The Legislative Guide

This is Soul 2 Soul Sisters' way of demystifying Colorado's legislative process, with information about the policies coming to life at the Capitol, the champions of those policies, and how you can get involved with the legislative process this year.

This guide centers our radical priorities by explicitly focusing on the issues and policies that shape Black communities at the federal and state levels. It’s designed to give you important information about what’s happening on the issues that impact us the most. Much of the work happens at the Colorado state capitol and we regularly update this guide to reflect the fast-paced changes during legislative session - while also highlighting some of the work that’s happening outside of the building. The guide contains descriptions of how a bill becomes a law, resources to help you take action on different issues, and information about the advocates and coalitions that are taking the lead. We encourage you to explore the links for more information and ways to connect with and advocate for your community. 

For a full glossary of important terms, visit the official Colorado legislative glossary. 

Reproductive Healthcare

The current administration has been consistently hostile towards reproductive rights, including access to abortion care. One of the most significant gains of the anti-abortion movement was in 2022, when Roe V. Wade was overturned by the federal Supreme Court - which was possible due to anti-abortion Justices appointed during President Trump’s first term. This has created a ripple effect across the country, with states instituting abortion bans, especially Southern states with dense populations of Black people. Black women are dying because of these bans - Women like Amber Thurman and Candi Miller. At the federal level, the President has signed executive orders targeted at reproductive healthcare, including one that affirms the Hyde Amendment, a federal piece of legislation that prohibits federal dollars to be used to fund abortion care. We’ve also seen attacks on IVF, threats to cut important programs like Medicaid, and attacks on EMTALA, a federal law that requires all facilities to provide emergency care, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay or the type of care they need (eg. abortion and miscarriage management care).

What this means for Colorado:
Coloradans have affirmed time and time again that abortion is a right in our state, most recently in the November 2024 election, where 62% of voters approved protecting abortion in the state constitution and allowing public insurance to cover abortion care. Currently, there are efforts to implement this coverage and expand protections for reproductive healthcare across the state.

Economic Justice

Economic justice is at the forefront for the federal government and is a very uncertain landscape. The U.S. Senate and House both published their proposed budget resolutions at the beginning of February. Between the two chambers, there’s potential for the U.S. deficit to increase at least $342 billion and possibly increase up to $3.3 trillion. This deficit means that Congress will have to decide what funding is cut to account for this deficit. So far, the biggest proposed cuts will be made to Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and climate resilience. 

In a non-budget context, the U.S. president has spent the first month in office issuing various executive orders and memos. One of these memos instructed the pause of grants, loans, and federal assistance programs. A lawsuit was filed by 22 states and a judge ordered the president’s administration to reverse the freeze because Congress had already approved the funds to be distributed. However, as of February, states are saying they are still being denied access to these funds. Due to the limbo of the judicial system and the current administration continuing to wield unchecked power, there is uncertainty about the full impact executive orders and memos will have on Colorado’s federal funding.

What this means for Colorado
For Colorado, approximately $750 million in federal funding is left uncertain. Multiple programs in the state could be impacted including early childhood education programs, infectious disease preparation, cancer research, and other programs. 
Colorado faces a $1 billion dollar deficit at the state funding level and the legislature has to make several cuts in order to make up the deficit. So far cuts are being proposed to Medicaid, food assistance programs, and housing programs. These proposed cuts would disproportionately impact Black Coloradans as we are more likely to experience food insecurity and homelessness, and approximately 35 percent of Black people use Medicaid in Colorado.

Criminal Justice

This new administration has made many changes to move our country to be tougher on crime. Aside from increasing criminalization for people accessing abortion or gender affirming care, the administration also aims to expand the death penalty. In some of the first days of his administration, President Trump signed an executive order to expand the usage of the death penalty for federal crimes. The administration also emphasizes the desire for finality when it comes to the death penalty, perhaps in critique of former President Biden, who commuted the sentences of most of the people on death row. This stance on the death penalty is not surprising - during President Trump’s first term more people were executed than in the last 56 years.

What this means for Colorado:
The expansion of the death penalty should not significantly impact Colorado - Capital Punishment was abolished in Colorado in 2020. 

Voting Rights

This current administration is an ongoing threat to our democracy. From inciting an insurrection, to aliking himself to a king, to appointing oligarchs to oversee powerful government agencies, President Trump has frequently promoted the undermining of our Democracy. At the same time, we cannot be a true democracy until everyone can vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited racial discrimination and was a huge triumph for the Civil Rights Movement - but it has been under attack since then. In 2021 , the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (named after the Honorable John Lewis, a former congressman and civil rights leader) was introduced to strengthen protections against discrimination at

What this means for Colorado:
 Advocates and election experts in Colorado have worked tirelessly to break down barriers to voting, particularly for communities of color. Yet, the racial voter turnout gap in the state is wider than the national average. With disparities present in our state, and the federal VRA under attack, it was time to take action.

LGBTQ Rights

The U.S. president has issued several executive orders targeting trans people. The orders range from declaring a gender binary, banning federal support for gender-affirming care for youth, reversing the ability for trans folk to serve in the armed services and prohibiting current trans service members from receiving gender-affirming care. There have been several lawsuits filed to stop the enforcement of these executive orders. These executive orders have already been extremely harmful to the LGBTQ+ community and the full impact of these orders are still unknown. However, we know that these orders and other potential anti-trans legislation will contribute to the perpetual cycle of violence and discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community faces. This violence and discrimination will disproportionately impact Black LGBTQ+ people, especially Black trans women, since they exist at the intersections of anti-Black racism and transphobia. 

What this means for Colorado:
 In Colorado, several organizations are working to expand the protections of LGBTQ+ people. One expanded protection is the implementation of Amendment J which voters passed in the November 2024 election to remove language from the Colorado Constitution that declares a marriage as valid if it is only between a man and a woman. After Trump signed an executive order to prohibit gender affirming care access for trans youth, Denver Health and Colorado Children’s Hospital opted to stop providing care in fear of losing federal funding. Both hospitals reversed these decisions after a lawsuit was filed to challenge this executive order.