The Colorado General Assembly enters its final day of the 2025 session Wednesday after a late-night scramble in the House over artificial intelligence regulations. That debacle aside, lawmakers will work to finish up final votes and procedural work before adjourning by the end of the day.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
1:04 p.m. update: The House accepted the Senate’s changes to House Bill 1291, the ride-hailing regulations bill for Uber and Lyft. Rep. Jenny Willford, a sponsor, delivered a pointed speech urging Gov. Jared Polis to sign the bill. Polis on Tuesday expressed “significant legal and policy concerns” with the bill.
Willford, a Northglenn Democrat, invoked the 550-plus days it takes for the state to process sexual assault evidence kits and Polis’s own pledge to make Colorado one of the safest states in the nation.
“Governor, I beg you: Stand with survivors,” Willford, who has said she was sexually assaulted by a driver on a ride last year, said. “Not just in words, but in law. Sign this bill. Safety can’t wait, and actions speak louder than words.”
She also specifically slammed Uber — though House rules prevented her from directly naming the company — for, in her view, fighting this bill harder than it fights for safety for drivers and passengers. Uber has said it will leave the state if the bill becomes law. Sponsors have said Lyft, the other major ride-hailing company, has negotiated in good faith.
“To these companies, I say, we are done making you comfortable,” Willford said. “We are done letting you bully and silence survivors.”
The House repassed the bill 58-6.
11:43 a.m. update: The Senate is up and moving. Senators, voting 22-13, passed an amended version of House Bill 1291, which seeks to put additional security and background check requirements onto ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
The bill now needs a concurrence vote in the House — basically, House sponsors accepting changes made in the Senate. That should come later today.
After that vote, the Senate rejected one of Gov. Jared Polis’ nominations for the Commission on Judicial Discipline amid concerns raised about a lengthy, anonymous complaint alleging misconduct within the state’s judicial system. It’s rare for the Senate to do that, and the 16-19 vote will keep the commission’s chair, Mindy Sooter, from returning to the body.
Right after that, the Senate voted 19-16 to keep Sooter’s vice chair, Jim Carpenter, on the commission, after Sen. Jeff Bridges spoke in favor of retaining him. The Senate’s Judiciary Committee had previously voted to recommend both nominations be rejected.
10:43 a.m. update: And then there was one.
The legislature has entered its final day with much of its hardest work already done. That went right up until midnight Tuesday.
The House first fully passed House Bill 1312, a transgender rights bill that seeks to expand antidiscrimination protections for trans Coloradans. Its passage followed lengthy — and heated — opposition from House Republicans, who accused the bill’s sponsors of infringing on parental rights. One Republican called the bill “satanic.”
But the end to the session’s hardest work doesn’t mean tension has lightened. Rumors of a special session were already flying amid fear of what potential federal funding cuts will do to the state’s Medicaid system in the early fall. Those rumors kicked into higher gear after Monday, when Sen. Robert Rodriguez killed his own proposal to delay the implementation of new artificial intelligence regulations.
The House began work today with a protest from those same House Republicans. But not over the transgender bill: After that measure passed Tuesday night, some House Democrats tried quickly to amend another bill to resurrect the defunct delay on incoming AI regulations.
Colorado House attempts late-night move to delay AI regulations, but effort fails
That effort died after another Democrat, Rep Brianna Titone, filibustered until moments before midnight — which is when the bill had to pass to have a chance of being finalized today.
As Titone spoke, House Speaker Julie McCluskie interrupted her to give the mic to the majority leader. That’s a faux pas — Titone had control of the well, which is the lectern and mic at the center of the House.
But the House needed to adjourn before midnight, McCluskie told colleagues this morning, or the entire session might’ve been forced to end.
The upshot is that there is no longer any time for the legislature to do anything about the AI regulations in the next 13-odd hours of the session. That’s whipped special session rumors up again.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis did not immediately respond to a question this morning about the specter of a special session.
When floor work finally got underway in the House, the chamber fully passed House Bill 1259, which would enshrine in vitro fertilization, or IVF, protections in state law and also would make a more contentious change to the state’s sperm bank regulations.
The House is also set to fully pass:
- House Bill 1192, which would require high school students to complete a financial literacy course.
- House Bill 1295, which would make it easier to license food trucks.
- House Bill 1320, which would fund the state’s K-12 schools.
- House Bill 1220, which would require licensure for certain dieticians and nutritionists.
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