2023 Legislative Priorities

Our levels of support for bills, which range from monitoring to lobbying, are determined by availability of resources, the need for our support, and alignment with our policy priorities, listed below:

1. Address root causes of poverty and provide holistic and flexible resources to women and their families
2. Reform Colorado’s tax and budget policies to promote equity and allow for sufficient resources to be dedicated to WFCO priorities
3. Promote issues and protect rights that promote gender, racial, and economic equity

Levels of support:

• Lobby/active: Our lobbying team at Frontline Public Affairs will lobby three bills. We will also use organizational resources to provide testimony, participate/lead coalition strategy meetings, engage with stakeholders, meet with legislators, communicate resources, and more.
• Active: We will provide support/opposition on bills, which may include testimony, participation in coalition strategy meetings, stakeholder engagement, meeting with legislators, etc.
• Passive: We will provide/support opposition on bills, alert key stakeholders to add The Women’s Foundation of Colorado to fact sheets
• Amending/monitor: We will monitor progress and may gather more information to evaluate potential implications and inform future position

Priority Bills:

SB23-105 Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work

Our economy and communities are stronger when workplaces are fair and transparent. Pay transparency increases productivity, employee retention and increased profits. And when almost half of our workforce is women – and 60% of them are primary or co-breadwinner, Colorado’s families depend on pay equity.

Colorado has led the national trend for pay transparency laws that now cover 1 in 4 workers nationwide. 

Learn more about SB23-105: Read our Equal Pay fact sheet or this opinion piece by our President & CEO, Lauren Y. Casteel.

Additionally, watch our director of programs be interviewed on CBS News Colorado on Equal Pay Day. 

HB23-1112 Earned Income and Child Tax Credits 

This bill will expand both the state level earned income tax credit and child tax credit. At a time when families are struggling to provide for their basic needs, increasing access to these tax credits will help provide Coloradans with more resources they need to survive. These credits are powerful tools to put more money in the hands of working people, and provide boosts to local economies in the process.

Learn more by reading the fact sheet for HB23-1112.

Colorado Department of Human Services Diaper Grant Program Budget Item 

Diapers are a necessity. Yet, in 2021, families spent up to $80 per month to diaper one child. With inflation, these costs have skyrocketed. This budget item would extend the 2021 diaper distribution program for families who need it. Since the program began, nearly 55,000 individuals received diapering essentials.

WFCO Positions in 2023. Priority Bills are Highlighted in Pink. 

