by Colleen Enos (CHEC Director of Government Relations)

As the 2025 legislative session was gaveled in, the newly elected and returning legislators faced a daunting task: balancing the Colorado budget with a nearly one-billion-dollar deficit. Governor Polis laid out a plan to address the deficit in a variety of ways, including funding adjustments to Medicaid and the Department of Education, and privatizing the Public Employee Retirement Association. This is a hard pill to swallow for a Democrat-majority legislature that believes in an ever-expanding government and regulatory system. However, many opening speeches included a reaffirmation of Colorado’s commitment to opposing President Trump’s immigration stance and supporting the funding of illegal immigrants’ needs, to the tune of $356 million in Denver alone last year.

SMART Act hearings are currently proceeding in all legislative committees. These are hearings where departments present their performance plans, regulatory and legislative agendas, and budget requests to various Joint Committees for the next fiscal year. They are both a summary of the previous year and an overview of the coming one.  

Special Concern

Specifically of concern in the state is the implementation of last year’s HB24-1039 Non-Legal Name Changes bill, which was signed into law on April 29, 2024, by Governor Polis. This law requires “school personnel to address a student by the student’s chosen name and to use the student’s chosen name in school and during extracurricular activities.” All public and charter schools must adopt a policy to ensure compliance with this law that includes penalties for any school employee who does not comply. If your family is accessing any part-time public or charter school programs, this would cover your child as well. The right to change a student’s name has been given to the student, not the parent, and parental notification is not required. Parental rights are under siege in Colorado.

Protecting Homeschool Freedom: Stay Informed and Engaged!

I have had some very productive meetings with Senators and Representatives on the Education Committees and am hopeful that the relationships will remain strong. Please join me in keeping your eyes and ears open for any upcoming bills that would threaten our hard-won homeschool freedom in Colorado. 

To review current introduced bills, go here.

Please join the Homeschool Freedom Team to keep up with all the recent news.

Join us at CHECs Meet Your Legislator Day — February 12th!

Go here to find out what we’re doing this year and to register. You and your family won’t want to miss this opportunity to help protect the homeschool law in Colorado!

In Him, Colleen Enos

About the Author: Colleen Enos

Colleen is a homeschooling mom of eight who just completed schooling her last two children. Her children range in age from 19 to 35 years old. She has been married to her husband, Mark, for 38 years, and they are now grandparents to three and expecting two more grandbabies very soon. She has been a speech and debate coach for 17 years, pouring her time, effort, and energy into preparing the next generation to speak truth into our culture. Colleen serves homeschool families as the CHEC Director of Government Relations and is working hard to safeguard homeschool freedom through her work with the legislature. You can reach Colleen at colleen@chec.org