Committee advances bill to undo 'significant public impact' barrier in consumer-protection law after heated testimony

The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee on March 1, 2025, voted 4-3 to advance Senate Bill 25-157 to the Committee of the Whole with a verbal recommendation. The bill would narrow the barrier Colorado courts have read into the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) — a requirement often called the "significant public impact" test — and thereby make it easier for private plaintiffs to bring CCPA claims without first proving widespread, multi-victim harm.

Sponsor Senator Weisman opened by saying the judicially imposed requirement has left many Coloradans without remedies and urged the committee to restore the private right of action as the legislature originally intended: "How many of our constituents have to suffer harm from economic injury or loss or worse from unfair and deceptive acts or…