Colorado LegiSource

An informational and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.

Category: Bill Drafting

How to Keep Up with a Changing Bill
Editor’s Note: This article was originally written by Julie Pelegrin and Patti Dahlberg and published on February 6, 2020. The article has been edited where appropriate.

You’re running late, you’re trying to get a handle on the bills they just called up on special orders, and there are seven bills on your committee calendar for this afternoon. When you need to quickly remind yourself of what’s in a bill, you will be tempted to just check the summary that appears on the first page of the bill. But, unless the bill is in the first committee in the first house, you must resist this temptation. That’s not to say the bill summary printed on a bill can’t be helpful. While the bill summary may not tell you all you need to know, it does provide a quick overview of what the bill is doing when it’s introduced. But beware: If the bill has already passed out of a committee in the first house, it may have been amended by that committee, and those amendments will not appear in the bill summary. In this situation, there may be other options you can turn to.

Bill Summaries on Introduced Bills

Rule No. 29 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives requires that every bill and concurrent resolution must include a brief summary written by the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS). These summaries attempt to describe in plain language what the introduced version of the bill or concurrent resolution will accomplish if passed.

The OLLS aims to write bill summaries that are brief (relative to the size and scope of the bill) and provide a succinct, clear, and accurate synopsis of the major points of the bill in a format that’s easier to read and, hopefully, understand than the actual language in the bill. Drafters try to avoid using legalistic and technical words in the bill summary, but sometimes using legal terms is necessary to avoid confusion or a misleading summary.

Bill summaries take many forms and may include:
- A description of how the bill will change existing statutes and, if useful in understanding those changes, an explanation of existing law and the legal context of the changes;
- An explanation of the substance of a repealed statute if necessary to understanding the bill;
- A structure that presents the statutory changes in a logical order, usually the order of importance, and may group related changes together; and
- If the bill is recommended by an interim or statutory committee, the name of the committee in bold at the beginning of the summary.
Preamended and Other Bill Versions

On paper and electronic copies of bills, all bill summaries start with this note:

Each bill also has its own page on the General Assembly’s website, which includes the bill summary. There is a note at the end of this summary that specifies which version of the bill the summary applies to. For example, (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

If a bill is amended in a committee or on second or third reading, the bill summary that’s printed on the bill or that appears on an electronic copy of the bill does not change. This is true whether the amendment occurs in the house of introduction or the second house. So how can you quickly see how a bill may have changed?

Each bill’s webpage includes links to the text of the official versions of the bill and links to what are called “preamended versions.” These are unofficial versions of the bill that show amendments adopted by a committee as they appear in the text of the bill. The changes made by a House committee are shaded; the changes made by a Senate committee are double-underlined. If you open the unofficial preamended bill, you can easily scroll through it to see any changed language. These changes, combined with the original bill summary, will help you quickly come up to speed on the bill before it’s heard in another committee or on second reading.

Once the bill passes second reading, all of the adopted amendments are enrolled into the bill. At that point, you should read the engrossed bill – also available on the bill page. But note: The printed and the electronic version of the bill summary is still not changed. The same is true of the reengrossed version of the bill, created after the bill passes on third reading in the first house. As with the preamended versions, changes made by the House are shaded; changes made by the Senate are double-underlined.

Updated Bill Summaries – Available Only Online

So, is the bill summary ever updated? Yes—but never on the bill itself.

If a bill is significantly amended in the first house, and the original bill summary no longer accurately describes the bill, the bill drafter updates the bill summary when the bill is introduced in the second house. The updated bill summary is posted on the bill’s webpage, but it does not appear on the paper or electronic copy of the bill itself. To make the changes in the updated bill summary readily apparent, new language appears in italics and deleted language appears in strike type. Also, once the bill is introduced in the second house, the note at the bottom of the online bill summary will read: (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.).

Before considering a bill in the second house, you should check the summary on the bill’s webpage to see how the first house changed the bill. If the online bill summary does not show any language in italics or strike type, then the first house did not significantly amend the bill.

Final Bill Summary

After the legislative session ends, the bill drafters prepare a final summary (with no editing marks) for each bill that the General Assembly enacts. The final summary is posted to the bill’s webpage with this note: (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) The OLLS also collects these final bill summaries and annually publishes them in paper copy and online as the digest of bills for each legislative session.
March 24, 2025
Back to the Basics: Bill Sponsorship Overview
Editor’s Note: This article was originally written by Jennifer Gilroy, Michael Dohr, and Jessica Chapman and published on December 15, 2022. The article has been edited and updated.

by Alana Rosen

Bill drafting season is well underway at the Office of Legislative Legal Services, which means now is probably a good time to review some of the basics of bill sponsorship.

Prime Sponsorship Basics

Prime Sponsorship – First Chamber. The legislator who introduces and carries a bill is called the prime sponsor of the bill. Bills cannot be introduced without a prime sponsor. In both the House and the Senate, the prime sponsor (and joint prime sponsor if there is one) is responsible for explaining the bill in committee and in debate on the House or Senate floor. A prime sponsor also typically arranges for witnesses to testify in favor of the bill in committee.

A legislator can be the first prime sponsor or joint prime sponsor for only five bills, unless the legislator has special permission from the Committee on Delayed Bills (also known as leadership) to carry more. But a legislator can agree to be the prime sponsor or joint prime sponsor of a bill in the second chamber on as many bills as the legislator wants.

Prime Sponsorship – Second Chamber. The prime sponsor in the first chamber (also known as the house of introduction) is responsible for asking a legislator in the second (or opposite) chamber to carry the bill in the second chamber. The prime sponsor in the first chamber does not have to identify a prime sponsor in the second chamber before the bill is introduced in the first chamber, but the bill must have a prime sponsor in the second chamber before the bill can be heard on third reading in the first chamber.

Before a bill can move to the second chamber, the prime sponsor in the second chamber must inform the House Chief Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate of that legislator’s intent to serve as the prime sponsor in the second chamber. Prime sponsors’ names in both chambers are listed on the bill in bold text.

Joint Prime Sponsorship Basics

Joint Prime Sponsorship. When two legislators in one chamber want to carry a bill together, they are referred to as joint prime sponsors. A bill that has joint prime sponsors in one chamber may or may not have joint prime sponsors in the other chamber. The rules for joint prime sponsorship are similar for the House (House Rule 27A(b)) and the Senate (Senate Rule 24A(b)).

For legislators who joint prime sponsor a bill in the first chamber, the joint prime sponsorship counts against both legislators’ five-bill limit. Both joint prime sponsors must verify their desire to be joint prime sponsors. A legislator cannot be added as a joint prime sponsor in the first chamber if that legislator has already submitted five bill requests, unless that legislator has received permission from leadership. The prime sponsor in the first chamber must notify the House Chief Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, as appropriate, of any changes in bill sponsorship so that the changes are reflected in subsequent versions of the bill.

Joint prime sponsorship does not count against the five-bill limit for either legislator in the second chamber. Again, both joint prime sponsors must verify their desire to be joint prime sponsors.

Joint prime sponsors are typically determined prior to the bill’s introduction. However, in limited circumstances, joint prime sponsors may be added or changed after introduction immediately after second reading but prior to adoption of the bill on third reading. The House and Senate front desk staff can help with this process.

Sponsorship and Co-sponsorship Basics

Sponsorship and Co-sponsorship. When legislators want to show support for a bill, but not take on the responsibility of actually carrying the bill, they may sign on as sponsors or co-sponsors of the bill. If a legislator adds their name to a bill before it is introduced, the legislator is a sponsor of the bill. If a legislator adds their name to a bill after it is introduced, the legislator is referred to as a co-sponsor. Co-sponsors are added immediately following adoption of a bill on third reading. Sponsorship or co-sponsorship does not count against the legislator’s five-bill limit.

Bill Sponsor FAQs:
1. How do I add sponsors to my bill before it is introduced?
You may add prime sponsors, joint prime sponsors, and sponsors in two ways if the bill is still in the Office’s possession:
- Before your bill is introduced, you, the bill sponsor, may notify the drafter in person, by phone, or by email that you would like to add a legislator as a prime sponsor, joint prime sponsor, or sponsor to your bill. To add a prime sponsor or joint prime sponsor, the drafter will need permission from both you and the legislator who will be added as the prime sponsor or joint prime sponsor. This process is referred to as “sponsorship verification”. Please remember that if the joint prime sponsor in the first chamber has already requested or introduced five bills, that joint prime sponsor must obtain delayed bill permission from the appropriate Committee on Delayed Bills. To add a sponsor, the drafter will need permission only from the legislator being added as a sponsor. Please give your drafter ample time to verify prime sponsorship, joint prime sponsorship, or sponsorship before the bill is scheduled to be filed for introduction.
- Before your bill is introduced, you can also invite other legislators to sponsor your bill via the Electronic Sponsorship feature in iLegislate. Electronic Sponsorship operates similarly to an Evite: You may invite legislators to sponsor your bills and you may share draft files with them. Those legislators may choose whether they want to be a sponsor on your bill.
Once your bill is delivered by the Office to your chamber’s front desk, the Office cannot add any more sponsors. In special circumstances, the House or Senate front desk staff may be able to add sponsors before a bill is printed, but you must contact your chamber’s front desk staff to see if this special circumstance exists.

The Office will deliver your prefile bill (your first bill to be introduced) directly to the House or Senate front desk because that bill must be ready for introduction on the first day of session. The Office will deliver your other bills to the front desk or to you, as you direct. Do not contact the Office to add sponsors after your bill has been delivered to the front desk or to you. Once a bill is delivered, all sponsor additions or changes must go through House or Senate staff.

2. How do I add sponsors to my bill after it is delivered for introduction?

If you direct the drafter to deliver your bill (other than your prefile bill) to you personally and not your chamber’s front desk, Office staff will give the bill to the sergeants who will then deliver it to you. If the bill is delivered to you prior to its introduction deadline you can show it to other legislators and have them sign the sponsor form attached to the bill or go through iLegislate. The bill delivered to you will include a sponsor form stapled to a heavier sheet of green paper (if you’re a Representative) or cream-colored paper (if you’re a Senator). This is called a bill back. Please do not separate the bill from the bill back and sponsor form.

After you give the bill back (and attachments) to the House or Senate front desk staff, the House or Senate front desk staff will review the sponsor form and add the names of those legislators who have signed the form indicating their desire to be sponsors of your bill. These sponsor names will appear on the introduced version of the bill. Sponsors cannot be added to your bill after the House or Senate front desk staff have submitted it for printing. After your bill has been introduced, however, other legislators may add their names as co-sponsors following passage of your bill on third reading.

