SB17-283 Summary

• Adds new subsection (4) to Colorado Revised Statutes 24-34-601 to specify that private businesses can decline to provide goods or services if those goods or services convey a message the business disagrees with or chooses not to associate with.

• Clarifies that declining to contract for services related to an event that conveys a message the business owner disagrees with is not discriminatory under Colorado anti-discrimination law.

• Includes legislative findings distinguishing between discrimination and the fundamental right to disagree, asserting that the right to disagree is protected under the First Amendment.

• Declares that authority to define what constitutes discrimination resides with the elected state legislature rather than unelected state commissions and administrative bodies.

• Takes effect 12:01 a.m. on August 9, 2017, unless a referendum petition is filed, in which case the measure requires voter approval at the November 2018 general election to take effect.