March 25, 2026 · 14,341 words · 8 speakers · 96 segments
Excuse. Ball. Benavidez. Bridges. Bright. Carson. Catlin. Cutter. Danielson. Doherty. Here. Exum. Frizzell. Gonzalez Henrickson Henrickson Excuse Excuse Judah Kip Kirkmeyer Kolker Linstead Liston Marchman, Mullica, Pelton B, Pelton R, Rich, Roberts, Rodriguez, Simpson, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace. Weissman. Zamora Wilson. Baisley.
Hendrickson. Mr. President. Let's do this. The morning roll call is 35 present, zero absent, zero excuse. We have a quorum. Senator Zamora Wilson, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, please join me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Approval to the Journal. Senator Kolker.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Senate Journal of Tuesday, March 24, 2026, be approved as corrected by the Secretary.
You've heard the motion. All those in favor, say aye. Polls no. What? The ayes have it. That motion is adopted. Senate Services. Correctly printed. Senate Bill 146. Correctly engrossed. Senate Bill 113, 121, and 128. Senate Resolution 4. Correctly re-engrossed. Senate Bill 83 and 122. Correctly revised. House Bill 1034, 1070, 1099, and 1205. Correctly re-revised. House Bill 1039, 1098, 1180, 1189, and 1192. Correctly enrolled. Senate Bill 39, 84, and 110. Senate Resolution 4. Committee reports. Committee on Business, Labor and Technology after consideration on the merits committee recommends the following House Bill 1005 be referred favorably to the committee on appropriations. Mr. President, the committee on finances had under consideration had a hearing on the following appointments and recommends that the appointments be placed in the consent calendar and confirm members of the Colorado Banking Board for term expiring July 1st, 2027 Scott Applegate of Estes Park, Colorado to serve as a representative of the state bank in the 40th percentile based on total asset size occasioned by the resignation of Laura Rose of Falcon, Colorado appointed effective July 2nd, 2025 for term expiring July 1st, 2029 William Clay Roberts of Parker Colorado to serve as a representative of money transmitters appointed. Committee on Finance, after consideration on the merits, committee recommends the following. House Bill 1026 be amended as follows, and if so amended, be referred to the committee on appropriations with favorable recommendation. Senate Bill 44 be postponed indefinitely. House Bill 1200 be referred to the committee of the whole with favorable recommendation. House Bill 1120 be amended as follows and if so amended be referred to the committee of the whole with favorable recommendation Committee on State Veterans and Military Affairs after consideration on the merits The next committee recommends the following House Bill 1011 be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation Committee on State Veterans and Military Affairs after consideration on the merits committee recommends the following House Bill 1011 be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation House Bill 1133, be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation. House Bill 1084, be referred to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendation. Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you, Madam President. I move the Senate proceed out of order for moments of personal privilege. You've heard the motion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, no. The ayes have it, and the Senate will proceed out of order for moments of personal privilege. Senator Coleman.
Thank you, Madam President. I request a moment of personal privilege.
Granted.
Thank you, Madam President. Members, we have here today an individual in our chamber to my right, your left. His name is Matthew Stanwood. Cerebral palsy is a lifelong neurological condition affecting movement, muscle tone, and posture, impacting more than 1 million Americans and over 17 million individuals worldwide. Individuals living with cerebral palsy contribute meaningfully to our civic, social, and cultural life and are entitled to equal access, opportunity, dignity, and full participation within our community. Matthew Stanwood has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, leadership, and commitment to advocacy by raising awareness of cerebral palsy and championing the rights of individuals with disabilities. Matthew's goal is to establish an advocacy rights foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering individuals with cerebral palsy, promoting accessibility, and ensuring that all may fully participate in and enjoy community events and public life without limitations. His aspiration to meet with the President of the United States, to share his story, and advocate for a more accessible and inclusive nation, reflects a profound dedication to service and equality. March 25, 2026 is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. We call upon all residents observed this month with appropriate programs, activities, and initiatives that promote awareness, accessibility, inclusion, and respect for individuals living with cerebral palsy. I would like to ask Matthew to please stand, his mother Jessica to please stand, his brother Owen to please stand, and his sister April to please stand. Members, please join me in welcoming them to the chamber.
Very good.
And Matthew, as we like to say, let's do this.
All right, man.
Senator Gonzalez.
Thank you, Madam President. I request a moment of personal privilege.
Granted.
Thank you, Madam President. It is an honor and a joy to welcome folks from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Colorado People's Alliance who are here today for their advocacy day. You may be seeing folks, and I hope that you have an opportunity to visit with these leaders today. Here during the course of the day, I will just say that now more than ever, listening to community who is doing the work to protect our Constitution and to rebuild trust matters so deeply. Thank you all for joining us here today. Mr President may I please just invite the chamber to give these leaders a round of applause Thank you
Very good. Welcome to the Senate. Seeing no further moments of personal privilege. Third reading of bills, consent calendar.
Mr. Schaffler, please you the titles of all the bills on the consent calendar. House Bill 1070 by Representative Hartzell and Brown and Senators Judah and Frizzell concerning third-party network lease agreements for dental services. House Bill 1034 by Representatives Johnson and Lukens and Senator Peltner and Hendrickson concerning modifications to environmental standards for certain irrigation equipment. House Bill 1205 by Representatives Velasco and Morrow and Senators Cutter and Baisley concerning changes to state law to reflect the federal expansion of good neighbor authority agreements.
Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. I move for the passage of all the bills on third reading of bill's final passage consent calendar, which are House Bill 1070, House Bill 1034, and House Bill 1205. Any discussion on any of the bills? Seeing none of the motions of passage of all the bills on the 3rd of the bill's consent calendar, are there any no votes? Senator Zamora Wilson
Thank you, Mr. President. I wish to be recorded as a no vote for HB 261070. Thank you
Senator Zamora Wilson recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1070 Senator Basley Thank you, Mr. President. I request please to be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1070 Senator Baisley will be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1070. Further no votes? Seeing none. With a vote of 33 ayes, 2 no, 0 absents, 0 excuse, House Bill 1070 is passed. Co-sponsors. Senators, Kip. Co-sponsors on 1070. Weissman. Now, please add the president and Senator Doherty and Senadora Gonzalez. With a vote of 35 eyes, zero no, zero abs, zero excuse, House Bill 1034 is passed. Co-sponsors, Senators, Mr. Minority Leader, Kip, Roberts, Catlin, Exum. Please add the President. With a vote of 35 I, 0, no, 0, absent, 0, excuse, House Bill 1205 is passed. Co-sponsors. Senators. Roberts. Snyder. Exum. Wallace. Catlin. Kip. Please add the president. Third reading of bills, final passage.
