The act requires a subject jurisdiction to, on or after December 31, 2027, subject to an administrative approval process, allow the construction of a residential development on a qualifying property that does not contain an exempt parcel; except that, if on December 31, 2027, a subject jurisdiction is actively in the process of updating the subject jurisdiction's zoning or development code to comply with the act, the subject jurisdiction is required to complete the updates and allow the construction of a residential development on a qualifying property that does not contain an exempt parcel by June 30, 2028. A qualifying property is real property that contains no more than 5 acres of land and is owned by:

• A school district;
• A state college or university;
• A board of cooperative services;
• A housing authority;
• A local or regional transit district or a regional transportation authority serving one or more counties;
• A nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing; or
• A nonprofit organization that has entered into an agreement with another nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing, provided that the agreement requires the nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing to develop a residential development on the property.

     If a subject jurisdiction requests, as part of an initial development application, that a nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing provide documentation that the nonprofit meets required criteria, the nonprofit organization shall provide the documentation. A subject jurisdiction is not required to allow a residential development on a qualifying property if the subject jurisdiction implements a transferable development rights program on the qualifying property and if the transferable development rights program includes a policy for affordable resident housing that is restricted in ownership and occupancy in perpetuity.

     A subject jurisdiction shall not:

• Disallow construction of a residential development on a qualifying property on the basis of height if the tallest structure in the residential development is no more than 3 stories or 38 feet tall, except in certain circumstances;
• Disallow construction of a residential development on a qualifying property on the basis of height if the tallest structure in the residential development complies with the height requirements of the zoning district in which the residential development will be built or the height requirements that apply to any parcel zoned to allow for residential development that is contiguous to the qualifying property on which the residential development will be built;
• Disallow construction of a residential development on a qualifying property based on the number of dwelling units the residential development will contain, except in accordance with standards listed in the act; or
• Apply site design standards to a residential development on a qualifying property that are more restrictive than the site design standards the subject jurisdiction applies to similar housing constructed within the subject jurisdiction, including standards related to structure setbacks from property lines; lot coverage or open space; on-site parking requirements; numbers of bedrooms in a multifamily residential development; on-site landscaping, screening, and buffering requirements; solar access; minimum dwelling units per acre; or other objective setback standards that apply to residential dwellings, including setbacks from oil and gas facilities, oil and gas operations, stream corridors, riparian areas, wetlands, and sensitive wildlife habitats.

     Provided that the uses are allowed conditionally or by right within the zoning district in which a qualifying property is located, a subject jurisdiction shall allow the following uses in a residential development on a qualifying property:

• Child care; and
• The provision of recreational, social, or educational services provided by community organizations for use by the residents of the residential development and the surrounding community.

     On or before December 31, 2027, the department of local affairs is required to publish guidance to assist subject jurisdictions in verifying the status of a nonprofit organization with a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing.


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

     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.)

     The act defines, and creates requirements for, portable-scale solar generation devices. In addition, the act prohibits a provider of retail electric service or wholesale energy from, among other things, requiring a customer to obtain the provider's approval before installing or using a portable-scale solar generation device. The act also prohibits a person from directly or indirectly unreasonably prohibiting the installation, use, or operation of a portable-scale solar generation device. A covenant or restriction that explicitly or indirectly unreasonably prohibits or restricts the installation, use, or operation of a portable-scale solar generation device is unenforceable and void as a matter of public policy, though a real property owner may require reasonable restrictions.

     The act clarifies that a portable-scale solar generation device is considered an energy efficiency measure on and after January 1, 2027, and a unit owners' association of a common interest community is therefore not permitted to prohibit the installation or use of a portable-scale solar generation device. However, a real property owner that resides in a common interest community and installs a portable-scale solar generation device may be required to reasonably secure the device to their unit and may be responsible for all liability and costs associated with the device's installation, maintenance, or removal.

     The act specifies that a provider of retail electric service or wholesale energy is not liable for any damage caused by a portable-scale solar generation device and requires that the installation of a portable-scale solar generation device be in accordance with fire code requirements and applicable building codes that pertain to health and safety.

     Under current law, a utility that is subject to regulation by the public utilities commission (commission) must allow for customer ownership and use of a meter collar adapter through the utility's interconnection standards. The act requires the commission, on or before December 31, 2026, to revise existing commission interconnection rules to explicitly require commission-regulated utilities to:

• Maintain a public list of at least one approved meter collar adapter;
• Have a process for approving a meter collar adapter that is not included in the public list;
• Approve proposed meter collar adapters that meet certain technical requirements;
• If the installation of an approved meter collar adapter requires relocation of the meter enclosure or replacement of the meter housing, provide an estimate of costs associated with this work upon request of the customer;
• Establish and publish a process for a customer to request and install a meter collar adapter; and
• Facilitate the installation of a meter collar adapter by a registered electrical contractor and require that all electrical work be performed by a qualified party such as a master electrician.

     In addition, the act states that the revised commission interconnection rules must allow commission-regulated utilities to require that installation work for a meter collar adapter be performed by the commission-regulated utility, a licensed electrical contractor, or a party approved by the commission-regulated utility if the installation of an approved meter collar adapter requires removal of the meter.

     The act requires cooperative electric associations and customer-generators to comply with the rules adopted by the commission regarding meter collar adapters and with other commission rules regarding production meters.

     Similarly, the act requires municipally owned utilities to:

• Maintain a public list of at least one approved meter collar adapter;
• Have a process for approving a meter collar adapter that is not included in the public list;
• Approve proposed meter collar adapters that meet certain technical requirements;
• If the installation of an approved meter collar adapter requires relocation of the meter enclosure or replacement of the meter housing, provide an estimate of costs associated with this work upon request of the customer; and
• Include a process for a customer to request and install a meter collar adapter.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     The act creates the 'Colorado Mandatory Lethality Assessment Act', which requires peace officers to conduct a lethality assessment when responding to a domestic violence incident and include the completed lethality assessment in the incident report. A peace officer is not required to administer a lethality assessment if a victim is unavailable, not at the scene, incapacitated, or if circumstances otherwise make the administration of the lethality assessment impossible or impracticable. If the lethality assessment indicates that an individual is a high-risk victim, or if the lethality assessment does not indicate a victim is high-risk but a peace officer determines an individual is a high-risk victim based on the totality of the circumstances, the peace officer is required to immediately contact a community-based victim's advocate either by phone or in person and provide the high-risk victim the opportunity to speak with the advocate.

     The act requires the attorney general's office, in consultation with a Colorado-based coalition that advocates for survivors of domestic violence, to develop a mandatory training for peace officers to learn how to administer the lethality assessment and provide victim referrals. No later than June 1, 2027, the attorney general is required to make the training available and offer assistance to law enforcement agencies in providing the training. Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires each law enforcement agency to ensure that each peace officer employed by the agency has completed the mandatory training; except that a law enforcement agency that has provided training on the administration of lethality assessments prior to July 1, 2027, is not required to provide additional training.

     Beginning January 2028, and each January thereafter, the act requires the attorney general's office to report to the general assembly certain information related to lethality assessments conducted in the previous calendar year. No later than January 31, 2030, the domestic violence fatality review board shall evaluate the effectiveness of mandatory lethality assessments and referrals to resources and submit the evaluation to the general assembly.

     The act does not impose criminal, administrative, or civil liability on any person for an act or omission made in good faith related to administering a lethality assessment.


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

     The act authorizes landlords to use a ratio utility billing system to allocate utility charges for a residential premises to individual tenants. The landlord may charge tenants a utility bill using a ratio utility billing system if the landlord meets certain requirements, such as:

• The aggregate amount billed to all tenants does not exceed the amount charged by the utility provider for service to the entire residential premises;
• The landlord does not apply a fee or other charge to the tenant in addition to the actual charges from the utility;
• The utility costs for common areas or shared facilities are excluded from the charges to the tenant; and
• The landlord clearly discloses the method of allocation for the dwelling unit in the tenant's rental agreement.

     For residential premises constructed with permits applied for on or after July 1, 2027, utility service must be metered directly by the utility provider or by a submeter.


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

     Under current law, a person may be arrested and detained for level 1 drug misdemeanor possession.

     The act requires that when a colorimetric field drug test was used to test for the presence of a controlled substance and a person is solely suspected of a level 1 drug misdemeanor for possession or solely suspected of a municipal drug possession charge, a peace officer shall not arrest the person and instead shall issue a summons.

     The act also requires that when a colorimetric field drug test was used, before accepting a plea from a person charged with a drug possession for level 4 drug felony possession and lower, the trial court is required to issue an advisement with specified language, including language stating that colorimetric field drug tests have known error rates and that the defendant has the right to enter a not guilty plea and to request drug testing from an accredited forensic laboratory.


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

The bill repeals various state laws related to firearms and other weapons. Specifically, the bill repeals provisions concerning:

• Unlawfully carrying a firearm at a polling location or drop box offense;
• The presumption that an individual engages in election-related intimidation if the individual carries a visible firearm, imitation firearm, or toy firearm while interacting with or observing specified election activities;
• Firearm industry standards of responsible conduct enacted in Senate Bill 23-168, enacted in 2023, and the bill restores the firearms product liability provisions that existed prior to the enactment of Senate Bill 23-168;
• Payment processing for retail sales of firearms;
• Designating as peace officers the following personnel of the firearms dealer division within the department of revenue: The director, deputy directors, agents in charge, criminal investigator supervisors, and criminal investigators;
• Including in a mandatory criminal protection order a requirement for a defendant to relinquish firearms and ammunition;
• The classification of a rapid-fire device as a dangerous weapon;
• Prohibitions on knowingly carrying a firearm in specified government buildings and licensed child care centers;
• Unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon;
• Unlawfully possessing explosive, incendiary, or other dangerous devices in certain legislative buildings;
• Unlawfully carrying a firearm at a licensed child care center; a public or private elementary, middle, junior high, high, or vocational school; or a public or private college or university;
• Requirements to store a firearm, including in a vehicle;
• The requirement for the department of public health and environment to conduct a firearms safe storage education campaign;
• Prohibitions on certain conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver;
• The requirement to conduct a background check on the transferee in a private firearm transfer;
• Setting the minimum age to buy a firearm at 21 years old;
• The 3-day waiting period for firearm sales;
• Certain prohibited activity involving semiautomatic firearms, including the prohibition on purchasing a firearm without having completed certain educational requirements, and the associated firearms training and safety course record system;
• Ammunition sales;
• Permitting local entities to prohibit carrying a concealed handgun in certain areas;
• Prohibiting the possession of certain ammunition magazines, and marking requirements on certain ammunition magazines manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013;
• The requirement to have a state permit to deal firearms in Colorado and the requirements for dealers and dealers' employees;
• Gun show regulations;
• Providing materials about gun violence prevention to parents with students in K-12 schools;
• The authority of the Colorado bureau of investigation to investigate particular illegal activity involving firearms statewide;
• The voluntary waiver of the right to purchase a firearm; and
• The authority of a local government to enact an ordinance, regulation, or other law governing or prohibiting the sale, purchase, transfer, or possession of a firearm, ammunition, or firearm component or accessory.

The bill repeals the office of gun violence prevention.

As part of the repeals described above, the firearms training and safety course cash fund is repealed and the voluntary waiver of the right to purchase a firearm program, which is funded by gifts, grants, and donations, is repealed. The bill directs the state treasurer to return the money in the firearms training and safety course cash fund to the persons who paid fees into the fund and to return to the grantors and donors the balance of the gifts, grants, and donations made in support of the voluntary waiver of the right to purchase a firearm program.

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

     Under current law, a political party must ensure that any person, upon request, is able to participate in a precinct caucus or a party assembly with the use of a video conferencing platform or alternative means of participation. The failure of any political party to make a reasonable effort to comply with these accessibility requirements constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability in a place of public accommodation.

     The act clarifies that only a person who is otherwise eligible pursuant to statute to participate in a precinct caucus or a party assembly may request video conferencing or another alternative means of participation. The act also clarifies that a person who is subjected to a violation of a political party's duties regarding these accessibility requirements may file suit only against the central committee of the political party holding the caucus or assembly. An individual, including a member of the central committee of the political party or a volunteer for a political party, may not be held liable for a violation of these accessibility requirements. Upon a finding of a violation of these accessibility requirements, a court may require compliance with the applicable accessibility requirement and either actual monetary damages or a statutory fine of $3,500 for each violation.


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

     Under current law, a parent can voluntarily relinquish their child to a firefighter or hospital or community clinic emergency center staff member if the child is less than 72 hours old. The act allows a parent to voluntarily relinquish their child if the child is 30 days old or younger and requires the department of human services to adopt rules establishing a process for either parent of child who was relinquished to reunify with the child.


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

The bill creates the data center development and incentive program (program) operated by the Colorado data center development authority (authority), which is newly created in the Colorado office of economic development (office) ( section 1 of the bill). The authority consists of 9 members, as follows:

• 2 members appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate;
• The director of the Colorado energy office or the director's designee;
• One member who has experience in water projects or water resource management, appointed by the president of the senate;
• One member who has experience in clean and renewable energy, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
• 2 members who have experience in data center development, with one member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and one member appointed by the president of the senate;
• One member representing a statewide organization that represents workers in trade crafts who construct data centers, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; and
• One member representing a statewide organization that represents contractors who construct data centers, appointed by the president of the senate.

To incentivize efficient data center development, the program allows a 100% state sales and use tax exemption on qualified purchases to the operator of a certified data center. To be eligible for certification, the operator of the data center, or a data center operator collectively with participating data center tenants, must:

• Have initiated a preliminary consultation with the utility that will provide electricity for the data center project regarding interconnection feasibility, capacity, and infrastructure requirements;
• Commit to making a $250 million minimum investment in data center infrastructure within 5 years;
• Commit to creating new full-time jobs, including employees and long-term service and maintenance positions, that satisfy specified criteria and breaking ground on the data center project within 2 years of obtaining certification;
• Commit to complying, and ensure that the utility that provides electricity to the data center also complies, with craft labor requirements, apprenticeship utilization requirements, and prevailing wage requirements; and
• Commit to obtaining certification under one of several energy efficiency standards, implementing water stewardship strategies that optimize operational water management, ensuring that all backup power generation associated with the data center project meets specified requirements, and consulting with the department of natural resources.

To obtain certification, a data center operator must apply to the authority in a form and manner to be determined by the authority. The authority is required to review a data center operator's application for certification and may award certification to a data center operator that has demonstrated that it will satisfy the certification criteria ( section 1 ).

A data center operator that obtains certification for a data center project is eligible for a 100% state sales and use tax exemption on the purchase and use of qualified data center infrastructure and systems for 20 years from the date that the data center project was certified, so long as the data center satisfies ongoing post-certification requirements and submits annual compliance reports to the authority. As long as the data center meets post-certification requirements as demonstrated in the annual compliance reports, a data center operator of a certified data center may apply to the authority for an extension of the sales and use tax exemption for an additional 10 years. If the authority determines that a data center operator is not fulfilling its obligations and commitments to retain certification, the authority may revoke the certification and the data center operator is required to repay the state for the sales and use tax benefits that it received ( sections 1 and 5 ). The exemption for a certified data center does not apply to local sales and use taxes unless the exemption is expressly included at the time of adoption or amendment of the local sales tax ordinance or resolution ( section 4 ).

The bill allows a utility regulated by the public utilities commission (commission) to submit a targeted resource acquisition application to the commission to propose methods of meeting emerging large-load customer needs. The bill also specifies how a utility may finance resource and infrastructure needs in connection with emerging large-load customers ( section 3 ).
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill authorizes a county or municipality (local government), after approval by the electors of the local government, to impose an excise or a property tax, or both, on vacant residential properties within the boundaries of the local government (local taxes on vacant residential properties) ( sections 1 and 3 of the bill). A local government may use the revenues collected from either tax only for affordable, attainable, or workforce housing. A county assessor has no duty in implementing local taxes on vacant residential properties, but in an assessor's discretion, the assessor may assist by providing data and information to a local government or local housing tax authority, and may enter into an intergovernmental agreement that provides for compensation in exchange for the assessor's assistance.

