{"id":14188,"date":"2025-12-31T15:54:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T22:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-laws-taking-effect-in-2026-will-impact-everything-from-bison-to-renters\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:33:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:33:03","slug":"colorado-laws-taking-effect-in-2026-will-impact-everything-from-bison-to-renters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-laws-taking-effect-in-2026-will-impact-everything-from-bison-to-renters\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado laws taking effect in 2026 will impact everything from bison to renters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Colorado Capitol on Nov. 18, 2025, in Denver. (Jesse Paul\/Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

About 20 new Colorado laws take effect Jan. 1, doing everything from protecting wild bison to streamlining marijuana regulations.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve rounded up a few of the most notable new laws here.<\/p>\n

Right-to-repair electronics<\/div>\n

Coloradans will have more options for repairing broken cellphones, computers and other electronic devices starting Jan 1.<\/p>\n

A new law requires manufacturers, such as Samsung and Apple, to provide \u201cdocumentation, software, data and other tools\u201d to device owners and independent repair shops to help people fix their electronic equipment.<\/p>\n

The goal is to help consumers save money and get repairs done faster.<\/p>\n

The law includes some exemptions, including for video game consoles due to piracy and security concerns.<\/p>\n

Democratic state Rep. Brianna Titone of Arvada was the bill\u2019s main sponsor and says it also applies to sales between businesses and with the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will save companies a ton of money because companies will be able to hire their own in-house people if they want, or a third-party service provider to do the work of fixing their equipment,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they don\u2019t have to go have the expensive contract that the manufacturer requires them to really have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s right-to-repair law will be one of the most expansive in the country. The state already has a right-to-repair wheelchair law, and a right-to-repair agricultural equipment.<\/p>\n

Additional paid family leave for parents of kids needing neonatal care<\/div>\n

Colorado\u2019s paid family leave program, FAMLI, allows workers to receive a significant portion of their pay if they need to take up to 12 weeks off work in a given year for a serious family health or personal issue. It\u2019s a popular program that voters approved by a wide margin at the ballot.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have now expanded it for families with a baby in neonatal intensive care. Those families, under a law taking effect in 2026, can apply for an additional 12 weeks of leave.<\/p>\n

Democratic state Sen. Jeff Bridges was one of the main sponsors, and it was inspired by his own personal experience. His son was in intensive care, which he said was \u201cterrifying and consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make it easier for parents with kids in the NICU,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The measure largely passed along party lines, with opponents worried about increased costs to businesses and workers who pay into the FAMLI program.<\/p>\n

Gun show requirements<\/div>\n

Operators of gun shows in Colorado will be required starting in 2026 to submit a security plan to local law enforcement and to hold liability insurance under a new law.<\/p>\n

The plans will have to include a list of vendors, a floor plan, information on which areas are under video surveillance, and the estimated number of attendees.<\/p>\n

Gun show operators must also enforce age limits for attendees. Gun shows must also ensure that all purchases follow the state\u2019s background check requirements and the state\u2019s three-day waiting period law.<\/p>\n

Screening for renters and fee transparency for consumers<\/div>\n

Landlords will not be allowed to ask prospective tenants using a housing subsidy to submit a credit history or credit score as part of the screening process under a new law that takes effect in 2026.<\/p>\n

A separate housing bill aims to make prices for products and services more transparent for consumers. The goal is to standardize prices up front so people aren\u2019t hit by hidden fees later on. The law also restricts the kind of fees landlords can charge tenants.<\/p>\n

Protecting wild bison<\/div>\n

Colorado will now classify wild bison as big game wildlife, instead of only as livestock, which will provide added protections for the animals.<\/p>\n

The law, which takes effect in 2026, make it mostly illegal to hunt or poach wild bison, also known as buffalo.<\/p>\n

The bill was brought to the state legislature at the request of some tribal communities. The law does not apply to privately owned bison that are in captivity, or bison owned by an American Indian tribe.<\/p>\n

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the state does not have any confirmed wild bison herds, although sometimes bison from Utah\u2019s Book Cliffs herd cross into the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado has about 20 new laws taking effect on Jan. 1 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-14188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19375,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14188\/revisions\/19375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14188"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=14188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}