Committee advances bill updating accessibility standards for publicly funded housing, 4-3

The Senate Local Government and Housing Committee voted 4-3 to advance Senate Bill 26109 after sponsors and building-code stakeholders described the measure as a technical update to align Colorado's accessibility statute with current International Code Council and ANSI A117.1 standards.

"Accessibility is not a luxury, but a fundamental requirement, especially in housing," sponsor Senator Exum told the committee, arguing the bill clarifies and streamlines terminology approved previously and defers to contemporary model code language. Co-sponsor Senator Cutter called the bill "a small but important" change and noted the proposal carries no fiscal note.

Sam Albrecht, director of the Office of Regulatory Oversight in the Department of Local Affairs, said stakeholders including local building departments, the Colorado chapter of the International Code Council, developers and architects helped identify out-of-date references and urged the committee to support the updates. "One in four adults live with a disability," Albrecht said, arguing that updated statutory references help ensure publicly supported housing is accessible.

Nicholas Remus of AIA Colorado said architects support consistent references to newer model codes and described the proposed changes as reasonable clarifications based on the 2017 edition of ANSI A117.1. Jay Enhaus, deputy building official at Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, told the committee that the statute currently cites outdated and incorrect code sections and that the adopted amendments resolve his concerns.

Senator Rich expressed dissent, calling the measure "another, costly accessibility mandate on property developers" at a time of housing affordability pressures; proponents countered that the bill is a technical alignment and does not expand the types of projects covered. The committee adopted two amendments (L001 and L002) offered by the sponsor to correct citations and add successor language, then voted 4-3 to send SB 26109, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole.