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DENVER – The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today announced legislation that will expand incentives to protect homes against natural disasters and lower homeowners’ insurance premium rates. Senate Bill 49, introduced this week, would create two new incentives for Coloradans to protect their homes against common natural disasters in Colorado, such as extreme hail, wind and wildfires.
Colorado is currently the fourth most expensive state in the nation for homeowners’ insurance due to increasing regulatory requirements and more frequent and costly natural disasters. Incentivizing hail and wildfire resiliency and prevention measures will reduce property loss, lower costs for homeowners, cut down on waste and help reduce insurance rates for Coloradans.
“Homeowners’ insurance rates are becoming an increasing burden on Colorado families, driving up the cost of housing and creating workforce challenges for employers,” said Colorado Chamber President and CEO Loren Furman. “If left unaddressed, these escalating costs will continue to strain Colorado’s rising cost of living and limit future economic growth. This legislative session, the Chamber is prioritizing residential resiliency across the state to reduce homeowners’ insurance rates and enhance long-term damage mitigation measures.”
The bipartisan SB 49 is sponsored by Sen. Marc Snyder, Sen. Lisa Frizell and Rep. Sean Camacho.
The first incentive in SB 49 would expand recipients of the state Natural Disaster Mitigation Enterprise to include individual homeowners and homeowners’ associations. Currently, only local governments are authorized to access this funding source. Leveraging existing programs to help homeowners directly fund risk-reduction measures will support long-term damage mitigation goals across the state, generating cost reduction in insurance policies.
“Colorado’s extreme hail and wildfire events have made us one of the most expensive states for homeowners’ insurance while shrinking coverage options, and we need to prioritize getting costs under control,” said Sen. Snyder. “Investing in proactive prevention measures is one of the most impactful ways to reduce costs on a large scale, and I look forward to working with the Chamber to pass this important legislation.”
The second piece of SB 49 creates a new tax-exempt savings account program for Coloradans to pay homeowners insurance deductibles, install impact resistant roofing, perform wildfire mitigation projects, and other damage prevention measures.
“Homeowners across the state need more options to pay for important housing upgrades and reduce damage risks, from upgrading roofing to improving housing materials,” Sen. Frizell said. “Providing financial incentives for mitigation measures today will help prevent higher costs tomorrow, strengthening resiliency in both Colorado’s housing infrastructure and future economic growth. This is also important step toward reducing homeowners’ insurance rates to provide relief for Coloradans statewide.”
SB 49 is modeled after similar grant and tax incentive programs in other states that face costly severe weather events, including Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. These programs have made it easier for homeowners to strengthen their homes and access insurance discounts and cost reduction.
“Coloradans continue to face skyrocketing homeowners’ insurance premiums through no fault of their own. SB 49 will give families practical tools to strengthen their homes, reduce damage from Colorado’s common severe weather events, and ultimately save them money on insurance premiums,” said Rep. Camacho.
Colorado’s escalating homeowners’ insurance rates contribute to the state’s overall affordability. According to CNBC, Colorado ranks 47th for cost of living, making the state one of the most expensive to live in the country. This is a critical business issue, impacting workforce and talent attraction for employers statewide.
Boosting residential resiliency was a key piece in the Colorado Chamber’s 2026 legislative agenda released last month. The priority aligns with one of the Chamber’s long-term goals to improve the state’s cost of living through its 10-year strategic action plan for Colorado.
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The Colorado Chamber of Commerce champions free enterprise, a healthy business environment and economic prosperity for all Coloradans. It is the only business association that works to improve the business climate for all sizes of business from a statewide, multi-industry perspective. What the Colorado Chamber accomplishes is good for all businesses, and that’s good for the state’s economy. It was created in 1965 based on the merger with the Colorado Manufacturers’ Association.