Rose Community Foundation has endorsed and is advocating for 11 bills introduced in Colorado’s 2024 state legislative session. Our positions are rooted in the core values and priorities of the Foundation and are informed by our grantee and community partners who are actively engaged on the ground. They not only keep us informed about emerging challenges and needs in our region, but also help create solutions and coalitions that improve policy outcomes for those furthest from opportunity.
The Foundation is proud to support the efforts of many organizations that work to develop and advocate for policy solutions aimed at dismantling systemic barriers to equity, justice, inclusion and engagement. While we cannot endorse every policy proposal our grantee partners advocate for, we are honored to provide funding to many of the nonprofits leading coalitions advancing impactful legislative efforts.
These 11 pieces of legislation aim to bolster fundamental human rights, prevent gun violence, strengthen the nonprofit advocacy ecosystem, address systemic racial inequities, and provide vital supports for newly arrived immigrants, low-income Coloradans, and renters.
Our 2024 state legislative endorsements are listed below.
Introduced
Residential Eviction Data and Reporting | SB24-064
To specify data points to be collected from residential eviction court filings, require the aggregated data to be made publicly accessible, and mandate annual reporting on eviction data. Data included in eviction court filings are one of the best tools policymakers and housing advocates have to quantify housing instability for Coloradans, and this collection and reporting would help provide insights into how Colorado can more effectively invest resources and target upstream policy interventions to prevent evictions.
Safe Housing for Residential Tenants | SB24-094
To modify the existing warranty of habitability law by clarifying the minimum standard of healthy housing that landlords must maintain for tenants. Creating more reasonable notice requirements around health and safety issues and establishing presumptive timeframes for completing necessary repairs would help ensure tenants can live in safe housing without unduly burdening landlords.
For Cause Eviction | HB24-1098
To establish the legal grounds for when a landlord can refuse to renew a tenant’s lease and enhance written notice requirements around non-renewals, giving displaced tenants a timeline that reasonably allows them to find new housing. The end of a lease term is a particularly vulnerable time for low- and fixed-income tenants in Colorado, and renters deserve the stability of knowing they have a place to call home without the fear of unjustified evictions or non-renewals.
Racial Equity Study | SB24-053
To conduct a study to determine historical and ongoing effects of slavery and subsequent systemic racism on Black Coloradans that may be attributed to Colorado state policies. Government-backed policies and practices have impacted Black Coloradans over generations and led to major racial disparities. The study has the potential to identify and lay the foundation for practical solutions that create opportunities for future healing and prosperity.
Colorado Equal Justice Fund | HB24-1286
To increase funding for legal aid in Colorado by creating a dedicated surcharge of $20 on most civil court filing fees, creating an annual funding stream of around $5 million for civil legal aid organizations that help Coloradans meet their most basic needs. Low-income Coloradans face a prohibitively complex and expensive civil legal system and do not have a right to counsel. Legal aid attorneys play an essential role in closing representation and justice gaps.
Migrant Support Network | HB24-1280
To create and direct state funding to a Welcome, Reception and Integration program for newly arrived migrants, which would support nonprofits that are providing quality services to new arrivals. With most immigrants barred from federally funded assistance programs, the City of Denver’s budget stretched thin, and the reality of philanthropy’s limited resources, this state-funded program would be a boon to ensuring the health and safety of those who want to call Colorado home.
Concealed Carry Permits and Training | HB24-1174
To establish stronger and more consistent minimum standards for Colorado’s “carry a concealed weapon” (CCW) classes. Currently, there are no requirements for classes or oversight of trainers, resulting in no live-fire practice or minimum standards of shooting accuracy as well as easy-to-complete online courses. With the updated training requirements, CCW applicants would receive at least eight hours of in person instruction and must achieve a passing score on a written CCW competency exam and in a live-fire exercise to complete an initial class.
Secure Firearm Storage in Vehicles | HB24-1348
To require firearms left unattended in vehicles be locked inside a hard-cover case and kept out of sight from outside the vehicle. Unsecured guns are fueling an epidemic in firearm thefts, and robberies from car break-ins are a primary contributor to the rising numbers. Limiting access to illegal acquisition of firearms is a key step in ensuring other common-sense gun safety laws – including background checks, waiting period and red flag laws – maintain their intended levels of efficacy.
Gun Dealer Permitting | HB24-1353
To require firearm dealers to obtain a state permit to sell guns in Colorado. To be eligible for a state permit, a dealer must hold a federal firearms license; not have had a license to deal firearms or ammunition revoked, suspended, or denied within the prior three years; and not have violated any law concerning the possession, purchase or sale of firearms within the prior three years. Currently lacking in Colorado, a permitting program would allow for needed oversight and enforcement capabilities to uphold common-sense gun safety laws that affect firearms dealers.
Coming Soon
Marriage Equality Ballot Referral
To refer a measure to the November 2024 ballot that would remove Amendment 43, a 2006 constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriage, from the state constitution. Should Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriage, fall in the coming years, this ballot measure will be needed to ensure protection of marriage equality in Colorado.
Endorsed Policy Concept
Easing Nonprofit Lobbyist Restrictions
To allow nonprofit employees to lobby for or against specific policies in a limited capacity without formally registering as lobbyists. Nonprofit employees should have the freedom to advocate for the people they serve without fear of breaking the law and without the burden of registering and reporting, if their lobbying activity is limited. Rose Community Foundation believes greater participation in policy processes by nonprofits and those they represent leads to better policy solutions, and we will continue to advocate for bills that encourage that type of engagement.
Nonprofit policy and advocacy organizations interested in learning more about our positions or our broader policy and advocacy work can contact Ray Barrie-Kivel.