DENVER – Today, the Senate Republicans delivered critical relief to Colorado’s rural communities by cutting overbearing Democrat-created bureaucratic red-tape.

Passed in the Senate this morning, Senator Rod Pelton’s Senate Bill 141 will relieve municipalities with a population under 2,500 from having to adopt and enforce financially draining energy codes on residential buildings.

These mandates, imposed by Democrats in 2022, have punishingly increased costs for rural municipal governments and deterred new housing construction. Senate Bill 141 exempts these smaller communities, mostly found in rural areas, from these costly requirements.

“From the beginning, we knew this would be an uphill battle, and I am proud that we finally got it across the finish line,” Senator Rod Pelton said. “Communities in my district have been particularly impacted by these erroneous regulations. This bill will finally relieve the financial strain that has been holding them back and stagnating the development of desperately-needed housing development. This bill represents a small but meaningful step in bridging the rural/urban divide in Colorado, and I am thankful for my colleagues across the aisle for seeing the common sense in this bill and giving their support.”

Senate Bill 141 will continue through the legislative process, giving the House the opportunity to pass this much needed relief or kill the bill and continue to smother Colorado’s rural communities with financially crushing regulation.