The next round of new state laws is underway. The 90 days required for implementation of bills after passage by the Colorado legislature and signed into law by Governor Polis arrived last Wednesday. Of the 216 laws, very few have any direct impact on daily life and living in Custer County.
Of those that do, perhaps the most significant one is House Bill 25-1099, which requires schools to have student cell phone policies in place by July 2026. Once established, the policy must be posted publicly on the schoolās website, a practice followed by Custer County Schools. The bill received bipartisan support, and recognizes that in the general public, the topic is someĀtimes controversial. It remains to be seen how Custer County Schools will proceed, and if there will be student, parent, and public input into the policy-making. Legislators have believed that cell phone restrictions in the classroom enhance learning opportunities; others encourage student/teacher interaction with cellphones to accomplish that very end.
House Bill 25-1270 is directed to gun violence prevenĀtion, and also overlaps public education. Parents and guardĀians will be receiving gun violence prevention materials from their childrenās public or chartered schools this year. The material will have been developed by the state and made available online for distribution.
Senate Bill 25-034 intends to assist people in volunĀtarily blocking themselves from buying a gun. Its impleĀmentation will be delayed until the state raises $200,000 in outside funding for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to establish and maintain a ādo not sellā list. Any ColoĀradan would then be enabled to submit a waiver through an online portal to have their name added to state and fedĀeral background checks. The goal is to prevent suicide by gun.
House Bills 25-1180 and 25-1207 are pet-related and may be of interest to Custerites.
The former prohibits the sale of pet animals in public areas, like flea markets, roadsides, and parking lots, nor may the sale be advertised in those public places. Not abiding by this law is a Class 2 misdemeanor, but it does not apply to livestock sales, licensed pet facilities, or transporting aniĀmals to exhibitions or competitions.
The latter prohibits insurers from denying, canceling, or raising premiums on homeownerās or renterās policies based on the kind of dog a person has. However, insurers may refuse, cancel, or revise a policy if a dog has officially been declared dangerous. The law also requires public housing to allow residents to have up to two dogs or cats.
The remaining 211 laws range from meat and gas stove labelling to adding nuclear energy as a clean energy resource and declaring a state mushroom, none of which would seem to impact local residents.
But you never knowā¦ For details, check leg.colorado.gov, ā2025 Digest of Bills.ā
ā W.A. Ewing
