SB 25-126
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
SB 25-126: UNIFORM ANTITRUST PRE-MERGER NOTIFICATION ACT
Prime Sponsors:
Sen. Snyder
Rep. Espenoza
Published for: Senate Judiciary
Drafting number: LLS 25-0437
Fiscal Analyst:
Aaron Carpenter, 303-866-4918
aaron.carpenter@coleg.gov
Version: Initial Fiscal Note
Date: February 27, 2025
Fiscal note status: This fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, which was recommended by the Colorado
Commission on Uniform State Laws.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill requires entities filing a pre-merger notification to also file with the Attorney General
under certain circumstances.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis:
State Revenue State Expenditures
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $68,052 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 $81,143 $74,473
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 0.6 FTE 0.6 FTE
1
Fund sources for these impacts are shown in the table below. Page 2
February 27, 2025 SB 25-126
Table 1A
State Expenditures
Fund Source
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
General Fund $68,052 $61,382
Cash Funds $0 $0
Federal Funds $0 $0
Centrally Appropriated $13,091 $13,091
Total Expenditures $81,143 $74,473
Total FTE 0.6 FTE 0.6 FTE
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires persons filing a pre-merger notification with the federal government under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to also file with the Colorado Attorney General if:
the person’s principal place of business is in Colorado; or
the person or a person it controls directly or indirectly had annual net sales in the state of
goods or services involved in the transaction of at least 20 percent of the filing threshold.
Any submission must be kept confidential unless the information is relevant to an administrative
proceeding or judicial action. The Attorney General may not charge a fee for the filing but may
seek imposition of a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 if a person does not comply with
filing requirements.
Assumptions
According to the federal government’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Annual Report, there were
1,805 merger transactions reported in federal fiscal year 2023. It is unknown how many occurred
with businesses in Colorado; however, the fiscal note assumes that about 2 percent of cases
occurred in Colorado, or 36 filings per year.
State Revenue
To the extent the bill increases civil penalties, state revenue will increase. The fiscal note assumes
a high degree of compliance with the bill so any increase in revenue is assumed to be minimal. Page 3
February 27, 2025 SB 25-126
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Department of Law by $81,000 in FY 2025-26 and
$75,000 in FY 2026-27 and ongoing. 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 $60,614 $60,614
Operating Expenses $768 $768
Capital Outlay Costs $6,670 $0
Centrally Appropriated Costs $13,091 $13,091
Total Costs $81,143 $74,473
Total FTE 0.6 FTE 0.6 FTE
Department of Law
Starting in FY 2025-26, the department requires 0.6 FTE to receive and analyze filings submitted
to the office. This assumes that each submission will require 30 hours of attorney work per filing,
which equals 0.5 FTE attorney. The office also requires 0.1 FTE legal assistance as support staff at
a ratio of 1 to 5 attorneys. Costs in FY 2025-26 are prorated to an August 1, 2025, start date.
Judicial Department
To the extent the bill results in additional civil filings, workload to the trial courts will increase.
The fiscal note assumes a high compliance and any additional work is assumed to be minimal.
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. Page 4
February 27, 2025 SB 25-126
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed.
State Appropriations
For FY 2025-26, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $68,052 to the Department of
Law, and 0.6 FTE.
Departmental Difference
The Department of Law estimates the bill requires 1.0 FTE attorney and 0.2 FTE legal assistant to
review and analyze filings under the bill. This estimate assumes that each filing requires 58 hours
of review. The fiscal note differs from this estimate by assuming that reviews will take 30 hours
per filing.
State and Local Government Contacts
Judicial
Law
Secretary of State
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.