I. Senate Bill 26-155 – The Enterprise

On June 4, 2026, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 26-155, “Concerning Increasing the Availability of Homeowner’s Insurance in the State.” (the Bill). The Bill adds a new Part 20 to Article 4 of Title 10 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, creating the “Strengthen Colorado Homes Enterprise” (the Enterprise) within the Colorado Division of Insurance. The Enterprise is structured as a “government-owned business” designed to assist homeowners in retrofitting residential property against extreme weather events, principally hail and windstorms. Importantly for carriers writing homeowner’s policies in Colorado, the Bill authorizes the Enterprise to administer and collect a new annual fee, effective beginning in calendar year 2027, equal to 0.5% of the total premium collected by the insurer on multiperil homeowner’s insurance policies issued in Colorado for the preceding calendar year.

On May 21, a panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services on whether text messages are covered as “telephone calls” in § 227(c)(5) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). While questions asked by judges during oral arguments are no guarantee of how the court will ultimately rule, Judge Thomas K. Kirsch II and Judge Doris L. Pryor appeared skeptical of the plaintiff’s position that Congress intended “telephone call” to include text messaging in 1991. Judge Nancy L. Maldonado did not ask any questions. While we will need to wait for the decision, there is an excellent chance that the panel will hold that plaintiffs cannot sue over marketing text messages under § 227(c)(5), creating a potential circuit split with the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Howard v. Republican National Committee that will need to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.