Legislation backed by corporate mega-stores passes final Senate vote despite unresolved implementation problems, federal preemption, and warnings from regulators spanning four decades
Contact:
Katie Farnan
720-404-2502
katie@thebighorncompany.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver, CO – April 29, 2026 – Today, the Colorado Senate narrowly passed SB26-134 with a 18-16 vote. The bill now heads to the Colorado House for consideration.
A broad coalition of labor unions, community organizations, small business advocates, and local financial institutions is sounding the alarm. SB26-134 would create confusion, unnecessary barriers and higher costs for small businesses, and have an outsized impact on service members and their families banking with state-based military financial institutions. National financial institutions will likely be pre-empted by a recently announced rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Additionally, despite largely unenforceable amendments to the legislation, there is no guarantee of savings for Colorado families or benefits for workers.
“The Colorado Senate just passed a flawed, anti-veterans bill,” said Richard Hunt, Executive Chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition. “Instead of helping small businesses and Coloradans, local politicians did the bidding of corporate mega-stores and passed a bill that essentially only applies to a single institution in the state: Navy Federal Credit Union and the thousands of service members and their families who depend on Navy Fed.”
The bill’s carveouts create a patchwork system that forces businesses to navigate inconsistent rules, turning simple transactions into a confusing and costly process. If signed into law, this flawed proposal would hurt Colorado’s economy.
Small Businesses Hit Hardest
While large retailers may adapt, small businesses will be left to absorb the costs and complexity, including system upgrades, slower transactions, and new compliance burdens.
“For businesses operating on thin margins, even small disruptions at the point of sale can impact customer experience and revenue consistency,” said Angeles Ortega, CEO of Mi Casa Resource Center.
No Proven Consumer Benefit
There is no way to ensure businesses pass savings on to consumers. When similar mandates were applied to debit cards, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond found that 98 percent of merchants either raised prices or kept them the same.
Consumers Could Lose Key Protections
Coalition members warn the bill could reduce rewards, limit access to low-cost banking, and weaken fraud protections.
“Slashing funding for fraud protection when financial fraud is skyrocketing will harm every Coloradan that depends on safe debit and credit cards,” said Meagan Barrett, President and CEO of Northern Colorado Credit Union. “If lawmakers cut that funding, it will only accelerate the rise in costs and loss of security facing consumers every day. As local, not-for-profit financial co-ops, these cuts will add new costs and risks for the 2.8 million Coloradans that chose a credit union as their financial partner.”
In a recent OpEd in Westword, Denver NAACP President Reverend Tony Henderson and Colorado Black Women for Political Action President Bianka Emerson warned that the bill would harm working families by limiting access to affordable credit and weakening rewards programs. “Through our advocacy work in communities across Colorado, we have seen firsthand how important it is to protect the tools that help families build stability,” they wrote. “We cannot afford to pass policies that unintentionally widen economic disparities or make it harder for working families to get ahead.”
Driven by Big Retail, Not Consumers
SB26-134 is part of a national campaign backed by corporate mega-stores to boost their profits—while shifting new burdens onto small businesses and consumers. Near-identical bills have been introduced in dozens of states. Our review of publicly available legislative testimony and lobbying disclosures tells the real story of who is behind these efforts:
For additional information, please visit GuardYourCard.com/Colorado
