The act directs the Colorado state forest service (forest service) to establish a rural grant navigator grant program to provide grant money to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) providing outreach and technical assistance, including grant writing assistance, to rural communities seeking to apply for state or federal grants for wildfire mitigation and preparedness (wildfire-related grants).

On or after March 1, 2025, an NGO may apply to the forest service for grant money in accordance with application and eligibility guidelines that the forest service establishes with input from NGOs that assist Colorado communities with wildfire mitigation and preparedness. On or before March 1, 2026, and on or before March 1 of every year thereafter, the forest service is required to prepare a report summarizing its work to award grants to NGOs assisting rural communities with identifying and applying for wildfire-related grants. The forest service is required to submit the report to the wildfire matters review committee or, if the committee no longer exists, to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over natural resources matters.

For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $300,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the forest service to implement the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The bill requires the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment to create and make available to employers suicide prevention education posters and notices.

Starting July 1, 2025, employers are required to display the suicide prevention education posters in their workplaces and certain employers are required to include the suicide prevention education notices in documents provided to employees.

The office of suicide prevention within the department of public health and environment must create a website to provide information about workplace suicide prevention. The bill requires the suicide prevention education posters to include a quick response (QR) code and a website link to connect to the website.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

The act defines "emergency communications specialist" as a first responder whose duties involve emergency and nonemergency dispatch services. The act also clarifies that the currently authorized use of the emergency telephone charge, the 911 surcharge, and the prepaid wireless 911 charge, for training for public safety answering point (PSAP) personnel includes training for emergency communications specialists, technical support PSAP personnel, and other personnel essential for the provision of emergency telephone services, emergency notification services, and emergency medical dispatch.

APPROVED by Governor March 15, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here:

https://leg.colorado.gov/hb24-1030-bill-summary

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act changes the child restraint system requirements in existing law as follows:

• Increases the age at which children are required to use a child restraint system from under 8 years of age to under 9 years of age;
• Increases the age, from under one year of age to under 2 years of age, and the weight, from under 20 pounds to under 40 pounds, of children who must be restrained in a rear-facing child restraint system in a rear seat of the vehicle;
• Requires that children who are under 2 years of age but over 40 pounds in weight be restrained in a rear-facing or forward-facing restraint system;
• Increases the age, from one year of age or older to 2 years of age or older but less than 4 years of age, of children who must be restrained in a rear-facing or forward-facing child restraint system, depending on the child's weight, in a rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available;
• Adds a requirement that children who are at least 4 years of age but under 9 years of age and who weigh at least 40 pounds use a child restraint system or booster seat, which must be situated in a rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available; and
• Increases the age at which children must be restrained in a safety belt or child restraint system from under 16 years of age to under 18 years of age.

The act requires the division of highway safety to use existing national highway traffic safety administration occupant protection grant funds to implement a program for public information and education concerning updates to child restraint system requirements, the use of child restraint systems, and Colorado law regarding child restraint system.

APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024

EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act generally prohibits covenants and other restrictions that disallow the installation, use, or maintenance of fire-hardened building materials in residential real property, including in common interest communities. However, the act allows a unit owners' association of a common interest community to develop reasonable standards regarding the design, dimensions, placement, or external appearance of fire-hardened building materials used for fencing within the community.

APPROVED by Governor March 12, 2024

EFFECTIVE March 12, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act adds firefighters to the class of people whose personal information is protected from publication on the internet by public entities upon a the request of a person in the class.

APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The bill creates a special license plate to honor first responders who have a permanent occupational disability (first responder). A first responder may obtain a special license plate without paying taxes or fees for the plate or the vehicle. For additional vehicles, a first responder must pay the standard motor vehicle fees plus 2 one-time fees of $25. One fee is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other fee is credited to the licensing services cash fund. An individual may obtain the license plate with the identifying figure that allows the use of reserved parking for people with disabilities.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Pursuant to the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado", death benefits will be paid to a dependent surviving spouse of a deceased employee for life, regardless of remarriage, rather than until remarriage, if the surviving spouse receives death benefits pursuant to law and the deceased employee was a state employee who worked in a job with a high-risk classification.

A job with a "high-risk classification" means certain employees of the Colorado state patrol; certain employees of the Colorado bureau of investigation; certain employees of the department of corrections; firefighters, investigators, and fire marshals employed by the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety; wildlife officers and parks and recreation officers employed by the division of wildlife in the department of natural resources; employees of the department of transportation responsible for highway safety and maintenance; and employees of a state institution of higher education who are vested with the powers of a peace officer.

APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act defines "reimbursement" for purposes of reimbursing the expenditure of money from state emergency reserve as a repayment of expenditures for which the state previously designated emergency money and specifies that federal cost share provided through a federal emergency management agency public assistant grant is not reimbursement.

To specify the authority of all fire response agencies, rather than just a fire protection district, to transfer the management of a wildland fire to the county sheriff (sheriff) when the fire exceeds the capability of the fire response agency to manage, the act authorizes a fire department, as defined in law, to transfer the management of a wildland fire and repeals references to transfers by a fire protection district. The act also specifies that the sheriff may develop a wildfire preparedness plan for the unincorporated area of a county as required by law, in cooperation with any fire department, rather than only with a fire district, with jurisdiction over the unincorporated area.