Bill #	Title	What It Does	Why We Have Taken A Position	WFCO Position	Status
HB23-1006	Employer Notice of Income Tax Credits	Requires employers to notify employees of the availability of the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.	When Coloradans are aware of the tax credits are available to them, they will more likely they have the resources to get by.	Passive Support
HB23-1091	Continuation Of Child Care Contribution Tax Credit	Extends the tax credit for three years.	The credit incentivizes philanthropic contributions to child care and youth-serving nonprofits.	Active Support
HB23-1112	Earned Income And Child Tax Credits	Expands the state level earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC). Increases the state EITC to 40% of the federal credit, expands eligibility for the CTC, and increases the state CTC percentages of the federal credit.	Expanded tax credits will help women and their families have more resources to get by.	Lobby/Active Support
HB23-1118	Fair Workweek Employment Standards	Fair workweek laws, sometimes known as “predictive scheduling laws,” are workplace protections designed to prevent unpredictable scheduling practices.	Unpredictable and unstable work hours mean that people don’t know when or how much they’ll be working from week to week. Unstable work hours throw families’ lives into chaos: parents cannot coordinate childcare or know if they’ll make enough income to pay the bills. Low-wage workers, workers of color, and female workers disproportionately suffer from inflexible and unpredictable schedules.	Active Support
HB23-1124	Funding SNAP Employment & Training Services	- Continue to expand services to priority populations such as single parents, students, individuals experiencing homelessness, individuals who have been involved in the justice system, and those who are unemployed. -Serve all counties in Colorado -Reappropriate $1.5 million to the program	These programs prepare SNAP recipients for meaningful employment through work-related education, training activities, and work-based learning opportunities	Passive Support
HB23-1187	Alternatives in Criminal Justice System and Pregnant Persons	The bill limits when a pregnant person can be detained or incarcerated by the courts.	Pregnant people deserve to give birth, recover from pregnancy, and care for their newborns in safe and healthy environments, regardless of their incarceration status.	Passive Support
HB23-1219	Waiting Period to Deliver a Firearm	Establishes a minimum three-day waiting period prior to the delivery of a purchased firearm.	Two-thirds of women who are murdered because of intimate partner violence are killed with a gun.	Passive Support
HB23-1290	Proposition EE Funding Retention Rate Reduction	This bill refers a measure to the 2023 election that will allow for the state to keep the revenue that was approved by voters to fund universal pre-school by taxing nicotine and tobacco products.	Accessible, affordable, and high-quality early care and education allows for young children and families to thrive	Passive Support
HB23-1300	Continuous Eligibility Medicaid Coverage	This bill will require the state to better understand the impact of allowing for certain populations to have continuing access to Medicaid and for the state to seek federal authorization to provide continuous eligibility	Women and their families are more successful when they have access to reliable health care	Passive Support
SB23-007	Adult Education	This bill enhances adult education in Colorado	No matter the age, Coloradans deserve more access to programs that will help them advance through the education and workforce systems	Passive Support
SB23-017	Additional Uses Paid Sick Leave	The bill allows an employee to use accrued paid sick leave when the employee needs to:   -Care for a family member or themselves if their school or place of care has been closed due to inclement weather or major weather issue -Grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member.	Too often women have to make decisions between their job and caregiving for their family, this bill will allow for individuals to reasonably take paid sick time to address	Passive Support
SB23-046	Average Weekly Wage Paid Leave Benefits	This bill will more smoothly implement the ballot measure passed in 2020 by voters to establish a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program.	Paid leave is essential for women to be economically secure and also care for their families. It is vital that the state of Colorado equitably implement the insurance program established by voters.	Passive Support
SB23-058	Job Application Fairness Act	Prohibits employers from inquiring about a prospective employee's age, date of birth, and dates of attendance at or date of graduation from an educational institution on an employment application	Due to societal norms, women often leave the workforce due to caregiving or other family decisions. Eliminating biases, like those related to age, will allow for more women to re-enter the workforce.	Passive Support
SB23-105	Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work	This bill will increase workplace fairness and transparency: -For workers: Expand back pay from 3 to up to 6 years for workers wrongly underpaid that long -For employers: Clarify job and promotion vacancy opportunity notification and simplify transparency. Responds to the request of public and private employers, by creating four specific categories of employment and exempts two of those categories, career development and career progression, from the transparency and posting requirements of the law. -For both workers and employers: Authorize the Department of Labor and Employment to investigate and act upon potential violations to help everyone avoid going to court.	Our economy and communities are stronger when workplaces are fair and transparent. Pay transparency increases productivity, employee retention and increased profits. And when almost half of our workforce is women – and 60% of them are primary or co-breadwinner, Colorado’s families depend on pay equity.	Lobby/Active support
SB23-168	Gun Violence Victim’s Access to Judicial System	Allows for gun violence victims to bring product liability actions against manufacturers of firearms and ammunition	Gun violence victims often experience economic hardship	Passive Support
SB23-169	Increasing Minimum Age to Purchase Firearms	Increases the age requirement to 21 years of age or older to legally possess a firearms	Recent perpetrators of mass shootings have been younger than 21	Passive Support
SB23-170	Extreme Risk Protection Order Petitions	Expands the list of who can petition for an extreme risk protection order to include licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health-care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys	Two-thirds of women who are murdered because of intimate partner violence are killed with a gun.	Passive Support
SB23-172	Protecting Opportunities And Workers' Rights Act	Protects Coloradans against discriminatory employment practices.	Every worker should feel safe and protected while they are in the workplace.	Passive Support
SB23-188	Protections For Accessing Reproductive Health Care	Shields legally protected health care patients, providers, and helpers who provide abortion and gender-affirming care.	Any restrictions upon the ability of individuals to get the health care they need are inconsistent with our Colorado values of individual liberty and self-determination.	Active Support
SB23-189	Increasing Access To Reproductive Health Care	Among other things this bill: -Reduces surprise billing and removes patient cost sharing for reproductive health care services including treatment for sexually transmitted infections, sterilization,  and for abortion care -Includes family-planning-related services in the existing state reproductive health care program;	Reproductive health care is an essential component of primary and preventive care. This bill closes several access gaps related to sexually transmitted infections and abortion care.	Active Support
SB23-190	Deceptive Trade Practice Pregnancy-related Service	-Prohibit the use of deceptive advertising by anti-abortion centers -Prohibit advertising for abortion pill reversal as a deceptive trade practice -Make the prescribing, offering or facilitation of abortion pill reversal unprofessional conduct for licensed, registered or certified health care providers	Also known as crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion counseling centers, and fake clinics, AACs pose as comprehensive reproductive health care clinics to intercept patients seeking abortion care.	Active Support
SB23-214	2023-24 Long Bill	This is the bill that details the state budget for the next fiscal year	A part of this budget includes $2 million in the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services for a diaper distribution grant program	Lobby/Active Support
SB23-269	Colorado Preschool Program Provider Bonus Payments	This bill will create a time limited bonus program for eligible preschool providers that participate in universal preschool	As our state’s early care and education system grows and changes, it is important to incentivize providers to provide preschool slots	Passive Support

Join Us

WFCO invites you to join us in leading systemic change on behalf of women and their families. Through a unified voice we can influence positive community outcomes. Stay tuned for updates before, during, and after the session, and in the meantime, here's how you can help support our advocacy efforts!

• Advocating4Impact. Join our series of learning opportunities led by lobbyists and legislative experts.
• Help inform the conversation. Share WFCO’s recent research that is informing our advocacy work.
• Vote and advocate. Read our civic engagement guide to learn how you can make a difference, from voting to how to contact your legislators.
• Stay in touch. Sign up for our eNewsletter to receive information and updates.
• Follow and share. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for policy updates throughout the year and participate in Facebook Live discussions with our programs team.
• Share your ideas with us. Let us know when you see a challenge in your community that could be improved by a policy change, email us at wfco@wfco.org.