Mr. Schauffler, please read the title of Senate Bill 66. Senate Bill 66 by Senators Judah and Carson, Representative Jackson, concerning the regulation of compounded weight loss medications that have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Anybody to move the bill? Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 66 layover to the bottom of the calendar. The motion is layover of Senate Bill 66 at the bottom of the calendar. All those in favor say aye. Opposed no The ayes have it Senate Bill 66 will layover to the bottom of the third reading of the bill final passage calendar Mr Schauffler please read the title of Senate Bill 128
Senate Bill 128 by Senators Snyder and Kirkmeyer and Representative Lukens concerning a sales and use taxation exemption on certain fees charged by destination management companies.
Senator Snyder. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 26, 128 on third reading and final passage. Further discussion. Senator for discussion of the motions to passage of Senate Bill 128. Are there any no votes? Senators Zamora, Wilson, Kipp, Benavidez, Henriksen, Sullivan, Weissman. No votes for 128. With a vote of 29 ayes, 6 no, 0 absence or excuse, Senate Bill 128. Can we please add Senator Gonzalez as a no vote on Senate Bill 128, as well as Senator Wallace? All good. With a vote of 27 ayes, 8 noes, 0 absents, 0 excuse, Senate Bill 128 is passed. Co-sponsors. Senators. Frizzell. Lindstedt. Roberts. Liston. Bright. Mr. Minority Leader. Mullica. Pelton B. Pelton R. Catlin Marchman Co-sponsors on 128 Please add the President
Mr. Schoffler, please read the title of the Senate Bill 113 Senate Bill 113 by Senators Zammable and Ball and Representatives Carter and McCormick concerning requiring a recovery residence to obtain a license from the Behavioral Health Administration
Senator Ball. Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I encourage an aye vote on Senate Bill 113. This is a great bill that will help our recovery residences and folks who need help. Further discussion on 113. Senator Marchman. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in strong support of Senate Bill 113. last summer residents in my district in Collin Center and unincorporated neighborhood in Larimer County four blocks from a school I used to sub at Cottonwood Plains Elementary School started noticing that something strange had changed on their street a new operator had moved in he purchased a single-family home he began housing multiple registered sex offenders with no on-site staff and he told neighbors at a public community meeting that the residents would just hold each other accountable 50 families showed up to that public meeting at council tree library in Fort Collins they raised every concern you can imagine proximity to an elementary school children living next door residents with convictions especially involving children under 12 they were scared and they were right to ask questions as I started digging I realized that we have very limited tools. This operator had obtained a provisional certification through CAR. It's an acronym, C-A-R-R. It's our third party certifying body. That is a pretty low bar. It does not require rigorous state inspection, background check, or ongoing accountability that a state license a man and here is what made this situation especially painful for my constituents when an identical facility run by the same operator was shut down in another Colorado municipality because that city had a local ordinance and when a second facility run by the same operator was shut down in yet another town because that municipality had an ordinance my constituents left in unincorporated Larimer County had nothing that they could rely on for protection but this bill fixes that beginning July 1 of next year this bill will require a state license from the BHA not just the third-party certification to operate a recovery residence residents it mandates the fingerprint based criminal history background checks on every owner and manager it requires BHA inspections and written correction plans when violations are found it establishes incident reporting with public accountability and it requires notice to local governments upon license approval so counties like Larimer are not left in the dark when a a recovery residence opens in their jurisdiction. And I love this too, that it funds itself entirely through operator fees. So I want to be clear, I really believe in recovery, and I believe stable housing reduces recidivism. And this bill does nothing to shut down or slow down recovery residences but what it does is raise the floor so every recovery residents in Colorado including the ones that my constituents are subjected to is going to operate with accountability transparency and state oversight regardless of what their municipality has done or what their county has not been able to do my constituents in Larimer County deserve that floor and they didn't have it this bill gives it to them and to every neighborhood in Colorado so I urge and I vote thank you further discussion senator Wallace thank you mr. president I want to echo the sentiments of the good senator from Loveland Longmont also had
a residence by this same operator opened up yeah and it was we met with constituents over the summer we had BHA come out to our district to come and talk with folks and I think what we came up against over and over again was BHA lacking oversight and really us shipping out the important work of the state to third parties that didn't have a vested interest here and then didn't end up sticking around. CAR ended up shutting down, really had no accountability to our constituents and so I want to thank the folks at BHA that worked so hard with us over the summer to connect with constituents wherever they could and then I want to thank the good sponsors for bringing this measure to make sure that there is structured oversight through BHA moving forward so that folks can get into recovery but in spaces that make sense for local communities Thank you Further discussion
Senator Ball. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 113 on third reading and final passage and encourage an aye vote. Very good. Seeing no further discussion, the motion is to pass to Senate Bill 113. Are there any no votes? Senators? Samora Wilson. Basin. P. Pelton R. Carson. With, please also add Senator Pelton B as a no vote. With a vote of 30 ayes, 5 no, 0 absence, 0 excuse, Senator 113 is passed. co-sponsors, Senators, Marchman, Kip, Benavidez, Wallace, Senadora Gonzalez, Judah, Weissman, Snyder, Linstead, Cutter, Coker, Exum, Mullica. Please add the president.
Mr. Schaffler, please read the title, Senate Bill 121. Senate Bill 121 by Senators Rodriguez and Simpson and Representative Martinez and Winner T. Concerning the establishment of a threshold of 56 hours in a work week for when an agricultural employer is required to pay overtime to an agricultural employee.
Mr. Minority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 121 on third reading and ask for an aye vote. Further discussion? There is further discussion. Senator Marchman. Thank you, Mr. President. Well, I did enjoy the conversation that we had yesterday, digging into some different ways that we could maybe change this policy a little bit. I am discouraged we weren't able to get there. I have shared with some of you guys that this past weekend in Loveland, I had a meet and greet. My very first question this weekend was from a woman named Ms. Garcia. Yeah, she's about 60. She doesn't follow Colorado politics. She has other things going on, as most people do. But she had found this bill on her own, and she'd formed a view. The thing she asked me in front of my entire group of constituents was, will you commit to voting against that awful ag labor bill? Not what do you think, not have you looked at it. She was offended. the bill had broken through to someone who normally doesn't even track what happens in this building. I want this chamber to understand why, because it's not complicated, it's not partisan, and luckily it's math, my favorite thing. But before I make my case, I want to say something genuine about the people who brought this bill because nothing i'm about to say is aimed at them the majority leader my colleague from denver voted for something i didn't get a chance to vote on the 2021 farm worker protections he said so directly he brought this bill because he's hearing from workers who bring sent home at 48 hours whose take-home pay has dropped because employers stop at the threshold rather than paying overtime his concerns real his motives are good and I believe both of these things completely the minority leader my colleague from Alamosa farms 800 acres when he says Colorado Ag is struggling he not reading from a talking point he knows my disagreement is not with these concerns it's with who absorbs the cost of this particular solution. So let me explain the math. Here's the behavioral reality that both sides of this debate agree on. Under current law, farmers cap workers at 48 hours and send them home. Workers take home 48 times 1516, $727.68 a week. No overpaying overtime. The employer will not schedule it. This bill raises the threshold to 56 hours. That same employer now works the crew to 56 hours at straight time. Workers take home $848.96, $121 more. The bill's supporters might say, well, workers will earn more. That could be true, but those workers worked eight more hours to get it. Eight hours at 15, 16 an hour, straight time. No premium, no recognition that an extra hour of labor at the end of a long week in August has ever been worth more than the first hour of the week. The overtime premium that current law assigns to those extra eight hours exists precisely because we decided as a society the extra hours behind beyond a threshold deserve extra compensation. This bill removes that premium. Workers work longer. Employers pay straight time. The extra $121 they get is not a raise. It's a payment for eight hours of additional labor at a rate that gives workers nothing beyond what they would earn if they stayed home an extra day and came back. And these workers have no union, no collective bargaining, no grievance process, no leverage to refuse the extra hours. This law was the leverage, but this bill takes it away. So I want to name something structural also about the bill before we vote because it matters that this is a very permanent choice. The current 48-hour threshold lives in rules. It was an administrative rule that CDLE can adjust based on evidence. If the data showed the threshold needed to change, the rule-making process existed to change it. This bill moves this out of rule and into statute through a full repeal and reenactment that happened on the Senate floor yesterday. Once it's in statute, CDLE can't touch it. The only remedy would be a new bill. This bill has no sunset, no review trigger, no data collection mandate. were making a permanent structural choice today without a single Colorado-specific study of what has actually happened to worker earnings since the 2025 threshold took effect. I also want to note that a committee amendment preserved language acknowledging the inequitable and racist origins of ag overtime exemptions language already in Colorado law explaining why these workers were excluded from federal overtime protections in 1938 A floor amendment yesterday changed that from amend to repeal and reenact so that wiped the prior statute clean, including that acknowledgement. The bill that leaves this chamber today carries no memory of why these protections existed. I want to ask one question before we vote. And I want to ask it without accusation because I mean it as a genuine question. For which other workers in Colorado has this legislature ever raised the overtime threshold? Do we do this for retail workers during the holiday rush? Do we do this for construction workers in the summer build season? Do we do this for resort workers during ski season, hospital workers during flu? The argument that seasonal operational pressure justifies a higher overtime floor has been made in this building one time, and it's for ag workers. And it's been accepted exactly once for that same workforce. The only workforce in this state for whom these arguments have ever been accepted is the one that is predominantly immigrant, predominantly Latino, not unionized, and not in a position to walk into this building and make the case for itself. I don't believe this is the motivation for the bill. I'm just saying it's a pattern. And when a bill lands in a way that it wouldn't survive a five-minute conversation outside any other workforce, I think that's a red flag. Ms. Garcia, who does not follow politics, did not come to the table with a prepared list, found this bill on her own and knew exactly what word to use for it. So I can tell you what I would have supported. I would have supported the CDLE rulemaking process. I would have supported a sunset clause, a data collection mandate. If this body is going to move the overtime threshold from rule into statute, the absolute minimum we owe the workers affected is a mechanism to revisit that choice based on evidence. This bill has none. And I am for this principle that the legislature established in 21, that ag workers are not a separate category of human being whose labor is worth less than everyone else's. That principle took 83 years to arrive in Colorado while we should not walk it back without evidence, without a sunset, and without a word of acknowledgement. Ms. Garcia was not asking me about the COMS Order 40. She was not asking about the amendment sequences that would be broad. She was asking something much simpler. Do you see these workers? Do you understand that the people who will work those extra eight hours at Dairies and Well across my district and every ag district in this state cannot come to this chamber and speak for themselves. Do you understand that the law is the only thing standing between them and whatever an employer decides to schedule? Senator Marshall, would you like to go into your next 10 minutes? Yes, please. Please. The law speaks for these farm workers or it doesn't. This bill makes it speak less clearly. I owe Ms. Garcia a direct answer. I owe these workers a direct vote. And I'm going to be voting no today. Thank you. Thank you. Further discussion? Senator Pelton B. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank the sponsors for bringing this bill. I didn't speak yesterday. I wanted to wait to our third readings if we made it that far to speak. A lot of things that I heard up here was talking about we need to pay our workers more. I think we need to pay our family farms more. We're at $3.50 corn. It was the same way in 1950. and we have higher input costs all across. Our whole balance sheet talks about increase in diesel. Look at the diesel prices now. We don't pay taxes on diesel when we put it in our tractors, but it's still higher costs. Fertilizers, same way. Exactly. These are all things that we have to pay for. I have one gentleman that lives outside of Kingsburg. who said, if we don't fix this overtime law, I will lose a crop, because I cannot pay my folks enough to, I can't pay them overtime in order to get that crop out and still able to keep the farms and make my loans. That's what he told me. We talked a lot yesterday about how this is the land of opportunity, and it is. It is the land of opportunity. But when all the states around us have no overtime threshold, we are losing workers to those states because we have an overtime threshold. Morgan, Fort Morgan schools have lost over 100 students due to immigration and ag labor. The superintendent called me the other day and said, I'm $1.5 million in the hole because of that's how many students we've lost. I have 17 dairies in Morgan County alone. When I talk to the dairy farmers, I ask them, and many people in this room, many people over in the house, they took tours out there. We talk about what's your biggest issue right now? Input costs and ag labor. They're leaving our state. They're leaving our state to find other jobs because they can work 60, 70 hours to be able to make that money. Here we have to cut them off at 48. They can't afford it. Our dairy farmers are working in the red for the last two years because we don't have a farm bill. If we had a farm bill, we'd be able to make that money. But between the prior administration and this administration we not getting a farm bill yet They just passed one It hard on us We stuck in the middle And we're doing everything to survive. When these farms go away, the small family farms, and thank God for our tax structure, our property tax