Search Publications

During the 2026 legislative session, House committees of reference will consider 16 functions of Colorado state government and 6 advisory committees subject to sunset review. Sunset laws allow the General Assembly to periodically review the need for state regulations, advisory committees, or state agencies, and to update the law creating the agency or function.

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

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.

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. 

During the 2022 legislative session, the General Assembly passed numerous bills related to general business issues and economic development initiatives.

Sunset laws allow the General Assembly to periodically review the need for state regulations, advisory committees, or state agencies and to update the law creating the agency or function.  To accomplish this review, committees of reference hold public sunset hearings on sunset reports issued by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).

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 memorandum provides an overview of the Colorado unemployment insurance (UI) program, including UI benefits, funding, and solvency in the context of recent economic downturns. 

During the 2021 legislative session, the General Assembly considered several consumer protection measures related to mortgage lenders, online dating services, after‑market airbags, and towing companies.  

During the 2021 legislative session, the General Assembly considered several measures intended to support economic development efforts in the state.

This memorandum provides an overview of various federal, state, and local programs and resources that are available to provide assistance to small businesses in Colorado during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This memo provides an overview of data on income inequality in Colorado and the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by income and other demographic characteristics.  This memo uses new sources of publicly available high-frequency data from the U.S. Census Bureau and private companies to examine how the pandemic’s effects have been distributed among Colorado’s diverse households.

This memorandum provides a summary of leading economic indicators to inform the General Assembly of the current state of the Colorado and U.S.

During the 2020 legislative session, the General Assembly passed legislation intended to promote economic development in rural areas and to assist businesses in surviving and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.