2024 Legislative Recap

The 2024 Legislative Session was a major success for the ACLU of Colorado. This session the ACLU led efforts to advance protections of Coloradans’ biometric data, we supported efforts to strengthen the rights of renters in our state, and we worked to prioritize alternatives to policing and prisons.

This legislative session, the ACLU of Colorado had four main goals.

1. Strengthen our internal capacity to advocate for, or oppose, proposed legislation;
2. Build thoughtful relationships with stakeholders across the aisle and across the state;
3. Deepen partner collaboration to better reflect the communities we serve and work alongside;
4. Use ACLU subject matter expertise to further organizational goals in the ACLU’s three issue areas of Systemic Equality, Privacy and Liberty, and Smart Justice.

Systemic Equality

This year, we fought to ensure the rights of all Coloradans, including the state’s most vulnerable populations such as youth under the care of the Department of Human Services and renters.

• HB24-1170 - Passed
  • Secured the rights of vulnerable youth by codifying a bill of rights for youth under the care of the Department of Human Services.
• HB24-1098 - Passed
  • Strengthened protections for renters by requiring landlords to have cause, specifically outlined in law, to evict a tenant or notify a tenant of a lease non-renewal.
• SB24-094 - Passed
  • Protected renters’ rights by outlining what qualifies as a breach of the warranty of habitability. This bill also ensures a process for tenants and landlords to follow when there is a breach of the warranty of habitability.
• HB24-1296 - Failed
  • Protected government transparency in Colorado by opposing a bill that would have hindered Coloradans’ access to public records by modifying processes for records custodians.

We hope to continue codifying more protections into law so every community can access necessary support and safe and affordable housing.

Privacy and Liberty

As biometric identification and data collection becomes a common practice in our day-to-day lives, we worked to protect Coloradans’ most vulnerable data from being collected, stored, sold, and used in unethical ways.

• HB24-1130 - Passed
  • Secured more protections for individuals’ biometric data. This bill outlines the process for companies to follow when gaining consent from users to collect and store biometric data such as facial mapping, fingerprints, and retina scans. This bill also prohibits companies from buying and selling biometric identifiers in Colorado.
• HB24-1124 - Passed
  • Worked to strengthen protections in Colorado anti-discrimination law by increasing the penalty for discrimination in places of public accommodation — like hotels, restaurants, or schools — and adding injunctive relief for all protected classes.
• SB24-189 - Passed
  • Successfully clarified that transgender individuals are protected under the Colorado bias-motivated crimes law.
• HB24-1468 - Passed
  • Protected students by successfully opposing the portion of this bill that sought to use facial recognition technology in schools.  

Smart Justice

We are committed to ensuring fewer avenues toward incarceration. In doing so, we worked to prioritize alternatives to policing and prisons while protecting the rights of vulnerable communities in Colorado — such as individuals experiencing substance abuse issues, undocumented immigrants, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and individuals who are low-income.

• HB24-1306 - Failed
  • Worked to defeat a bill that would have made the possession of small amounts of opiates, even unknowingly, a level four drug felony.
• HB24-1437 - Passed
  • Prohibited municipalities that prosecute domestic violence from paying the attorneys that provide indigent defense services a flat fee, which negatively impacts individuals who are low-income and their right to counsel.
• HB24-1445 - Passed
  • Advanced the rights of individuals involved in the criminal legal system by requiring courts to allow parole meetings over the phone or by video call.
• SB24-090 - Failed
  • Protected the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ individuals, Black and Brown Coloradans, and immigrants who are undocumented, by opposing a bill that would have further criminalized a driver's failure to provide identification to a law enforcement officer when stopped. 

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