2026 saw a few Colorado legislative updates that affect businesses in a range of areas from Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage to worker protections to antitrust and pre-merger notifications. Below are five of the most notable updates and how they could affect your business.

House Bill 26-1088: Business Entity Filing Secretary of State 

HB26-1088 updates Colorado statutes regarding how business entity filings are processed, voided, or marked for fraud in response to an increase in fraudulent usage of the Secretary of State’s self-service filing system. Made effective August 12, 2026, this bill tightens the compliance process and offers a clearer resolution path for injured parties. 

Essential Points:

• Failed Payment Clarification: If a business filing payment is reversed or fails to process, the document is now not legally considered filed (regardless of any initial timestamp) and can be voided or removed by the Colorado Secretary of State.
• Fraudulent Entities & Registered Agents: Prohibits the use of fraudulent entities as registered agents in business filings.
• Public Record Warnings: Authorizes the Secretary of State to mark public business records with notices indicating that a complaint has been received, an investigation is underway, or the record is fraudulent.
• Deceptive Naming and/or Address Use: Grants authority to take action against entities that improperly or deceptively reference the Secretary of State’s name and/or address.
• Judicial Dissolution: Expands the legal grounds for judicial dissolution in Denver District Court (or via action by the Attorney General or injured parties) for entities that obtained formation documents through fraudulent means or exceeded their legal authority.
• Appeals: Allows individuals aggrieved by Secretary of State actions under this law to request a reversal, with options for judicial review if denied.

Senate Bill 26-189: Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) 

SB26-189 repeals and replaces Colorado’s original 2024 AI Act (SB 24-205) and pivots away from the prior “duty of care” and mandatory algorithmic impact assessments, and instead focuses on transparency, pre-use notices, and consumer appeal rights for automated decision-making. The bill officially takes effect on January 1, 2027.

Understanding the Core Scope and Definitions:

• Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT): Any technology that processes and computes personal data resulting in predictions, recommendations, classifications, or scores that materially influence a consequential decision. 
• Consequential Decisions: Any decisions affecting access to, eligibility for, or terms of employment, education, housing, financial or lending services, insurance, healthcare, or essential government services.
• Exemptions: The bill excludes routine tools (like basic calculators, spreadsheets without machine learning, anti-virus software, etc.) and tools dedicated strictly to cybersecurity, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, or sanctions screening. Sector-specific carve-outs apply to HIPAA-covered entities, FDA-regulated medical devices, and creditors and insurers compliant with existing federal and state rules.

What ADMT Users Need to Know:

• Mandatory Pre-Use Notice: Clear and conspicuous advance notice must be provided to consumers or employees before ADMT is used to influence any consequential decision, and notices must be accessible to individuals with disabilities as well as limited English proficiency. 
• Disclosures for Adverse Outcomes: A plain-language description of the role of ADMT must be provided within 30 days of an adverse outcome (such as a job rejection, loan denial, or service termination) along with clear instructions regarding consumer rights.
• Data Correction Rights: Individuals must be allowed to request corrections of factually inaccurate or materially inaccurate personal data used by ADMT (though this does not extend to subjective scores or opinions). 
• Meaningful Human Review: ADMT users must provide a pathway for human review when commercially reasonable, meaning the review must be handled by a trained individual who has the authority to override or modify the output and does not simply blindly endorse the ADMT decision. 
• Defined Recordkeeping Minimum: Compliance and decision records must be held for a minimum of at least three years. 

What Changed from the 2024 Law (SB 24-205):

• Removal of Burdensome Mandates: The new bill eliminates mandatory risk management programs, annual impact assessments, public website summaries, and the broad “duty of reasonable care” to prevent algorithmic discrimination. 
• Liability & Vendor Contracts: The new bill establishes a comparative fault framework between developers and deployers and strictly voids contract clauses that attempt to indemnify a party for its own discriminatory ADMT acts.

House Bill 26-1272: Extreme Temperatures Worker Protections

HB 26-1272 expands temperature-related protections beyond agricultural workers to cover indoor and outdoor workers across all industries in Colorado, addressing both extreme heat and extreme cold. The new bill took effect on August 12, 2026.

Essential Points & Timeline:

• No Immediate Mandates: The law does not immediately impose mandatory temperature thresholds, non-agricultural break schedules, or site-specific compliance mandates upon taking effect. Existing agricultural heat rules (such as 7 CCR 1103-15, which triggers at 80°F) remain active for farm workers. 
• Data Collection (by January 15, 2027): The Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (CDLE) must launch a public reporting platform on its website for temperature-related workplace injuries, illnesses, and emergencies. It will also gather data from the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the Division of Workers’ Compensation, and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.
• Model Prevention Plan – TRIIPP (by July 1, 2028): The division must create and publish a model Temperature-Related Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (TRIIPP). The model plan must outline procedures for providing cool potable water, cool-down or warm-up areas, acclimatizing new and returning workers, and other similar provisions.
• Rulemaking Authority: The law grants the division ongoing authority to adopt rules and review or update the model TRIIPP at least every five years, laying the groundwork for potential future binding standards. 
• Covered Employers: Includes employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, agricultural employers, state and local governments, and entities contracting with five or more independent contractors in Colorado annually. 

House Bill 26-1427: Uniform Antitrust Pre-Merger Notification Act Update

HB 26-1427 updates the existing Uniform Antitrust Pre-Merger Notification Act adopted in 2025 to align with amendments made by the Uniform Law Commission. The bill took effect on August 12, 2026.

Essential Points:

• New Filing Timeline: Updates Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) form submission to the Colorado Attorney General to within one business day of federal filings. (Previous requirement was to file contemporaneously.) 
• Explicit Security & Confidentiality Requirements: Requires secure data acceptance and storage by the Attorney General and mandates interstate confidentiality assurances. 
• Specific Data Retention and Destruction Timeline: Mandates material destruction or return within 120 days post-transaction or legal proceedings. (The previous bill did not specify a timeline.)
• Penalties: Introduces a written notice and three-day cure period prior to civil penalty imposition. (The previous bill authorized immediate civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day for noncompliance.)

House Bill 26-1188: Sunset Process; Securities Regulation

HB 26-1188 implements the recommendations of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) 2025 sunset report and extends the operational life of the Colorado Division of Securities and the Securities Board by 11 years (moving the expiration date from September 1, 2026, to September 1, 2037). The bill took effect on August 12, 2026.

Essential Points:

• Licensing Requirements: The bill explicitly requires investment advisers and investment adviser representatives doing business in Colorado to be licensed by the securities commissioner, unless an exemption applies.
• Confidentiality of Records: Clarifies that examination deficiency letters and related correspondence are not public records and are exempt from inspection under the Colorado Open Records Act. 
• Enforcement & Cease-and-Desist Orders: Streamlines the enforcement process by allowing the securities commissioner to issue preliminary cease-and-desist orders or summary license-suspension orders directly. 
• Hearing Timelines: If a subject disagrees with an order, they can request a hearing within 15 days (otherwise the order becomes final); any requested hearing must take place within 45 days (extended from prior timelines). 
• Commissioner Appointment: Requires the executive director of DORA to consult with the Securities Board when appointing the securities commissioner.

Have questions about how these changes may impact your business? Snow Atkinson Griess, LLC can help your business navigate legislative and compliance changes with a sure footing. Contact us today for a consultation.