Colorado lawmakers introduce hundreds of bills each year. Bills in brief cuts through the noise by explaining which proposals matter, what’s at stake, and how decisions at the Capitol could affect everyday life across the state.

Colorado lawmakers from both parties are seeking to make changes to various facets of the state’s family court system — from custody arrangements for pets to parenting time allotments.

Several of those proposals have failed to come to fruition, including Senate Bill 027, sponsored by Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-Colorado Springs. The bill sought to establish a presumption that a court would allocate equal parenting time to both parents in the event of separation or divorce, if it is in the best interest of the child.

The bill failed to pass through its first committee.

Another Republican-backed bill regarding parenting time, Senate Bill 073, met a similar fate. The measure, sponsored by Scott Bright of Platteville, would have allowed a court to order additional parenting time to a parent who was wrongfully accused of abuse or neglect and denied parenting time as a result.

House Bill 1131, sponsored by Rep. Alex Valdez, allows courts to make care and custody decisions for pets in divorce proceedings. The bill also allows a judge to issue an emergency protection order regarding the custody and care of a pet animal. The bill passed through its first committee and is awaiting a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee. It carries a fiscal note of more than $1.5 million over two years.

House Bill 1227, sponsored by Reps. Lindsay Gilchrist, D-Denver, and Mary Bradfield, R-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, gives children legal standing in dependency and neglect proceedings, as well as the right to contest a county’s dismissal of a case before a ruling.

The bill passed through its first committee and is awaiting a hearing in the appropriations committee. It carries a fiscal note of about $460,000 over two years.

House Bill 1309, sponsored by Reps. Tammy Story, D-Conifer, and Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Sen. Katie Wallace, D-Longmont, requires courts to determine whether a parent has committed domestic violence when considering the best interest of a child in parenting time decisions.

The bill also requires a parent accused of domestic violence or child abuse to participate in therapy and complete a one-year domestic violence abuser intervention program.

The bill passed through its first committee and is awaiting a hearing in Appropriations. It carries a fiscal note of about $1.4 million over two years.

House Bill 1314, sponsored by Rep. Regina English, D-Colorado Springs, creates additional penalty options for noncompliance with parenting time orders.

The bill also requires courts to prioritize a child’s relative as a temporary placement if the child is removed from their home, as long as it is in that child’s best interest.

The bill also allows courts to order an agreement with a child’s adoptive family, allocating “reasonable contact” or family time to the child’s grandparents and creates the Foster Care Prevention Services pilot program for counties to implement expedited kinship placement approval pathways and one-time placement stipends for emergency placement kinship caregivers.

The House Committee on Health and Human Services heard testimony on the bill on March 31 and is scheduled to vote on the measure on April 15.