The bill also creates a process for the creation of a local housing tax authority (authority) by intergovernmental agreement to allow 2 or more counties, cities and counties, or municipalities to form a joint taxing authority to collectively establish, levy, collect, and enforce local taxes on vacant residential properties within the boundaries of the authority ( section 2 ).
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill prohibits law enforcement and other government entities from purchasing, or otherwise obtaining for anything of value, certain personal data from third parties. Law enforcement agencies and other government entities are also prohibited from sharing individuals' personal data between themselves.

Exceptions are created for obtaining personal data, including after obtaining a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order, when an individual consents to sharing their data and, in the case of an emergency, involving a threat to a person's life or physical safety.

The bill creates a private cause of action for an individual who has their personal data obtained or shared in violation of the prohibitions in the bill. Personal data obtained or shared is excluded from trial and other court proceedings, subject to certain exceptions.

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

     Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires municipal jails to comply with existing jail data collection requirements, standards, and oversight.

     The act requires a keeper of a municipal jail to release a pregnant person charged with a violation of a municipal ordinance from custody if jail staff have a reasonable belief the person is in labor unless remaining in custody is necessary for the health or welfare of the person. If the pregnant person in labor is not released, the use of restraints is prohibited during the labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery, and the jail staff shall make a written record that the labor, delivery, and postpartum recovery occurred at the jail and record the reason the pregnant person was not released from custody.

     The act requires council members of a city that has a city jail to examine the jail's management and sufficiency at least once a year and allows the attorney general to conduct assessments of municipal jails to identify gaps and deficiencies based on the jail standards.

     The act adds a nonvoting member who represents a municipality to the jail standards advisory committee.


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

     Under current law, the public utilities commission (commission) may assess a civil penalty in an amount up to $550 against a transportation network company (TNC) if the TNC had written notice of a TNC driver's violation of certain prohibitions against discriminating against riders and the TNC failed to reasonably address the violation. Additionally, a driver is required to report to the TNC any refusal by the driver to provide services to a rider, and the TNC is required to annually report all such refusals to the commission.

     The act removes the condition that a TNC first have written notice of a driver's violation of the discriminatory prohibitions before a civil penalty may be assessed against the TNC, increases the maximum civil penalty to $1,300, and requires the commission to consider certain mitigating and aggravating factors in determining whether to assess a civil penalty and the amount of a penalty assessed. The act also requires:

• A TNC to mandate and provide education to drivers concerning the transportation of riders with service animals;
• A TNC to provide monthly, rather than annual, reporting to the commission regarding drivers' refusal to provide services;
• A TNC to provide a mechanism to allow a consumer to report a driver's refusal to provide transport to the consumer directly on the TNC's digital platform, which information must be included in the TNC's monthly report; and
• The commission to aggregate and anonymize the TNCs' monthly reports and make the anonymized reports available to the public.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     The act specifies relevant factors for assessing reasonable accommodations related to assistance animals that may be necessary for an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing under the 'Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act'. Permitting an assistance animal is presumed to be a reasonable accommodation if a housing provider has been given an opportunity to engage in an interactive accommodation process with the individual requesting the accommodation. The act also:

• Defines 'reasonable accommodation', as it applies to discriminatory housing practices, as an exception or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing, including public and common-use spaces;
• Defines 'assistance animal' as an animal that does work, performs tasks, assists, or provides therapeutic emotional support to an individual with a disability. 'Assistance animal' includes emotional support animals and service animals.
• Defines 'emotional support animal' as an animal that provides solely emotional support to an individual to alleviate a symptom or an effect of a disability;
• Permits a housing provider to request reasonable documentation to support an individual's claim of disability or disability-related need for an assistance animal if the individual's disability or disability-related need is not obvious; and
• Permits a housing provider, when considering a reasonable accommodation request, to consider documented, specific conduct of an assistance animal that poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or that causes substantial physical damage to property.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires a plaintiff that files a complaint concerning the unlawful detention of real property to include certain documentation with the complaint.

The bill requires that if a landlord posts a written demand or notice, the landlord must:

• Include in the demand or notice certain information; and
• Redact from the document certain personal identifying information.

Under current law, when a landlord commences an action for forcible entry and detainer, any court record of the action is a suppressed court record. If the court issues an order granting the landlord possession of the premises, the record is no longer a suppressed court record unless the parties agree that the record remain suppressed. Under the bill, such a court record remains suppressed unless it concerns a substantial violation of the lease. A court may publish a judicial opinion concerning the action if the names and identifiers of the parties are anonymized.

The bill requires a landlord to provide a tenant at least one rent payment option that does not require the tenant to access an online portal or pay a transaction fee.

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

Section 1 of the bill creates a time-limited state sales and use tax exemption (tax holiday) for back-to-school items. The tax holiday applies to the last weekend of July 2027 and reoccurs at approximately the same time in 2028 and 2029. A "back-to-school item" means an article of clothing, a school supply, or a learning aid that is purchased primarily for use by an individual who is under 21 years old. The exemption for each item is limited by cost as follows:

• $100 for an article of clothing;
• $50 for a school supply; and
• $30 for a learning aid.

     The microgrids for community resilience grant program (grant program) in the division of local government in the department of local affairs provides grants for cooperative electric associations and municipally owned utilities to purchase microgrid resources for eligible rural communities located within their service territories. Under current law, the grant program is set to repeal on September 1, 2026. The act continues the grant program indefinitely by removing the repeal date.


(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.)

The bill clarifies that the criminal jurisdiction of prosecutions includes conduct that causes injury, loss, damage, or deprivation of a thing of value, rights, privileges, access, or identity to a person located in the state.

Jurisdiction exists even if a defendant does not have actual knowledge that the victim is located in the state.

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

The bill creates a targeted allocation priority within Colorado's administration of federal and state affordable housing tax credits to support development of integrated, community-based housing for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The bill requires a set aside of at least 10% of the state's annual allocation of competitive federal low-income housing tax credits (federal tax credits) for "community integration housing". To qualify, a development must comply with federal tax credit requirements, meet federal home- and community-based services settings standards, reserve at least 20% of its units for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and partner with a community-centered board or certified case-management agency. The bill authorizes the Colorado housing and finance authority (authority) to reallocate unused credits from the set aside at the end of a calendar year for allocation to any eligible project.

The bill amends the state affordable housing tax credit (state tax credit) to require the authority to provide priority scoring or preference to qualified developments that have received a federal tax credit as a qualified community integration housing development and that continue to meet all requirements for community integration housing. The requirement for priority scoring or preference does not waive or otherwise limit the authority's ability to enforce all applicable eligibility requirements or to determine the amount of the state tax credit to be allocated to any qualified development.

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

     Current law establishes the youthful offender system (system) in the department of corrections (department) as a sentencing option that provides a continuum of services. The act:

• Updates references to the juveniles and young adults who are eligible for or participating in the system;
• Revises certain legislative intent provisions to emphasize lasting behavioral changes in preparation for reentry, trauma-informed care, addressing criminogenic risk, accountability, healthy relationship building, and system participant and staff safety;
• Expresses the general assembly's intent that juveniles and young adults with physical, intellectual, mental, or behavioral health disabilities or conditions receive equitable treatment in sentencing to the system and reasonable accommodations once in the system;
• Adds certain data related to system completion rates to an existing annual reporting requirement for the department;
• Adds requirements for evidence-informed rehabilitative treatment and life skills programming and for individual therapy, family therapy, or substance use disorder treatment;
• Establishes requirements for system participant evaluations, plans for addressing participants' needs and skills, and case manager duties;
• Requires the department, in consultation with relevant experts, to make and publish on its website recommendations for integrating a trauma-informed standard of care with current system practices to promote the health and safety of system participants; and
• Expands certain procedural protections for system participants with mental or behavioral health conditions or intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     The act creates the 'Transit Investment Area Act' to facilitate the financing of transit and rail station infrastructure. Specifically, the act:

• Allows a local government and a transit agency to jointly undertake a transit investment project. To finance the project, the local government may apply to the Colorado economic development commission (commission) to designate a transit investment area and an approved financing entity;
• Authorizes the approved financing entity, which may be a newly created transit investment authority, a county revitalization authority, a metropolitan district, or an urban renewal authority, to receive state sales tax increment revenue. This revenue consists of the state sales tax collected in the designated area above a base amount, plus an additional 20% to account for out-of-area deliveries.
• Permits the financing entity to issue bonds and use the state sales tax increment revenue to finance eligible improvements related to the transit project;
• Prohibits the financing entity from using the state sales tax increment revenue to acquire property through eminent domain;
• Requires projects to comply with specified hiring, apprenticeship, and workforce standards;
• Caps the commission's approval authority at no more than 3 transit investment projects in any calendar year and no more than 6 in total and caps the total state sales tax increment revenue dedicated to all projects at $75 million per fiscal year; and
• Authorizes the commission to revoke project approval if substantial work does not commence within 5 years and requires financing entities to submit annual reports and independent financial audits.