structures, because that's what keeps family farms in business. We have not become Nebraska or Kansas with the big corporate farms because we are able to make sure that our farmers are put first. But this, in 21, hurt them. If we lose our farmers, we lose rural Colorado. And we can't lose rural Colorado. $47 billion in ag industry is what we do. And, I mean, I've worked on several farms. I've worked, my wife and her family are immigrants here. Her grandfather came here to work. And that is instilled in their family. And they're proud of it. Ag labor is very important. And we must do this. we must pass this bill to fix it so we can continue the wonderful industry that we have in rural Colorado. I want those hundred and some odd kids to stay in Morgan County, not leave. I want their families to be prosperous. One of my funniest ironies that happened this year is I had the Teamsters in my office. And I said, and this is, I had a Teamster worker and their lobbyists with them. And I said, how do you feel about your job? Do you love your job? And he says, yes. And he says, I don't want automation. I said, I agree with you. But if you don't want automation and you want to keep your job, we need to make sure that the dairies and the feedlots are still there. And I need your help. with making sure that we can pay our people. We can give them 60 hours or 56 hours. I need your help. Because if not, those feedlots, those dairies, they'll go away. I've had so many dairies ask me, we'd love to expand, but we're actually thinking about leaving the state. That's our economy. We grow corn, wheat, hay to make sure that the dairies and the feedlots have it so that's our commodities. And none of them are set by us. I get to charge, as a master electrician, I get to go to your house, and I can charge $47.50 an hour to work to wire your house. And then if I'm not making money, I get to charge $55 an hour to go wire your house. That's not how it works in agriculture. It is set by the markets, and the markets fluctuate. I always get this talk about tariffs. I mean, tariffs are pretty much essentially fees that this chamber has been very adamant about putting on folks in this building. But that essentially what they are and the tariffs don work well with the grain guys but the cattle guys they okay with them because it opens up markets So it all over the place but it hurts agriculture and we know that We seen it before I always tell people, I especially tell my kids, my kids when they worry about watching our communities and watching kids leave their communities. I said I lived through this in the 70s and 80s. We did this once before. Farm sales, all kinds of issues. But this is something that we could fix right here, right now, with this bill. I really appreciate everybody in this chamber who came to my district and toured and listened to my folks. I appreciate it so much. It means a lot to all of us when you do that, but I just really ask to help us and save agriculture and vote yes on this bill. Thank you. Further discussion? Senator Benavidez. Thank you, Mr. President. You know, the reason I came up here is I listened to my colleague, and he was absolutely correct that farmers and ranchers are struggling right now, not a fault of their own. When he talked about we haven't had a farm bill for five years, there's a farm bill being considered right now in Congress, but we haven't had one. and the provisions of H.R. 1 last summer, it reduced by a billion dollars what farmers got. So it wasn't what they needed in that respect. And in my district, the land mass, about half of it is agricultural. Not in numbers of voters, but the land mass is there. And there are farmers and ranchers, and I spoke to one last weekend. And I understand clearly how difficult it is to do that. And again, it's not their fault. It's everything else that's happening around them. But then I also look at workers, and I look at the workers. When we say 56 hours or 48, right now it's 48, that's working six eight-hour days before you get overtime. 56 is seven eight-hour days before you get overtime. And, you know, that right now, it's 56 hours only during seasonal periods. It's 48 hours the rest of the time. To get to those seasonal periods, there's some requirements that farmers have to do. They have to establish that they have doubled their workforce during a 22-week period within a calendar year. I would say if we got rid of those requirements to do that, and it wasn't tied just to seasonal and made 56 hours, the hours anytime for those kinds of agriculture workers, but the others that are working year round at roughly 40 to 48 hours, that we keep it where it is now at 48. So I think getting rid of those requirements for seasonal might be helpful in this and keeping the hours as they are, 48 and 56 for seasonal. So because it doesn say that I still would urge a no vote on the bill Further discussion Senator Bazley Thank you, Mr. President. So I'll be a yes vote on this because this bill will right-size an item that is regulated currently by the state government. I would much prefer that it did not. I don't believe that this is an appropriate rule for government to be inserting itself between the employee and the employer, at least in these individual situations. But even these agreements of a threshold should be worked out between an employee and an employer or collective bargaining when the union is involved in that relationship. But I would much prefer that we simply step away from this and not establish a threshold, not for agriculture workers nor for the trades or artists. It's just not the role of government. So I'll be a yes because we're already doing it, and we'll need to right-size it. But I just need to put it on record that I would prefer that we not go down this path at all. Thank you. Further discussion?
Senator Kolker. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to the sponsors for all the work you've done. Thank you to basically both sides for their arguments. I wasn't able to get up yesterday to speak on this bill during seconds, working on other bills too that time of year. So I wanted to make sure that I spoke about this today on thirds, and I wanted to talk about the costs, the actual dollar value that my colleague talked a little bit about, my colleague from Loveland talked about. I ran these numbers, and I put them on a spreadsheet so everybody can see. If anybody wants a copy, let me know. I'll show you what it is, but to really talk about this impact in the dollar value. we exempt it with the previous rule to 48 hours so if you work up to 48 hours there is no overtime so eight hours and what this bill is doing is adding another eight but from 48 to 40 on the current minimum wage at $15.16 That cost workers, that was an increased standard overtime to $788. On 40 hours, they're making $606. to 56 hours is what this bill says. Their overtime will be $909 now that we are switching, you know, compared to the 48. So the difference between 48 hours and 56 hours is $60.64 for minimum wage. For $19 an hour, because I think we heard yesterday some pay $19 an hour, if you start paying overtime at 48 and you go to 56 hours, that's an increase on the overtime of $76 a week $76 doesn't do a lot at the grocery store these days for the workers this is It's quietly shifting income from workers to employers. And I just want you to think about that. Think about $76. Or over the course of the full week, 56 hours, it's adding $1.36 an hour to keep the rules at where they're at with 48 hours. We have exemptions. We have exemptions for decision-making managers who are making $57,000 annually. There's no overtime there. It's $19.84 an hour at 56 hours. That's what they were paid as their exemption. That's what they would make if you divide it out hourly at 56 hours. What this bill takes away is that the laborer would get $20.36 an hour. So they would make more than what's being exempted out, just by 50 cents an hour. So I want you all to think about what $76 does for $18 an hour, what $72 does, and for minimum wage, what $60 does per week. And what kind of work these employees are doing. If you're working 56 hours, and you're working five-day weeks, that's 13-hour days. If you're working six-day weeks, that's nine-hour days. I mean, I think for 13-hour days, you should get some overtime. And what is the type of labor? Is this manual labor? Is this sitting in a tractor like I used to do? Or is it baling hay like I also used to do? And I heard the argument from the Senator from Sterling about small family farms and saving small family farms. I come from a small family farm that had, at the maximum, 70 head of cow that they were milking, my grandpa and my uncles. 70 head. It's not a big dairy. So I understand paying the overtime, how that can affect a small family farm. So my question is, why aren't we exempting them out, small employers? If we're already exempting out range production of livestock on the open range, who get $620 a week minimum, no matter how many hours, that's the minimum that CDLE has set. So if they were to work 56 hours, that's $11 an hour. We're exempting out the decision-making managers. why aren't we exempting out the family farms then the small employers you know coming up with a number of 10 employees or less I mean is that being done instead it's everyone from my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong but I just want everyone to think about the difference at $19 dollars an hour is 76 bucks a week. We heard there was testimony from one employer that said they were going to build a bunkhouse for more workers rather than pay OT My question is how much is it going to cost to build that bunkhouse Is that more than an hour And I be a no on this bill Or $76 a week, excuse me.
Further discussion, Senator Zamora Wilson.
Thank you, Mr. President. So I just would typically be against any bill that has the government getting involved in the market, and this is, as I'm informed, the government is already involved in this market, and it's a prime example of how it creates inefficiencies. And so when you have inefficiencies, it's like how do you rectify it? and this is one of those ways. It's always you're fixing a problem. Again, I just want to, on the record, that typically would be against this, but I will vote a yes for this because of the trying to correct this. Thank you.
Senator Danielson. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, colleagues. I want to start by acknowledging my friend and colleague, the good senator from Denver, because we have had a disagreement where this policy is concerned for a couple of years now. And he's approached me with nothing but respect and courtesy, even though we don't agree on policy. And that's not always the deal in this building. So I just want to say on the record that that's how this has been presented to me, as one of the prime sponsors, original sponsors, of the Farmworker Bill of Rights in 2021. And I acknowledge his support for the original measure. In 2021, what I established with that bill was an end to the exemption for an entire industry of certain basic human rights in terms of their workforce. They had never had overtime requirements before. They actually hadn't had minimum wage requirements before. protection from retaliation, any housing standards for employee-provided housing. They had never had the protection for goods and services and religious services delivered to their homes or their workplaces. They'd never had protection for legal assistance, any requirements around food, water, heat. they were exempt. These workers were exempt from any requirement in terms of these rights. And that's what we did in the big, big bill. And it was a landmark bill. It was something that I'm very proud of that we've done. And there was a lot of back and forth. We cut a third of the bill out before it came to the first committee, and in the first committee we took a lot more out and continued to compromise. I think it took me something like two and a half hours on the floor of the Senate that day to just explain the amendments that I had crafted and put forward on behalf of the opponents of the measure. Part of that was the hourly requirements for overtime. So we moved that to rulemaking, and what this bill does do then is erase the compromise and then the three years that it took to craft the rules that set this at 48 hours and 56 hours at peak times, and the time that it took to implement and the resources it took to educate folks across the state. So I do oppose the measure and like I said have been honest with the sponsor about that I think a couple of things I appreciate everything that been said today I'm not going to repeat it. I think one thing that hasn't been brought up is what we heard in committee. So again, we have workers from across the state saying that they do not wish for this bill to pass forward, that they are in a very vulnerable position, and they feel that increasing the requirement, the number of hours that it takes to actually get paid overtime will make them more vulnerable. But we also heard from producers, who I expected to say we really are invested in our workers and we would be dedicated to paying them overtime. But what I heard over and over again was that they were working extremely hard to avoid paying overtime. Really innovative ways, actually. I was impressed in that sense. They call it the overtime penalty, and they explained how they work really hard to make sure that they don't ever have to pay their workers overtime. Further, when pressed by one of the members of the committee, responded that even if we were in a position like other states to provide financial assistance, that they would still, they said on the record, no, I have no intention of paying overtime, even if Colorado were in a position to provide financial assistance. They've been exempt from having to pay overtime for a very long time, and of course they don't like having to do it now. I understand that. I disagree with it. The workers that provide the labor for this incredibly critical industry are no less valuable than the workers in any other industry, and the labor that they provide is no less valuable. I'm the fourth generation of my family to grow up and work on our farm up in Weld County. Now, I understand the work. We had crops and livestock, so I understand the work from both sides of the ag industry. And I'm deeply proud of my roots in agriculture. I'm deeply proud of this industry. It is not perfect, and what we set to, I guess, address in 2021 did a lot of those things. We even heard from some producers who said some of the changes that were made in the original bill, and the workers also corroborated that some of those protections are working, and they're seeing the difference, less threats, less negative, I don't need to get into all of that, including overtime. I guess I wanted to say the reason that I brought up my background as part of a farming family, as part of an agricultural community, in a very agricultural county, in a very agricultural state. I am deeply proud of my roots and the industry that is so critical to our overall economy. But we have to address the wrongs that are occurring, and we did a lot of that in 2021. I have to ask again, why do the leaders in this industry always rush to balance the burden of the industry on the backs of its workers? There are significant pressures facing producers across the state. We should be talking about the tariffs that President Trump has imposed. We should be talking about tax release for small producers, because there are some that they don't qualify for. We should be talking about the water issues, whether it's Northern Weld County, where I grew up, or down in the San Luis Valley. they really different But here we are We are making a vulnerable population of our workforce more vulnerable We also heard something different from 2021 when I passed the original bill. A threat to these community members that didn't exist back then. A fear of what ICE is doing in our communities and how it impacts their day-to-day. this is a reality for rural colorado not just in the urban communities that workers are being harassed picked up detained and incarcerated because of the new ice directives so there's even a new burden on this workforce and their families they are beloved and and critical members of our communities but they're not in community right now they're not going to church anymore their children fear that when they get home from school their parents won't be there to see them. They're not going to the grocery store. I believe that this is the wrong direction to take our law. I believe that this makes this vulnerable workforce more vulnerable and right now we in the Senate should be taking steps to protect them further, not roll back our overtime protections. I respectfully urge a no vote on this measure and I thank you so much for your time and consideration. Further discussion? Senadora Gonzalez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I want to begin by extending my appreciation to the chamber for your thoughtful consideration and debate of this important policy during yesterday's second reading. that is actually how this chamber ought to operate every single bill, every single contentious issue. Not party. Not rural versus urban. 