Understanding Bill Versions

When a bill is introduced in the Colorado General Assembly, it is posted to the General Assembly website as the Introduced version. The word “Introduced” will appear in bold capital letters in the upper right corner of the first page of the bill. That version of the...

The Petition Clause versus the Safety Clause

The final Section of a bill that is introduced in the Colorado General Assembly explains when and how that bill would become law, if it were to pass through both legislative chambers and the governor does not veto it. That final Section of a bill will either be a...

Who has lawmaking authority in Colorado?

The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States determines that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” From that starting point,...

Bills don’t read like stories

In simple terms, a bill is a collection of words and numbers on paper. Each bill that is introduced during a Colorado legislative session proposes to add words and/or numbers to current Colorado statute, remove words and/or numbers from current Colorado statute, or...