House advances series of bills on housing, health care, education and agriculture; campaign-consulting measure fails

DENVER — The Colorado House on March 10 adopted a series of bills on housing finance, public health, education and agriculture while rejecting a high-profile measure on campaign consulting.

In a series of roll-call and voice votes, members approved measures intended to expand local tools for housing, continue task forces and grant programs, and clarify criminal law definitions.

The House unanimously adopted a ceremonial resolution to designate part of U.S. Highway 34 in memory of Sergeant Jack Thurman and then moved quickly through several bills. On third reading, House Bill 12-13 (continuation of the biomass utilization grant program) and House Bill 11-85 (continuation of the cold-case task force) were adopted on recorded votes showing 61 yeas, 0 nays and 4 excused in each instance, per the House roll calls.

Members also passed Senate Bill 7, which clarifies the use of medical marijuana by terminally ill patients in health facilities. Representative Gonzales, speaking in favor, told colleagues the bill "gives patients who are terminally ill and other conditions an option to have alternative methods of treatment," and urged support. The recorded vote on the floor was 49 yeas, 12 nays and 4 excused.

A contentious floor fight unfolded over House Bill 11-37, a bill that would have required disclosure or written permission in some consulting-contract conflicts. Opponents, including Representative Brooks and Representative DeGraff, called the measure regulatory overreach and argued it was principally a contractual issue. Supporters framed the bill as a transparency and remedy measure for clients harmed by consultants who represent competing interests. After extended debate, the bill failed final passage on a roll call of 26 yeas, 35 nays and 4 excused.

Housing and tax-credit legislation also cleared the floor. Senate Bill 1, which allows boards of county commissioners to appropriate funds and makes the middle income housing tax credit available to transferees in certain circumstances, prompted an extended debate over whether the state should provide another set of tools for local governments or whether it feeds practices that can inflate development costs. Representative Richardson argued the bill "provides a tool" for local governments and is not a statewide mandate; Representative DeGraff warned of the risk of a housing "bubble". The bill passed on final passage; the transcript records the clerk reading the vote as "With 53 I, 10 no, and excused" and the bill as adopted.

On higher-education governance, the House passed Senate Bill 34 (the Auraria Student and Faculty Board Voting Rights Act of 2026), which grants full voting rights to student and faculty representatives of the Auraria board and relaxes some residency requirements for student representatives. Sponsor Representative Hamrick said the change would "ground the board's decision making" in the lived experience of students and faculty.

Lawmakers also debated and amended Senate Bill 13, which removes cohabitation as a basis for the crime of bigamy. Sponsor Representative Zocai said removing cohabitation would avoid criminalizing people who, for example, have fled domestic violence, arguing that "families come in all shapes and sizes, and it is not our place to criminalize those differences." The bill generated multiple substitute and clarifying amendments; the amended measure passed on final passage after floor action.

Other items adopted included House Bill 10-95 (allowing certain local governments to publish legal notices online with an amendment to preserve options for newspapers), Senate Bill 64 (expanding eligible entities for the Colorado agricultural future loan program) and House Bill 10-90 (conforming teacher-licensing rules to limit how long certain misdemeanor offenses are considered for licensing). The House adopted a package of committee-reported bills and returned them to the calendar for further consideration as appropriate.

What happens next: Bills that passed will proceed toward enrollment and transmittal to the Senate or the governor as required; the House stood in recess until later the same day. Several items on the calendar were laid over to be acted on March 11, 2026.

Votes at a glance (selected final actions from March 10, 2026): - Senate Joint Resolution 11 (highway designation for Sgt. Jack Thurman): adopted (61 yeas, 0 nays, 4 excused). - House Bill 12-13 (biomass utilization grant program continuation): adopted (61 yeas, 0 nays, 4 excused). - House Bill 11-85 (cold case task force continuation): adopted (61 yeas, 0 nays, 4 excused). - Senate Bill 7 (medical marijuana in health facilities): adopted (49 yeas, 12 nays, 4 excused). - House Bill 11-37 (campaign consulting requirements): failed (26 yeas, 35 nays, 4 excused). - Senate Bill 1 (housing / middle income tax credit provisions to allow county appropriations): adopted (transcript roll-call recorded as "With 53 I, 10 no, and excused"; bill adopted). - Senate Bill 34 (Auraria student & faculty voting rights): adopted (voice vote recorded as passed). - Senate Bill 13 (clean-up to bigamy statute removing cohabitation): adopted after amendment votes.

Reporting note: All attributions and vote tallies come directly from the House floor transcript for March 10, 2026. Where the transcript records the roll-call count explicitly, that number is reported. Where the transcript uses phrasing rather than a full numeric breakdown for excused/absent members, the story quotes the transcript language. Direct quotations are from speakers recorded on the House floor and are attributed to the speaker named in the transcript.