Arbitration Reform

Plain English: This amendment clarifies that the bill's rules about arbitration fees apply specifically to cases filed in state or federal courts.

• Changes the word 'CLAIM' on page 3, line 15 to specify it means a claim for a case filed in state court.
• Changes the word 'CLAIM' on page 3, line 16 to specify it means a claim for a case filed in federal court.

• The amendment text only shows specific words being changed and does not explain how this affects other types of claims or cases outside of state and federal courts.
• Without the full context of the original bill, it is unclear if these changes limit where employees or consumers can file their disputes.

Plain English: This amendment clarifies that an arbitrator cannot be disqualified just because they often rule in favor of one side.

• It updates the numbering format for specific sections to fix a formatting error.

• The text only provides technical instructions on how to edit lines and numbers, so it does not explain what subsection (3)(a) originally says or who exactly counts as an 'arbitration organization' without reading the full bill.
• Because this is a formatting fix with one new sentence added, the exact impact depends on rules in other parts of the law that are not included here.

Plain English: This amendment changes the time limit in the bill from thirty days to ninety days.

• The word 'THIRTY' is replaced with 'NINETY' on page 4, line 14 of the original bill.
• The word 'THIRTY' is also replaced with 'NINETY' on page 4, line 21 of the original bill.

• The amendment text does not explain what specific event or deadline these numbers refer to because it only shows where words are changed.
• Without seeing the full context of lines 14 and 21, we cannot say exactly how this change affects employees or consumers.

Plain English: This amendment removes specific parts of the bill that listed a state law and detailed rules about arbitration fees.

• It deletes a reference to Colorado Revised Statute section 13-22-204.5 from page 2.
• It removes six lines of text on page 2 that likely contained specific definitions or requirements.

• The amendment only shows which words are deleted but does not provide the new replacement text for those sections, so it is unclear exactly what rules remain in place.
• Because the full content of the removed lines is missing from this document, we cannot explain the specific details about arbitration fees that were taken out.

Plain English: This amendment fixes a wording error in the bill by replacing confusing phrases with simpler words.

• It changes the phrase 'THE RECORD OF AN' to 'THAT' on page 4, line 15 of the original bill text.
• It makes the same change from 'THE RECORD OF AN' to 'THAT' again on page 4, line 22.

• The amendment only shows specific word replacements and does not explain what sentence these words belong to or how they affect the final meaning of the law.
• Without seeing the full original text around lines 15 and 22, it is unclear exactly which part of the arbitration rules this correction applies to.

Plain English: This amendment changes the bill to ban arbitration fees that are 'substantially' high instead of just excessive, extends a waiting period from 90 days to 120 days in two places, lowers penalty damages from triple to double amounts, and pauses this time limit if an appeal happens.

• Changes the rule so arbitration agreements cannot require employees or consumers to pay fees that are 'substantially' high instead of just exceeding a certain amount.
• Increases a specific waiting period mentioned in two places from ninety days to one hundred twenty days.
• Reduces the penalty for breaking these rules from three times (treble) damages to two times (double) damages.
• Adds a rule that stops the 120-day clock if someone appeals a decision.

• The amendment text does not explain exactly what 'substantially' means in this context, so it is unclear how courts will decide which fees are too high.
• The specific sections of the law that define who gets these penalties or when they apply are not included in the provided text.

Plain English: This amendment fixes the numbering and formatting of a list in the bill but does not change any rules about what fees employees or consumers must pay.

• Updates letter labels like (a), (b), and (I) to match standard legal writing formats on page 3.
• Replaces two lines of text with a new heading that says 'BRINGING A CLAIM IN ARBITRATION'.
• Removes seven lines of existing text from the top of page 4.

• The amendment only shows changes to labels and headings, so it is unclear what specific rules were removed on page 4 without seeing the original full bill.
• Because the actual content being deleted or added is not fully described in this text, we cannot explain how the law would change for people using arbitration.

Plain English: This amendment would remove a specific set of rules from the bill that deals with arbitration fees.

• It deletes lines 6 through 12 on page 5 of the original bill.

• The provided text does not say exactly what words or rules are in the deleted section, so it is unclear which specific fee protections would be removed.
• Because the amendment was marked as 'Lost', this change did not become part of the final bill.

Plain English: This amendment would require the Colorado Department of Law to study and report on how House Bill 26-1236 changes the number, cost, and outcomes of legal cases that move from private arbitration to public court.

• It creates a new law requiring the Department of Law to collect statewide data starting July 1, 2028.
• The study compares two years before and after the bill passes to see how many more cases go to court instead of arbitration.
• It tracks changes in money awarded to plaintiffs, costs for enforcing awards, court administrative expenses, and attorney fees.
• A final report with these findings must be published by January 31, 2029, and sent to the state legislature.

• The amendment text does not explain how officials will identify which specific cases would have been arbitrated if this bill did not exist.
• This amendment was marked as 'Lost' in the legislative process, meaning it may not become part of the final law.

Plain English: This amendment changes the word 'merchant' to 'business' in several places within the bill.

• Replaces the term 'MERCHANT' with 'BUSINESS' on page 3, line 1 of the bill.
• Updates three additional instances where 'MERCHANT' appears on page 4 (lines 17, 18, and 21) to say 'BUSINESS' instead.

• The amendment text only shows specific word replacements and does not explain the full context of how these terms are used in the law.
• It is unclear if this change affects which types of companies or people must follow the new rules, as that depends on other parts of the bill.