The act makes the following changes to the 'Labor Peace Act':

• Specifies that employees' right to bargain collectively includes the right to bargain collectively concerning any mandatory subject of bargaining;
• Eliminates the requirement for a second election to negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining process;
• Declares that it is not an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the exclusive representative of the employees, or for the exclusive representative of the employees to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the employer, concerning a mandatory subject of bargaining if the refusing party has bargained in good faith with the other party; and
• Requires employers and employees, through their exclusive representative, to bargain in good faith.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

      Section 1 of the bill requires an employer to ensure the employer's workplace is free from recognized hazards, as interpreted consistent with the federal occupational safety and health administration's interpretation of the general duty clause of the 'Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970' (OSH Act) as of September 1, 2025. Additionally, employers have the general duty to:

• Ensure that each workplace is constructed, equipped, arranged, operated, and conducted as to provide reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health, and safety of all individuals employed or working in the workplace; and
• Comply with standards for workplace health and safety adopted by rule by the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment (division) attorney general.

     The bill authorizes the following actions to address workplace health and safety concerns:

• The attorney general or the division may refer workplace health and safety concerns to relevant state or local authorities;
• The attorney general, the division, a labor organization, a worker organization, or a person aggrieved by a violation of the bill may file a civil action;
• For each violation of the bill or of rules adopted pursuant to the bill, a court may order the person an employer that violates the bill or rules to pay statutory damages to a person aggrieved by the violation; and
• A court may order a person an employer that violates the bill or rules adopted pursuant to the bill to pay a penalty to the attorney general for each violation.

     The bill creates the workplace health and safety fund (fund) into which penalties collected pursuant to the bill are credited. The money in the fund may be used by the division attorney general for specified purposes.

     The bill authorizes the division attorney general to adopt rules:

• To replace any requirement of the OSH Act or the 'Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977' that is repealed or revoked; or amended in any manner that results in the federal protections of workers' rights or worker safety becoming less stringent; and

       

• To define standards for workplace health and safety if there is no standard in effect under the OSH Act; and
• As necessary to implement the bill.

      Section 2 authorizes the attorney general to apply to the appropriate district court for an order for specified relief if a person fails to obey an investigative demand, subpoena, warrant, or other investigative process related to worker and employee protection.

      Sections 2 3 through 8 11 make conforming amendments.

(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.)

      Section 2 of the bill allows local governments and certain special districts authorized to impose property taxes (local taxing entities) to tax certain land and improvements thereon at different mill levy rates, provided that the mill levy rate for the improvements is less than or equal to the mill levy rate for the land. A local taxing entity may not impose different mill levy rates for agricultural land, land used for renewable energy production, land subject to a perpetual conservation easement, leaseholds and lands producing oil or gas, producing mines or nonproducing mining claims, or state-assessed land. Nothing in section 2 allows a local taxing entity to impose property taxes on the assessed value of land and the assessed value of improvements thereon at different mill levy rates in a manner that is not consistent with section 20 of article X of the state constitution or any statutory limitation on the local taxing entity's mill levy rates or total property tax revenue.

      Section 3 requires boards of county commissioners and other local taxing entities to include with their certifications of all property tax levies the individual certification of any local taxing entity required by section 5 regarding the different mill levy rates used for land and improvements thereon by the local taxing entity.

      Section 4 updates the tax and levy rate information required to be made publicly available to include the specific, different mill levy rates used for land and improvements thereon, if applicable.

      Section 5 modifies the duty of local taxing entities to certify their property tax levy to the board of county commissioners to require any local taxing entity that imposes property taxes on the assessed value of land and the assessed value of improvements thereon at different rates, as allowed by section 2 , to specify those mill levy rates in the local taxing entity's certification of its levy.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     Beginning on July 1, 2027 January 1, 2028 , the bill requires a building with an indoor restroom that is open to the public, including to customers or public visitors, and that does not include private offices or workspaces that are but that is not in a private office or workspace that is generally not open to customers or public visitors (restroom accessible to the public), to have safe, sanitary, and convenient baby diaper changing tables (baby diaper changing station) as follows:

• At least one baby diaper changing station in each gender-specific one restroom designated for each gender on each floor;
• At least one baby diaper changing station in a non-gendered single-stall restroom on each floor; or
• At least one baby diaper changing station in a non-gendered multi-stall restroom on each floor.

     The owner or manager of a building with a restroom accessible to the public is required to ensure that each baby diaper changing station is cleaned with the same frequency as the restroom in which it is located and maintained, repaired, and replaced as necessary to ensure safety and ease of use.

      Beginning on July 1, 2027, for each restroom accessible to the public with a baby diaper changing station, the owner or manager of a building is required to display:

• A pictogram, void of gender, at or near the restroom accessible to the public that indicates the presence of a baby diaper changing station; and
• Signage, at or near the entrance to the building, indicating the location of each restroom accessible to the public and each baby diaper changing station in the building.

