Senate approves bill to create enterprise for communication services for people with disabilities

The Colorado Senate on April 16 adopted House Bill 1154, which restructures and secures funding for communication services for people who are deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind by moving an existing fee and the commission that oversees services into an enterprise housed in the Department of Human Services.

Sponsor Sen. Janet Judah, speaking for the bill on the Senate floor, said Colorado is home to roughly 755,000 people who are deaf or hard of hearing and about 1,200 who are deafblind, and that HB 1154 ensures services such as the telephone relay service, rural ASL interpreter grants, specialized services for deafblind individuals, and the intervener program can continue.

“We are incredibly excited to present HB 1154,” Judah said. The bill was amended on the floor (amendments L010 and L012) to make technical corrections, rename funds and adjust the prepaid wireless charge language at the Department of Revenue’s request. After the amendments, the Senate adopted the bill by voice vote; the floor transcript records that “HB 1154 is adopted.”

Supporters said the bill modernizes a long‑standing funding mechanism (originally a disabled telephone user fee established in 1989), clarifies roles for the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind, and creates governance to sustain services and address interpreter shortages in rural areas. The bill reduces the appropriation in response to amendment and went through appropriations before floor adoption.

Why it matters: HB 1154 changes the administrative structure and fee collection mechanism for services that enable phone and in‑person communications for people with hearing and vision disabilities. Sponsors characterized the bill as a continuity and modernization measure rather than a program expansion.

Sources: Floor debate and committee reports on HB 1154, Colorado Senate (transcript).