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Colorado’s landmark 2024 legislation to protect consumers from discrimination by artificial intelligence systems couldn’t withstand the “massive amounts of money” being spent by technology companies to influence AI policymaking, the law’s architect told fellow lawmakers on May 5.
“We could have probably built a wing here at the Capitol — built us our own ballroom — with the amount of money that’s been spent on this topic,” state Senator Robert Rodriguez, a Denver Democrat and the Senate majority leader, told members of the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee.
Two years ago, Rodriguez was a sponsor of Senate Bill 24-205, a first-in-the-nation legal framework that aims to protect consumers from bias in AI-powered decisions relating to employment, housing, healthcare, insurance and more. Under a new bill sponsored by Rodriguez and other top Democrats at the Capitol, however, much of that framework would be scrapped in favor of a scaled-down compromise, negotiated behind closed doors by a governor-appointed task force.
Senate Bill 26-189 was introduced late on May 1 and approved unanimously by the Business Committee four days later, as lawmakers speed towards the end of the 2026 legislative session on May 13. The measure centers on a requirement that businesses disclose when major decisions affecting consumers are being made by “automated decision-making technology,” and to provide additional information on request in the event of an adverse decision.
That’s far narrower in scope than the regulations enacted in SB-205, which include requirements that AI developers and large businesses deploying AI technology take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination; conduct regular risk assessments; and publish detailed upfront disclosures of how AI is used in their decision-making processes and the “nature, source and extent” of the personal information being processed.
“It’s not as comprehensive, and I am not happy with that,” said Rodriguez, who characterized the new bill as responding to the reality that President Donald Trump’s administration has “decided to go a different direction on regulating AI.”
Though SB-205 is scheduled to take effect in June, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser agreed last month to suspend its enforcement as a result of a lawsuit brought against the statute by Elon Musk’s xAI and the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump last year signed an executive order that purports to crack down on “excessive state regulation” of AI technology — but states on opposite ends of the political spectrum, including California, Texas and Utah, have continued to proceed with state-level rules.
Right to Cure
With one exception, SB-189 is virtually identical to a draft measure released in March by an AI policy group convened by Gov. Jared Polis on the recommendation of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. Several members of the task force, whose meetings were not fully public, testified in support of the bill during the May 5 committee hearing.
“This bill is the result of many, many hours of negotiation and significant effort by the work group to reach the compromise you see before you,” said Adam Fox, a task force member and deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “Tradeoffs and concessions were made on all sides, and if legislators consider modifications to this bill that are not in line with what came out of the work group, they must be thoroughly vetted, as they may disrupt the balance and compromise that has been created.”
“This was a monumental task, and it just demonstrates that when you put the right people in the room to work on a complex issue, it can be done,” Loren Furman, president of the Colorado Chamber and another task force member, told lawmakers.
The most significant change made to the task force’s draft bill relates to the right of AI developers and deployers to “cure” alleged violations for a period of up to 90 days. SB-189 would place tighter restrictions on such cure periods, which would be limited to 60 days, and, without further legislation, the right to cure would expire entirely in 2030. Rodriguez likened the draft measure’s extended right to cure to a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
“This bill is whittled down to no testing, no requirements — it just tells you an (automated) decision’s been made,” he said. “It seems to me that people that are building this technology should be able to know (by 2030) if they’re giving a disclosure.”
SB-189 heads next to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The General Assembly is set to adjourn May 13.
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