     Providing a baby diaper changing station in a restroom accessible to the public and providing the corresponding signage is not required if: a local building permitting entity or building inspector determines that

• The installation of a baby diaper changing station in a restroom accessible to the public would result in a failure to comply with applicable building standards governing the right of access for individuals with disabilities or the 'Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990' , or if the building is a certified historic structure;
• The building is owned or managed by a state department or state agency, state institution of higher education, a county, a city and county, or a municipality;
• The building is owned by an employer with 25 or fewer employees that generates no more than $3.5 million in annual gross income and the building has an occupancy of fewer than 25 people; or
• A portion of the building is occupied by a business that does not admit individuals who are under 21 years old, but only with respect to that portion of the building.

(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.)

     The act requires an entity that requires an individual to provide a social security number for a background check for a non-employment-based educational opportunity to accept an individual's taxpayer identification number in lieu of a social security number, including in clinical educational experiences for health-related academic programs, subject to certain exceptions.

     A licensed or certified hospital or covered school, or a state institution of higher education or local district college that offers a non-employment-based educational opportunity that involves work with a vulnerable population, shall accept either an applicant's taxpayer identification number or a fingerprint-based background check in lieu of a social security number.

     An applicant for a non-employment-based educational opportunity that involves work with a vulnerable population at a licensed or certified hospital or covered school, or a state institution of higher education or local district college, is permitted to have their fingerprints taken by a local law enforcement agency or an entity approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation for taking fingerprints for the purpose of a background check. A licensed or certified hospital or covered school, or state institution of higher education or local district college, must determine who pays the fee for the fingerprint-based background check.

     The attorney general is authorized to bring a civil action to enforce the provisions of the act. An entity that violates this act is subject to a civil penalty of $2,000 for the first violation and $5,000 for each subsequent violation.


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

     The act requires, beginning July 1, 2027, a private entity conducting business in the state that employs 100 or more workers (employer) to include demographic workforce data collected through the United States equal employment opportunity commission's 'Employer Information Report' (EEO-1 data) in periodic reports to the secretary of state. An employer is required to provide the EEO-1 data to the secretary of state even if the federal government repeals or discontinues the federal requirement to submit the EEO-1 data to the United States equal employment opportunity commission.


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

     The act:

• Prohibits a provision in an arbitration agreement that requires an employee to an employer and employee contract or a consumer to a business and consumer contract to pay fees that substantially exceed the costs required to file a claim in state or federal court, except as preempted by federal law, and disallows the waiver of this prohibition;
• Prohibits an individual from serving as an arbitrator if the individual has a rule, policy, procedure, or demonstrated pattern of conduct that discriminates, or prevents, or has the effect of preventing, a certain party, type of party, or attorney from asserting the party's right in arbitration or bringing a claim in arbitration; and
• Requires a party to fully comply with requirements of a record of an award, within 120 days after the date of the award, or be liable for additional damages caused by their failure to comply.

     Under current law, exemplary damages are prohibited in arbitration proceedings. The act repeals this prohibition.


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

The bill specifies that a person commits theft when the person knowingly uses an advance payment for a construction project for an unrelated purpose that results in the delay, end, abandonment, or material nonperformance of the construction project.

The bill requires that before a contractor can take an advance payment from a customer, a contractor shall provide the customer with a written disclosure identifying the intended use of the advance payment, the anticipated timing of expenses identified in the disclosure, and the project's anticipated start date.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act requires the division of labor standards and statistics (division) in the department of labor and employment (CDLE), on or before January 15, 2027, to begin collecting data concerning temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies at worksites and to:

• Develop a platform on CDLE's website where users can provide information about occurrences of temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies;
• Obtain from the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) data that CDPHE has collected through its syndromic surveillance program regarding occurrences of heat-related injury or illness or heat-related emergencies; and
• Collect similar data from the division of workers' compensation and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.

     On or before July 1, 2028, the act requires the division to develop a model temperature-related injury and illness prevention plan (TRIIPP) that thereafter must be made available on CDLE's website. Additionally, the act requires the division to review and update the model TRIIPP at least every 5 years and grants the division authority to adopt rules necessary to implement the act.

     $76,651 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the division.


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

     Current law requires the energy and carbon management commission (commission) to adopt rules to require certification for welders working on oil and gas process lines, including rules that require passing an exam. The act changes the reference to the welder exam from 'the International Code Council Exam F31, national standard journeyman mechanical, or an analogous successor exam', which is not applicable to welders, to certain other examinations that are applicable to welders in the oil and gas industry.

     In certain instances, the act changes 'oil and gas operations' to 'energy and carbon management operations' to ensure uniformity of terminology and to align statutory references to 'operations' to those operations that are within the scope of the commission's regulatory authority.


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

     Under Colorado law, a private property owner is prohibited from retaining more than 5% of a construction contract as retainage if the contract is at least $150,000. The act authorizes a contractor to submit a retainage bond in lieu of withholding retainage, and a private property owner must accept the retainage bond and not withhold the retainage if the retainage bond meets the act's standards. A subcontractor may require the contractor to submit a bond in lieu of retainage for the subcontractor's portion of the retainage. The contractor may require the subcontractor to submit a like bond to the contractor.


