SB 87 Colorado Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Create Legislative Leave Job Protection for General Assembly Members

Summary

The bill authorizes legislative leave and job protection for qualified members of the general assembly (qualified members) who are engaged in employment outside of their duties related to the general assembly. More specifically, the bill states that , beginning January 1, 2027 :A qualified member can take a leave of absence from their outside employment during regular and special legislative sessions;A qualified member's outside employer has discretion to grant legislative leave as paid, unpaid, or partially paid;A qualified member's outside employer cannot terminate the qualified member's outside employment on the basis that the qualified member requests or takes legislative leave; andWhen a qualified member returns to their outside employment following legislative leave, the qualified member is entitled to be restored to the same or an equivalent employment position. The bill excepts that qualified members actively serving a 4-year term at the time the bill takes effect are only eligible to take legislative leave beginning January 1, 2029.(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 10, 2026 Last action Apr 8, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Revised → Rerevised · 3 edits · Apr 2, 2026

MINOR

The bill was re-revised to include additional House amendments, adding Senator Stewart R. as a co-sponsor and updating the reading date to April 2, 2026. Substantively, the text removed specific definitions for 'member,' 'outside employer,' and 'outside employment' that were previously included in the bill.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's definitions was narrowed by removing the explicit definitions for 'member,' 'outside employer,' and 'outside employment.'

TECHNICAL

Added Senator Stewart R. to the list of House sponsors.

TIMELINE

Added a header indicating the bill is in its 3rd Reading Unamended status as of April 2, 2026.

DEFINITION

Removed the specific definitions for 'member,' 'outside employer,' and 'outside employment' that were previously listed in the text.

Floor votes · House Apr 2, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 8, 2026

Introduced

Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Adhere

upper

Apr 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

lower

Mar 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Introduced In House - Assigned to State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole

upper

Feb 10, 2026

Introduced

Introduced In Senate - Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

upper

4 primary · 9 co-sponsors