     The act requires the Colorado office of economic development, in consultation with the department of local affairs and the department of transportation, to publish a transit and housing investment zone map on or before October 30, 2026.

     The act creates the Colorado affordable housing in transit and housing investment zones tax credit (tax credit). The tax credit is administered in the same manner as the Colorado affordable housing in transit-oriented communities income tax credit; except that the tax credit is awarded in connection with housing projects in transit and housing zones. The act authorizes the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority to allocate up to $8,333,333 in tax credits each calendar year beginning in the 2027 calendar year through the 2033 calendar year.

     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $213,349 to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs.


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

Current law provides an exemption for taxation on property acquired and developed for low-income housing by nonprofit housing providers, community land trusts, and nonprofit affordable homeownership developers. The bill expands the exemption to also include property intended for low-income residential rental property.

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

     The act defines 'first responder' to include:

• A peace officer;

• A firefighter;
• A volunteer firefighter;
• An emergency medical service provider; or
• A mental health professional who responds in a professional capacity to a justifiable medical emergency.

     Existing law requires the emergency medical and trauma services advisory council (council) to review and approve new rules and modifications to rules prior to the adoption of such rules or modifications by the state board of health. The act requires the council to make recommendations for, instead of approve, rules and modifications to rules concerning emergency medical and trauma services prior to the adoption of such rules or modifications by the state board of health.

     Beginning January 1, 2027, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to reimburse the following entities under the 'Colorado Medical Assistance Act':

• An ambulance service for ground transportation by an ambulance or other vehicle to a hospital or other destination as deemed appropriate by the ambulance service's medical director;
• An ambulance service for treatment on the scene of a medical emergency, which treatment does not result in ground transportation; and
• A qualified provider, an ambulance service, or an agency for evaluation by telemedicine of a person being treated by an ambulance service or an agency for the purpose of preventing the need to transport the person to a hospital.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law allows the state to locate an automated vehicle identification system (AVIS) on a highway that is part of the federal interstate highway system but prohibits a county, city and county, or municipality (local government) from doing so. The bill authorizes a local government city and county or municipality to locate an AVIS on a highway that is part of the federal interstate highway system.

(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 bill codifies an individual's right to own, possess, and use a firearm to the maximum extent permissible by the state and federal constitutions.

Extreme risk protection orders and temporary extreme risk protection orders are repealed.

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

Currently, in every mail ballot election coordinated with or conducted by a county clerk and recorder, a single election judge personally conducts the review of each mail ballot for purposes of signature verification, unless the county clerk and recorder allows the election judge to use a signature verification device. The bill requires the county clerk and recorder to use a team of bipartisan election judges, rather than a single election judge, to review mail ballots for purposes of signature verification. The bill requires the secretary of state to adopt rules concerning the procedure for using a team of bipartisan election judges for such signature verification.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     Section 3 of the act defines 'advanced transmission technologies' as hardware or software technologies that increase the capacity, efficiency, reliability, or resiliency of an existing or new transmission facility.

     Section 4 requires the Colorado public utilities commission (commission) to adopt rules requiring a regulated electric utility to consider advanced transmission technologies in the electric utility's 10-year transmission plan and to identify strategies to reduce the costs of, and obtain financing for, new transmission. The commission is directed to minimize duplication of transmission planning processes, technical studies, or analyses conducted through an applicable regional transmission organization or independent system operator.

     Section 5 requires the Colorado electric transmission authority (authority) to, as much as practicable, engage and coordinate with formal subregional transmission planning organizations.

     Under current law, the authority is required to annually submit a report of its activities, including a complete operating and financial statement covering the operations of the authority for the previous state fiscal year, to certain committees of reference of the general assembly. Section 6 requires that the annual report also include a description of the activities and accomplishments of the authority during the previous calendar year.

     Section 7 adds a nonvoting seat to the authority's board of directors for the director of the commission or the director's designee.

     Section 8 clarifies that a project that includes advanced transmission technologies and meets certain criteria is an energy sector public works project. Section 9 states that an energy sector public works project that includes advanced transmission technologies must meet applicable prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship utilization requirements.


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

     The act requires the fiscal impact statement and ballot information booklet entry for the following types of initiated measures to include a description of the measure's likely effect on the 3 largest areas of program expenditure of the state:

• A measure that increases state expenditures, except for de minimis and administrative expenditures, and that does not identify and provide for a sufficient source of revenue or sufficient reductions in state spending to account for the increased expenditures; and
• A measure that requires existing revenue sources to be reallocated and spent in a particular way.

     The act also modifies existing required language for ballot titles and the ballot information booklet for certain initiated measures to mirror the language used in the act.


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

Current law provides that a person may not submit an application for subdivision approval to a local authority unless the subdivision plan or plat provides that all lots and parcels created by the subdivision will have access to the state highway system. The bill removes this restriction and specifies that, on or after January 1, 2027, a person may submit, and a local authority may approve, an application for a subdivision plan or plat that does not provide that all lots and parcels created by the subdivision will have access to the state highway system.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act redirects a portion of certain vehicle registration fees to increase the amount of revenue that is directed to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account (DRIVES account) created in the highway users tax fund (HUTF). Beginning on July 1, 2026, the act redirects fees for special vehicle registrations for personalized license plates from the HUTF to the DRIVES account; except that, consistent with current law, $2 of each fee is remitted to the county general fund. Beginning on July 1, 2027, the act redirects $2 of each late vehicle registration fee from the HUTF to the DRIVES account and, consistent with current law, credits the remainder of the fees to the HUTF.


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

The bill limits the number of forcible entry and detainer (eviction) actions that a county court schedules on one business day.

The bill prohibits including a minor defendant as a named defendant in an eviction complaint when a parent or adult guardian is also listed as a defendant on the same complaint.

The bill prohibits a court from entering judgment without a trial or a hearing when a tenant's answer to an eviction complaint expresses an intent to cure nonpayment.

The bill specifies that the following reasons excuse a tenant from filing a timely written answer to an eviction complaint: A hospitalization, a sickness or injury, a reasonable accommodation request for a disability, a lack of proper service, a transportation issue, a complication related to electronic filing that was reasonably outside of the tenant's control, and a court issue that was reasonably outside of the tenant's control.

When a tenant in an eviction action asserts that they were affected by one of the specified reasons, the bill requires a court to:

• Relieve a tenant from final judgment, vacate any judgment or writ of restitution that was issued, and provide the tenant with a reasonable amount of time to file an answer;

• Permit additional and amended pleadings; and

• Extend the trial date.

The bill repeals appeals bond in eviction cases.

The bill extends the time for executing a writ of restitution in an eviction action from 48 hours to 30 days, except in cases involving substantial violations.

The bill prohibits the execution of writs in eviction actions during inclement weather.

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

     The act creates the pesticide product disposal and container recycling enterprise (enterprise) in the department of agriculture (department). The board of directors of the enterprise (board) consists of the members of the state agricultural commission.

     The enterprise is tasked with developing and administering a program for the disposal of pesticide products not identified as exempt from the program by the board (eligible pesticide products) and with coordinating the recycling of pesticide product containers (program). Along with providing these business services, the program must:

• Organize eligible pesticide product disposal events for commercial applicators and private applicators across the state;
• Provide outreach and education to commercial applicators and private applicators on proper and safe disposal of eligible pesticide products and the recycling of their containers and the services provided by the program; and
• Provide certain business services to an applicant that registers an eligible pesticide product with the commissioner of agriculture for sale or distribution in the state (applicant).