Feel free to contact the Office staff, your drafters, or the House and Senate front desks with any questions regarding bill sponsorship. You may contact Office staff to inquire about sponsorship prior to the delivery of your bill to the House or Senate for introduction, at (303) 866-2045 or olls.ga@coleg.gov. Once your bill has been delivered for introduction, you may contact the House or Senate front desk staff with your sponsorship questions.
December 5, 2024
Changes to the Safety Clause: What’s Old is New Again

by Conrad Imel and Pierce Lively

You might be familiar with the “safety clause” that is included at the end of some bills, but that clause now looks a little different. To better reflect the language in the Colorado Constitution, for all bills going forward the safety clause will be:

“The general assembly finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state institutions.” (New language in bold.)

In this article, we will explain a little background about the safety clause and why the Office of Legislative Legal Services decided to make this technical change.

The language of the safety clause derives from the stated exception to the referendum power described in article V, section 1 of the Colorado Constitution. At the general election held in 1910, Colorado voters adopted an amendment to the constitution to give the people the authority to make laws through the powers of initiative and referendum (for more information about both the initiative and referendum powers, check out this LegiSource article). The referendum power as set forth in article V, section 1 (3) reads as follows:

“(3) The second power hereby reserved is the referendum, and it may be ordered, except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, and appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of state and state institutions, against any act or item, section, or part of any act of the general assembly, either by a petition signed by registered electors in an amount equal to at least five percent of the total number of votes cast for all candidates for the office of the secretary of state at the previous general election or by the general assembly. [. . .].”

What this means is that the people of Colorado may rescind all or part of an act passed by the General Assembly. By collecting and submitting signatures to the Secretary of State, an individual may place all or part of an act on the ballot for voter approval or disapproval. There is an exception, however, to this power: if the act is necessary 1) for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety; or 2) for appropriations to support a state agency or institution. The General Assembly invokes the exception by including a “safety clause” at the end of the act.

The very first bill enacted with a safety clause, House Bill 348 adopted in 1913, referenced both types of laws excepted from the referendum power: “In the opinion of the General Assembly this act is necessary for the support and maintenance of the department of State and state institutions and it is hereby declared to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety.” Initially, the General Assembly used inconsistent safety clause language, but for the past 75 years or so, the safety clause has only included the language related to the act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.

Which brings us to today. Prompted by discussions among Office of Legislative Legal Services staff, the Joint Budget Committee and Joint Budget Committee staff, the Office of Legislative Legal Services has decided to update the safety clause to reflect both types of acts excepted from the referendum power: preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or appropriations to support a state agency or institution. This change does not alter the standard for when a safety clause may be included on a bill; it merely makes the safety clause better reflect the language in the constitution. It remains within the General Assembly’s discretion to invoke an exception to the referendum power by including a safety clause.

Office of Legislative Legal Services staff has updated existing bill drafts that include a safety clause, including interim committee bill drafts, with the updated language. We hope this article helps legislators and the public understand the updated safety clause that they’ll start seeing on bills.

November 30, 2023
What Does Your Drafter Need to Know to Start Drafting?
by Jery Payne and Patti Dahlberg

It was a great stakeholder meeting. The stakeholders arrived prepared and ready to negotiate. The discussion was respectful, weighing the pros and cons of the policy alternatives. Because the discussion was good and the meeting was ebbing, I looked forward to the legislator and stakeholders settling on a policy. So you can imagine my surprise when the legislator looked over to me and said, “Do you have everything you need to draft this legislation?”

After I cleaned up the coffee, I replied, “Well, I think you have a few decisions to make.”[1]

What Are the Basics?

So what does your drafter need to know to begin drafting your bill? The answer is, “It depends!”

Helpful? Yep, that’s so helpful. If you’re not convinced, here are a few guidelines to help fill in the necessary details:
- What problem are you trying to solve or address?
  - Is it a lack of access to a government service? Is someone defrauding the state or businesses? Is it an exploitative business practice? Is it a lack of habitat for wildlife?
- What is the proposed solution?
  - Is it a grant program? Is it creating an exemption to a current prohibition? Is it a prohibition of a business practice?
- What are the conditions that make the statute apply?
  - Who is eligible for the grant? How do you define the prohibited business practice?
- How does the state know whether these conditions apply?
  - If a grant recipient needs to be low income, how will the agency verify the low income status? If a business is prohibited from vertical integration, how will the state identify that the business is vertically integrating? Should the state require a type of business to be licensed? Or should the state authorize law enforcement to investigate complaints?
- What happens when the policy isn’t followed?
  - What if a business decides to keep doing the exploitative business practice? Will the state fine the scofflaws? Will the state throw them in jail? Maybe the state will deny them a license? What happens if the grant money isn’t spent appropriately?
- If you are working with stakeholders on the bill, the drafter will need to know who has drafting authority and who is authorized to give and receive information on the bill.
- A promissory note to give the drafter a bottle of the drafter’s favorite beverage if you fail to provide this information… I suppose this isn’t absolutely necessary. … Okay, my editor is telling me to cut it out—I was just kidding anyway.
Now where was I? Oh yeah:

If you don’t have all these details figured out, it’s okay to give the drafter what you do have and then talk with your drafter to work out the rest. By the way, this is one of the reasons why submitting the bill request a bit earlier is a good idea: It gives you time to have these discussions with the drafter.