The act repeals references to the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) in the statutes that address the response to and management of wildland fires, as the CWPP addresses the identification and reduction of hazards and is not focused on the response to or management of wildland fires. Instead, the act specifies that the sheriff and the fire chief of a fire protection district (fire chief) are subject to any relevant plans or agreements in the response to and management of wildland fires.

To allow the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety (division) and the sheriff to determine the most appropriation management strategy when the management of a wildland fire has been transferred from the sheriff to the division, the act repeals the requirement that the division and the sheriff use the unified command management strategy when the management of a wildland fire has been transferred to the division. The act also repeals the requirement that the unified command management strategy be used in a hazardous substance incident to allow responding agencies to determine the most appropriate response to and management of such an incident.

The act repeals the requirement that a sheriff appoint a local incident management team to provide command control to manage a wildland fire and instead requires the sheriff to appoint an incident commander for a wildland fire. In addition, the act specifies that the agency that has jurisdiction over any wildland fire in the state is required to manage the fire using the incident command system as defined in law.

The act repeals references to the Colorado state emergency operation plan (SEOP) in the statute designating the division as the lead state agency for wildland fire response and suppression, as the SEOP can only be activated by an executive order and does not apply to the majority of wildland fire operations. In addition the act repeals inaccurate references to the state forest service in that statute.

APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The bill requires state and local public bodies (public bodies) to ensure that the following accessibility requirements are implemented by July 1, 2025:

• Any public meeting at which public business is discussed, formal action may be taken, or recommendations to the governing body of the public body may be discussed (meeting) held by a public body is required to be accessible in real time by live streaming video or audio that is recorded and accessible to individuals with disabilities;
• A public body is required to post on its website, at least 24 hours before a meeting, any documents that will be distributed during the meeting;
• For any meeting of a public body during which public testimony will be heard, the public body is required to allow any individual to participate in the meeting and offer public testimony by using a video conferencing platform unless the meeting occurs in a geographic location that lacks broadband internet service; and
• A public body is required to provide any auxiliary aids or services requested in time for the meeting for which they were requested. A public body may require that a request for auxiliary aids or services to attend a meeting of the public body with the use of the video conferencing platform be made up to 7 days before the date of the meeting.

Nothing in the bill prohibits a public body from promulgating rules for the administration of public testimony so long as the rules apply to both in-person and remote testimony, and nothing in the bill requires a public body to provide hardware or software or internet or phone access at an individual's home.

The failure of any public body to comply with the applicable requirements of the bill constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability. Any individual who is subjected to a violation is entitled to seek relief as currently provided in law.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

For ground ambulance services, the bill:

• Allows a political subdivision, or an ambulance service providing ambulance services on behalf of the political subdivision, to submit to the division of insurance the established rates for the ambulance services;
• Establishes reimbursement rates for ambulance services that are out-of-network; and
• Prohibits an out-of-network ambulance service from billing a covered person any outstanding balance for a covered service not paid for by a carrier, except for any coinsurance, deductible, or copayment amount required to be paid by the covered person.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

The act makes 2 principal changes to current firefighter benefit programs. First, the act expands state funding for the firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits program to include part-time and volunteer firefighters. Second, the act provides state funding for the firefighter cancer benefits program for eligible firefighters.

The act requires an employer of a covered individual to provide access to specified heart and circulatory malfunction benefits to part-time and volunteer firefighters in addition to full-time firefighters and the employer is reimbursed by the state for providing the benefits. The requirement that an employer provide these benefits becomes voluntary if funding is insufficient.

The act requires an employer of an eligible firefighter to participate in a cancer trust for firefighter benefits, but specifies that if funding to reimburse the employer is insufficient, participation in the trust becomes optional.

The act also requires an employer to participate in a funded trust to provide cardiovascular screenings, at a minimum, and other health screenings and prevention, as practicable, to peace officers. The trust is reimbursed by the state for providing the benefits, and if funding to reimburse the trust is insufficient, then the requirement for employers to provide the specified program is optional.

The general assembly is required to appropriate money from the general fund to the department of local affairs to reduce employer contributions for volunteer and part-time firefighters in the following amounts:

• $300,000 for state fiscal year 2024-25;
• 500,000 for state fiscal year 2025-26;
• 650,000 for state fiscal year 2026-27; and
• $1,000,000 for state fiscal year 2027-28.

In addition, on July 1, 2028, the state treasurer is required to transfer $2,500,000 from the general fund to the firefighter benefits cash fund and to transfer sufficient funds, subject to annual appropriation, on each July 1 thereafter, to reimburse employers for the direct costs of providing the benefits for volunteer and part-time firefighters under the firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits program.

The general assembly is required to appropriate money from the general fund to the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety for reimbursing a multiple employer health trust for providing cardiovascular screenings for peace officers in the following amounts:

• $200,000 for state fiscal year 2024-25;
• 250,000 for state fiscal year 2025-26;
• 350,000 for state fiscal year 2026-27;
• $500,000 for state fiscal year 2027-28; and
• $1,000,000 for state fiscal year 2028-29.

For state fiscal year 2024-25, the act appropriates $300,000 from the general fund to the department of local affairs for use by the division of local government for firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits and $200,000 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for cardiovascular screenings for peace officers.

APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2024

EFFECTIVE May 29, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

On or before December 1, 2026, the bill requires a board of county commissioners or the governing body of a municipality to adopt a building code, or amend an existing building code, to allow up to 5 stories of a multifamily residential building to be served by a single exit. To satisfy this requirement, a local government shall incorporate by reference and adopt or adapt and adopt language from a portion of an existing building code that allows a single exit to serve no more than 5 stories of a group r-2 occupancy in the same building. If a local government so requests, the department of local affairs shall provide technical assistance to the local government in satisfying this requirement.

The bill also clarifies that the adoption or amendment of a building code to satisfy the requirements of the bill does not qualify as adopting or enforcing a building code for the purpose of determining whether a board of county commissioners or the governing body of a municipality is required to adopt an energy code.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

A metropolitan district is a type of special district that provides at least 2 types of services and may perform covenant enforcement similar to the role of a homeowners' association. The act requires a metropolitan district engaging in covenant enforcement and design review services to comply with certain procedural requirements, including:

• Adopting a written policy governing the imposition and collection of fines;
• Adopting a written policy governing how disputes between the metropolitan district and a resident are addressed; and
• Refraining from prohibiting residents from engaging in certain activities regarding the use of their property, including displaying flags and signs; parking a motor vehicle in a driveway; removing certain vegetation to create a defensible space for fire mitigation purposes; performing reasonable property modifications to accommodate disabilities; using xeriscape, nonvegetative turf grass, or drought-tolerant landscaping; using a rain barrel; operating a family child care home; using renewable energy generation devices; and installing or using an energy efficiency measure. Additionally, a metropolitan district is prohibited from requiring residents to use cedar shakes or other flammable roofing materials.

The act prohibits a metropolitan district from foreclosing on any lien based on a resident's delinquent fees or other charges owed to the metropolitan district. The act also imposes certain procedural requirements regarding court actions filed by or against a metropolitan district based on an alleged violation of the metropolitan district's declaration, rules and regulations, or other instrument.

A metropolitan district that engages in design review services, but does not engage in covenant enforcement or form a homeowners' association, cannot pursue other remedies against residents to enforce its design review requirements and need not adopt the written policies required under the act.

APPROVED by Governor April 19, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The Colorado fire commission (commission) was created in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety. The commission is set to be repealed, effective September 1, 2024, and is subject to a sunset review prior to its repeal. The act implements the recommendations in the department of regulatory agencies' 2023 sunset report to extend the commission's repeal date until September 1, 2033, and requires a sunset review prior to its repeal.

APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

Current law allows employees in the state personnel system and state employees that are covered under the "State Employee Group Benefits Act" to participate in a group benefit plan that includes any group benefit coverages contracted for or administered by the state personnel director (director). Such group benefit coverages include but are not limited to medical, dental, life, and disability benefits.

The act expands the definition of group benefit plans to include voluntary and flexible benefits. The act also defines voluntary benefit to mean a variety of benefit plans of products and services contracted for or administered by the director for which an employee may select voluntary payroll deductions that may be matched by a state contribution. The act requires the director to complete a fiscal analysis of the cost and outcome of any such voluntary benefit, which includes a determination by the department of the number of potential state employees retained as a result of offering the benefit, before a state contribution match can become effective. The act also excludes a contribution or donation to a candidate committee, political committee, political party, small donor committee, small-scale issue committee, or any other political entity from the definition of group benefit plans.

APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The bill defines a short-term rental unit as a building that is designed for use predominantly as a place of residency by a person, a family, or families, is leased or available to be leased for short-term stays, and includes the land upon which the building is located. A commercial short-term rental unit is defined as a short-term rental unit that is not the owner's primary or secondary residence.

A commercial short-term rental unit is classified as lodging property, which is a subclass of nonresidential property for purposes of valuation for assessment. A short-term rental unit that is the owner's primary or secondary residence will continue to be classified as residential property.

On or before November 15, 2024, and on or before November 15 of each year thereafter, an owner of a short-term rental unit shall submit to the assessor of the county in which the property is located an affidavit signed by the owner, under the penalty of perjury in the second degree, identifying whether the property will continue to be used as a short-term rental unit in the following property tax year commencing on January 1, and if so, whether it will be the owner's primary or secondary residence. Absent contrary information, the assessor shall use the information in the affidavit to determine whether the property is a commercial short-term rental unit. If a commercial short-term rental unit is sold, the new owner shall submit an affidavit to the county assessor if the property will no longer be a commercial short-term rental unit for the classification of the property to change for the subsequent property tax year.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Currently, 12 Colorado counties, including Archuleta, Boulder, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Douglas, Eagle, El Paso, Gilpin, Gunnison, Jefferson, Ouray, and Summit (affected counties), require some form of wildfire mitigation in connection with the construction of a new residence but not with the sale of an respect to an existing residence. Because the affected counties are among the most at-risk counties for wildfires, section 2 of the bill requires the affected counties to leverage their existing wildfire mitigation expertise to establish a program for point-of-sale wildfire mitigation certification in connection with the sale of an existing residence located in the county. Likewise, the codes and standards for wildfire mitigation developed by the wildfire resiliency code board apply only to permitting and inspections for new construction or significant structural expansions or alterations. Section 1 of the bill authorizes counties to establish a program to require wildfire mitigation of existing residences and other structures in accordance with wildfire mitigation standards developed by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), the Colorado state forest service (forest service), the wildfire resiliency code board, or other standards as determined by the county. Section 3 details the minimum requirements for a county point-of-sale wildfire mitigation certification program. The bill also specifies limitations on such programs and encourages counties to create and maintain a web-based clearing house of state and county-level technical assistance and funding resources. Section 3 also authorizes any county that is not an affected county and any municipality to establish by ordinance or regulation a program for a homeowner to obtain certification of compliance with the Colorado state forest service's phase one wildfire mitigation standards in connection with the sale of the homeowner's residence. Section 4 makes a conforming amendment to the existing Colorado state forest service web-based clearing house to require the inclusion of information to educate and assist homeowners in accessing resources to comply with the county point-of-sale programs established pursuant to section 3. Section 2 sets forth the requirements and limitations for a wildfire mitigation program for existing residences that an affected county, or any other county, may establish pursuant to its authority granted in section 1. A county may establish by ordinance or regulation a program to require wildfire mitigation of an existing residence or structure located in an area within the county that is subject to a building code that includes wildfire mitigation requirements in connection with the issuance of a residential building permit or certificate of occupancy in accordance with one or more of the following:

• IBHS wildfire mitigation standards;
• Zone one, zone 2, or zone 3 wildfire mitigation standards as set forth in the forest service's publication, "The Home Ignition Zone";
• Wildfire resiliency code board wildfire mitigation standards; or
• Other standards as determined by the county.

Such a program must include a written policy and procedure for a homeowner to seek a reasonable extension of a program deadline or an exemption from a program requirement on the basis of unforeseen or emergency circumstances or undue burden, as determined by the county.

Section 2 also requires that each of the affected counties post on a public website a list of individuals and entities that perform wildfire mitigation services in the county, including contact information. The counties are also encouraged to include on the same website a copy of or link to:

• The IBHS's wildfire-prepared home program guide, or a successor publication;
• The forest service's publication, the "The Home Ignition Zone", or a successor publication;
• The wildfire resiliency code board's recommendations for wildfire mitigation, including recommendations set forth in codes, standards, or rules of the board; and
• County-specific technical assistance and funding resources for wildfire mitigation by homeowners.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Fiscal Note

The act requires towns, cities, school districts, special districts, and other taxing authorities to submit, with their annual certification of levies, the following information for each levy that the taxing authority imposes:

• The rate of each levy;
• The prior year levy and revenue collected from the levy;
• The maximum levy that may be levied without further voter approval;
• The allowable annual growth in revenue collected from the levy;
• The actual growth in revenue collected from the levy over the prior year;
• Whether revenue from the levy is allowed to be retained and spent as a voter-approved revenue change pursuant to section 20 (7)(b) of article X of the state constitution;
• Whether revenue from the levy is subject to a specified statutory limit on annual revenue growth;
• Whether revenue from the levy is subject to any other limit on annual revenue growth enacted by the taxing authority or other local government;
• Whether the levy must be adjusted, or whether a mill levy credit must be allowed, to collect a certain amount of revenue for the tax year and, if applicable, that amount of revenue; and
• Any other information determined necessary by the department of local affairs.

The board of county commissioners or other body authorized by law to levy taxes shall provide this information, along with the identity of the entity that fixes each levy rate, with its annual certification of levies. Counties, in coordination with the property tax administrator, are required to ensure that this information is publicly available.

The act also removes the requirement that an annual notice of valuation sent to a property owner by a county assessor contain an estimate or an estimated range of the taxes owed for the current property tax year.

The act removes the requirement that the state treasurer reduce a local government entity's reimbursement, as necessary, to prevent the entity from exceeding its fiscal year spending limit under section 20 (7)(b) of article X of the state constitution when calculating reimbursements to local governmental entities for the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2023, to account for the reduction in property tax revenue as a result of the cumulative temporary reductions in valuation for assessment made in Senate Bill 23B-001.

For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $50,296 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of local affairs for use by the division of local government, of which $27,198 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department of local affairs.

APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024

EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act extends immunity from civil liability for damage or injury, other than that which arises from gross negligence or willful misconduct, to an individual, nonprofit organization, for-profit corporation, private organization, or other person (person) that voluntarily operates or arranges for the use of a helicopter, or assists as a helicopter crew member, during backcountry search and rescue operations (search and rescue operations), if the person:

• Arranges for the use of or operates, or assists as a crew member of, the helicopter on behalf of the governmental entity that is leading the search and rescue operation;
• Has an agreement with the governmental entity;
• Is, employs, or otherwise contracts with a pilot that is properly licensed to operate the helicopter;
• Is not compensated by the governmental entity for assisting in the search and rescue operation, other than reimbursement for actual expenses incurred; and
• Meets certain safety and training certifications and requirements.

The act also establishes criteria that volunteer helicopter pilots and the helicopters used in search and rescue operations must satisfy in order for the volunteer helicopter owner or operator to qualify for immunity under the act.

The act establishes the airspace deconfliction working group within the department of public safety. The working group consists of representatives from the department of public safety, the department of military and veterans affairs, and county sheriffs' offices. The working group must develop guidelines for airspace deconfliction when there could be multiple aircraft involved in a search and rescue operation.

