Gov. Jared Polis is winding down bill-signing season with a slew of new laws, including consumer-friendly rules making it easier to cancel services online and measures bolstering the state’s universal school meals program and increasing access to weight-loss drugs.
Polis has until Friday to sign or veto bills that passed during the legislative session, which ended May 7. The state’s $1.2 billion budget gap tamped down the number of bills passed this year compared to flusher financial times, but Polis was still left with hundreds to consider.
He said Tuesday that he hoped to finish bill signings before the deadline.
“For us, it’s always about reviewing each individual bill and always doing what’s right for Colorado,” Polis said at a news conference Tuesday. “That’s what I was elected to do and that’s my job as a co-equal branch of government.”
Here’s a look at some of the notable new laws signed this week:
Shoring up school meals program
The voter-approved universal school meals program has consistently landed in the red since its launch in 2023. Costs and the program’s popularity have far outpaced what backers of Proposition FF estimated when they put it before voters in 2022.
Polis on Tuesday signed two bills to shore up the program’s short-term deficit and ask voters for a long-term fix this November. House Bill 1274 sends two ballot questions to voters: one that would allow the program to keep money it collected over Proposition FF’s estimates, and a second that would further limit tax deductions for high-income households to generate money for the program.
The other law, Senate Bill 214, will help keep the program solvent through the end of the calendar year. If voters reject the proposed tax deduction limits, it will restrict the program only to schools in high-poverty areas.
In a signing statement, Polis defended the program and warned that Colorado “must be prepared” if federal food programs are cut as part of a federal budget bill working through Congress.
Wegovy, Ozempic coverage
Coloradans who get their health insurance through large-group plans will be able to buy coverage that includes anti-obesity GLP-1 medications, commonly known under the brand names of Ozempic and Wegovy, starting in 2027.
Polis signed the new law, Senate Bill 48, on Tuesday. The law, dubbed the “Diabetes Prevention and Obesity Treatment Act,” also requires large-group plans to provide coverage for medical nutrition therapy, intensive behavioral or lifestyle therapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery.
The bill was significantly scaled back from an earlier version that would have mandated coverage for anti-obesity GLP-1 medications. Removing that requirement, and avoiding the likely increase in insurance premiums it would have brought, helped win Polis’ support.
Prison inmate visitation
House Bill 1013 explicitly gives people in Department of Corrections custody the right to in-person visitation.
State prison officials can still limit in-person visits if the inmate is in solitary confinement or subject to other discipline, but the inmate must still be allowed in-person visits at least every 30 days and phone calls every five days. Officials can also limit visits based on safety or operational needs, such as disasters or altercations.
Supporters of the bill testified in February that visitation rights are vital to rehabilitation and cutting down on people reoffending.
Black history standards
The Colorado Department of Education, with the signing of House Bill 1149, will develop a standard K-12 social studies curriculum that includes Black history and cultural studies. The new requirements must be implemented as part of the state’s typical curriculum updates, the next of which is in 2028.
“Implementing a standardized Black history curriculum in our public schools ensures that students of all races and backgrounds receive a more complete education that prepares them to be informed, engaged citizens and honors the extensive contributions of Black Americans in shaping our state and nation,” Sen. Tony Exum, a Colorado Springs Democrat and bill sponsor, said in a statement.
Cancelling online subscriptions
Senate Bill 145 seeks to make it easier for Coloradans to cancel their subscriptions. Under the new law, companies that offer subscription-based services in Colorado must offer a “one-step online cancellation” to consumers here that is “simple, cost-effective, timely, easy-to-use, and readily accessible.” That applies both for regular monthly bills and for cancelling trial subscriptions.
Companies can offer cancellations in person at locations “where the consumer regularly utilizes any goods or services” that are subject to the regular charges, such as a gym.
The law goes into effect Feb. 16, 2026.
Police whistleblower protections
The product of months of pre-session negotiations, the law passed as House Bill 1031 makes it unlawful for law enforcement agencies to retaliate against an officer who serves as a whistleblower reporting misconduct within the agency.
Officers can file lawsuits alleging they were retaliated against for raising concerns about internal misconduct. Whistleblowers who are fired in retaliation can be reinstated with backpay, along with other stipulations determined by a judge.
HB-1031 was spurred by concerns raised by officers in Colorado, including one woman who reported a sergeant for sexual assault, only for her to be placed on a state list of “bad cops” in retaliation.
Security deposit returns
House Bill 1249 builds on existing law seeking to ensure renters have a fair chance at retaining their security deposits. The new law clarifies that landlords can’t keep security deposits for damage that predates a renter’s stay in an apartment or that is part of normal wear and tear. That includes replacing carpet or paint “unless there is substantial damage” that exceeds wear and tear.
Landlords or renters can request a walk-through of the unit to document any problems. Landlords are also required to provide photos and estimates for repairs.
Audits, lease terminations
Polis signed nearly three dozen more bills into law Wednesday, his office announced late in the day. They included Senate Bill 306, which requires performance audits of the state’s unemployment insurance and air pollution programs. That bill was something of a tug-of-war between business interests and more progressive groups, with the rope’s flag ending up roughly in the middle.
Polis also signed House Bill 1108, which states that rental lease agreements can’t require penalties for an early lease termination if that termination is caused by a tenant’s death.
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