     The enterprise operates as a government-owned business imposing:

• A pesticide product disposal fee for each eligible pesticide product that is disposed of through the program; and
• A pesticide registration product disposal fee on each applicant, which fee must be no more than $50 per eligible pesticide product.

     The fees are credited to the pesticide product disposal and container recycling enterprise cash fund (fund) for use by the enterprise to carry out the program. Money credited to the fund is continuously appropriated to the enterprise for the purposes set forth in the act.

     Commencing in 2028, the enterprise must annually report to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agricultural matters the following information for the previous 12 months: the amount of fees collected, the total revenue generated by the fees, the location and times of disposal events held, a summary of the amount and types of products disposed of, and a description of education and outreach activities conducted.

     $19,875 is appropriated from the legal services cash fund to the department of law to provide legal services for the department in implementing the act. The appropriation is from revenue received from the department that is continuously appropriated to the department from the fund.


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

     The bill grants the energy and carbon management commission (commission) authority over class I, class IV, and class V injection wells and allows the commission to seek and adopt rules related to primacy from the United States environmental protection agency (EPA) for these classes of injection wells. The rules adopted by the commission may only be more stringent than corresponding federal requirements if certain findings are made at a public hearing. The commission may assess and collect fees related to the regulation of class I, class IV, and class V injection wells. A person that willfully violates a rule, permit, authorization, or order of the commission related to these classes of injection wells commits a misdemeanor and is subject to certain penalties. The executive director of the department of resources (executive director) is required to propose initial spending authority in the amount necessary to enforce rules for the permitting, authorization, and regulation of class I, class IV, and class V injection wells. The office of state planning and budgeting (OSPB) is also required to submit a proposal to eliminate or minimize the impact of associated fee revenue for the first state fiscal year that the fee revenue is assessed on the state fiscal year spending limitation in the state constitution.

     The bill also grants the mined land reclamation board (board) authority over class III injection wells and allows the board to seek and adopt rules related to primacy from the EPA for class III injection wells. The board may assess and collect fees related to the regulation of class III injection wells. The rules adopted by the board may only be more stringent than corresponding federal requirements if certain findings are made at a public hearing. A person that violates a rule, permit, authorization, or order of the board related to class III injection wells or that operates a class III injection well without a permit from the board is subject to certain penalties. The bill also provides that a class III injection well is not eligible for an exemption from designated mining operation status, which status subjects the operator to certain rules adopted by the board. The executive director is required to propose initial spending authority in the amount necessary to enforce rules for the permitting, authorization, and regulation of class III injection wells. OSPB is also required to submit a proposal to eliminate or minimize the impact of associated fee revenue for the first state fiscal year that the fee revenue is assessed on the state fiscal year spending limitation in the state constitution.

(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 modifies the 'Uniform Election Code of 1992' (code) as follows:

• Regarding elections generally, includes in the definition of 'identification' for purposes of the code a division of youth services identification card or written correspondence from a county sheriff to the county clerk indicating that an elector is confined in a county jail or detention facility; repeals the definition of 'political party district'; modifies the definition of 'video security surveillance recording' to include a system in which continuous recording is triggered when motion is detected; modifies the definition of 'watcher' to prohibit a person from being selected as a watcher if the person has been convicted of certain election offenses or of committing or conspiracy to commit certain federal offenses; if the governor declares a disaster emergency due to the inability to strictly comply with the code, allows the secretary of state (secretary) to adopt rules for the proper administration of an election and requires the governor to establish an election emergency advisory group to advise the secretary and the governor regarding emergency orders or rules necessary to ensure the proper administration of an election; allows the secretary to provide access to, rather than transmit a complete copy of, all pertinent, updated elections laws to each county clerk and recorder (clerk); and requires each clerk to set operational hours for the clerk's office;
• Regarding the qualification and registration of electors; specifies information that all institutions of higher education, rather than just state institutions of higher education, must provide to students via email or signs concerning voting, voter eligibility, and registration, and requires the secretary to adopt rules further specifying the form and content of the emails and signs; requires the clerk to make printed affidavit forms available to correct an error in the elector's affiliation recorded in the statewide database; requires the secretary to ensure preregistrants who are 17 years and 6 months old can access their voter registration information and update that information using the state's online voter registration system; requires the statewide voter registration system to support the integration and use of geographic information system data to improve the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of voter registration records; modifies the language concerning preregistration of high school students; specifies that the principal of a public high school or their designee who assists in preregistration and registration to vote are high school liaisons, rather than deputy registrars, and eliminates certain filing requirements for registration or preregistration to vote; modifies how a clerk verifies identifiers provided by an elector who registers to vote in another county or another state; prohibits a clerk from canceling the registration record of an elector with multiple registrations unless there is a match in the county's registration records and the statewide voter registration database with respect to certain identifiers of the elector; and makes the secretary, rather than the clerk, responsible for canceling certain registrations pursuant to existing law, while still allowing the secretary to request assistance from the clerks;
• Regarding presidential electors, specifies that if a presidential or vice-presidential candidate dies or withdraws as a candidate after accepting the nomination of a political party but prior to the meeting of presidential electors, an elector's vote for the presidential candidate or vice-presidential candidate refers to the successor candidate nominated by the political party and clarifies that such vote is not a vote for a false slate of presidential electors;
• Regarding congressional vacancy elections, modifies notice, preparation, and conduct of elections; requires elections to be concurrent with a primary or coordinated election if the vacancy occurs between 150 and 90 days of such election; requires elections to be conducted according to provisions for general elections; modifies candidate nomination deadlines; clarifies the manner of nomination for an unaffiliated candidate; and specifies the arrangement of names on the ballot;
• Regarding access to the ballot by candidates, specifies the offices for which a candidate must fully meet the qualifications of the office and expands factors the secretary may consider in determining the qualifications to hold office to include other objective, verifiable requirements such as age, birth place, term limits, and political affiliation; repeals the ability for certificates of designation by assembly to be transmitted to the secretary by fax; specifies deadlines by which major and minor political parties must fill vacancies in their party nominations and by which vacancies in unaffiliated designations or nominations must be filled prior to a primary election and a general election, and clarifies that failure to fill a vacancy in nomination by such deadline results in that vacancy nomination remaining unfilled for that election; eliminates requirement for electors to include their county when signing a petition to nominate a candidate; allows a congressional vacancy election to be presented on the same ballot used in a presidential primary election if the elections are held on the same day; modifies the timeline for nomination of minor political party candidates; and maintains the requirement that a person file a written acceptance of nomination but eliminates the specification that the acceptance be provided by mail, fax, or hand delivery;
• Regarding notice and preparation of elections, clarifies that a voter service and polling center (VSPC) that experiences a shortage of supplies, including ballots, shall not close and may be required to remain open longer on election day; requires that each drop box must accept mail ballots for the 22-day period, rather than the 15-day period, prior to the day of an election; reduces the required period that a VSPC on a campus with 10,000 or more students must be open from 15 days to 10 days before an election; specifies that, in addition to existing designation by sign requirements, a VSPC on the campus of an institution of higher education must be identified and described in signs conspicuously posted at the student center and in an email sent to all enrolled students; repeals the requirement that the secretary deliver the certification of the ballot order and content to the clerk by registered mail; repeals a provision for the arrangement of names on ballots to be established by lot; adds an additional trigger for the secretary to notify clerks of the requirement to provide minority language sample ballots and in-person minority language ballots based on the release of data collected pursuant to section 203 of the federal 'Voting Rights Act of 1965' by the federal government; repeals a provision regarding the adoption and payment for voting machines; and requires the clerk of any county with 1,000 or more active electors to adopt an electronic or electromechanical voting system for use in all elections conducted by the county under the code and requires the clerk to oversee the management of such voting systems subject to the rules of the secretary;
• Regarding election judges, changes the age eligibility requirements for a student election judge from 16 to 15 and expands the methods for notice and acceptance of an election judge appointment;
• Regarding the conduct of elections, repeals the requirement that an election judge proclaim the polls are open or will be closed in 30 minutes on election day; modifies the 2-hour period that eligible electors are entitled to be absent from work to vote from only on election day to any day when VSPCs are open and specifies that an employer may deny this leave if the elector has 3 or more consecutive hours off the job while the polls are open; allows an elector to take printed or written materials of their choice into a VSPC as a resource for voting; creates new reporting requirements for counties with one or more VSPCs experiencing a wait time in excess of one hour, which wait time must be measured and recorded in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary and creates a requirement for a reporting county to include certain additional information in its next proposed election plan; repeals and reenacts, with changes, the required method of counting paper ballots by hand, requiring a team of 4 judges, audible reading of each ballot, and 2 separate accountings to be kept and compared and regular intervals, in accordance with any rules adopted by the secretary; recognizes that, in addition to a software or hardware malfunction, other significant issues may make counting ballots with electronic vote-tabulating equipment impracticable; and prohibits a designated election official from transferring custody or control of election records to a third party unless the transfer is authorized or required by the secretary of a court of competent jurisdiction;
• Regarding mail ballot elections, modifies the timeline for submission and approval of proposed election plans; allows the secretary to request modification of an election plan; requires the secretary to release no later than August 1 for each clerk's submitted election plan, specified information for each VSPC and each ballot drop-off location in the county for that election; modifies mail ballot delivery times; changes the enrolled-student threshold at an institution of higher education from 2,000 to 1,000 for purposes of requiring a drop box on campus and requires a drop box on the campus of private institutions of higher education in addition to state institutions; requires a clerk who fails to send a signature verification form within the 2-day deadline to send the signature verification by overnight mail or hand delivery; and requires a minimum number of hours for in-person voting at a county jail or detention center based on the number of beds available;
• Regarding challenges to registration, repeals and reenacts, with amendments, the process for a registered elector to protest the registration of another person, requires a $50 fee for each protest that is refunded if the protest is successful, and specifies the reasons that a protest may challenge a person's registration as incorrect;
• Regarding vacancies in office, in the case of a vacancy in the office of United States senator, requires the governor to appoint a person who is a member of the same political party as the former United States senator to fill a vacancy in that office; clarifies that a person appointed to fill a vacancy in a county office other than county commissioner serves only until the next general election, at which time the remainder of the vacant term, if any, is filled by election; and specifies that a county commissioner or general assembly vacancy may be filled at the next coordinated or general election; and
• Regarding election offenses, clarifies the offense of voter interference occurs when a person interferes with a voter within 100 feet of any building in which a polling or drop-off location is located or within 100 feet of a drop box; specifies that the offense of voter intimidation applies to any elector who is delivering up to 10 mail ballots to a drop box or drop-off-location; clarifies that the exemption for peace officers from the law prohibiting a person from carrying a firearm at a polling location does not apply if the firearm is used to intimidate electors; clarifies that offenses involving a false slate of presidential electors extends to lists of electors voting and votes for candidates for president and vice president of the United States, or their successors; and modifies enforcement and relief provisions in the case of a suit for election-related intimidation.

