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Second Regular Session | 75th General Assembly
Colorado General Assembly

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For OTHER BUSINESS OR PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA

JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON COLORADO COMMISSION ON UNIFORM STATE LAWS
Date Dec 12, 2025       Location HCR 0107

Other business or public comment regarding items not on the agenda - Introduce commission bill to fix Colorado's Uniform Community Property and Disposition Act.
02:22:06 PM  
Connie Eyster, CBA trusts and estates section, testified about the Uniform Community Property and Disposition Act, enacted in 2023. The act permits the recognition and protection of community property rights acquired in a community property state or with community property assets. When enacted in Colorado, section 103 did not include the uniform act's language regarding the inclusion of real property. She asked the commission add the omitted uniform language into our statutes to clarify that real property rights are protected in Colorado.

02:27:20 PM
 Motion To introduce a commission bill to add the omitted section and the flexibility to add any additional appropriate language back into the statutes to make statute properly uniform.
Moved Bob Gardner
Seconded
Espenoza
Bob Gardner
Yelana Love
Charley Pike
Snyder
Joseph R Whitfield
Claire Levy
Anne L McGihon
YES: 0   NO: 0   EXC: 0   ABS:  0   FINAL ACTION:  Pass Without Objection
02:27:20 PM  
Commissioner Whitfield seconded and the motion passed with objection. The commission then asked Ms. Eyster if any other language may have been omitted from the 2023 bill. She responded that she was not aware of any but would take a closer look. The commission also asked legislative staff to also take a closer look to see if there were any other omissions.
02:27:55 PM  
Commissioner Love pointed out that the commission often moves to intorduce bills "as amended by the CBA", so if there were some tweaks made it doesn't necessarily mean that there were mistakes made in drafting. She suggested that the commission have the draft come back for its review or have the drafter work with Ms. Eyster to compare the statute to the uniform act to avoid undoing changes requested by the CBA.
02:29:18 PM  
Tyler Muncey, CBA legislative liaison, shared that the original CBA redline version was attached to his email sent to the commission and agreed to resend it.
02:31:06 PM  
Commissioner McGihon, with the commission's approval, then amended Commissioner Gardner's motion to include the "flexibility to add any additional appropriate language back into the statutes". The commission requested that a bill draft be sent to the CBA care of Ms. Eyster prior to finalization. Commissioner Espenoza agreed to sponsor the bill and start it in the House and Commissioner Snyder agreed to be the Senate sponsor.
02:32:38 PM  
Commissioner Snyder shared that he has been approached by several lobbyists with several amendments to the Uniform Antitrust Pre-Merger Notification Act enacted last session. He has run these amendments by the ULC and depending on negotiiations and responses regarding uniformity, Commissioner Snyder may be interested in sponsoring a bill to create some technical amendments regarding timelines in the act. He asked the commission if such a bill would be a commission bill.
02:35:02 PM  
Commissioner Pike responded that he is not aware of a similar circumstance in the past, but that it could be if the commission approved it as a commission bill. But he is not sure if that is the case and would need to know more about the nature of the amendments. Commissioner Espenoza shared that she had some interactions with some of the same groups last year when the uniform act was being considered for enactment but there was not time to determine if the requested changes would impact uniformity. She agreed that more information is needed to ensure these issues would revolve around conformity.
02:37:23 PM  
Commissioner Gardner added that this situation is similar to when the uniform commercial code was being considered and a couple of controversial issues arose during the legislative process. That time the ULC drafting committee was consulted and it determined that the removal of those items would not make the act nonuniform. In this situation it is after the fact and it would be the commission's decision whether to proceed with any amendments.
02:40:05 PM  
Commissioner McGihon suggested that the commission wait to hear back from the ULC before proceeding, possibly until the 2027 legislative session. Commissioner Snyder assured the commission that no commitments have been made regarding proceeding with a bill this year.
02:46:05 PM  
Commission consensus was lay this item over to a future meeting when more is known regarding the ULC negotiations and also what is happening in other states regarding the act.
02:46:31 PM  
Commissioner Espenoza announced that she has been accepted as a Legislative Council Fellowship for the ULC for this next year.