More than 220 new laws passed during Colorado’s 2025 legislative session will take effect Wednesday, ranging from clean energy policy changes and housing reforms to new consumer protections and cultural designations.

The effective date is tied to a 90-day waiting period after the end of the legislative session.

Those laws include:

House Bill 1005, which creates tax incentives for the film festival industry, includes $34 million that will go to the Sundance Film Festival over 10 years.

House Bill 1010 prohibits price gouging on necessities, such as groceries and toiletries, during a declared emergency.

Nuclear energy joins the list of “clean” energy resources on Wednesday, under House Bill 1040. 

The Agaricus julius mushroom officially becomes the state mushroom of Colorado, under House Bill 1091.

House Bill 1135 requires school districts and charter schools to adopt policies concerning the use and possession of cellphones during the school day.

As of Wednesday, it will no longer be legal to sell pets in public spaces such as any public street, highway, right-of-way, parkway, median strip, park, recreation area, outdoor market, parking lot, or other public space, under House Bill 1180.

Meat cultivated in the lab, also known as cell-cultivated meat, must be labeled accordingly, under House Bill 1203.

The continued effort to rein in funeral home practices gets a boost from House Bill 1217, which makes theft by funeral directors of money paid by clients for funeral services both a deceptive trade practice and a class 1 misdemeanor.

One of the session’s biggest bills, on construction defects tied to middle-market housing, such as condos, also goes into effect on Wednesday. House Bill 1272 creates an incentive program for builders who provide warranties against defects.

House Bill 1315, which attempts to reform the vacancy process for the General Assembly, also goes into effect on Wednesday. 

HB 1315 states that if a vacancy occurs before July 31 of an odd-numbered year, a vacancy committee would select a candidate who would serve only until the November odd-year election, when a vacancy election would be held.

According to the bill’s sponsors, the first time a vacancy election would be held in an odd-numbered year is not expected to occur until 2027. That election would be held in coordination with the district’s general election. Only unaffiliated voters and voters from the political party of the vacant seat would be eligible to vote for that vacancy.

The Colorado Voting Rights Act, contained in Senate Bill 1, goes into effect Wednesday. The measure codifies the right of equal access to the political process for racial, color, and language minority groups and requires municipalities to provide multilingual ballots.

The law, designed to make confidential the names of ranchers who file claims for wildlife damage, such as the costs for livestock killed, injured, or lost to wolves, is now in effect, under Senate Bill 38.

Owners of agricultural buildings are now exempt from state energy use collecting and reporting requirements under Senate Bill 39.

Senate Bill 71 is related to the federal 340B program, which allows eligible health care organizations to purchase outpatient drugs at a discounted rate. The law prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from imposing limitations or restrictions on covered hospitals, contract pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, or other facilities participating in the 340B program. It would also bar those manufacturers from requiring covered entities or pharmacies to submit health information unless it is directly related to a claim under a federal health care program.

The state’s Family Medical Leave Act is changing with the implementation of Senate Bill 144. The law, which grants up to 12 weeks of paid leave for covered employees, will be extended to allow for coverage for caring for an infant in a neonatal intensive care unit. The program’s premiums are also decreasing slightly on Wednesday, from 0.9% of wages per employee through 2025, and beginning in 2026, it goes to 0.88% of wages per employee.