APPROVED by Governor May 3, 2024

EFFECTIVE May 3, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act requires the division of insurance (division) to conduct or cause to be conducted a study regarding the remediation of residential premises that have been damaged from smoke, soot, ash, and other contaminants as a result of a fire. The study focuses on existing practices for the remediation of homes that have been damaged by smoke, soot, ash, and other contaminants as a result of a fire and requires the division to make recommendations for establishing uniform standards related to such remediation. The division may contract with a third party to conduct all or part of the study. The division must submit a report of the study's findings and recommendations to certain committees of the general assembly by January 1, 2026.

For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $219,909 is appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division.

APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The Colorado professional fire fighters license plate is a distinctive special license plate. Under current law, distinctive special license plates do not expire when an owner of a motor vehicle who has been issued a distinctive special license plate transfers or assigns the owner's title or interest in the motor vehicle.

The act provides that the Colorado professional fire fighters license plate expires upon the transfer or assignment of the motor vehicle. A person whose Colorado professional fire fighters license plate expires as a result of the transfer or assignment of the motor vehicle may apply again for the license plate by paying the required fees and fulfilling the application requirements.

APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The bill creates the wildfire evacuation modeling grant program (program) within the office of emergency management (office) for the purpose of awarding grants to eligible recipients to perform wildfire evacuation modeling and generate reports that include times, maps showing evacuation routes, and any other relevant metrics for the area for which the modeling is being conducted. The program is initially administered as a pilot program and the office must establish a limited number of eligible recipients to receive grants. On or before December 1, 2025, the office must submit a report to the house of representatives agriculture, water, and natural resources committee and the senate agriculture and natural resources committee, or their successor committees, regarding the pilot program, which may include recommendations for improving the program and recommendations on whether to continue the program.

The bill also creates the wildfire evacuation modeling grant program cash fund (fund) for the purposes of awarding grants and covering administrative costs of the office for administering the program. On August 15, 2024, the state treasurer shall transfer $120,000 from the general fund to the fund.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Current rules of the energy and carbon management commission (commission) require oil and gas operators to submit certain reports (covered report) to the commission in the event of a spill or release of a hazardous chemical (incident). The bill enacts the "Community Right to Know Act" to create additional notification requirements in the event of an incident (notification requirements). On and after July 1, 2024, oil and gas operators must, within 24 hours after the discovery of an incident, submit a covered report to the commission and the following state agencies (notification agency):

• For an incident involving air emissions or water contamination, the department of public health and environment;
• For an incident involving public conveyances, the department of transportation; and
• For an incident that results from a clear act of sabotage, vandalism, or a terrorist activity, the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety.

The oil and gas operator must also, within 24 hours after the operator's submission of the covered report to a notification agency, deliver the covered report to certain persons that are located near the well site where the incident was caused (affected persons).

Within 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report from an oil and gas operator, a notification agency must:

• Confirm with the oil and gas operator that the oil and gas operator has provided the covered report to any affected persons;
• Provide the covered report to any affected persons that have not yet received a covered report from the oil and gas operator;
• Provide the covered report to the county public health department and the county emergency notification party of the county or counties where the incident occurred; and
• On and after July 1, 2025, provide the covered report to the person designated by the executive director of the department of local affairs (DOLA) to receive covered reports from the notification agencies (designated person).

On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report for a certain heightened level of an incident (warning-level covered report) from a notification agency, if the county public health department has an existing opt-in notification system, the county public health department must notify medical professionals in the county that have opted in to the county public health department's notification system about the incident.

On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a warning-level covered report from a notification agency, the county emergency notification party must:

• If the county has an existing opt-in public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county that have opted in; and
• If the county does not have an existing opt-in public emergency notification system but has an existing public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county.

On and after July 1, 2024, DOLA must maintain and routinely update a list of contact information for the county public health department and the county emergency notification party for each county in the state on DOLA's website.

The bill also creates the hazardous chemical notification committee (committee) in DOLA. On or before July 1, 2025, the committee is required to develop content for a hazardous chemical notification website (website) that includes certain informational and educational content about hazardous chemicals, including short-term and long-term adverse health impacts, and an entry for each covered report received by the designated person on and after July 1, 2025.

Beginning in the 2026 calendar year, and in each calendar year thereafter, the committee must meet on a quarterly basis to make updates to the content of the website.

On or before July 1, 2026, and on or before each July 1 thereafter, DOLA must submit a written report (hazardous chemical notification report requirement) to the health and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, which report must include a summary of the notifications made by oil and gas operators, the notification agencies, county public health departments, and county emergency notification parties in the previous year.

On or before July 1, 2025, and each calendar year thereafter, county public health departments and county emergency notification parties are required to provide a training to medical professionals and the public on the short-term and long-term adverse health impacts of exposure to hazardous chemicals and the notification requirements (training requirement).

The bill provides for a repeal of the committee, the hazardous chemical notification report requirement, and the training requirement, effective September 1, 2034, after review in accordance with the general assembly's sunset review process.