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

     The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) in its 2025 sunset review of the public utilities commission (commission) as follows:

• Sections 1 and 3 of the act continue the commission for 7 years to September 1, 2033;
• Sections 4, 8, 10, 11, 16, and 17 authorize the commission to send communications by email;
• Sections 20 through 22 modernize certain processes, provide additional transparency, and clarify inconsistencies in certain energy statutes by:

• Aligning the renewable energy standard with the statutes governing clean energy targets and removing the requirements for municipally owned utilities to submit an annual compliance report to the commission regarding renewable energy standard requirements and for qualifying wholesale utilities that comply with electric resource planning to also demonstrate compliance with electric resource standards;
• Directing the commission to perform a study to identify any barriers to joint procurement by electric utilities with regard to advanced technology generation resources;

• Section 23:

• Prohibits an individual from impersonating a transportation network company (TNC) driver (driver). An individual who violates the prohibition commits a class 2 misdemeanor. An individual who impersonates a driver during the commission of a felony offense commits a class 6 felony. A TNC is required to conduct periodic checks utilizing facial recognition software or equally or more effective technology, as approved by the commission, to prevent driver impersonation in accordance with rules adopted by the commission. The periodic check requirement does not apply to a TNC that predominantly contracts to serve public or private schools or the government and complies with at least 90% of the commission's rules regarding safety standards for TNCs that contract with schools or school districts.
• Requires a TNC to provide information about the commission, including information about how a rider may contact the commission to file a complaint using a TNC's digital network, to a rider in accordance with rules adopted by the commission; and
• Requires commission staff who process TNC customer complaints to receive training in trauma-informed practices;

• Section 25 expands the types of drivers who need to have criminal history record checks performed to include drivers who are employed by any motor carriers and contract carriers;
• Section 28 requires the commission to perform a market study to determine if the current systems of regulating intrastate contract and common carriers optimally balance consumer protections with industry and regulatory efficiency and to report its findings and recommendations based on the study to the general assembly by January 1, 2028;
• Sections 29 and 30 replace the current inspection requirements for a charter bus, children's activity bus, fire crew transport, luxury limousine, off-road scenic charter, and large-market taxicab with a requirement that these vehicles be inspected on a schedule and to a standard set by rules adopted by the commission;
• Sections 31 through 36 and 38 update the state railroad regulation requirements to mirror current federal law and to repeal obsolete provisions;
• Section 39 removes the $500 fee cap paid by companies to access the Colorado no-call list, replaces it with a $1,000 fee cap, and requires conforming list brokers, which are companies that purchase the no-call list and sell it to other companies, to pay a fee established by the commission by rule;
• Section 41 authorizes the commission to administratively assess a filing fee schedule for filings related to communication services, telecommunications services, and basic emergency services to help finance the commission's telecommunications-related work and exempts members of the public filing complaints and public utilities subject to certain revenue-based fees imposed by the commission from paying the filing fees;
• Section 43 aligns the usage of money collected from charges related to the provision of 911 services with federal requirements by clarifying that the money may be expended for public safety radio equipment outside of a public safety answering point only if the equipment is used for dispatching emergency service providers to respond to 911 calls;
• Section 44 authorizes the commission to adopt rules that establish caps on rates charged by penal communications service providers on intrastate penal communications services provided for intrastate communications with individuals in correctional facilities and to enforce the intrastate rate. Section 44 also authorizes the commission to adopt rules requiring penal communications service providers to report outages and imposing penalties for penal communications service providers' failure to comply with commission requirements. Section 44 also requires:

• Penal communications service providers to cooperate with commission staff when the staff is performing biannual testing of penal communications services;
• The commission to develop flyers informing the public how to file complaints to the commission about penal communications services; and
• Correctional facilities to post the flyers;

• Section 45 exempts small operators of natural gas pipelines from the minimum $5,000 civil penalty required for violations of pipeline safety laws and authorizes the commission to impose a lesser civil penalty against a small operator;
• Section 46 directs the commission to perform a study identifying all privately owned water utilities in the state and assessing their financial conditions and needs;
• Section 47 requires investor-owned electric utilities to provide interconnection information and certificates to taxpayers requesting the information for purposes of claiming the federal clean electricity investment credit; and
• Section 48 requires the commission, on or before December 1, 2026, to open one or more miscellaneous proceedings to investigate ways to streamline energy planning proceedings, to integrate gas and electric system planning, and to make customer programming more efficient. The commission shall solicit stakeholder feedback in its investigation and, on or before November 30, 2027, shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters.

     The act also implements the following changes regarding the commission and its work:

• Section 2 requires electric and gas investor-owned utilities, including combined utilities, to file annual summaries of anticipated regulatory filings with the commission starting in 2027 and requires the commission to make the filings publicly available on its website, hold informational meetings regarding the filings, and submit annual reports to the general assembly summarizing the commission's major adjudicated cases and rule-makings from the previous year. Starting September 1, 2026, the commission is required to include in each of its decisions a summary of public comments received on the matter.
• Sections 4 through 8 concern commission authority, personnel, and management functions, with section 4 stating that the commission, acting through its director, has authority over the commission's budgeting, purchasing, planning, and related management functions, including human resources, and section 7 requiring the director of the commission to hire or designate an equity analyst to assist the commission's work regarding equity impact proceedings and to staff an equity task force appointed by the director;
• Section 4 also requires the governor to consider appointing commissioners with knowledge of the regulated industries and with a diversity of experience and understanding of public interest considerations. Finally, section 4 authorizes the commission to hold weekly meetings and, beginning July 1, 2027, requires a majority of the commissioners attending the weekly meetings to attend in person.
• Sections 9 and 12 provide that, with certain exceptions, adjudications must first be heard by an administrative law judge. Section 12 also requires the commission, by March 31, 2027, to adopt rules regarding the format of en banc commission and hearings and meetings presided over by a single hearing commissioner with respect to whether the hearings are held in person, virtually, or a hybrid of in-person and virtual participation.
• Section 13 requires that commission rules regarding review of an application must prescribe that an application may only be deemed incomplete if it does not meet the commission's application requirement. Section 13 also provides that the commission's failure to act upon an application within 120 days, or within an extended time granted by the commission not to exceed an additional 130 days or, under extraordinary conditions, not to exceed an additional 90 days, constitutes an approval of the application by operation of law. An unopposed permissive motion for intervention is deemed approved if the commission does not deny the motion within 30 days after its filing.
• Section 14 increases the maximum civil penalty applicable to public utilities for intentional violations of public utilities law from $2,000 to $7,500, applies such civil penalties to a public utility's violation of a tariff, and requires the commission to consider factors such as utility size, harm caused, and mitigating circumstances or actions in assessing the civil penalties. Section 14 also requires that civil penalties assessed against and collected from electric and gas utilities be credited to the public utilities commission fixed utility fund (fixed utility fund) to be used for affordability programs or outreach and engagement of income-qualified customers and disproportionately impacted communities.
• Section 15 provides guidance for intervenor compensation in commission proceedings by authorizing the commission to award an intervenor compensation if the commission determines that the intervenor made a unique substantial contribution that provided material assistance to the commission in developing the record in a proceeding and incurred reasonable costs in the proceeding. The commission may adopt rules regarding intervenor compensation, including rules for intervenor petitions for compensation and guidelines for determining reasonable costs incurred and material assistance.
• Under current law, money in the legal services offset fund is continuously appropriated to the department to offset its costs of legal representation in matters involving public utilities law. Section 18 shifts the appropriation to the commission to offset its costs of legal representation in such matters.
• Section 21 removes verification of municipally owned utilities' voluntarily filed clean energy plans by the division of administration in the department of public health and environment;
• Section 22 requires the commission, on or before December 31, 2027, to adopt rules establishing minimum quality-of-service metrics for investor-owned electric and gas utilities in the state;
• Section 24 requires the department to consult with the director of the commission regarding annual TNC permit fees and increases the maximum annual TNC permit fee to $161,250. Likewise, section 26 requires the department to consult with the director of the commission in setting certain administrative fees on motor carriers, and section 40 requires the department to consult with the director of the commission on computation of revenue-based fees owed by utilities.
• Section 27 provides that a person may apply to a court for enforcement of a commission order, decision, or rule regarding noncompliance by a motor carrier without having first exhausted administrative remedies; and
• Section 37 requires the commission to engage an independent third-party consultant to conduct a study on how the commission may modernize its personnel, organizational, and budgetary structures, which study must include an evaluation and recommendations regarding the commission's size, compensation, and funding mechanisms for equity objectives. On or before November 1, 2026, the commission shall submit an initial report, and on or before November 1, 2027, a final report, on the study's findings and recommendations to legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters.

     For state fiscal year 2026-27, section 49 appropriates $298,448 to the department with:

• $232,712, including $157,712 from the fixed utility fund and $75,000 from the motor carrier fund, for personal services;
• $16,048 from the fixed utility fund for operating expenses; and
• $49,688 of the amount appropriated from the fixed utility fund for reappropriation to the department of law for legal services.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

      The bill creates the residential construction contractor certification enterprise (enterprise) in the department of law (department). The enterprise is and operates as a government-owned business within the department for the business purposes of using fee revenue to administer a residential construction contractor certification program (program).

     The enterprise may assess a residential construction contractor certification fee (fee) only on a residential construction contractor (contractor) that applies to the department for a residential construction certificate. The total annual fee revenue shall not exceed the cost of collecting the fee, administering the program, certifying contractors, and the direct and indirect costs of the enterprise. The amount of the fee must not exceed $100 annually. The department may adopt rules to implement the fee.

     The enterprise shall transmit all net revenue collected from the fee to the state treasurer, who shall credit the net revenue to the contractor certification cash fund, which is created by the bill. Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the enterprise to administer the program.

     The enterprise shall administer the program in accordance with the following goals:

• Preventing or reducing damage to homeowners caused by contractors who abandon work before a project is complete;
• Encouraging contractors to comply with the terms of a construction agreement with the homeowner; and
• Increasing the likelihood of a contractor performing competently by encouraging contractors to be certified by the enterprise in accordance with certain standards.

     The enterprise is governed by a board of directors (board) composed of 13 individuals appointed by the attorney general or their designee. The board shall establish criteria to evaluate contractor applications for certification. To determine whether to issue a certification, the board shall consider specified criteria.

     The board shall submit a report by July 1 of each year to the committees of reference of the general assembly to which the department is assigned pursuant to statute. The report must include certain information specified in the bill.