35 people elected to do the work on behalf of Coloradans. I think we demonstrated yesterday why we were the upper chamber. And I'm grateful for it. I heard in yesterday's debate stories about why people on both sides of this aisle felt as strongly as they did one way or another. There were several amendments that were proposed. to try to grapple with the challenge that confronts us. Let us be clear, though, we didn't get here overnight. I want to talk about the racial reckoning. not of not the racial reckoning of this pandemic not the racial reckoning of the 60s i want to talk about the racial reckoning of the 1870s In the aftermath of the Civil War, in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation, when suddenly people who had previously been enslaved were free, granted full citizenship, There was a brief window in American history where things looked like we might actually achieve a more perfect union. And then the Klan came in, put an end to that. We saw policies move forward that exempted domestic workers and exempted farm workers. Why? Because those were the most heavily racialized professions. those were structures that was work that had been so fundamentally devalued that for many years in this country the people who did that work weren't even acknowledged as human beings so I appreciated that yesterday during our second reading debate there was reference to the FLSA of 1936 I appreciated the nuance and complexity that this chamber grappled with. Let me just add another layer into this mix. Since I was chairing yesterday, I didn't have the opportunity to come down and offer these thoughts. Where I believe, in my experience, in my understanding, as I've listened to workers and farmers, not just over this bill, but over my eight years here in this building, and previous to that as an organizer and community, trying to ensure that every Coloradan is treated with dignity and respect, what I have heard is that the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 a policy that allowed the free movement of goods and services but did not create the same dignity and respect for the people who actually create said goods and services, has created imbalance, consolidation, monopoly, and it is putting everyone on the brink. this fall in August of this year, there were six dairy workers who died in a farming accident. There were yesterday during this debate there were so many there was so much debate about the workers who are working harder than ever just to make ends meet and it's not enough. and so too was the same cry being put forward by the farmers. But what I would submit to you all for your consideration is that in an age of mass consolidation, monopolization of markets, whether it is the farmers, whether it is the workers, as long as those two entities are pit against one another, the corporations who actually control the lion's share of why we are in this mess in the first place, they will continue to be just fine. I was on a picket line last week. Standing alongside workers who are just doing what they can to fight for a fair contract. facing a corporation that's made billions in profit right here in Colorado. One of the pieces that I heard from, one of the points to support this bill that I heard yesterday was, and today actually, was that if this doesn't pass, we won't have insert type of agricultural production anymore. We won't have sheep herders. I'm sorry, we won't have sheep. we won't do this type of farming anymore in the state of Colorado. Why? Because we, in this state, still respect small family farms enough to try to fight for them to continue to exist. A threat of consolidation is a real one in Colorado. I spoke this fall to Latino farm owners who are hanging on by their fingernails, want to do right. They want to do right by their families by their workers by their communities by their consumers They want to do right by their state Senator Dora would you like to go on to your next 10 minutes Thank you. Please. And so in that context, I appreciate the work that has been done on this bill. because there are real challenges that confront the workers, the small family farms. and yet where I come down on this at the end of the day is that this is another divide and conquer strategy that allows the corporations that are actually continuing to starve the entire industry, those are the folks who are sitting pretty right now. Those are the folks who are setting prices that then set the market when they are making not millions, but billions with a B in profit every quarter. Let us redouble and refocus our energy and efforts there. because if this chamber were to unite to hold those corporations to account, think about the opportunities that that would open up to pay workers a decent wage, to pay the farmers a decent price, to honor and to respect the work that Coloradans put in to feed one another and to feed the nation. so with appreciation for the debate yesterday my invitation to each and every one of you in this chamber is that we unite to actually fight the folks who are causing harm to us all Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. Minority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, colleagues, for the dialogue today. I'm trying to think how to put my thoughts together. The good senator from Denver brought out some points that I think are worth highlighting about my intention as a sponsor on this bill, trying to do the right thing and trying to avoid this easy trap of falling into one extreme or the other. And I've said from the very beginning, it doesn't have to be like that. And my motivation to do this is to create an environment, an ecosystem, where both the ag worker community and, in particular, small farms can find a place to, I would like to say, thrive, but at the very least just survive And again highlight the fact that you know 95 of the farms in this state earn gross less than a year That my farm with 800 acres gross less than a year I didn talk about it yesterday but I farm my place with my wife my dad my brother and my nephews, and on occasion a contractor to haul bales in or do some field work. But to the good senator from Denver's point, last weekend I was sitting on my tractor trying to get my fields ready for planting, which is really problematic right now. If you look at snowpack levels and what my basin is experiencing this morning now, like at 24% of average, will I have a water supply to raise a crop at all is really pretty challenging. I just want to continue to reemphasize that effort of this doesn't have to be an either-or, and it truly is not producers versus ag workers. I wouldn't do this if I thought, on balance, I was hurting the ag workforce. Without a doubt, there are fractions of them that will feel some suffering. I think the good senator from Adams County highlighted that yesterday. And likewise, there are fractions of the ag producer economy that will maybe, I don't know, maybe take advantage of this. I don't find producers on a regular basis looking for loopholes and bypasses to avoid paying overtime. It's regularly about the reality of how ag workers perform in my community, about when the conditions are right, you're out baling hay or raking hay or cutting hay, and if the conditions change, historically, some of those workers then you could find, let's go clean the shop, let's go service equipment. and now all of a sudden when overtime starts to play into it, producers have to make a choice. Potentially, do I not pay for that work? Do I not do the work at all because it costs me time and a half? Or do I contract it out and just try to do that economic analysis? There was something else about, I made a reference yesterday about potentially not having a sheep industry in this state. It was really associated with the concept of an amendment where we're going to pay double time, double time. That would drive, without a doubt, that would drive the industry out of Colorado. This process we're in right now I don't think would drive sheep producers out of this state. It will make it incrementally harder. This bill actually makes it, I think it makes it incrementally a little bit easier, a little more profitable. Again, trying to strike a balance where returns in that industry, my farm and small family farms, they're like 1%, 2%, if you're lucky, return on your investment. Most of us are what we characterize as asset rich and cash poor. Like the value of my farm that I've owned for 30 years just continues to grow, partially because the value of water in this state continues to grow exponentially as well. But most of us are what we characterize as cash poor, just trying to figure out. I go every year and borrow money at the bank to make my farm operate for the year, and then try to figure out how can I pay back the bank and routinely have to ask for extensions. It's just a challenging environment. But I just wanted to reiterate to the Chamber my commitment and interest in making sure we have a vibrant, healthy, respected ag workforce and a viable, profitable ag producer economy to marry together to create better outcomes for all of us. I renew my motion to support Senate Bill 121 and ask for your support. Mr. Majority Leader.