The bill also:

• Creates a $1,000 per day penalty for an oil and gas operator that does not comply with the notification requirements (violation); and
• Provides that if an oil and gas operator commits a violation 3 or more times, the oil and gas operator may not claim a waiver of liability for damages related to the third or subsequent violation.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Fiscal Note

If approved by the voters of the state at the 2024 general election, the concurrent resolution will amend the state constitution to create a new annual property tax revenue growth limit (district limit) for each jurisdiction that levies property tax (district). The district limit limits a district's property tax revenue growth for any property tax year commencing on or after January 1, 2025, to an amount equal to the sum of:

• The amount of revenue generated by the district's mill levy for the immediately preceding property tax year (base revenue); plus
• An amount equal to the base revenue multiplied by a percentage equal to the percentage change allowed for state revenue growth under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) plus 2 percentage points; plus
• The net dollar amount of district property tax revenue gained from newly taxed property such as new construction and lost from newly untaxed property such as taxable improvements to real property that are destroyed.

If the estimated amount of property tax revenue subject to the district limit that will be generated by a district's current mill levy will exceed the district limit, then the mill levy must be reduced so that the amount of property tax revenue generated does not exceed the district limit unless maintenance of the current mill levy is approved:

• By the voters of the district for a district that has not received voter approval to exceed its TABOR fiscal year spending and property tax revenue limits; or
• By the governing body of the district for a district that has received such voter approval.

Notwithstanding the TABOR voter approval for a mill levy increase above the mill levy for the prior year, if a district's mill levy is reduced as required to comply with the district limit, the district may increase the mill levy to any rate up to the pre-reduction rate without voter approval so long as the increase does not cause the district's property tax revenue to exceed the district limit.

(Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Tax Policy. The bill establishes that, for property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, a short-term rental unit, which is an improvement that is designated and used as a place of residency by a person, family, or families, but that is also leased for overnight lodging for less than 30 consecutive days in exchange for a monetary payment (short-term stay) and is not a primary residence, and the land upon which the improvement is located, may be classified as either residential real property or lodging property. If, during the previous property tax year, a short-term rental unit was leased for short-term stays for more than 90 days, then it is classified as lodging property. Otherwise, it is classified as residential real property. Actual value for a short-term rental unit that is classified as lodging property is to be determined solely by application of the market approach to appraisal.

The bill also specifies, with an exception for a property that qualifies as a bed and breakfast, that a building designed for use predominantly as a place of residency by a person, a family, or families but that is actually used, or available for use, to provide short-term stays only is a hotel and motel.

For purposes of applying the classification of either residential or lodging to a short-term rental unit, annually, the assessor is required to send notice to owners of short-term rental units of the number of days during the prior property tax year that the assessor has determined the property was leased for short-term stays. An owner must sign and return the notice and, if the owner disputes the number of days the property was leased for short-term stays, the owner must provide evidence demonstrating a different number of days the property was leased for short-term stays.

Additionally, the property tax administrator is required to establish and administer a pilot program to develop a statewide database and uniform reporting system to track short-term rental units.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill requires the general assembly to annually appropriate $250,000 from the general fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission (PUC) to fund the operations of the Colorado 911 resource center (center). The center is required to provide to the PUC quarterly a report outlining the use of the funding provided, and the PUC is required to include an accounting of the expenditure and uses of this funding in an annual report that current law requires it to make to the members of the general assembly.

To help ensure that the training, guidance, and assistance provided by the center to 911 professionals, including public safety access point (PSAP) personnel, local 911 emergency call service authorities, and PSAPs, is useful and is being effectively implemented, and that the funding provided by the bill is being expended efficiently and effectively, the center is required to:

• Survey 911 professionals regarding their perception of the quality of the training;
• Survey local 911 emergency call service authorities and PSAPs to determine the extent to which the training, guidance, and assistance is being implemented and the extent to which it is helping them to improve efficiency, crisis response decisions, and outcomes in response to both behavioral health crisis calls specifically and all emergency calls received; and
• Summarize survey results in each quarterly report to the PUC.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

The act prohibits a peer support team member or recipient of group peer support services from being examined as a witness without the consent of the person to whom the examination relates.

APPROVED by Governor March 22, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act removes the ability of most firefighter employers to select accident insurance, self-insurance, or a self-insurance pool as options to provide statutorily required monetary benefits to a firefighter who has experienced a heart and circulatory malfunction. As a result, all firefighter employers except for those exempted by the act must participate in a multiple employer health trust in order to provide such benefits. The act exempts firefighter employers that are cities and counties or municipalities that, as of July 2022, have a population of 400,000 or more and, as of April 30, 2024, have enacted an ordinance to provide the required monetary benefits that remains in effect.

APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024

EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act prohibits a person from knowingly affiliating with a public safety radio network without authorization from the network's authorizing entity. Unlawful affiliation with a public safety radio network is a class 2 misdemeanor.

APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

The act creates the 911 services enterprise in the department of regulatory agencies (enterprise). The enterprise is authorized to impose a fee on service users (fee). A service user is a person who is provided a 911 access connection in the state. The fee is set annually by the enterprise and, together with the 911 surcharge that the public utilities commission (commission) imposes on service users for the benefit of meeting the needs of governing bodies to pay for basic emergency service and provide emergency telephone service (911 surcharge) and must not exceed $0.50 per month per 911 access connection. The fee is collected in the same manner as the 911 surcharge. Revenue from the fee will fund expenses and costs related to the provision of 911 services, including:

• Training initiatives and programs and public education campaigns for the public as determined by individual governing bodies or public safety answering points (PSAPs) throughout the state;
• Public education campaigns;
• Cybersecurity support;
• GIS programs;
• Grant programs for the benefit of governing bodies and PSAPs;
• Providing matching money for federal, state, or private grants related to 911 services or emergency notification services;
• Any other items related to a benefit for governing bodies and PSAPs for 911 services across the state as proposed by a group of such entities or by statewide associations representing Colorado 911 stakeholders; and
• Administrative expenses of the enterprise.