Other Helpful Information to Tell Your Drafter

In addition to these basic requirements, let your drafter know about any of the following:
- Are there any no-go zones? In other words, should the bill avoid entangling with any other issues?
- Background information is helpful, but your drafter doesn’t need all the political information, such as a list of the organizations who will support the policy or your argument for why it is good policy.
- If your bill is based on an act from another state or if it is based on another Colorado statute, share that with the drafter.
The drafter usually discovers additional decision points while they are drafting the bill. A great example is when your policy conflicts with something in current statutes. Your drafter will contact you to discuss these issues.

Procedural Questions You’ll Need to Answer Before Introduction

Before your bill is introduced, procedural questions need answers, such as:
Is it okay to release the bill for fiscal note analysis?

If the bill contains reporting requirements, should they expire in three years?

Do you prefer a safety clause or a petition clause? The default is a petition clause.

Do you want your bill to take effect on a specific date?
For more detailed information on these questions and potential answers, see How Would You Like Your Bill? Questions a Bill Sponsor Must Decide.

[1] Although this precise scenario hasn’t happened to me yet, I’ve been in many meetings that aren’t far from this scenario in different ways.
October 19, 2023
Concerning bill titles, and, in connection therewith, explaining everything you need to know about the single-subject and original purpose rules.

by Megan McCall

“And the coat rule is relaxed.” “The ayes have it and journal from the previous day is adopted.” “Does it fit under the bill title?” These are all frequently uttered phrases under the Dome, although the last might not be spoken with the same enthusiasm as the first two. The question of whether a matter fits under a bill title has undoubtedly come up a time or two for you during session and probably in a variety of contexts. It might have been a conversation with a bill drafter in the initial drafting of your bill, or perhaps the question has arisen in relation to evaluating an amendment request with a lobbyist or with another member of the General Assembly.

Section 21 of article V of the Colorado Constitution states that “No bill, except general appropriations bills, shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title….” Many of your counterparts in other states also have to comply with their state’s single-subject rule, although notably Congress does not. The Colorado courts have specifically identified the desire to prevent “log-rolling” as a core tenet to the single-subject rule, meaning the rule is intended to prevent several unrelated measures that may not pass individually be joined together in order to garner a majority of votes for the combined measure. Courts have also identified an intention to prevent public surprise as another primary purpose for the rule. A bill’s title should sufficiently put the public on notice as to the contents of the legislation.

To comply with the nuances of the single-subject rule, bill titles may be drafted broadly or narrowly, and the compliance with the rule is a primary consideration for your drafter in the bill’s initial drafting stages. It is the custom of the OLLS to draft narrow or “tight” bill titles unless otherwise instructed by the bill’s sponsor. Sometimes a narrow bill title, however, is not possible based on the content a bill sponsor wants to cover in the bill. The Colorado Supreme Court consistently has held that generality in a title is not objectionable, and the Constitutional requirements are met if the matters contained in the bill are germane to the subject of the title. Thus a general, or a broad, bill title that describes the general subject matter of the bill should withstand scrutiny as long as the substance of the bill is germane to that title.

A bill with a broad title may include what is called a “trailer,” which is a way of providing additional information to the reader as to its specific contents. This trailer will list and describe the varying components of the bill. Trailers can be lengthy and although they are in bold font just like the bill title, they are not the title of the bill for purposes of the single-subject analysis. If a bill has a trailer, the best way to keep track of the bill title is to remember that the title is everything after the first word “Concerning” and before the phrase “…, and, in connection therewith,”.

Keeping a handle on the title of a bill is important as it is moving its way through the legislative process and amendments are offered to the bill, whether it is to your own bill or the bill of another member. This is in light of an ancillary constitutional provision in section 17 of article V that states that “No bill shall be so altered or amended on its passage through either house as to change its original purpose.” Meaning, just as the contents of an introduced bill must relate to the single-subject of the bill as evidenced in the title, so too must any amendments offered to the bill. Once a bill is introduced, the bill title cannot be amended to be made broader, as that would suggest the original purpose is being changed, or perhaps, that there is now more than one subject. A bill title can be amended to narrow its scope (although if narrowed, it can later be amended again to revert back to the original title). Bill trailers can always be amended, and frequently are, to add, revise, or remove specific descriptions of provisions impacted by the substance of amendments.

The drafter of a bill may advise a member that an amendment request may raise a title issue, meaning the substance of the amendment may not fit under the bill’s title. An amendment that falls outside the bill’s title may be challenged, and the question is ultimately decided by the chair of the committee of reference or of the committee of the whole, depending on when the amendment is offered, and is in the chair’s sole discretion.

Courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to a bill’s compliance with the single-subject rule, but courts will generally defer to the judgment of the General Assembly when passing the bill. If the court finds a violation, only the portion of the bill that does not fit within the bill title will be held invalid. Additionally, the General Assembly passes a bill every regular session to enact the Colorado Revised Statutes, republished with all changes passed by bill in the preceding session, which has the effect of curing any title defects that may have existed within any bills passed in the prior session. Accordingly, single subjects are infrequently challenged.

For more information on bill titles and the single-subject rule, see the OLLS memo concerning bill titles.

