November 7, 2019

DENVER–Gov. Jared Polis last week rejected another handful of bills passed by the Democrat-controlled Colorado legislature, bringing his veto total for the recently adjourned session to an even dozen. Modest sounding enough given the more than 400 bills passed, but still a personal record for the term-limited Polis over his eight years in office.

As reported by Complete Colorado, the prior week saw Polis take his veto pen to a half-dozen other bills, including a highly contentious effort by his fellow Democrats to unwind Colorado’s longstanding two-vote process for private sector unionization.

The latest batch of vetoed bills ranged from limiting what small businesses pay in “swipe fees,” to whether your Pad Thai comes with an unsolicited plastic fork, to suing federal immigration agents in state court, among other issues.

Latest vetoes

Start with Senate Bill 134, which among other things barred credit card companies from charging transaction fees on the amount of sales taxes charged. House Majority Leader Monica Duran called it a fight against Wall Street banks lining their pockets at the expense of Colorado’s small businesses. Polis called it legally risky, potentially unimplementable, and probably a job better left to the federal government. The Electronic Payments Coalition, representing the banks and credit card networks, unsurprisingly called the veto a prudent and responsible decision.

Then there was Senate Bill 184, which would have expanded the types of cancer covered under workers’ compensation for firefighters. Fire chiefs and local governments asked Polis to kill it, arguing it would strain the Colorado Firefighter Trust. the bill also excluded several hundred state-employed firefighters, which bill sponsors essentially admitted was intended to avoid a fiscal note in a belt-tightening budget year.

On the surveillance pricing front, House Bill 1210 would have stopped companies from using personal data gleaned from online activity to set individualized prices and wages. Polis said he agreed with the concept, but found the bill too broad, adding that an Artificial Intelligence disclosure bill he recently signed already handles the problem.

House Bill 1236, an arbitration reform bill, would have given consumers more recourse when the fine print of a terms-of-service agreement signs away their right to go to court over disputes, but which Polis determined was too vague and potentially expensive. “Making it harder to use arbitration will push more cases into litigation, raising costs, adding delays, and increasing uncertainty for Colorado consumers, workers, and businesses alike,” Polis wrote in his veto letter. He encouraged the sponsors to try again next year, which would push the issue off into the hands of Colorado’s next governor.

Senate Bill 146 would have required restaurants to stop automatically handing out plastic utensils and condiment packets unless a customer asks. Denver and Breckenridge already have similar rules, which Polis noted is exactly the point — local governments can handle it, and the state shouldn’t be in the business of mandating what goes in your takeout bag.

And finally, Senate Bill 005, which would have let Coloradans sue Immigration and Customs Adminsitration (ICE) agents in state court for civil rights violations. Polis said he liked the idea in theory but found the bill too narrow, as it only covered civil immigration enforcement. “This bill doesn’t apply to any other context besides civil immigration enforcement – including rights violations in protests, elections, prisons, or the workplace,” said Polis. “For example, even in the narrow context of immigration, the bill doesn’t cover violations of constitutional rights during criminal investigations in immigration.”

A broader version, Senate Bill 176, was floated in the legislature but died when several Democrats joined Republicans to kill it before it ever reached the governor’s desk.

The deadline for Gov. Polis to sign or veto legislation from the 2026 session passed on June 2.