Vol 74.11 | March 30, 2023

Is there a faint glimmer of light in the distance? The end of March is upon us. The hope of a true Spring is here. Wednesday, March 29, 2023, was the 80th day of the 120-day session. We have passed the two-thirds mark of the legislative session and the rush to the end begins.

On Monday, March 27th, the state’s budget bill or Long Bill was introduced in the Senate. The proposed state budget is $38.5 billion. The bill will be debated this week in the Senate and next week in the House. Legislators may introduce amendments to the budget and the Joint Budget Committee members will argue against modifications to the budget. By the numbers, the budget is an 8.9% increase from the previous year’s budget or about $1.2 billion dollars. Despite the increase, legislators have less discretionary spending authority this year compared to last year when the state was rich with federal relief funding. Of interest, there is a placeholder in the budget for $221 million for unspecified housing-related legislation, including proposals to build more affordable housing and provide temporary property tax relief.

On Monday afternoon, March 27th, the House Finance Committee heard HB23-1229 Concerning Consumer Lending. As introduced, this bill would have impacted consumer loans over 12% requiring program fees to be rolled into the interest rate; would impact rates and fees for supervised lenders providing loans under $1,000; and Colorado would opt-out of DIDMCA so out of state state-chartered banks would be required to abide by Colorado interest rates when issuing supervised loans. FDIC-insured lenders would have been subject to the proposed requirements of supervised loans over 12%. CBA worked with the bill sponsor to amend the legislation to remove FDIC-insured institutions from sections of the legislation. Sections 1 and 2 of the bill addressing supervised lending were amended out in committee. Section 3 addressing loans under $1,000 remains in the bill as well as the opt-out provisions in Section 4 impacting out of state state-chartered banks. CBA will participate in stakeholder meetings with the bill sponsor and the Attorney General’s office post session to develop language regarding supervised lending. Yes, we can expect another consumer lending bill next session.

A final thought: March isn’t over, and March Madness still prevails. Hopefully your brackets are still alive, and you are in the hunt with the Final Four. Is it ironic or bad luck that the Final Four is taking place on April Fool’s Day?



-Alison Morgan, Director of State Government Relations