March 16, 2023
The OLLS Hereby Finds and Declares That You Should Read This Article

by Asia Merrill

Drafters of statute have the difficult task of turning complicated ideas into plain and clear legislation. They work closely with legislators to translate the legislators’ ideas into laws that avoid the need for complex interpretation. The intent of the General Assembly must be as clear as possible so that the law can be administered or followed in the manner that the General Assembly intends. If a statute is interpreted by the Colorado courts, then between precedent and the statute itself, everyone should receive a just and consistent interpretation. Despite this, when several interpretations of a law do arise, lawyers and judges may turn to legislative declarations and statements of intent if they are included in the bill that enacted the law in dispute to help interpret the statute.

Most of the time when legislators decide to include a legislative declaration or a legislative statement of intent, they choose legislative declarations. Per the Colorado Legislative Drafting Manual, legislative declarations are a formal announcement about a bill. They can establish a philosophical reason behind the new statute or deliver context or history regarding the fiscal or social issue driving the law. In general, they encapsulate the “why” and sometimes the “how” of the proposed legislation. Legislative declarations may also provide data and findings by the General Assembly to support the legislature’s claims and associated actions.

Legislators may choose between nonstatutory or statutory legislative declarations. Both hold the same legal weight, but each serves a different organizational purpose. Usually, if a bill creates a new entire part or article or it only creates a new section, a statutory legislative declaration is the obvious choice. It’s a way to attach the declaration to the language itself in the statute books, where attorneys and citizencan most easily access it. If a drafter creates or amends multiple areas of statute, however, a nonstatutory legislative declaration most effectively gives context to the language without repeating the declaration in each new or amended section. Nonstatutory legislative declarations are only shown in the Session Laws, but they are cross-referenced in editor’s notes after a statute in the Colorado Revised Statutes.

Legislators will also use a statement of legislative intent, which describes the intended purpose and desired effect of a bill. In general, legislative intents focus on what the outcome of the bill should be. Statements of intent should never be necessary to understand the desired outcome of the statute and should only supplement the bill. A relatively simple example of a statement of legislative intent is section 6-1-401, C.R.S., which establishes that the entire part is intended to:

[Assure] that assistive technology [is] provided to persons with disabilities, is of quality, and is covered by adequate warranties to maintain their assistive technology in proper working condition; to assure availability of appropriate loaner replacement assistive technology while their own is being repaired; and to encourage manufacturers and dealers to cooperatively pool assistive technology resources for loaner purposes to assure availability without an undue burden.

While short and sweet, the statement acts to announce the people the law is intended to serve and simply establishes the desired outcome.

Legislators should use neither declarations nor statements of intent to simply garner support for a bill, although that certainly seems to happen from time to time. On the other hand, legislators should exercise caution when putting too much weight into a legislative declaration or a legislative statement of intent, lest the underlying statute may fail to address the problems they are trying to solve. It goes without saying that a legislator, and in turn, a drafter, should never use a legislative declaration to replace clear, concise statute.

March 2, 2023
Santa Claus, Safety Clause, or Petition Clause?

by Julie Pelegrin

‘Tis the season. Children are working on their letters to Santa; legislators are working on their bills, diligently meeting with drafters, lobbyists, and stakeholders, trying to craft effective policy to address the state’s issues. Once the policy is worked out, a legislator may figure, “That’s it; all done drafting. Finally I can get that holiday baking done!” But wait – the bill drafter will be pestering legislators with one last question: “Do you want a safety clause or an act-subject-to-petition clause on your bill?”

Here’s a little background information to use in making this important decision.

When first approved in 1876, the Colorado Constitution placed the legislative power of the state solely in the hands of the elected members of the Colorado House and Senate. And that’s where it stayed for almost 35 years. But by the early twentieth century, many people had become disillusioned with government; they no longer trusted elected officials to act solely in the public interest. The progressive movement arose, and the people started demanding a role for themselves in making the laws. They wanted to put the “demo” back in democracy. At the general election held in 1910, Colorado voters adopted an amendment to the Colorado Constitution—placed on the ballot by the General Assembly—that put the power to make laws directly in the hands of the people through the twin powers of initiative and referendum.

Using the power of initiative, any individual may propose a change to the constitution or to statute by collecting and submitting to the Secretary of State a sufficient number of signatures on a petition. To place an initiative on the 2022 ballot, an individual must collect at least 124,632 signatures (5% of the total number of votes cast for the office of Secretary of State in the previous general election). The initiative is a positive power, empowering the people to create, change, or repeal law.

In contrast, the referendum power is a negative power, empowering the people only to rescind all or part of an act passed by the General Assembly. By collecting the same number of signatures required for an initiative and submitting those signatures to the Secretary of State, an individual may place all or part of an act on the ballot for the electorate’s approval or disapproval. But the time for rescinding an act is limited; the signatures must be filed with the Secretary of State within 90 days after the end of the legislative session in which the General Assembly passes the act.

There are two exceptions to the power of referendum. The people cannot refer an act to the ballot if: 1) The act is “necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety”; or 2) the act is an appropriation to support a state agency or institution. Deciding whether an act is an appropriation is relatively straightforward. If all it does is appropriate money, and it does not enact any actual changes to the law, it is likely an appropriation and therefore not subject to the referendum power. But who decides whether an act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety?

The General Assembly does by including what’s called a “safety clause” at the end of the act: “The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.”

The Colorado courts have held that the General Assembly alone is authorized to determine whether that declaration is appropriately included in an act. While legislators may certainly debate whether to use a safety clause in a bill, once the General Assembly decides that question, the decision stands; the court will not overturn it. In Van Kleeck v. Ramer in 1916, the Colorado Supreme Court held that, in deciding whether an act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, the General Assembly “exercises a constitutional power exclusively vested in it, and hence, such declaration is conclusive upon the courts in so far as it abridges the right to invoke the referendum.”

Deciding whether to include a safety clause in a bill is often a matter of timing. If an act is subject to the power of referendum, because it does not include a safety clause, that act cannot take effect for at least 90 days after the end of the legislative session in which it is passed. As previously explained, a citizen has 90 days after the session ends to collect enough signatures to place the act on the ballot. During that time, rather than risk implementing a law that the voters may reverse, the act is held in limbo; it cannot take effect until the time for collecting signatures expires. And if someone does collect enough signatures to put the act on the ballot, it cannot take effect until the Governor declares the vote after the next general election. General elections occur only in even-numbered years, so if an act passes in a legislative session held in an odd-numbered year and is referred to the ballot by petition, the act won’t take effect—if it even takes effect—until roughly 18 months after the end of the legislative session.

The last act referred to the ballot was Senate Bill 19-042, which addressed an agreement among the states to elect the President of the United States by national popular vote. The General Assembly passed the act February 22, 2019, the Governor signed it March 15, 2019, but, because it was referred to the ballot, it did not take effect until December 31, 2020.

In contrast, an act that passes with a safety clause may take effect as soon as the Governor either signs it or allows it to become law without signature.

So if the bill sponsor thinks the bill makes a necessary policy change, and it’s important that the change take effect sooner than 90 days after the end of the legislative session, the bill will need a safety clause.

December 16, 2021
Covid or No Covid – Bill Request Deadlines Are Quickly Approaching!
by Patti Dahlberg

The 2020 election is finally in the rear view mirror and the first bill request deadlines are just ahead! One might think that returning and newly elected legislators would have a little time to take a breath and relax a bit before gearing up for the 2021 legislative session. Unfortunately, the constitution, legislative rules, and a looming 120-day legislative session don’t allow for much relaxation, and they don’t care about Covid.

And what a year of Covid it has been and continues to be. The state has been under a declared statewide public health disaster emergency since last March, and the 2020 legislative session recessed for two months then reconvened in late May. A huge number of bills were left on the side of the road in order to streamline the legislative process and balance the state’s budget before the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year. The General Assembly did tie up its business in 84 days but didn’t adjourn until June 15, making 2020 the longest, shortest, and strangest session in recent memory. These events also made the 2020 legislative interim one of the shortest in recent history. In any case it’s all behind us now, and it’s time to look forward, where the upcoming bill deadlines require legislators to complete the bulk of their bill drafting in December before the first day of the legislative session.

Returning legislators have until Tuesday, December 1, 2020, to submit their first three bill requests to the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS).* A legislator is considered “returning” if the legislator served in the 72^nd General Assembly, even if the legislator previously served as a representative and will be serving as a senator in the 73^rd General Assembly.

Newly elected legislators have a little extra time — but not much — to get their session legs. They must submit their first three bill requests to the OLLS by Tuesday, December 15, 2020.*

What all legislators need to know about requesting bills [Joint Rule 24(b)(1)(A)]:
- The Joint Rules allow each legislator five bill requests each session. These five bill requests are in addition to any appropriation, committee-approved, or sunset bill requests that a legislator may choose to carry.*
- To reach the five-bill-request limit within the bill request deadlines, legislators must submit at least three bill requests to the OLLS by the December deadlines. Legislators must submit the last two requests by January 19, 2021 (but see below).
- If a legislator submits fewer than three requests on or before the December deadline, he or she forfeits the other one or two requests that are due by that date.*
The first bill request deadline is still about 10 days away, so some may feel there is still plenty of time. But if a legislator waits until December to submit the first three bill requests, the legislator will almost immediately need to provide sufficient drafting information so that the drafters can draft all three of the bills quickly. The legislator will also have to very quickly decide which of these requests will become his or her “prefile bill”, which needs to be filed for introduction before the beginning of session. And for newly elected members – although the legislative rules allow them more time to request their first three bills than a returning legislator – these rules do not actually allow a new legislator additional time to have his or her bills drafted. Newly elected members have less time for drafting bills if they wait until the December 15 bill request deadline to submit their requests.

If possible, every legislator — even the new ones — should try to submit at least one bill request ASAP. This bill request may address any subject matter and does not need to be completely conceptualized. The bill drafter will help you figure out how to word your bill, and the bill drafting process allows for potential issues or problems to rise to the surface, making it easier for the legislator to decide whether the idea is “workable.” If it becomes apparent that a request isn’t needed or is unworkable, the legislator can withdraw and replace it with a new request, as long as he or she makes that decision on or before the December 1 deadline for returning members or the December 15 deadline for new members. By submitting bill requests and draft information as soon as possible, legislators give drafters more time to work on their drafts. It will make it easier to determine duplicate bill requests and work out any drafting kinks before the first day of session — Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

Legislators should also consider submitting more than three requests by the December deadlines. By doing so, a legislator preserves the flexibility to withdraw and replace at least one of his or her requests after the December deadline without losing a request. If a legislator submits only the three-request minimum by the December deadline and later withdraws one of those requests, the legislator forfeits the withdrawn bill request because the rules allow a legislator to submit only two bill requests after the December deadline and before the January deadline.* On the other hand, if a legislator submits four bill requests by the December deadline and later withdraws one of those requests, the legislator is left with three bill requests that meet the early request deadline plus the legislator can submit the two requests that are allowed after the early bill request deadline — for a total of five bill requests.

