Could Your Employee Take Four Months Off to Be a Lawmaker? Inside SB26-087

What This Bill Actually Does

Let's talk about how the Colorado legislature actually works. We have what is called a "citizen legislature." Lawmakers are only in session for 120 days a year — usually from January to early May. Because it's a part-time gig, lawmakers are paid a part-time salary. For decades, this has created a quiet, structural problem at the Capitol: the only people who can truly afford to serve are retirees, the independently wealthy, or people with highly flexible careers like lawyers and consultants. If you work a traditional hourly or W-2 job, disappearing for four months usually gets you fired.

SB26-087 aims to change that by creating Legislative Leave. Under this proposed law, employers would be legally required to grant a leave of absence to employees who are serving in the General Assembly during both regular and special legislative sessions. The employer gets to decide if this leave is paid, unpaid, or partially paid — the state isn't forcing businesses to write checks to absent employees. However, the employer absolutely cannot fire the employee for taking or requesting this leave. When the session gavels out and the lawmaker returns to work, they are legally entitled to be restored to their exact same job, or an "equivalent employment position" with the identical pay, benefits, and seniority.

Here's the part that really matters: this protection isn't for everyone. The bill explicitly targets working-class and middle-class residents by creating the Qualified Member category. To get this job protection, the lawmaker must meet two strict criteria. First, they cannot directly manage more than 20 employees at their day job. Second, their individual or household income cannot exceed 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for their home county. If you're a high-powered executive making massive money, you don't get this protection. But if you are a school teacher, a nurse, or an electrician, your job is completely safe.

What It Means for You

If you are a Colorado resident who has ever looked at the folks making decisions at the Capitol and thought, "None of these people understand what it's like to work a normal job," this bill is speaking directly to you. For years, the fear of losing health insurance, workplace seniority, or the job itself has kept brilliant, grounded people from running for state office. This legislation essentially treats serving in the General Assembly a bit like taking military leave or family medical leave — it protects your livelihood while you step away to serve the public.

The income threshold is the most critical detail here for regular folks. The bill uses 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), which is set annually by the federal government and varies depending on where you live. For example, in places like Denver or Boulder counties, 120% of the AMI for a family of four can be well over $130,000. If your household makes less than your county's cap, and you don't manage a large team of people at work, you would be fully protected if you won a seat in the state House or Senate. You wouldn't accrue vacation or sick time while you're at the Capitol, but your base salary and your desk would be waiting for you in May.

If you're an everyday resident, here is what you can do right now:

• Check your county's AMI: Do a quick search for "HUD Area Median Income Colorado" to see if your current salary would qualify you for this protection.
• Contact your state senator: If you've ever held back from running for local or state office because you couldn't afford to lose your job, reach out to the bill's sponsor, Senator Katie Wallace. Real stories from real constituents are what get bills like this passed.
• Watch the hearing: Keep an eye on the State, Veterans, & Military Affairs committee schedule and sign up to testify via Zoom.

What It Means for Your Business

If you own or run a business in Colorado, you need to read this carefully. Mandated leave policies always require operational adjustments, and SB26-087 is no different. If one of your employees gets elected to the state legislature, they will be legally entitled to walk away from their duties from January through early May. They are required to give you 30 days written notice before a regular session begins, but for a special session, they only have to tell you "as soon as practicable."

The good news for your bottom line? You do not have to pay them while they are legislating. The bill clearly states that Legislative Leave can be entirely unpaid. You also don't have to accrue their sick time or annual leave while they are gone. However, the compliance catch is that you must hold their position — or a nearly identical one — open for them. When they return, they must get the same pay, benefits, and seniority they had before they left. You cannot use their absence as grounds for termination or demotion. If you need to hire a temporary worker to cover their shift for four months, that cost and effort falls entirely on your business.

This takes effect on January 1, 2027, meaning you have time to prepare, but you shouldn't wait. Here are your action items for this week:

• Audit your employee handbook: Have your HR team start drafting placeholder language for "Legislative Leave" alongside your FMLA and jury duty policies.
• Check the management exemption: Remember, if your employee directly manages more than 20 people, they are not protected by this bill. Your key directors and middle-managers cannot legally leave you high and dry without your permission.
• Call your industry association: If the idea of holding jobs open for four months strains your business model — especially if you run a small crew in construction, retail, or hospitality — call the Colorado Chamber of Commerce or your specific trade association immediately. They need to hear your operational concerns now, before the bill leaves committee.

Follow the Money

When it comes to the state budget, this bill is practically a rounding error. Because the General Assembly is primarily setting the rules of the road for private employers, there are no massive new state programs or taxpayer-funded grants to distribute. The state might see a tiny, negligible bump in administrative costs to update state employee HR manuals (since state employees are also covered under the Title 24 adjustments in this bill), but no major taxpayer funds are on the line.

The real financial impact here is an invisible, unfunded mandate on Colorado's private sector. Businesses will bear the full brunt of the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training temporary workers to fill these four-month gaps. They will also absorb the productivity losses of having an experienced employee step away for a third of the year. If you're looking for the official fiscal note, the state economists haven't published the document yet (as the bill was just introduced on February 10), but expect it to confirm that the state's wallet remains mostly closed while private businesses open theirs.

Where This Bill Stands

SB26-087 is fresh out of the gate. It was introduced in the Senate on February 10, 2026, and immediately assigned to the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee. In the Colorado Capitol, "State Affairs" committees are fascinating — they can be the proving grounds for massive systemic changes, or they can be quiet graveyards where controversial bills are sent to die.

Right now, the trajectory is a toss-up. You can expect strong support from progressive groups, labor unions, and good-government advocates who desperately want to see more working-class representation under the gold dome. On the flip side, expect fierce resistance from business lobbying groups who strongly oppose any new forms of mandated leave, arguing it places an unfair operational burden on small businesses. We are waiting on a hearing date, but expect this to be scheduled within the next few weeks. If you care about this, now is the time to start making phone calls.