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

     Contingent upon voter approval at the November 2026 general election of a proposed initiative to amend the state constitution to change existing law on transportation funding and to increase the amount of state revenue dedicated to road transportation (proposed initiative), from January 1, 2027, through July 1, 2030, the act reduces:

• The excise tax on gasoline from $0.22 per gallon to $0.14 per gallon;
• The excise tax on special fuel from $0.205 per gallon to $0.13 per gallon;
• Certain vehicle registration fees, including late fees; and
• The road usage fees from $0.06 per gallon to $0.04 per gallon and then, beginning in state fiscal year 2027-28, as necessary to offset the amount of state revenue diverted to transportation uses as the result of the proposed initiative.

     The act creates the support road transportation fund (fund) contingent upon voter approval of the proposed initiative. The fund consists of state revenue dedicated to road transportation by the proposed initiative. Money in the fund is used to replace certain transportation-related general fund transfers for payments for the financed purchase of assets or certificate of participation agreements, and to replace certain general fund transfers to the state highway fund. The money remaining in the fund after making these transfers is allocated as follows:

• 60% is paid to the state highway fund;
• 23% is paid to counties for certain transportation expenses; and
• 17% is paid to cities and incorporated towns for certain transportation expenses.

     The act clarifies that state revenue collected to support road transportation, as defined in the proposed initiative, does not include enterprise fee revenue.

     The act creates the road enterprise to complete preventive maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and reconstruction projects to improve the condition of the roadway surface of the state highway system. The road enterprise is authorized to impose fees for oversize and overweight vehicles and longer vehicle combinations. The creation of the road enterprise is not contingent upon voter approval of the proposed initiative.

     Contingent upon the proposed initiative being withdrawn or not submitted for the November 2026 general election, the act creates the transportation funding working group to evaluate and make recommendations to the general assembly, the transportation commission, and the governor concerning funding state and local surface transportation maintenance, repair, capacity, and safety.

     Lastly, the act reduces the July 1, 2026, transfer from the general fund to the state highway fund from approximately $50 million to $500,000.


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

     The act requires an investor-owned utility (utility) to establish a percentage-of-income payment plan program (PIPP program) to assist income-qualified residential utility customers with utility costs. An income-qualified utility customer is eligible for the PIPP program if the customer meets the income eligibility criteria, lives in the service area of the utility, and either submits an application to the utility or is referred by another income-eligible assistance program offered by the department of human services, the Colorado energy office, or another energy assistance program approved by the public utilities commission (commission). A utility must approve or deny a customer's application for participation in the PIPP program within 30 days.

     The utility bill for a customer enrolled in a utility's PIPP program is capped at a specific percentage of the customer's household income, typically ranging from 2% to 6% of the customer's household income depending on the heating source provided and the size of the utility. The difference between a customer's actual utility bill and their PIPP program bill is covered by a fixed credit, which can be an up-front annual credit or an equal monthly credit to the customer's utility bill. The act also establishes arrearage credits for customers in the PIPP program, which are applied to eliminate a customer's preexisting debt prior to the customer's enrollment in the PIPP program.

     A utility's PIPP program is funded through a 'PIPP charge' itemized on all customer bills. The amount of the PIPP charge is established by the commission by rule for the utility. A utility must submit an annual report related to the utility's PIPP program to the commission. The report must include the following information:

• The PIPP charge revenue collected by the utility;
• Any amount contributed to the PIPP program by the utility from shareholder profits;
• A calculation of administrative costs associated with implementing and administering the PIPP program;
• The amount of fixed monthly or annual credits provided to customers in the utility's PIPP program; and
• The amount of arrearage credits provided to customers in the PIPP program.

     The act exempts products fueled by propane and products used exclusively for installation in manufactured homes from emissions standards adopted by the Colorado department of public health and environment related to heating and water heating appliances until January 1, 2031.

     The act extends the deadline by which money in the 'Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act' cash fund may be appropriated from July 1, 2028, until July 1, 2031.


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

The bill adds individuals and homeowners' associations as eligible recipients of assistance from the natural disaster mitigation enterprise fund. The bill also provides that natural disaster mitigation includes installation of "impact-resistant roofing materials" and other "property-specific mitigation action" and provides definitions of the same.

Additionally, the bill creates an income tax deduction for contributions to a catastrophe savings account (CSA), which is a savings account that a homeowner may use to cover the amount of insurance deductibles for claims stemming from hail, wildfire, or a catastrophic wind event, uninsured losses related to the same, and property-specific mitigation actions. The bill also exempts interest earned by CSAs from income tax.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act establishes a first and preferred opportunity for available employment for coal transition workers in coal transition communities (hiring preference). A business entity located in a coal transition community that is engaged in the business of constructing or operating railroads, utilities, energy generation facilities, or advanced manufacturing facilities (covered business) is required to comply with the hiring preference. A covered business does not include the state government or a local government.

     A covered business is required to make good faith efforts to provide a hiring preference to a coal transition worker who meets the qualifications for an employment position (qualified coal transition worker). A covered business may hire an individual who is not a qualified coal transition worker only if a qualified coal transition worker did not apply for employment with the covered business, each qualified coal transition worker declined a job offer from a covered business, or a qualified coal transition worker's qualifications did not meet the qualifications of other candidates for the same job.