The act also creates the 911 services enterprise cash fund, adds a requirement for the commission to include in its "state of 911" annual report the activity of the enterprise including its use of its revenue, and makes several technical updates to the statutes concerning the 911 surcharge and the commission's "state of 911" report.

For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $107,695 from the general fund to the department of regulatory agencies and reappropriates $38,406 of that appropriation to the department of law to implement the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

Beginning July 1, 2025, the act requires a duly sworn employee of the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to be classified as a "state trooper" for purposes of the public employees' retirement association if the employee's duties include structural or wildfire management, wildfire response, live-fire training, or wildfire leadership, as determined by the executive director of the department.

APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

A fire protection district (fire district) has been authorized to receive and spend an impact fee, or other similar development charge, only in connection with a local government's imposition of such fee or charge to fund expenditures by a fire and emergency services provider. The act repeals this limitation and authorizes a fire district to impose its own impact fee on the construction of new buildings, structures, facilities, or improvements on real property within the fire district's jurisdictional boundaries so long as the fee is imposed pursuant to a legislatively adopted schedule that is:

• Generally applicable to a broad class of property; and
• Intended to defray the projected impacts on capital facilities caused by the proposed construction.

The act imposes the following limitations on a fire district's authority to impose an impact fee:

• No individual landowner may be required to provide any site-specific dedication or improvement to meet the same need for capital facilities for which an impact fee is imposed; and
• An impact fee may not be imposed on construction for which an individual or entity has submitted a completed application for a development permit to an approving local government prior to the fire district's adoption of a schedule of impact fees.

Additionally, a fire district may waive an impact fee on the development of low- or moderate-income housing or affordable employee housing, as defined by the fire district.

The act gives ambulance districts identical authority to that of a fire district to impose an impact fee on the construction of new buildings, structures, facilities, or improvements on real property within the ambulance district's jurisdictional boundaries.

The act also gives fire districts and ambulance districts the additional financial power to levy a sales tax within the district's jurisdiction, at a rate determined by the district's board, upon every transaction or other incident with respect to which a sales tax is levied by the state. The tax must be approved by a majority of the eligible electors within the district voting at a regular special district election or at a special election that complies with section 20 of article X of the state constitution and related statutory requirements. Such a sales tax must be collected, administered, and enforced by the executive director of the department of revenue in the same manner as the state sales tax.

APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024

PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024

PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

Under current law, a board of county commissioners is authorized to license an owner or owner's agent who rents or advertises the owner's lodging unit for a short-term stay and to fix the fees, terms, and manner for issuing and revoking such licenses. The bill creates an exception to provides that this authority for the owner or owner's agent of, and with respect to, shall not prohibit or effectively prohibit the short-term rental of any structure located on a parcel in an unincorporated area of a county that does not receive water, heat, electricity, or sanitary sewer services from a public entity and so long as the structure is used primarily for recreational purposes.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Fiscal Note

The act clarifies existing definitions in the "Protections for Public Workers Act", including the definitions of "employee organization" and "public employee", and applies the clarified definitions in describing public employees' right to engage in"protected, concerted activity for the purpose of mutual aid or protection". The act also modifies the scope and applicability of a public employer's authority to limit the protected rights of its employees to the extent necessary to avoid material disruption of a public employee's duties, the employer's operations, or the delivery of public services. The act specifies that disagreement with the content of an employee's expressive activity or a strike by employees is not material disruption.

APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024

EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note

Property tax revenue limit. Beginning with the 2025 property tax year, section 1 of the act establishes a limit on qualified property tax revenue, as defined by the act, for local governments (limit). This limit does not apply to local governments that are home rule municipalities, school districts, have not received voter approval to exceed the statutory 5.5% property tax revenue limitation, or have not received voter approval to collect, retain, and spend the majority of their property tax revenue without regard to the limitations in section 20 of article X of the state constitution. The limit is equal to the local governmental entity's base year qualified property tax revenue increased by 5.5% for each year since the base year including the relevant property tax year. A local government may seek voter approval to waive the limit. A local governmental entity's base year qualified property tax revenue is:

• For a local governmental entity that had qualified property tax revenue for the 2023 property tax year, the local governmental entity's qualified property tax revenue for the 2023 property tax year, plus any money the local governmental entity received from the state to compensate the local governmental entity for reduced property tax revenue in the 2023 property tax year;
• For a local governmental entity that did not have qualified property tax revenue for the 2023 property tax year, the local governmental entity's qualified property tax revenue for the first year that the local governmental entity has property tax revenue; or
• If applicable, the local governmental entity's qualified property tax revenue for the most recent property tax year for which the local governmental entity's voters approved temporarily waiving the limit.

If a local government's qualified property tax revenue would otherwise exceed the limit, the local government shall either establish a temporary property tax credit equal to the number of mills necessary to prevent the local government's qualified property tax revenue from exceeding the limit or temporarily reduce its mill levy.

