HB 25-1287
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
HB 25-1287: SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS FOR MINOR USERS & PARENTS
Prime Sponsors:
Rep. Caldwell; Lukens
Sen. Pelton B.; Michaelson Jenet
Published for: House Health & Human Services
Drafting number: LLS 25-0476
Fiscal Analyst:
Matt Bishop, 303-866-4796
matt.bishop@coleg.gov
Version: Initial Fiscal Note
Date: March 10, 2025
Fiscal note status: The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill requires social media companies to protect minors and their privacy.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis:
State Expenditures Local Government
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $131,809 to the Department of Law.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
1
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures $156,982 $117,275
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 1.1 FTE 0.8 FTE
1
Fund sources for these impacts are shown in the tables below.
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Table 1A
State Expenditures
Fund Source
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
General Fund $131,809 $98,858
Cash Funds $0 $0
Federal Funds $0 $0
Centrally Appropriated $25,173 $18,417
Total Expenditures $156,982 $117,275
Total FTE 1.1 FTE 0.8 FTE
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires social media companies to determine if users are minors, and offer those users
tools to protect their health and safety, such as disabling personalized recommendations,
setting time limits for daily usage or scheduling breaks, and reporting problems or unwanted
contact. Social media companies must also offer supervisory tools to parents, such as managing
certain account settings, viewing usage metrics, restricting purchases, or deleting the minor’s
personal data collected by the social media platform.
Social media companies must take measures to increase minor users’ privacy and ensure that
privacy protections are enabled by default for minors’ accounts. The use of a design or
algorithm to increase or sustain a minor’s engagement with the social media platform
constitutes a heightened risk of harm under the Colorado Privacy Act. Any violation of these
provisions is a deceptive trade practice.
State Revenue
Starting in FY 2025-26, the bill may increase state revenue from civil penalties and court filing
fees, as described below.
Civil Penalties
Under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, a person committing a deceptive trade practice
may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation. Additional penalties may be
imposed for subsequent violations of a court order or injunction. This revenue is classified as a
damage award and not subject to TABOR. Given the uncertainty about the number of cases that
may be pursued by the Attorney General and district attorneys, as well as the wide range in
potential penalty amounts, the fiscal note cannot estimate the potential impact of these civil
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March 10, 2025 HB 25-1287
Filing Fees
The bill may increase revenue to the Judicial Department from an increase in civil case filings.
Revenue from filing fees is subject to TABOR.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Department of Law by about $160,000 in FY 2025-26
and $110,000 in FY 2026-27. These costs, paid from the General Fund, are summarized in Table 2
and discussed below. The bill also minimally affects workload in the Judicial Department.
Table 2
State Expenditures
Department of Law
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Personal Services $123,731 $91,164
Operating Expenses $1,408 $1,024
Capital Outlay Costs $6,670 $0
Centrally Appropriated Costs $25,173 $18,417
Total Costs $156,982 $110,605
Total FTE 1.1 FTE 0.8 FTE
Department of Law
The Department of Law requires 1.1 FTE in FY 2025-26, decreasing to 0.8 FTE in FY 2026-27, to
adopt rules and evaluate complaints of deceptive trade practices. The department will prioritize
investigations within the overall number of deceptive trade practice complaints and available
resources. Standard operating and capital outlay costs are included, and costs in the first year
are prorated for the bill’s effective date.
Judicial Department
The trial courts in the Judicial Department may have an increase in cases filed under the
Colorado Consumer Protection Act from the addition of a new deceptive trade practice. This is
expected to be absorbable by the courts, and no change in appropriations is required. If
additional resources are needed, it will be addressed through the budget process.
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March 10, 2025 HB 25-1287
Centrally Appropriated Costs
Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated with this bill are
addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long Bill or
supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These costs, which may include
employee insurance, supplemental employee retirement payments, leased space, and indirect
cost assessments, are shown in the expenditure table above.
Local Government
Similar to the state, to the extent district attorneys receive deceptive trade practice complaints
related to the new deceptive trade practice under the bill, workload will increase to investigate
complaints and seek relief when appropriate. It is assumed most such cases will be handled at
the state level by the Attorney General.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed, except that the restriction on algorithms under the Colorado
Privacy Act take effect on October 1, 2025.
State Appropriations
For FY 2025-26, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $131,809 to the Department of
Law, and 1.1 FTE.
State and Local Government Contacts
Judicial Law
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.