     If a qualified coal transition worker applies for employment with a covered business, the covered business is required to report specified information annually to the just transition office. The executive director is required to adopt policies and procedures to implement the act. A hiring preference does not apply if a covered business places an existing employee in another employment position with the covered business or to the extent that a hiring preference conflicts with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that applies to the relationship between a covered business and its employees.

     Currently, a public entity is not allowed to invest public funds in certain types of investments, such as equity instruments, instruments convertible to equity, or equity interests, or to deposit public funds with any person except certain depository institutions, which are primarily banks. The act authorizes a public entity to deposit or invest, either directly or through an investment firm or other third party authorized by the public entity, public funds from a payment or settlement that the public entity has received to offset the socioeconomic impacts to a community or government from the closure of a coal mine or coal power generating station in any investment permitted by an investment policy approved by the public entity.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill modifies the requirement that a taxpayer add the amount of any overtime compensation excluded or deducted from the taxpayer's federal gross income back to the taxpayer's federal taxable income for purposes of calculating state income tax liability to apply only in the 2026 income tax year.

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

     The bill prohibits a person from selling, distributing, applying, or using certain types of rodenticide and rodent glue traps in the state except as authorized for restricted and limited use in a public health emergency and in accordance with certain use requirements and time periods.

     A person conducting professional rodent control services in the state is required to prioritize integrated pest management strategies, which involve implementing a combination of nonchemical rodent control measures. designates second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which are pesticides containing brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, or difethialone as an active ingredient, as restricted-use pesticides and authorizes the commissioner of agriculture to restrict their distribution and use.

(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.)

     Currently, a contractor on a private construction project has a statutory right to secure payment with a general mechanic's lien. However, if the contractor knowingly files on the lien for an excessive amount, the contractor forfeits all rights to the lien and is liable to the person against whom the lien was filed for costs and attorney fees. A contractor on a public construction project has a similar right to secure payment by filing a verified statement of claim, which requires the project owner to withhold funds sufficient to pay the claim, usually in the form of a bond. The act clarifies that a public construction contractor who knowingly files a verified statement of claim for an excessive amount forfeits all rights pursuant to the verified statement of claim. Thus, the act aligns, for both a private and public construction contractor, the penalty for claiming an excessive amount on a lien or verified statement of claim to the loss of rights related to that lien or verified statement of claim, respectively.

     The act expressly allows for a private mechanic's lien or public verified statement of claim to include costs otherwise allowed under a contract in the lien or verified statement of claim amount, including costs incurred as a result of delay, lost productivity, or other disruption to the work. The act also clarifies that an award by a court for an amount less than the amount claimed in a lien or verified statement of claim does not render the amount claimed excessive.


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

The bill increases overtime protections for agricultural employees by requiring that agricultural employees be paid at an overtime rate for any work performed in excess of:

• 40 hours per workweek;

• 12 hours per workday; or

• 12 consecutive hours.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     Under current law, consumers in Colorado have a right to repair all digital electronic equipment, which could include equipment that is considered critical infrastructure.

     The bill exempts information technology equipment that is intended for use to be used in critical infrastructure from Colorado's consumer right to repair laws. Critical infrastructure is defined as a system or asset, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of the system or asset would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.

      The bill authorizes the attorney general to review an exemption from Colorado's consumer right to repair laws for certain information technology equipment (equipment) that is intended to be used in critical infrastructure. In reviewing whether the equipment is exempt, the attorney general shall consider whether the equipment is actually intended to be used in a manner that qualifies as critical infrastructure and whether the equipment is sold under a business-to-business or business-to-government contract and not customarily sold in a retail setting. Any determination made by the attorney general regarding an exemption may be appealed by the manufacturer of the equipment.

(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.)

     The act requires that an applicant for a building permit or a construction permit for a project with a total construction cost of more than $1 million (permit) file with the permitting agency, prior to commencing work under the permit, a signed declaration under penalty of perjury verifying that any person working under the permit maintains valid workers' compensation insurance coverage for the duration of the permit.

     A person may file a complaint with the division of workers' compensation in the department of labor and employment alleging a person's workers' compensation insurance coverage is not in compliance with the state's workers' compensation laws.


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

The bill creates certain requirements for large-load data centers, which are defined in the bill as:

• A new data center that has a peak load of more than 30 megawatts or multiple new data centers with a collective peak load of more than 60 megawatts; or
• An existing data center that adds a peak load of more than 30 megawatts or multiple existing data centers that add a collective peak load of more than 60 megawatts.

No later than June 30, 2030, the public utilities commission (commission) is required to make a determination on whether 100% hourly matching by large-load data centers is technically and economically feasible. If the commission determines that 100% hourly matching is not technically and economically feasible, the commission must make a determination of the highest percentage of hourly matching by large-load data centers that is technically and economically feasible (hourly matching requirement), which percentage the commission must update on a regular basis.