Upcoming deadlines: Too many to remember and too important to forget. Bill request and bill introduction deadlines are listed below. Deadlines applying only to House bills are in green, deadlines applying only to Senate bills are in red, and deadlines applying to both the House and Senate are in blue. Click here for a link to House and Senate bill drafting, finalization, and introduction deadlines. The listed OLLS internal deadlines are designed to help move bill requests through the drafting process in a timely manner and to allow sufficient time for editing and review in order to provide a higher-quality work product and assure the timely introduction of bills. Paper copies of these tables are available in the OLLS Front Office, Room 091 of the Capitol.

It is important to note for the upcoming session that the deadlines that arise after January 13, 2020, may be delayed. Normally, when the General Assembly convenes, that first day and every calendar day thereafter counts against the constitutional 120-day limit on the length of the regular legislative session. But so long as the statewide public health disaster emergency declaration remains in place, only those days on which at least one of the houses convenes will count as a legislative day. All of the deadlines during the legislative session are based on the numbered legislative days, so days on which neither house convenes—such as a Saturday or Sunday—won’t count. And if, like last session, the houses temporarily adjourn, any deadlines that have not yet passed at the time of adjournment will be delayed until the houses reconvene and the legislative days start counting again.

December deadlines:*

December 1. The last day for returning legislators to request their first three (or early) bill requests. After December 1 these legislators will only be allowed two additional bill requests (and only if they are under the five-bill limit). December 15. The last day for newly elected legislators to request their first three (or early) bill requests. After December 15 these legislators will only be allowed two additional bill requests (and only if they are under the five-bill limit).

Upcoming filing and introduction deadlines (assuming a 120 calendar day session):*

January 8. Deadline to file prefile bills with House and Senate front desks.
January 15. Deadline to file Senate early bills with the Senate front desk.
January 19. Deadline to request last two bills (regular bills) if a legislator is under the five-bill limit.
January 19. Deadline to file House early bills with the House front desk.
January 29. Deadline to file Senate regular bills with the Senate front desk.
February 3. Deadline to file House regular bills with the House front desk.

* A legislator may ask permission from the House or Senate Committee on Delayed Bills, whichever is appropriate, to submit additional bill requests or to waive a bill request deadline.
November 19, 2020
How to Keep Up With a Changing Bill
by Patti Dahlberg and Julie Pelegrin

You’re running late, you’re trying to get a handle on the bills they just called up on special orders, and there are seven bills on your committee calendar for this afternoon. When you need to quickly remind yourself of what’s in a bill, you will be tempted to just check the summary that appears on the first page of the bill. But, unless the bill is in the first committee in the first house, you must resist this temptation. That’s not to say the bill summary printed on a bill can’t be helpful. While the bill summary may not tell you all you need to know, it does provide a quick overview of what the bill is doing when it’s introduced. But beware, if the bill has already passed out of a committee in the first house, it may have been amended by that committee, and those amendments will not appear in the bill summary. In this situation, there may be other options you can turn to.

Bill Summaries

Rule No. 29 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives requires that every bill and concurrent resolution must include a brief summary written by the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS). These summaries attempt to describe in plain language what the introduced version of the bill or concurrent resolution will accomplish if passed.

The OLLS aims to write bill summaries that are brief (relative to the size and scope of the bill) and provide a succinct, clear, and accurate synopsis of the major points of the bill in a format that’s easier to read and, hopefully, understand than the actual language in the bill. Drafters try to avoid using legalistic and technical words in the bill summary, but sometimes using legal terms is necessary to avoid confusion or a misleading summary.

Bill summaries take many forms and may include:
- A description of how the bill will change existing statutes and, if useful in understanding those changes, an explanation of existing law and the legal context of the changes;
- An explanation of the substance of a repealed statute if necessary to understanding the bill;
- A structure that presents the statutory changes in a logical order, usually the order of importance, and may group related changes together; and
- If the bill is recommended by an interim or statutory committee, the name of the committee in bold at the beginning of the summary.
Preamended Versions

On paper and electronic copies of bills, all bill summaries start with this note:

Each bill also has its own page on the General Assembly’s website, which includes the bill summary. There is a note at the end of this summary that specifies which version of the bill the summary applies to. For example, (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

If a bill is amended in a committee or on second or third reading, the bill summary that’s printed on the bill or that appears on an electronic copy of the bill does not change. This is true whether the amendment occurs in the house of introduction or the second house. So how can you quickly see how a bill may have changed?

Each bill’s webpage includes links to the text of the official versions of the bill and links to what are called “preamended versions.” These are unofficial versions of the bill that show amendments adopted by a committee as they appear in the text of the bill. The changes made by a House committee are shaded; the changes made by a Senate committee are double-underlined. If you open the unofficial preamended bill, you can easily scroll through it to see changed language. These changes, combined with the original bill summary, will help you quickly come up to speed on the bill before it’s heard in another committee or on second reading.

Once the bill passes second reading, all of the adopted amendments are enrolled into the bill. At that point, you should read the engrossed bill – also available on the bill page. But note: The printed and the electronic version of the bill summary is still not changed. The same is true of the reengrossed version of the bill, created after the bill passes on third reading in the first house. As with the preamended versions, changes made by the House are shaded; changes made by the Senate are double-underlined.

