Another year, another new set of laws in effect on Jan. 1. We’ve highlighted a few that we and our neighbors are talking about.
Right to repair law for farm equipment
Interesting that an actual law had to be passed for farmers and ranchers to have the “right” to tinker and repair their own equipment. And it’s about time.
For the farmers and ranchers we know, it’s a way of life to continually maintain and repair equipment. Colorado leads the way with the Consumer Repair Bill of Rights Act, which requires manufacturers to provide resources so farms can do the work themselves.
Agriculture is hard enough without the aggravation of not being able to fix what’s broken. Over the years, workers in this industry have seen embedded software or a part scheduled to break or become obsolete. They’ve endured ridiculous wait times to get new parts and information needed. Manufacturers often hid behind propriety claims.
Modern farm equipment is as complex as any other technology. Farmers and ranchers don’t need another reason to walk away from professional lives that are long and exhausting, even if they’re historically, culturally and economically important n the Southwest.
This law also applies to powered wheelchairs. Now, if we only had a law allowing our phones to keep up with demands, without having to purchase later versions.
Ban on ‘ghost guns’
In Colorado, a new law that bans “ghost guns,” or those that can be made at home using parts kits without serial numbers, will go into effect this week. Pro-gun groups wasted no time in filing a federal lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis, claiming the law restricts Second Amendment rights of gun owners who want ghost guns for personal use.
But we don’t see it this way. A responsible gun owner has nothing to fear about this law. Unserialized and untraceable, ghost guns are attractive to people intent on committing crimes. After at least 627 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, banning ghost guns is a reasonable step in preventing gun violence.
Senate Bill 23-279 makes the sale, manufacture and possession of ghost guns a Class 1 misdemeanor on the first offense and a Class 5 felony on subsequent offenses.
Paid family leave begins
Since the FAMLI application portal opened, 3,606 claims were submitted as of Dec. 19. That’s a lot of family members, right out of the gate, looking for the relief of time and reduced pay while taking care of themselves or others.
Now, employees can actual take the leave time – up to 12 weeks – after both employers and employees paid into FAMLI for a year to build a statewide benefits fund.
Besides the time off, FAMLI protects jobs and provides an on-ramp return to the workforce. Voters passed FAMLI in 2020.
Plastic bags and polystyrene containers
Well, we’ve had a year to get used to remembering to bring our own bags to the grocery store. In early 2023, we received many letters complaining about this inconvenience.
Meanwhile, we have gotten much better at holding multiple items – balancing, squeezing, tucking a vegetable under one’s chin – on those days when we forgot bags and declined the 10-cent single-use plastic ones.
But now it’s real. At least the part about no plastic bags. Stores and retail food establishments are prohibited from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers. The new law is part of House Bill 21-1162, enacted in 2021.
A Colorado store may only furnish a recycled paper bag at the point of sale for 10 cents per bag.
A retail food establishment is also prohibited from distributing a polystyrene container for ready-to-eat food.
This will be something to see. As of last week, our takeout lunch orders still came in polystyrene.
State minimum wage rises to $14.42
We’ll take it! Our workforce needs this 5.6% bump up in minimum wage to $14.42 an hour. The city of Denver has its own local minimum rise to $18.29 an hour. But then, you’d have to live in Denver.
EpiPen affordability
House Bill 23-1002 caps the cost of a two-pack of EpiPens at $60 for health insurance plans issued or renewed after Jan. 1.
An Epi-Pen, an auto-injector with epinephrine that relaxes muscles in airways to make breathing easier, saves lives. No one should have to pay exorbitant costs for this rescue medication.
We hope this new law opens the door to making other essential drugs affordable, including expensive asthma prescriptions.