Beginning January 1, 2031, an operator of a large-load data center (operator) must generate, purchase, or otherwise acquire a quantity of electricity generated from renewable resources necessary to meet 100% of the operator's large-load data center's total annual electricity consumption. An operator must also achieve the hourly matching requirement. An operator must comply with these requirements through a tariff, contract, or program entered into with a utility, one or more power purchase agreements entered into with an independent power producer, or a self-supply of electricity.

An operator must enter into contracts of at least 15 years with a utility to pay for certain infrastructure and resource costs. An operator must also contribute to utility demand-side management programs and comply with certain operational water management and on-site backup generation requirements.

No later than June 30, 2028, and no later than each June 30 thereafter, an operator must report to the department of public health and environment certain information about the large-load data center, including information about the large-load data center's annual electricity and water consumption. The department of public health and environment must compile the information reported and provide a report to the general assembly and commission and make the report publicly available on the department's website.

A utility is prohibited from interconnecting or supplying electricity to a large-load data center unless:

• The operator has either provided an up-front payment or entered into a contract of at least 15 years with the utility, which up-front payment or contract must require the operator to pay for certain infrastructure and resource costs;
• On or after January 1, 2031, the utility has verified that the operator is in compliance with the hourly matching requirement; and
• The utility determines and ensures that the addition of the large-load data center to the utility's system does not negatively affect the utility's ability to provide reliable service to customers or meet applicable clean energy targets or increase the utility's greenhouse gas emissions.

A utility is prohibited from offering economic development rates to large-load data centers and is required to develop and offer demand response programs or flexible connection tariffs to the utility's customers that are operators. A utility is required to solicit and accept voluntary financial contributions from operators to certain utility programs, which contributions must supplement, rather than substitute, the utility's funding of those programs. A utility that is rate-regulated by the commission with customers that are operators is required to describe efforts to comply with the bill in the utility's annual report filed with the commission.

On or before June 30, 2027, the department of local affairs must publish model codes for the development of large-load data centers, which model codes must consider certain best practices. In developing the model codes, the department of local affairs must conduct a robust stakeholder and engagement process and evaluate, update, and review the model codes every 5 years.

With its development permit application for a large-load data center, the person responsible for the initial development of a large-load data center (developer) must submit a site assessment to the local government reviewing the application. A site assessment must include certain components.

If the siting of a large-load data center is proposed in a disproportionately impacted community or if an operator of an existing data center in a disproportionately impacted community plans to expand the data center's peak load such that the data center will become a large-load data center, the developer or operator must undergo a cumulative impacts analysis before the development or expansion begins. The developer or operator is required to contract with a third-party contractor selected by the department of public health and environment to perform the cumulative impacts analysis.

In reviewing a development permit application for a large-load data center that is in a disproportionately impacted community or is proposed to be in a disproportionately impacted community, the applicable local government is required to consider the applicant's cumulative impacts analysis and whether the mitigation strategies described by the applicant are sufficient to avoid any negative impacts identified in the cumulative impacts analysis. Prior to applying for a development permit that is in a disproportionately impacted community or is proposed to be in a disproportionately impacted community, a developer or operator must comply with certain public hearing, notice, and community outreach requirements.

If the siting of a large-load data center is proposed in a disproportionately impacted community or if an operator of an existing data center in a disproportionately impacted community plans to expand the data center's peak load such that the data center will become a large-load data center, the developer or operator must enter into a community benefit agreement with the disproportionately impacted community before the development or expansion begins. The developer is required to consult with the applicable local government and certain coalition groups and consider certain topics during community benefit agreement negotiations.

An operator is required to comply with certain labor standards.

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

     The act makes the following changes to statutes concerning accessible housing standards:

• Defines 'accessible story' as a story on an accessible route that contains living, sleeping, cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities and, if available in the dwelling unit, laundry facilities. A basement is not an 'accessible story' if the basement floor is located more than 4 feet below the exterior finished grade, which is determined by assessing the vertical difference at any point along the exposed periphery of the dwelling unit.
• Defines 'dwelling unit' as any portion of a building that contains living facilities, including a room or rooms in a living facility that have shared cooking, bathing, toilet, or laundry facilities, such as dormitories, shelters, assisted living facilities, and boarding homes. 'Dwelling unit' also means living facilities that include provisions for sleeping, cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities for one or more persons and that are used for extended stays, such as time-shares and extended-stay motels. 'Dwelling unit' does not mean a guest room in a motel or hotel.
• Defines 'ICC A117.1' as the 'Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities' 2017 edition, or any successor standard, as adopted by reference by the building code of the responsible enforcement agency;
• Clarifies that 'Type A' and 'Type B multistory dwelling units' must include at least one accessible story that can be accessed via an accessible entrance;
• Requires projects with fewer than 50 units may use any combination of accessible dwelling units to comply with the standards;
• Requires projects with 50 or more units to include at least 2% accessible dwelling units, and that they must include at least on unit that is either a 'Type A', 'Type B', 'Type A Multistory', 'Type B Multistory', or 'Type C visitable' dwelling unit; and
• Permits covered enforcing agencies to develop alternative processes to resolve appeals of orders, decisions, or determinations made by the enforcing agency regarding the application and interpretation of the standards for accessible housing law.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     Beginning January 1, 2027, the act requires an agricultural employer to pay certain agricultural employees overtime pay for time worked in excess of 56 hours in a workweek. The act also increases penalties for an agricultural employer who commits wage theft and repeals the authority of the director of the division of labor standards and statistics to adopt rules concerning overtime pay for agricultural employees.