Nonresidential real property valuation reductions. Under current law, for nonresidential property, the valuation for assessment (valuation) is 29% of the actual value of the property. However, certain categories of nonresidential property had temporarily reduced valuations for property tax 2023. Section 2 extends these temporarily reduced valuations to property tax year 2024. Section 2 also permanently reduces the valuations for commercial and agricultural property as follows:

• For property tax year 2025, the valuation is 27% of the actual value of the property; and
• For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, the valuation is 25% of the actual value of the property.

Residential real property valuation reductions. For the 2024 property tax year, section 4 makes 2 reductions to residential real property valuation by continuing the 2023 property tax year reductions to residential real property valuation:

• For multi-family residential real property, section 4 reduces the valuation from 6.8% of the actual value of the property to 6.7% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus the lesser of $55,000 or the amount that causes the valuation for assessment of the property to be $1,000 (alternate amount); and
• For all other residential real property, section 4 reduces the valuation from an estimated 7.06% of the actual value of the property to 6.7% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus the lesser of $55,000 or the alternate amount.

For the 2025 property tax year, section 4 modifies residential real property valuation so that the valuation for all residential real property is:

• For the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, 7.15% of the actual value of the property; and
• For the purpose of a levy imposed by a local governmental entity that is not a school district, 6.4% of the actual value of the property.

For the 2026 property tax year and all future property tax years, section 4 also reduces the valuation for all residential real property from 7.15% of the actual value of the property. For all residential real property, the valuation is:

• For the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, the lesser of 7.15% of the actual value of the property or a percentage of the actual value of the property determined by the property tax administrator pursuant to section 7; and
• For the purpose of a levy imposed by a local governmental entity that is not a school district, 6.95% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus the lesser of 10% of the actual value of the property or $70,000 as adjusted for inflation in the first year of each subsequent reassessment cycle.

Qualified-senior primary residence residential real property. Senate Bill 24-111 created a new residential real property subclass: qualified-senior primary residence residential real property. In addition to the other reductions for resdiential real property made in section 4, section 4 makes the following valuation reductions for qualified-senior primary residence residential real property:

• For property tax year 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local governmental entity that is not a school district, 6.4% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus either 50% of the first $200,000 of that actual value plus the lesser of 10% of the actual value of the property or $70,000 or the alternate amount;
• For property tax year 2026, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local governmental entity, 6.95% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus either 50% of the first $200,000 of that actual value plus the lesser of 10% of the actual value of the property or $70,000 or the alternate amount; and
• For property tax year 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, 7.15% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus either 50% of the first $200,000 of that actual value or the alternate amount.

Adjustable residential real property valuation. Section 7 requires legislative council staff to notify the state board of equalization of the first year after 2026 in which the local share of total program is equal to or greater than 60% of the total program determined pursuant to the "Public School Finance Act". For every property tax year after that year, the valuation for assessment for all residential real property, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, is equal to the lesser of:

• 7.15% of the actual value of the property; or
• The percentage of the actual value of the property necessary for statewide school district property tax revenue divided by weighted total program to equal 0.6.

Reimbursement of local governments. The state reimbursed local governmental entities for property tax revenue lost as a result of the reductions in valuation enacted in Senate Bill 22-238 and Senate Bill 23B-001. Section 9 establishes a reimbursement mechanism for certain local governmental entities other than school districts to account for property tax revenue lost as a result of the reductions in valuation in the act for the 2024 property tax year. The reimbursement mechanism requires the state to reimburse local governments in an amount equal to the decrease, if any, in assessed value between the 2022 and 2024 property tax years multiplied by the local governments' mill levy rate from the 2022 property tax year. Section 9 creates a fund out of which the state makes the reimbursements and requires the state treasurer to transfer to the fund $10,311,233 from the sustainable rebuilding program fund.

Property tax deferral program. The existing property tax deferral program allows any person to defer the payment of the portion of real property taxes on the person's homestead that exceeds the tax-growth cap, which is an amount equal to the average of the person's real property taxes paid for the preceding 2 property tax years for the same homestead, increased by 4%. Beginning with the 2025 property tax year, section 10 removes the 4% tax-growth cap. Accordingly, beginning with the 2025 property tax year, a person may defer the payment of the portion of real property taxes on the person's homestead that exceeds the average of the person's real property taxes paid for the preceding 2 property tax years for the same homestead.

Appropriation for state share of districts' total program funding. Beyond the appropriations in the act necessary for the administration of this act as outlined in sections 12 and 13, section 11 appropriates $378,861,731 to the department of education from the state education fund to cover the increases in the state share of districts' total program funding resulting from the assessed value reductions set forth in the act.

APPROVED by Governor May 14, 2024

EFFECTIVE upon the date of the official declaration by the governor

NOTE: This act does not take effect if either or both of the following occur at the next general election: An initiative that reduces valuations for assessment is approved by the people; An initiative that requires voter approval for retaining property tax revenue that exceeds a limit is approved by the people. If this act takes effect then this act takes effect upon the date of the official declaration of the vote for the general election held on November 5, 2024; except that section 3 of this act takes effect only if Senate Bill 24-111 does not become law, sections 4 and 8 of this act take effect only if Senate Bill 24-111 becomes law, section 6 of this act takes effect only if House Bill 24-1448 does not become law, and section 7 of this act takes effect only if House Bill 24-1448 becomes law. Senate Bill 24-111 was signed by the governor May 14, 2024. House Bill 24-1448 was signed by the governor May 23, 2024.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Fiscal Note