Colorado Keeps the EEO-1 as Washington Moves to Drop It; New York Drafts Stablecoin Rules and Weighs Upstate Utility Increases

The bottom line today

Washington and Denver went opposite ways this week on the same form. On Tuesday, July 21, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2-1 to propose ending the EEO-1, the annual report that sorts a company’s workforce by race and sex [3, 4]. Colorado had already decided to keep it. HB26-1207, signed June 4, requires larger private employers to file the same data with the Secretary of State from July 1, 2027, even if the federal report disappears [1]. Its final fiscal note was published today [2]. For a multistate employer, the federal relief may arrive as a single-state filing instead. New York had a quieter day of agency notices, and one of them, a stablecoin rule, is the kind of regulation business should want.

CO Colorado HB26-1207: the state keeps the EEO-1 whatever the EEOC does

What it does. HB26-1207, by Reps. Jamie Jackson and Jennifer Bacon and Sens. Cathy Kipp and Jessie Danielson, adds EEO-1 data to the periodic report that business entities already file with the Secretary of State, beginning July 1, 2027 [1]. An employer must provide the data “even if the federal government repeals or discontinues” the federal requirement [1]. EEO-1 data is defined as the federal form “as that form existed on March 1, 2026,” categorizing employees by race, ethnicity, gender and job category [1].

The definition of employer is narrow on its face. It covers a private sector entity doing business in Colorado that employs 100 or more workers and that, as of March 1, 2026, was required to submit EEO-1 data to the EEOC [1]. Governments, school districts and public colleges are excluded [1].

Where it stands. Signed June 4 and effective August 12, 2026, unless a referendum petition is filed [1, 2]. The fiscal note puts the state’s cost at $50,643 in the first year and $33,754 in the second, mostly for half a technician and a $16,640 update to the business e-filing system [2].

The federal side. The EEOC’s proposal would rescind the EEO-1 through EEO-6 reports and the recordkeeping tied to them [3]. The agency estimates the current requirement costs employers almost $275 million a year and costs the EEOC almost $4 million to run [3]. Chair Andrea Lucas said the proposal “is consistent with the text of Title VII and Supreme Court precedent” [3]. The transcript records Lucas and Commissioner Brittany Panuccio voting yes and Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal voting no [4].

Pratt’s read. The supporters’ case deserves a fair hearing, and Kotagal made it in the meeting itself. The data, she said, is used by state and local civil rights agencies, and employers should keep collecting it “to comply with similar state laws, which surely will multiply” [4]. She named this one: “The State of Colorado has just passed legislation to require EEO-1 reporting in anticipation of this proposal” [4].

That is the problem. If the federal report goes, Colorado employers keep the data systems, the job-category coding and the annual filing, and lose the one thing that made it tolerable: a single national form. The freeze on the March 1, 2026 version helps in one way, since the state cannot quietly expand the form. It also means Colorado employers may be filing a form that no federal agency maintains. The fiscal note quantifies the Secretary of State’s costs and says nothing about what employers will spend [2]. Neither the act nor the note says whether the filings will be public [1, 2].

One drafting point merits a careful look before the 2027 session. The coverage test is tied to who had to file federally as of March 1, 2026 [1]. A company that crosses 100 workers later may read itself out of the law. That is good news for growing employers, and probably not what the sponsors meant.

NY New York DFS Part 202: a stablecoin rule written to match federal law

What it does. The Department of Financial Services proposed a new Part 202 of Title 23 to regulate payment stablecoin issuers [5]. It replaces the department’s 2022 stablecoin guidance, codifies practices drawn from its supervisory agreements with limited purpose trust companies, and adds the requirements of the federal GENIUS Act [5]. Issuers would file monthly public reports, monthly certifications, quarterly reports, annual attestations and annual anti-money laundering certifications, with the chief executive and chief financial officer certifying the monthly report [5]. Issuers above $50 billion outstanding would need audited financial statements [5].

Where it stands. Published in the State Register today, with a 60-day comment period [5]. It would take effect with the GENIUS Act, no later than January 18, 2027 [5]. Issuers the superintendent has already approved could keep issuing without a new approval, and would get 12 months to come into full compliance [5].

Pratt’s read. Credit. The department regulates three issuers, none of them small businesses, and expects no material compliance costs beyond what they already bear [5]. The reason for the rule is federal: Treasury’s proposed certification standard requires states to track federal rules closely, and without this Part New York’s issuers “would have to be regulated by a different regulator and would face very similar requirements” [5]. The department openly questions whether Treasury’s prescriptive approach fits the statute’s “meet or exceed” test, then writes the rule to pass it anyway [5]. Keeping a state charter as a working option, with grandfathered approvals and a year’s runway, is how a regulator should handle a federal change.

NY New York PSC: NYSEG and RG&E rate requests head to hearing

What it does. The Public Service Commission noticed revised tariff filings by New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric, made to comply with its May 14, 2026 order setting temporary rates [6]. The underlying requests, filed June 30, 2025, are for the rate year ending April 30, 2027 [6]:

• NYSEG electric: about $464.4 million, a 35% increase in delivery revenue (18.4% of total revenue)
• RG&E electric: about $220.2 million, 36.0% of delivery revenue (19.8% of total)
• NYSEG gas: about $93 million, 39.4% of delivery revenue (22.1% of total)
• RG&E gas: about $72.9 million, 32.0% of delivery revenue (17.1% of total)

Where it stands. The proposed modifications were to take effect July 1 and are suspended through October 28, 2026 [6]. Hearings begin September 14 in Albany [6].

Pratt’s read. Every bill estimate in the notices is residential, such as $33.12 more a month for a NYSEG home using 600 kilowatt-hours [6]. There is no published figure for a manufacturer, a dairy barn or a grocery store, and those are the customers who cannot cut usage when delivery charges rise by a third. The Commission granted temporary rates to keep service “safe, adequate and reliable” while it reviews the record [6]. That is a fair reason. Business intervenors should insist that the final order show what commercial and industrial classes will pay.

NY New York medical cannabis: rules catch up with the statute

What it does. The Office of Cannabis Management adopted amendments to its medical cannabis regulations, effective today, to conform them to enacted legislation [7]. Patient certifications can now last up to two years, possession limits rise, more caregivers are eligible, and medical dispensaries may accept out-of-state certifications immediately [7].

Pratt’s read. Credit for the medical operators. Commenters told the office that medical dispensaries were closing as adult-use shops spread [7]. Longer certifications and reciprocity give those operators more customers at no new cost.

On the calendar

Requests to testify at the EEOC hearing are due August 7, and the hearing is August 11 [3]. Colorado’s act takes effect August 12; the first state EEO-1 filings come due from July 1, 2027 [1, 2]. Comments on New York’s stablecoin rule run 60 days from today [5]. NYSEG and RG&E hearings open September 14, and the suspension of their proposed rates runs through October 28 [6].