     In addition, the act:

• Modifies the law regarding initiatives and referendums to eliminate the requirement for an elector to include their county of residence as part of their signature on an initiative or referendum petition; extends the secretary's period for examination and validation of signatures on a petition from 30 to 60 days; and extends the secretary's period to issue a statement as to whether a petition has sufficient valid signatures from 30 to 60 days after the petition was filed;
• Modifies the definition of 'disaster' for the purpose of the 'Colorado Disaster Emergency Act' to include the occurrence or imminent threat of the inability to strictly comply with the code due to any natural cause or cause of human origin;
• Amends the 'Colorado Open Records Act' to specify that a designated election official is not required to cover or redact from a ballot any markings or messages voluntarily made by an elector; and
• Specifies that oaths or affirmations for public office filed with the clerk are exempt from certain fees imposed by law.

     The act takes effect upon passage, except that the provisions regarding the time frame for mailing a mail ballot packet take effect July 1, 2026.

     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $10,000 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for the implementation of the act.


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

The bill requires that, on or after October 1, 2031, a subject jurisdiction shall not require:

• That a parcel lot have an area larger than 2,000 square feet if the parcel's lot's residential use is limited to a single family home; or
• Minimum lot frontage, setbacks, open space, or maximum lot coverage dimensions that have the practical effect of preventing the construction of a single family home on a lot that has an area of 2,000 square feet and that has a residential use limited to a single family home.

The bill exempts certain types of parcels lots from this requirement.

(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 bill creates the state temporary hospitality event permits (hospitality permit) where marijuana may be consumed, but not sold or distributed, at the event premises for a temporary hospitality event (event). Other licensees are permitted to participate in the event. To be issued a hospitality permit, the applicant must hold an active marijuana hospitality business license, apply for the hospitality permit, and pay the application fee. Application standards are set. The state licensing authority sets the application fee to offset the direct and indirect costs of issuing a hospitality permit.

A marijuana hospitality business or a participating licensee is prohibited from:

• Operating an event for longer than 72 hours;

• Hosting more than 15 events per year;

• Selling, transferring, or distributing marijuana at the event premises during an event; and

• Transferring the hospitality permit to another person.

To hold an event at a specific event premises, the applicant must apply for and be issued an event premises permit (premises permit) by the local licensing authority. Standards are set for the application process. To qualify for a premises permit, the licensee must demonstrate that the event premises comply with applicable zoning, fire, and public health laws and comply with the bill. Standards are set for an application for and the issuance of the premises permit.

In order for event premises to be used, the local jurisdiction must adopt a resolution or ordinance authorizing events within the jurisdiction. The local jurisdiction may impose reasonable conditions and limitations.

If a premises permit application is denied, the applicant may request a hearing within 7 days after the denial. If a hearing is requested, the local licensing authority shall hold a hearing to determine if the denial is justified. The local licensing authority sets the fee to issue a premises permit.

The state licensing authority must adopt rules. Both the state and local licensing authorities may enforce the bill and marijuana laws at the events and on the event premises. The state licensing authority and a local licensing authority may separately or jointly inspect permitted events or event premises.

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

      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.)

The bill creates the Colorado electric grid resiliency task force (task force) to study the issue of grid resilience and to make recommendations to the governor and the general assembly. The task force is 18 members.

The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall organize and call the first meeting of the task force by November 28, 2026. The task force meets at least once every month until it completes its duties, but the chair may call additional meetings. Upon request by the task force, the department of regulatory agencies shall provide office space, equipment, and staff services as necessary.

The task force has the following duties on a biennial basis:

• Doing a rigorous, uniform engineering assessment of every covered transformer in Colorado;

• Developing a prioritized statewide hardening and spare-transformer plan with cost estimates, cost-benefit analyses, and recommended funding mechanisms;

• Recommending rules, legislation, and interstate or federal cost-sharing arrangements and publishing a report detailing these recommendations; and

• Reporting its findings to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee.

The bill sets minimum technical standards for the assessment, plan, and recommendations.

A transmission-owning entity must participate in the task force assessment and provide any requested data. These entities may recover reasonable and prudent costs incurred to comply with the bill through rates, member assessments, or ordinary budgeting processes.

Owners or operators of covered transformers are required to file with the federal energy regulatory commission a report, marked as "Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information". Standards are set for the report. Biennially, the public utilities commission must prepare a summary of the report and present it to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee.

The public utilities commission must adopt rules requiring implementation of the highest-priority hardware-based mitigation measures identified by the task force unless equivalent protection is demonstrated.

The task force repeals on September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, it is scheduled for review under the sunset law.

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

     The act clarifies that a state permit to engage in the business of dealing in firearms (state permit) is required for a firearms dealer (dealer) to transfer firearms.

     Under existing law, in order to be issued a state permit, a dealer must not have had a firearms dealer license or permit or a firearm possession permit revoked, suspended, or denied for good cause within 3 years before submitting a state permit application (prior license requirement) and must not have violated any state or federal law concerning the possession, purchase, or sale of firearms in the 3 years before applying for the state permit (prior violation requirement). The act clarifies that the prior license and prior violation requirements apply to an individual possessing, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the dealer, known as a 'responsible person' of the dealer. The act makes the dealer training requirements apply to responsible persons who, in the course of their duties, handle firearms; process the sale, loan, or transfer of firearms; or otherwise have access to firearms.

     The act makes provisions related to a dealer's employees who handle firearms; process the sale, loan, or transfer of firearms; or otherwise have access to firearms also apply to any individual, including an independent contractor, who performs an employee's duties, whether paid or unpaid.

