labor and business advocates could agree to. That deal never came to fruition, and an unamended version of the bill passed through the Legislature on party-line votes, with Democrats in favor of the measure.
Protections for transgender people
House Bill 25-1312, dubbed the Kelly Loving Act after a transgender woman killed in the Club Q shooting, adds more legal protections for transgender Coloradans. It would make it discriminatory for a person to intentionally not refer to a transgender person by their chosen name in places of public accommodation.
It would also make it easier for a person to change their gender marker on a driver’s license and other government documents. It would require schools to be more flexible in chosen-name policies and dress code requirements.
Some of the bill’s most controversial original provisions were amended out, including a section that would have made courts consider a parent’s treatment of their child’s transgender identity during custody decisions. Another removed section would have enacted a shield provision against other state’s custody laws. The original bill would have also added legal definitions for “misgendering” and “deadnaming” into the state’s anti-discrimination act.
Polis has not yet taken action on the bill.
Protections for immigrants
As the Trump administration began ramped-up deportation efforts, Democrats moved to protect the civil rights of Colorado’s immigrants. Senate Bill 25-276 would prohibit public employees, like those in local governments, from sharing data about immigration status with federal immigration enforcement authorities. It would also repeal affidavit requirements for immigrants without legal status seeking in-state tuition and driver’s licenses.
The bill would also limit where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can access within schools, hospitals, libraries and child care facilities without a signed warrant. It would clarify and strengthen existing law that prevents local law enforcement from holding someone in jail on behalf of immigration authorities after their release time.
Republicans opposed the bill and argued that it could jeopardize federal funding to the state. As it passed, the Department of Justice sued Denver and the state over so-called “sanctuary policies,” which the bill is seen as expanding.
Polis has not yet taken action on the bill.
Vacancy selection process
The start of the legislative session was packed with vacancy committees after three state senators resigned shortly following the 2024 election. That prompted calls for reform on how vacancies are filled in the Legislature, as the current system permits a small number of party insiders to decide on new lawmakers.
The bipartisan House Bill 25-1315 would change the vacancy process by adding elections for the seat in question into an already-planned November election. A vacancy committee would pick a replacement, but that person would need to run in the newly created vacancy election, where voters of the same party and unaffiliated voters could participate.
Polis has not yet taken action on the bill.
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