The Colorado House voted 42–22 along party lines Monday to approve legislation repealing the second election required under the state’s Labor Peace Act, sending the measure to the Senate after a similar proposal was vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2025.

Democrats argue the change would strengthen workers’ ability to organize and negotiate higher wages, while Republicans say eliminating the second vote would force employees to pay union representation fees without sufficient consent.

Under the Labor Peace Act, a simple majority of workers must vote to form a union. What makes Colorado’s 80-year-old law unique is that it requires a second election before a unionized workplace can establish a “union security agreement,” which allows unions to collect dues or representation fees from all workers, including non-members.

That second vote requires approval from at least 75% of workers. The 2026 labor-backed bill would eliminate the requirement for that second election.

While the bill passed both chambers in 2025, Polis vetoed it as he had promised, citing concerns that it would require mandatory dues deductions for all employees in unionized workplaces, regardless of union membership.

Polis has said he is “disappointed” that Democratic lawmakers reintroduced the measure in 2026 and has maintained that he will sign it into law only if labor and business groups reach a compromise.

Sponsors of the Labor Peace Act legislation, Reps. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, said they were bringing the bill back to show their commitment to workers across the state, particularly at a time when their rights are being jeopardized at the federal level.

“We’re back because the problem did not go away; it has only gotten worse,” Mabrey said. “Costs keep rising, workers are under attack like never before, and the president is gutting worker protections provided by the Department of Labor and OSHA.”

States like Minnesota and Washington are often named some of the best places to work in the country, Mabrey said, and both of them have high union density.

While there have been a number of bills introduced over the past few years addressing affordability, very few have addressed wages, he said.

“Yes, it is about how much we are spending for housing, for food, for health care, basic necessities and entertainment, but it is also about purchasing power and how much workers are paid, and this bill addresses that part of the affordability crisis,” he said.

Republican House members who spoke in opposition to the bill said they were not doing so because they don’t support unions, but because they didn’t feel the bill would achieve what sponsors say it would.

“This bill is not about affordability,” said Rep. Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs. “Give me a break. This bill is just the opposite. This bill is about trying to rip money out of people’s pockets without their consent.”

Keltie said the second election protects workers who don’t want to pay union representation fees, and removing it would be a “violation of free will.”

Assistant Minority Leader Ty Winter, R-Trinidad, said the bill does nothing to make life more affordable for everyday working people.

“I think the fight for workers should center around making the dollar that is earned stretch further instead of being stepped on over and over and over again by legislation passed in this building,” he said, adding that the state is “killing good-paying jobs” in industries like oil and gas and mining.

“We can’t cut jobs and bring a bill like this and ride in on a white horse and save it all,” he said.

With House approval, the proposed legislation will move on to the Senate, where it is sponsored by Sens. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora.