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This memorandum provides information about the regulation of professions and occupations in Colorado. Over 100 professions and occupations are currently required to be licensed, certified, or registered in Colorado, or are authorized to use an exclusive professional title, known as title protection. The Division of Professions and Occupations in the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) regulates the majority of professions and occupations.

Federal law requires employers to pay their employees a minimum hourly wage. States have the authority to set different pay standards than the federal minimum wage requirement. However, when the state and federal law differ, such as in Colorado, the higher wage prevails. This issue brief provides an overview and history of federal and Colorado minimum wage laws and provides a summary of how other states compare to the federal standard. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that has the potential to reshape the economy. Although AI research has been conducted for decades, products are now proliferating due in part to advances in computing power. This memorandum explores basic topics in contemporary AI. It describes several limitations and misconceptions about AI and discusses AI regulation in Colorado.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastic containers and packaging, including single-use plastics, constitute the majority of plastic waste in the United States. One of the EPA’s National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution objectives is reducing the production and consumption of single-use plastics. In recent years, Colorado legislators have addressed reducing the use of single-use plastics in the state. This issue brief describes single-use plastics and outlines key elements of Colorado’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.

Report No. 2025-TE12

During the 2025 legislative session, the General Assembly considered several measures related to business and economic development.

Report No. 2025-TE5

Report No. 2025-TE2

Report No. 2024-TE8

A homeowner association (HOA) must obtain insurance to cover common elements such as physical property and liability. Unit owners within an HOA also purchase insurance to cover the homeowners’ private property, parts of the unit not covered by the HOA’s policy, and liability. This issue brief outlines insurance coverage for HOAs and unit owners, circumstances contributing to the cost of insurance, and current laws that address insurance issues.

This memorandum provides background information on Colorado’s business personal property tax. Personal property includes machinery, equipment, and other goods used to operate a business that are not part of a building or structure and its fixtures. For the purposes of this memo, business personal property encompasses generally nonresidential (income producing), private personal property that is not used in a religious or nonprofit, charitable organization.

During the 2024 legislative session, the General Assembly passed several business‑related measures including regulatory changes, consumer protections, and economic development.

This issue brief provides an overview of federal and state laws related to gender pay equity and a summary of past legislative efforts by the Colorado General Assembly on the topic.

The relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health has prompted a rise in regulatory policy across the nation and in Colorado. This memorandum examines social media use and adolescent health outcomes, the predominant policy frameworks in this domain, and federal and state legislative efforts to address growing concerns.

This memorandum describes the process for designating Colorado Enterprise Zones and Enhanced Rural Enterprise Zones, the tax expenditures available for investing in designated enterprise zone areas, and the administration and certification process of enterprise zones tax credits.

This memorandum provides an overview of all the statutory reports that are required to be sent to members of the Joint Business Committee in FY 2023‑24. Most of the reports can be found in the Required Reports Database. Some reports are included as part of the agency’s annual reporting. Please contact Legislative Council Staff if you are unable to locate a report. A list of the reports is provided in Table 1.

Memo No. 2023-TE21

Report No. 2023-TE15

In 2023, the General Assembly considered a number of bills related to business and economic development including several related to automobile dealerships and consumer protection.

To date, Colorado and ten other states have enacted paid family and medical leave laws.  The other states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.  However, the New Hampshire is voluntary for employers and relies on tax incentives for businesses to contribute.  In addition, Hawaii has a paid medical leave law that does not extend to family leave.  This memorandum provides a summary of the major components of the paid family and medical leave laws in each of these states.

This memorandum provides a summary of various workforce development programs in Colorado.

This memorandum provides an overview of programs that are designed to provide a boost to Colorado's economy, including incentivizing businesses to locate in Colorado, expand their Colorado-based workforce, or otherwise grow their Colorado business operations.  This memorandum does not include programs that are focused on workforce development or programs designed to attract tourists to the state.

This issue brief provides an overview of Colorado laws related to the retail sale of alcohol, including beer, wine, and spirits, in original sealed containers for off‑premises consumption.

This memorandum highlights regional and sectoral differences in Colorado’s labor market and employment recovery from the pandemic‑induced recession, including in labor force, job openings, and employment. 

Report No. 2022-TE38