Updated Bill Summaries Online

So, is the bill summary ever updated? Yes—but never on the bill itself.

If a bill is significantly amended in the first house, and the original bill summary no longer accurately describes the bill, the bill drafter updates the bill summary when the bill is introduced in the second house. The updated bill summary is posted on the bill’s webpage, but it does not appear on the paper or electronic copy of the bill itself. To make the changes in the updated bill summary readily apparent, new language appears in italics and deleted language appears in strike type. Also, once the bill is introduced in the second house, the note at the bottom of the online bill summary will read: (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.).

Before considering a bill in the second house, you should check the summary on the bill’s webpage to see how the first house changed the bill. If the online bill summary does not show any language in italics or strike type, then the first house did not significantly amend the bill.

Final Bill Summary

After the legislative session ends, the bill drafters prepare a final summary for each bill that the General Assembly enacts. The final summary is posted to the bill’s webpage with this note: (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) The OLLS also collects these final bill summaries and annually publishes them in paper copy and online as the digest of bills for each legislative session.
February 6, 2020
Do You Really Need to Say “But Not Limited To”?
by Jery Payne

Many of the residents of the town of Bow Mar were mad. They were mad at the town’s trustees, who had raised taxes to bury electric and telephone cables. To do this, the trustees had used a statute to create a special district. The citizens got lawyered up and sued the trustees. Among other claims, they argued that the special-district statute didn’t apply to the cables because the cables were owned by private, not public, companies. They got this idea from the statute’s definition of public utility:

…one or more persons or corporations that provide electric or communication service to the public by means of electric or communication facilities and shall include any city, county, special district, or public corporation that provides electric or communication service to the public ….

The residents argued that the phrase and shall include meant that the list, city, county, special district… was exhaustive. That is, by naming specific things the legislature meant to exclude others. A maxim of statutory interpretation is that to express one is to exclude others. So the special-district statute didn’t authorize the burial of a private corporation’s cables.

The court wasn’t persuaded. The residents appealed all the way up to the Colorado Supreme Court, who agreed with the lower court:

[T]he word include is ordinarily used as a word of extension or enlargement, and we find that it was so used in this definition. To hold otherwise here would transmogrify the word include into the word mean. [Emphasis Added]

The United States Supreme Court has also interpreted shall include. In this case, they were construing this statute:

‘[C]reditor’ shall include anyone who owns a demand or claim provable in bankruptcy, and may include his duly authorized agent, attorney, or proxy.

The court held that “It is plain that ‘shall include’ … cannot reasonably be read to be the equivalent of ‘shall mean….’”

How did these cases arise? It was because sometimes drafters need to add examples to a statute. For example, they may want a statute to apply to fruit, so they write:

Fruit means the edible part of a plant developed from a flower.

Then someone becomes concerned that a court won’t include peas or tomatoes. To address this concern, they add a comma and “including peas or tomatoes.” Yet the inclusion–exclusion maxim makes drafters fear that listing peas and tomatoes will make a court think they mean only peas and tomatoes. So they add but not limited to and end up with this: “Fruit means the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, including, but not limited to, peas and tomatoes.”

But Sutherland’s Statutes and Statutory Construction has a different take:

The word ‘includes’ is usually a term of enlargement, and not of limitation….[1]

And a review of Colorado cases suggests that the phrase “but not limited to” isn’t necessary:
- Colorado Common Cause v. Meyer: “The word ‘includes’ has been found by the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions to be a term of extension or enlargement when used in a statutory definition”
- Cherry Creek School Dist. #5 v. Voelker: “A statutory definition of a term as ‘including’ certain things does not restrict the meaning to those items included.”
- Arnold v. Colorado Dept. of Corrections: “The word ‘including’ is ordinarily used as a word of extension or enlargement and is not definitionally equivalent to the word ‘mean.’”
- DirecTV v. Crespin: “Nothing in §605(d)(6) indicates that Congress intended to depart from the normal use of “include” as introducing an illustrative—and non-exclusive—list of entities ….”
- Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. King Consol. Ditch Co: “A statutory definition of a term as ‘including’ certain things does not restrict the meaning to those items included. The word ‘include is ordinarily used as a word of extension or enlargement.”
It turns out that judges speak the same English as you and I do; they understand the meaning of includes and including.

I didn’t find any Colorado cases that went the other way. So I cast the net a little wider and found Shelby Cnty. State Bank v. Van Diest Supply Co. This case dealt with a lien on “all inventory, including, but not limited to, agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, and fertilizer materials sold to Debtor ….”[Emphasis added.] In this case the 7^th circuit explained that:

[I]t would be bizarre as a commercial matter to claim a lien in everything, and then to describe in detail only a smaller part of that whole. … But if all goods of any kind are to be included, why mention only a few? A court required to give “reasonable and effective meaning to all terms” must shy away from finding that a significant phrase (like the lengthy description of chemicals and fertilizers we have here) is nothing but surplusage.

So the court did interpret the word including as limiting, and the judges didn’t care that the contract used the phrase but not limited to. So this phrase isn’t a guarantee. And I have found several similar cases, so we probably shouldn’t get much comfort from the phrase but not limited to.

Think of how many trees your Colorado could save by cutting out this unnecessary bit of legalese.

[1] N. Singer, 2A Sutherland Statutory Construction § 47.07 (Seventh Edition)
January 31, 2020