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, colleagues, for the debate today, this week, and committee and the whole process. I took this bill on in these discussions now over a year ago to start looking at this policy and this discussion to have. Reached out to organizations, reached out to advocates, tried to reach out to the proponents of the Farmworker Bill of Rights, and tried to find compromises or how we can help. The good Senadota from Denver brought up the dairy accident, which we actually looked into. It was like, is there something we could do here for this? It turns out it's illegal already. It's OSHA. It doesn't fall under ag because it's chemical work and cleaning the dairy things. We tried to find every avenue and reached out. We looked at tax credits of how we could try to solve it. and you know it took me down this big rabbit hole of a discussion of right and wrong and as somebody who was here in in 21 when we passed this bill I was the chair of the business labor technology committee when this bill was heard I was on the floor testifying I was here at the floor on thirds testifying Senator Simpson or my good senator from southeast Colorado or southwest Colorado was also here testifying saying we will adopt we will figure this out. It was it was an important thing to put up values and try to do it and like I said we do a lot of policies here that we do with good intentions and we and we make tweaks. My first year I ran wage theft. I think wage theft has been run four or five times since then. We have to make adjustments. We make tweaks. I my colleague I appreciate my colleague Senator from Loveland's comments about a constituent in her community Ms. Garcia that came and talked about this horrible bill and you know it took me down this rabbit hole of a conversation with my father who told me stories who worked on farms my father was one of nine born in a little town of Las Vegas New Mexico had to travel around and work farms and do the work and he would tell me stories And he was here advocating for this bill with me as well. Also told me stories, you know, I've tried to be a labor champion and work on stuff to ensure workers, and this bill I thought was the right direction to go. You know, we dig into this history, and the debate gets into the history of racism, which so many stories could be told about many of us in our history that we've tried to get to. And we have conversations coming next week of history of abuse and stuff in our communities that we have to deal with and grapple with as people. But, you know, he gets it because, like I said, it's any fight we have. My father, one of nine, went to the military to serve his country, used that access and that position to go to college and buy a home, start a business. He's now a business owner. Now he's the people here that we hate and revile because he has a small business, tries to take care of his employer. We are carmental about this. Corporations, everyone's evil, everybody's not. I work in reentry. My father tried to help people. He started a VA program. They cut funding. He moved into reentry for offenders, trying to give them an opportunity to correct themselves, come to the Capitol, and I'm here for criminal justice reform, and all of a sudden I am the for-profit prison industry. Small family business, I get it. That how messaging works in this building We get thrown at us of our values which I don disagree I try to live by my values but I also try to navigate and it always been you know if we don have the work we don have the workers If we don't have the businesses, we don't have that. We don't have companies, we don't have unions, we don't have agriculture, we don't have this. I struggle with my colleagues from across the aisle and my colleagues that represent rural stuff. We run bills that are good for our urban areas, and sometimes we don't get support for them. I've always tried to recognize my colleagues that have the rural communities because as a chamber once I got yelled at because I was doing something on an environmental bill that would hurt my city but I was yelled at because they didn't care what it did to the city of Pueblo. And I'm like that's money that pays for their schools and that offended me and hurt my feelings about it. But at the end of the day I work with all of you and try to recognize the work we have to do. it's just the pressure that comes in here the reason I took this bill on was trying to recognize a problem and harm and trying to be compromising could I went with 90 hours would the agriculture industry prefer to repeal it all or maybe have more hours yes I didn't go in with those values of this there was good that came from that bill it got me into a space of where what is dignity in the workplace people want to work a job the stories where people are working 100 hours, they're never with their family. Well, with this, you have an opportunity of working two jobs for 48 hours for 90 hours a week, which is more than 60, and is that dignity and more time with your family. And you're not getting any more because you're making the same money at the other job, or maybe less, depending, which takes me into this whole rabbit hole of the problems we have here with people that work two jobs. And it's a larger conversation to have, which is a structural problem that we have overall. I had conversations with my colleagues across the aisle about the JBS thing, and you dig into this, and the cattlemen were out with the JBS workers striking because their market is getting consolidated too, and the conversations I have with the advocates on the site against this bill was like, we should be punching up. I was like, I don't disagree, and I think some in the agriculture industry would agree to getting rid of commodities pricing. Not all of them. It gets waffly in and out when you get into that space. But this bill was always trying to find a compromise to respect our neighbors and our colleagues across the state that are in business, just like when I asked my colleagues across the aisle that are in the rural communities to recognize the problems we have in the urban that may not affect them, to recognize we have a problem just because somebody in the building does this for you. The advocates on this bill threw out values and all this other stuff, which I don't disagree with and it hurts my feelings. I took this bill because my colleague in the House, who represents the South Valley, who has farmers, who are Latino, who are people of color that have made a business, and we complain that we're trying to lift us all up, and some of us have gotten there, and now if they don't agree with everything, the other side says they're bad people and they don't have our values. And that isn't the way we should have these conversations. We all have these histories of our history, and the thing is to try to learn from them. I wish we could do better. I wish we could strike up. I wish we could fix all these problems. I lowered this bill to 56 hours, not because I needed to get the votes. It's because digging into the conversation, 60 seemed like a reasonable odd number, simplifies it for small family businesses. But you get into the 56 and the hours and whatever, it's fine. We had workers testify on our side for this bill. Most of the opponents were what you consider community gardens, not agriculture industries, not people that do this, people that do it in our communities, people that are nonprofits, get volunteers to work. And you know and I get it It a lot of conversations I just I wish I went to spoke after the senator from Denver because we all look silly But I made a compromise on this bill and I carried it because trying to run this bill and the visceral that goes with these fights which is in a lot of the big fights, you're racist. I didn't want my colleagues to go through this. And that's why I put my name on this bill. I had to go to my county assembly and get called out with this. and the movement, obviously, if you throw the values of 40 hours, is fine. I got one minute to testify on the issues of this bill, and then my mic was cut off, and not a real debate about the policies that we got to have here. And that's okay. I went into this bill knowing that. Sometimes you have to do the right thing. Sometimes it's hard, and I told my colleague over here, maybe if it wasn't this hard, AI could do this for us. But on that note, I just want to thank you all for the debate. my colleague that ran the bill that opposed it, there needs to be repair between the advocates for workers and the agriculture industry and my Latino community. Because there is so much visceral over that fight that I hear stories of Latinos from the urban areas looking to go out to the farms to work because they don't want to get rounded up by ice here. and the advocates for immigration stuff reach out to the farms and they don't want to reach back to them because they don't trust them because of this fight and it seems that there's a way that both sides could try to protect their workers and advocate for both and the business owners like I said when you're a small family business and not a corporate farm you're not numbers on a spreadsheet they're people you see every year the people wouldn't come back for the work that they do it they come here to do the work they're honorable and I don't know if working two jobs or ubering when they get off to do it is the right dignity we're looking for. I thought this was the right balance. I just wanted to explain to you guys why I carry this bill. It has been hard for me. I think the testimony in the committee was like, this sucks both ways. And I don't disagree with that. But if we don't have these conversations and debate this policy, then we're never going to move forward. So I just want to thank you for my TED Talk, and I ask for an aye vote.
Further discussion. Seeing no further discussion, the motion is the passage of Senate Bill 121. Are there any no votes?
Senators. Cutter. Marchman. Wallace. Vendavides. Kipp. Danielson. Judah. Weissman, Paul, Sullivan, Colker, Bridges, Exum, Snyder, Gonzalez.
Please add the president. With a vote of 19 ayes, 16 no, zero absence, zero excuse, Senate Bill 121 is passed. Cosponsors.
Senators Kirkmeyer, Frizzell, Pelton R, Bright, Liston, Rich. Catlin.
Mr. Schoffler, please read the title. To House Bill 1099 House Bill 1099 by Representatives Titone and Nguyen and Senator Colker and Marchman concerning protecting the financial condition of common interest communities
Senator Colker. Thank you Mr. President. I move House Bill 26 1099 on third reading final passage and ask for an aye vote. Further discussion. Senator further discussion in the motion is the
passage of House Code 1099. Are there any? No votes.