     The act permits the department of revenue (department) to fine a dealer up to $75,000 for a second or subsequent violation of certain dealer requirements committed on or after January 1, 2027. The department shall adopt rules concerning the imposition of fines.

     Under existing state law, dealers are subject to record-keeping requirements involving pistols and revolvers sold, rented, or exchanged at retail. The act makes the record-keeping requirements apply to all retail transactions, including a transfer, involving a firearm other than a destructive device, clarifies that dealers may keep the records electronically, and prohibits the department and any other state agency from using information obtained from dealer records to create or maintain a registry identifying firearm ownership.

     The act requires a dealer to secure large-capacity magazines in the dealer's possession. The department shall adopt rules requiring security measures for dealers' places of business, and a dealer shall submit a comprehensive security plan to the department that demonstrates the security measures that the dealer will implement to comply with the rules. Beginning October 1, 2027, a dealer must implement the security measures.

     The act requires a dealer to report the theft or loss of a firearm to the department within 48 hours after learning of the theft or loss.


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

     The act repeals the requirement for coroners, or other officials performing like functions, to report to the department of transportation (department) deaths resulting from traffic accidents on a monthly basis. The act requires coroners, or other officials performing like functions, to report all available toxicology results to the department for each deceased party who has died as a result of a motor vehicle crash. The report must be submitted by the final business day of each quarter of the calendar year.

     If a participant in a crash dies within 30 days as a result of a crash, the act requires the law enforcement officer who was notified of, or investigated, the crash to submit an amended report to the department within five days after receiving a notification of the death.


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

     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 clarifies that municipal court defendants have a right to counsel and that municipal defense counsel have the same notice requirements, case information, and opportunity to meet with their clients as do state-level defense counsel. Current law prohibits paying indigent municipal defense counsel on a fixed or flat-fee payment structure if the municipality prosecutes domestic violence cases. The act applies the prohibition to all municipalities and allows a flat fee arrangement if the flat fee is the same or higher than a resulting fee based on hourly compensation.

     Current law requires municipal court proceedings to be open to public observation. The act requires virtual observation for all in-custody proceedings and prompt resolution of municipal cases.


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

     The water quality control division (division) administers a program to test for and remediate water quality issues for mobile home parks (program). The program tests for water quality issues that pose a risk to not only health or safety but also the welfare of park residents. The act authorizes the division to require remediation of welfare-related water quality violations.

     One of the requirements of the program is for the park owner to certify that the park owner has made certain water-quality-related notices to park residents. The act authorizes the division to issue an order requiring the park owner to comply with the park resident notice certification requirement.

     Under the program, the park owner is prohibited from imposing the cost of compliance with certain remediation-related requirements on park residents. The act authorizes a park owner who is also a park resident to bear this cost.

     The program authorizes the division to issue orders requiring the park owner to perform additional water testing, perform temporary measures necessary to address acute health risks, make additional reports to the division, create a remediation plan, implement a remediation plan, or respond to the division in connection with a remediation plan. The act clarifies that a park owner may ask for a hearing only regarding the orders that concern remediation plans.

     The act also clarifies that:

• The division has authority to enforce the requirements of the program; and
• The division has authority to issue cease-and-desist orders to address violations related to the program, regardless of whether the issues are related to water quality violations.

     The act also provides that:

• An additional monthly penalty of up to $5,000 for a continuing violation may be imposed for the first 30 days of noncompliance; and
• A park owner is not entitled to an administrative hearing to contest an imposed civil penalty but may seek judicial review.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill creates an expanded sales room permit, which authorizes a manufacturer, limited winery, or wholesaler that manufactures beer (producer) to:

• Operate a restaurant at the producer's sales room; or
• Sell or provide alcohol beverages that are not manufactured by the permit holder by the drink for consumption at the sales room if the alcohol beverage is a craft product.

A producer must obtain a separate expanded sales room permit for each location. To obtain an expanded sales room permit, a producer must apply to the state licensing authority. To operate an expanded sales room, the producer must:

• Have sandwiches and light snacks available for consumption on the premises; and
• Not sell at the sales room the authorized alcohol beverages in an amount in excess of 50% of the total sales of alcohol beverages.

The state licensing authority will establish the application fee for an expanded sales room permit.

The bill authorizes a vintner's restaurant licensee to sell and ship wine directly to an individual who has joined a winery club. To create a winery club, the vintner's restaurant licensee must obtain and retain, for as long as the club is active, each member's name, address, and age and a record of how the member's age was verified. To join a winery club, an individual must apply to the vintner's restaurant that created the winery club. To ship wine to an address, a vintner's restaurant licensee must verify the recipient is a member of the club and that the delivery address is the same address on file for the member.

Under current law, a distillery pub licensee may sell its spirits at wholesale in an amount up to 2,700 liters per product per year. The bill raises the limit to 8,100 liters per product per year.

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

     The act eliminates the homeless prevention activities program advisory committee and gives the division of housing within the department of local affairs the power to administer the homeless prevention activities program, to establish and enforce standards for all homeless prevention activities covered by the program, and to establish standards that assure program funds are properly allocated.


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

     The act requires a landlord to:

• Comply with applicable court rules governing the protection and redaction of personal identifying information in eviction filings; and

• Redact personal identifying information from supporting documents submitted to a court.

       The act also requires a landlord to include in all rental applications:

• A notice to prospective tenants regarding the information and data the landlord will attempt to access when conducting a tenant screening;
• A general description of the factors the landlord will consider when evaluating a rental application, including a prospective tenant's credit history, rental history, income, and criminal background, if applicable; and
• An indication of whether the landlord uses a third-party tenant screening service and, if so, the name of the service.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a unit owner in a homeowners' association (HOA) may notify the HOA that the unit owner prefers to receive correspondence and notices from the HOA in a language other than English. The HOA is then required to send the unit owner correspondence and notices in both English and the preferred language.

The bill:

• Authorizes the HOA to require that the unit owner first demonstrate the need for correspondence and notices in the preferred language before sending correspondence and notices to the unit owner in the preferred language; and
• Removes the requirement that the HOA send correspondence and notices to the unit owner in both English and the unit owner's preferred language, instead requiring that the HOA send the correspondence and notices only in the unit owner's preferred language.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act requires the department of local affairs, as part of its SMART Act hearing in January of 2027, to submit and present a proposal for the development of a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution. The proposal must include a plan that sets forth a timeline, an estimated budget, and a process for developing and implementing a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution. The proposal must set forth the following components that must be included in the statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution:

• Identification of gaps and barriers that impede access to operational services for individuals experiencing homelessness;
• Identification of state agency-provided housing resources, including utilization rates;
• Recommendations for collaboration between state and local partners to facilitate homelessness response;
• Recommendations for funding and policies that could be implemented at the state level to support homelessness prevention and resolution;
• Recommendations proposed in coordination with continuum of care organizations to improve the implementation of the homeless management information system, data reporting, and coordinated entry systems; and
• Updates on regional navigation campuses.

     When developing the proposal, the department shall seek and incorporate feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders.

     The act creates a new type of special district, a multijurisdictional homelessness response authority (authority), which may be created when any combination of local governments enter into an intergovernmental agreement with one another to establish an authority. An authority must:

• Be used by the contracting local governments to reduce and prevent homelessness; and
• Have boundaries that contain the entirety of all the contracting local governments, but nothing more.

     An authority has several discretionary powers that relate to its ability to coordinate and plan with departments and organizations to reduce and prevent homelessness, including the power to provide for the levy of sales or sales and use taxes by the contracting local governments. If the intergovernmental agreement that creates an authority provides for the levy of a sales or sales and use tax by the contracting local governments within the boundaries of the authority:

• Each contracting local government shall submit to its registered electors a ballot question that relates to the tax and that requires any new tax revenue approved through the ballot question to be used solely for the planning, coordination, and implementation of regional strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness;
• The intergovernmental agreement must provide for a case in which the electors in some but not all of the contracting local governments approve the collection of the sales or sales and use tax at the general election; and
• The intergovernmental agreement must provide that all or part of the taxes levied are distributed to the authority.

