New Colorado laws changing how many roommates can live together, where people can carry firearms and the maximum strength of a food preservative that’s often misused in suicides will go into effect Monday, nearly two months after lawmakers wrapped up their work for the year.
Twenty-one new laws that the legislature passed this year will kick in at the start of July. Among them are laws covering the state plumbers board, creating a new Colorado Disability Opportunity Office and adding gender identity to the state’s protected classes in bias-motivated crimes.
Several laws passed in previous years will also go into full effect Monday, including a measure approved in 2021 that allows Colorado consumers to opt out of having their personal data sold or used to generate targeted advertising. Another bill passed in 2021, which banned single-use plastic bags at checkout lines at the start of this year, has another provision taking effect Monday that will allow local governments to enact even stricter plastic bag limits.
Here are six other new laws set to go into effect:
Occupancy limits
One of the marquee housing and land-use reforms passed this year, House Bill 1007 prohibits local governments from limiting how many unrelated adults can live together in an apartment or housing unit. For college towns like Boulder or Fort Collins, that means cities generally can’t cap how many roommates can live together, except for health and safety reasons.
Roughly two dozen Colorado cities and towns had occupancy limits, though only a few — including Fort Collins — actively enforced them, lawmakers and advocates said. The measure was sponsored by Democratic Reps. Manny Rutinel and Javier Mabrey, together with Sens. Tony Exum and Julie Gonzales.
Sexual assault cases
Earlier this winter, lawmakers and advocates stood next to a rack of women’s clothing in the state Capitol building and described House Bill 1072. It blocks defendants and defense attorneys from using what a sexual assault victim was wearing as evidence of consent in court. The new law also tightly limits how the victim’s previous sexual history, including with the defendant, can be used in court.
The new law was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Shannon Bird and Sen. Rhonda Fields and Republicans Rep. Lisa Frizell and Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer.
Limit on poison
Sodium nitrite is a preservative used often used in curing meats. But in higher concentrations, it can be fatal when ingested by people, and it’s increasingly been used in suicides here and elsewhere in the United States. That’s made easier by the availability of the higher-potency substance for purchase online or in sporting good stores.
Starting Monday under House Bill 1081, those higher potencies will no longer be available in Colorado except for approved commercial purposes. The bill was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Judy Amabile and Sen. Dylan Roberts and Republicans Rep. Marc Catlin and Sen. Byron Pelton.
Fewer guns in sensitive spaces
One of several gun-reform bills passed this year, Senate Bill 131, prohibits the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Politics