Senators, Brazil, Rich, Zamora Wilson.
This is 1099.
Pelton B. Bright, Mr. Minority Leader, Kirkmeyer, Carson, Pelton R. Catlin. Liston. Baisley.
With a vote of 23 ayes, 12 no, 0 absinthe excuse, House Bill 1099 is passed. Cosponsors.
Senators. Kip. Judah. Weissman.
Cosponsors on 1099. You were going to co-sponsor your own bill?
Perfect. Sullivan.
Senadora Gonzalez.
Excellent. Because of all that, please add the president. That's a lot of effort.
Mr. Schauffler, please do the title of Senate Bill 66.
Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. I move to lay over Senate Bill 66 until Thursday, March the 26th. The motion is to lay over Senate Bill 66 until Thursday, March 26th. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed, no. The ayes. The ayes having to Senate Bill 66 will be laid over until Thursday, March 26th. General Order, second reading of the bills, Majority Leader Rob Rodriguez. Thank you, Mr. President. I move to lay over the ballot, this General Order, second reading of the bills until Thursday, March 26th. The motion is layered with General Oral Segment of the Bills calendar Thursday, March 26th.
All those in favor say aye.
Aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. General Oral Segment of the Bills calendar will label until Thursday, March 26th, 2026. Message from the House. The House is passed on third reading and transmitted to the Revisor of Statutes, House Bill 1339. The House is passed on third reading and transmitted to the Revisor of Statutes, House Bill 1214, House Bill 1242, House Bill 1260, House Bill 1188, House Bill 1006, House Bill 1197, and House Bill 1269. amended as printed in House Journal March 24, 2026. Message from the Revisor. We hear with transmit without comment, House Bill 1339. We hear with transmit without comment as amended, House Bill 1006, 1188, 1197, 1214, 1242, 1260, and 1269. Signing of bills. The President has signed Senate Resolution 4. Message from the Governor. Pursuant to the authority vested in the office of the governor of the state of Colorado, I have the honor to inform you that I have approved and filed with the Secretary of State the following act. Senate Bill 64, Modified Colorado Agricultural Future Loan Program. Approved on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 1.15 p.m. Sincerely, Jared Polis, Governor. Announcements.
Senator Amabile Ann Wallace. Thank you, Mr. President. members of the Boulder County and thank you sir we wanted to come down as the members from Boulder County and Broomfield County to acknowledge the Northwest Chamber of and it's their day at the Capitol today. Those are seven chambers of commerce from Boulder, Broomfield, Louisville, Longmont, Lafayette, Superior, and then the Boulder County Latino Chamber as well. They will be in House Committee Room 109 until noon today to talk about our regional economic interests. So please stop by and join them, and we look forward to having them at the Capitol today. Senator Marbley. Thank you, Mr. President. I ask for a moment of personal privilege.
Granted.
I just wanted to say I was on the board of the Boulder Chamber many years ago, and I can attest to the incredible work that the chambers do to lift up businesses, particularly small businesses, in all of our communities, and I encourage everybody to go and meet with them.
Very good. Further announcements?
Senator Movile. Well, while I'm up here, can you guess? The Joint Budget Committee is actually going to meet now and again at 1.30.
Very good. Senator Colker.
Thank you, Mr. President. The Education Committee is going to meet at 1.30 and 3.57. We have two bills, 12.59 and 10.50.
Senator Roberts. Thank you, Mr. President. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will meet 15 minutes upon adjournment this morning. We will hear one bill, House Bill 1198.
Very good.
Senator Cutter. Thank you, Mr. President. Senate Transportation and Energy Committee will meet at 1.30 p.m. in Senate Committee Room 352. We'll be hearing one appointment to the direct to the Front Range Passenger Rail District Board and House Bill 1079, House Bill 1081, House Bill 1237, and House Bill 1208.
Correction.
Correction.
Where are you reading from?
I'm reading from here.
Page 4.
I lied.
Senator Cutter.
Correction.
Correction.
Today, we'll be hearing House Bill 1134, House Bill 1089. Oh, God.
What is wrong?
Somewhere between House Bill 1001 and 5001.
Okay.
We'll try it with the glasses on. House Bill 1051, Senate Bill 141, House Bill 1127, and House Bill 1007. Can I please, please get it? Senator Exxon. Thank you, Mr. President. The Senate Local Government Housing Committee will meet 15 minutes upon adjournment in room 357. we'll hear House Bill 1095 and House Bill 1257. Thank you. Very good. Senator Mulligan. Thank you, Mr. President. Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will be meeting 15 minutes upon adjournment in the old Supreme Court to hear Senate Bill 99 and House Bill 1277.
Senator Wiseman.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is to announce the work of the Judiciary Committee. We meet at 1 in the Old Supreme Court to hear three bills 11 4 10 89 10 See you there Mr Majority Leader
Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, we will be recessing as we need to read some bills across the desk, so there's no need to return. I move the Senate recess until 12 p.m. today. You move the motion. All those in favor, say aye.
Aye.
Opposed, no. You guys have a Senate recess until 12 p.m. today.
Good job, Dean. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you.
The Senate will come to order in the Colt Rules. Relax for Senator Wiseman. Introduction of bills. Senate Bill 147 by Senators Cutter and Pelton R and concerning the regulation of lobbyists state military affairs cinema 148 by senators ball and mullica and representative joseph and camacho concerning financing utility on bill repayment program to support certain energy related upgrades transportation energy house bill 1102 by representative lindsey and senator snyder concerning the funding of the Colorado Drives Vehicle Services account in the Highway Users Tax Fund. Finance. House Bill 1126 by representatives Sorota and Woodrow and Senator Kipp concerning requirements for dealing firearms. State Fair Military Affairs. House Bill 1299 by representatives Garcia-Sander and Lukens and Senator Pelton B concerning reduction of regulatory burdens on local education providers. Education. House Bill 1305 by representative Lukens and Senator Roberts concerning enhancing access to inpatient behavioral health by aligning state and federal statutes. Health and Human Services. House Bill 1311 by by Representatives Duran and Carter and Senators Bright and Snyder, concerning the use of a bond in lieu of retainage and construction contracts. Finance. House Bill 1339 by Representatives Duran and Garcia and Senators Danielson and Cutter, concerning a change in the name of the voluntary legal holiday observed on March 31st from Cesar Chavez Day to Farm Workers Day. Local, government, and housing. Announcements. Mr. Majority Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. If there's no further business, I move the Senate to stand in adjournment until tomorrow, Thursday, the 26th of March, at the hour of 9 a.m. You've heard the motion, Mr. Majority Leader. All those in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The Senate will adjourn until 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Good job, team. Sorry for the delay. No worries. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. . Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you.