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

     The act creates the strengthen Colorado homes enterprise (enterprise), which is a government-owned business created in the division of insurance (division) in the department of regulatory agencies. The enterprise is governed by a 7-member board (board), including the commissioner of insurance (commissioner), or their designee; members with expertise in home hardening, risk mitigation, resilient roof systems, and insurance underwriting or actuarial analysis; and members representing the interests of insurance companies, consumers, and counties.

     The primary purpose of the enterprise is to impose and collect an annual fee (fee) from an admitted insurance company that offers multiperil homeowner's insurance policies in the state and is subject to certain filing requirements with the division, not including the fair access to insurance requirements association (insurer).

     The enterprise shall use fee revenue to provide business services to insurers that pay the fee, including:

• Reducing insurer losses and administrative expenses due to hail damage claims by defraying the cost of retrofitting residential property by providing grants for the installation of resilient roof systems (grants). At least 85% of the fee revenue must be used for grants to Colorado homeowners to retrofit residential property to reduce insurer losses due to hail and windstorms.
• Analyzing data on hail losses to identify areas of the state to target for installation of resilient roof systems;
• Setting standards for resilient roof systems and awarding workforce training grants for installing and certifying resilient roof systems;
• Creating codes of conduct for roofing contractors to ensure roofs are properly and appropriately installed;
• Evaluating roofing protocols to ascertain if the protocols meet science-based, certifiable standards;
• Conducting or contracting with a third party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state; and
• Improving market stability throughout the state.

     Beginning in the 2027 calendar year, the amount of the fee imposed and collected by the enterprise is an amount equal to 0.5% of the total premium collected by an insurer on multiperil homeowner's insurance policies in the state in the immediately preceding calender year. The insurer shall not surcharge the fee amount to policyholders. The enterprise may lower or cease collecting the fee from an insurer in any calendar year to ensure that total fee revenue does not exceed $100 million in the first 5 years of the enterprise's existence.

     In awarding grants, the board shall prioritize homes that are the homeowner applicant's (applicant) primary residence and shall consider other criteria, including applicant income, the age of the roof, the size of the home, the number of grant applicants, whether the home is in a locality with hail-resistant building codes, and whether the applicant lives in a location that has historically had a higher susceptibility to extreme weather events. In order to ensure the necessary workforce, fee revenue may also be used to award grants to defray the costs of training and certification related to installing and certifying resilient roof systems. A contractor that is awarded bids and receives money from a grant is prohibited from waiving homeowner's insurance deductibles.

     In addition, the board shall use fee revenue to conduct or contract with a third party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state, including an analysis of market competition in those areas and the impact of a high risk program on the potential losses in the high-risk wildfire areas of the state and the availability of homeowner's insurance in those areas. The board or third party conducting the study shall engage with relevant stakeholders that include, at a minimum, representatives of reinsurers and reinsurance brokers, insurers writing homeowner's insurance contracts or policies in Colorado, individuals with expertise in complex financial instruments and debt instruments, and consumers or other individuals with expertise in wildfire mitigation. The board shall send the study to certain committees of the general assembly.

     The board shall adopt rules and policies for the regulation of the enterprise's affairs and the conduct of enterprise business, including standards for resilient roof systems and standards for contractor-specialized training in the installation of impact-resistant roof systems.

     No sooner than January 1, 2027, and upon the commissioner adopting rules, an insurer offering multiperil homeowner's insurance for property or risks located in the state is required to submit an annual filing to the commissioner that includes the number of policies in force, the number of homes that have installed a resilient roof system, the discount applied to homes due to the presence of a resilient roof system, and the wind and hail claims frequency and severity for homes with and without a resilient roof system.

     $66,250 is appropriated from the legal services cash fund to the department of law to provide legal services to the department of regulatory agencies to implement the act. The appropriation is from revenue received from the department of regulatory agencies that is continuously appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies from the strengthen Colorado homes enterprise fund. The appropriation to the department of law is based on an assumption that the department of law will require an additional 0.3 FTE to implement the act.


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

     The act creates a process for employers and licensed insurance producers to update an employer's experience modification factor when:

• An open claim is reported by an insurance carrier to the rating bureau with a higher open claim amount than the amount after the claim was closed; and
• The lower claim amount would reduce an employer's experience modification factor at least .05 compared to the previously released experience modification factor or from above 1.0 to 1.0 or below.

     The employer must notify the insurance carrier between the time the claim is reported to a rating bureau and 31 days after the employer's rating effective date. The insurance carrier is required to credit the employer for a premium change resulting from the revised experience modification factor.


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

     Currently, the 'Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado' provides that certain cancers contracted by firefighters are considered occupational diseases presumed to have been a result of the firefighters' employment. A firefighter's employer or an insurer may rebut this presumption by showing by a preponderance of the medical evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job.

     The act expands the types of cancer that are considered occupational diseases and strengthens the rebuttable presumption to require an employer to show clear and convincing evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job.

     The act exempts firefighters who are employed by the state.


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