     An authority may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of planning, coordinating, and implementing regional strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness, may issue revenue or general obligation bonds, and may pledge its revenue and revenue-raising powers for the payment of such bonds.

     The act allows a county to designate a portion of documentary filing fees, which are collected for filing documents associated with the grant or conveyance of real property, to be transferred to the county government or a housing authority for the purpose of developing, preserving, or acquiring affordable housing that:

• Is within the jurisdiction of the county government or housing authority;
• Is aligned with demonstrated community needs; and
• Will be available to individuals experiencing homelessness.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Real property or buildings used to provide dwelling accommodations that substantially benefit persons with low income (project property) that is owned, leased, or under construction by a local housing authority, or an entity that is partially or wholly owned by a local housing authority, is exempt from property taxation. Section 1 of the bill clarifies that a "senior cooperative housing project" may qualify for such property tax exemption as a "project" of a local housing authority. A "senior cooperative housing project" is defined as a multi-unit residential building or complex occupied by qualifying seniors that is owned by a cooperative or cooperative housing corporation. A "qualifying senior" is an individual who is at least 65 years old and of low income.

The affordable rental housing component of property in a public-private partnership between the middle-income housing authority and one or more public or private entities or persons is exempt from property taxation. Section 2 clarifies that a "senior cooperative housing project" that otherwise meets the qualifications and is selected by the authority may qualify for such property tax exemption as an "affordable rental housing project". "Senior cooperative housing project" has the same meaning as in section 1. A "qualifying senior" also has the same meaning as in section 1 and includes an individual who is of middle income. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The bill gives city and county housing authorities (housing authority) the power to provide for the levy of a sales tax, sales and use tax, or property tax both within the jurisdiction of the authority, the resulting revenue of which will be directed to the housing authority, subject to the following conditions:

• The city or county has adopted a resolution determining that the levying of the tax will fairly distribute the costs of the housing authority's activities among the beneficiaries of the housing authority's activities and will not impose an undue burden on any particular group of people or businesses ; and
• A ballot question has been submitted to a vote of the registered electors of the city or county and subsequently approved by a majority of such registered electors, and the ballot question describes the purposes for which the tax will be used by the housing authority and complies with section 20 of article X of the state constitution. All new tax revenues generated are irrevocably pledged to the authority for the purposes set forth in the ballot question.

     If a sales or sales and use tax is approved by the voters of a housing authority:

• The rate of the sales or sales and use tax must not exceed 1% on any transaction taxable by the state , excluding the sale or use of cigarettes ; and
• The executive director of the department of revenue shall collect, administer, and enforce the tax, and the city or county shall pay the net incremental cost incurred by the department in the administration and collection of the tax.

       

• The authority shall designate a liaison to coordinate with the department of revenue to implement the collection of the tax and to identify people eligible to collect the sales and use tax; and

       

• The tax revenue must be directed to a fund of the authority.

The provisions authorizing the levy of the sales or sales and use tax will only take effect if the department of revenue receives an amount of gifts, grants, and donations sufficient to pay for the department's costs in administering the tax.

      If an ad valorem property tax is approved by the voters of a housing authority:

• The rate of the ad valorem property tax must not exceed 5 mills on each dollar of valuation for assessment of the taxable property within the authority's jurisdiction;
• The board of county commissioners of the county in which the housing authority is located shall levy the ad valorem property tax upon the valuation for assessment of all taxable property within the authority's jurisdiction;
• The officials charged with collecting ad valorem property taxes for the county in which the housing authority is located shall collect the taxes at the time and in the form and manner and with like interest and penalties as other property taxes collected within the county;
• The property tax revenue must be directed to a fund of the authority; and
• All property tax revenue, together with interest thereon and penalties for default in payment thereof, and all costs of collecting the same shall constitute, until paid, a perpetual lien on and against the property taxed, and such lien shall be on a parity with the tax lien of other general taxes.

     The bill gives county housing authorities the power to issue revenue or general obligation bonds and to pledge the authority's revenues and revenue-raising powers for the payment of such bonds.

      The bill allows an urban renewal authority to enter into a shortfall guaranty contract with an urban renewal project developer (developer) specifying that, if the tax increment revenue is insufficient to pay the indebtedness incurred by the authority that is due, the developer is obligated to make a direct payment covering the full amount of the insufficiency. A shortfall guaranty contract:

• Constitutes a lien on the urban renewal project property the same as, and equal in priority to, a tax lien;
• Has priority over any mortgage, lien that is not a tax lien, or other encumbrance;
• Constitutes a covenant running with the land for the term of the contract; and
• May be recorded against the real property upon which the urban renewal project is developed.

(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 bill authorizes the public utilities commission (commission) to regulate broadband service and voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) service in the state. The commission may adopt rules related to the quality, safety, and resiliency of broadband services in Colorado.

The commission is authorized to conduct evaluations of broadband service facilities and infrastructure and to issue orders that require an internet service provider to take remedial actions to correct unsafe or inadequate service. The commission is required to submit to the general assembly an annual report regarding the quality, safety, and resiliency of broadband and VoIP services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act establishes and clarifies financial protections for mobile home park residents. The act requires a landlord of a mobile home park to notify residents when the landlord is temporarily prohibited from increasing rent.

     Under current law, a landlord is required to send notice to residents when the landlord intends to sell the mobile home park. The act adds to the information that must be included in the notice that the landlord sends to residents of the park to include a statement that the landlord must provide additional information and documentation to a home owner upon request by the home owner, including:

• The basis of the purchase price, such as aggregate rental data, rent projections, and recent appraisals of the property;
• Disclosure of the age of major infrastructure in the mobile home park;
• Documentation of any infrastructure inspections, maintenance, and repair services from the previous 3 years;
• The most up-to-date rent roll and any documentation related to rents, charges, outstanding balances, and the vacancy rate; and
• The operating expenses and income for the park from the previous 3 years.

     The act requires that, for a potential sale of a mobile home park that is a portfolio sale including real property or structures located outside of the mobile home park, the price, terms, or conditions of the proposed sale, including for the real property or structures located outside of the park, must be made available to the home owners of the park, even if the home owners submit an offer to purchase only the park.

     The act requires the landlord and any potential buyer to conduct the sale of the mobile home park at arms-length and in good faith. The act establishes certain parameters related to the registration fee that must be paid by a landlord of a mobile home park and limits the amount that the landlord may charge each resident to cover the registration fee at $17.


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

     Under current law, each subscriber to a community solar garden receives a net metering credit to their electric bill. The community solar subscriber organization can choose between a fixed bill credit or a bill credit that is adjusted annually. The act states that, on and after October 1, 2026, a subscriber organization may choose a fixed bill credit for the subscriber organization's income-qualified subscribers and a bill credit that changes annually for the subscriber organization's other customers. The public utility providing the bill credit must adjust the fixed bill credit annually to ensure that the credit remains aligned with changes in electricity rates over time.

     A public utility is permitted under current law to recover its prudently incurred costs to facilitate a timely interconnection of a distributed energy resource. The act prohibits a public utility from requiring an interconnection customer to pay the costs associated with interconnection facilities and upgrades until 30 days before the public utility incurs the costs. The act allows a public utility to require an interconnection customer to provide security for the estimated full costs of interconnection at the time of mutual execution of an interconnection agreement.

     The act requires a public utility with more than 500,000 customers in the state to, on or before August 15, 2026, convene a working group to accelerate distributed generation interconnection. The working group is tasked with discussing, if applicable, a cluster and batch study process for interconnection studies and a process for the public utility to accept a surety bond for interconnection upgrade work. The working group is also directed to discuss, and the public utility is required to implement, a process for third-party interconnection studies and upgrades.

     On or before December 15, 2026, the public utility is required to file a notice with the public utilities commission (commission) that includes a report on any recommendations of the working group. The public utility is directed to make appropriate filings to implement any recommendations of the working group that require commission approval on or before January 1, 2027.

     The act specifies that any interconnection upgrades and related utility construction work performed by a contracted third party must meet applicable safety, reliability, labor, and technical standards.

     The act amends the definition of 'dispatchable distributed generation' and requires the commission to evaluate the size of off-site renewable distributed generation or storage facility and installation limitations as part of a future renewable energy standard compliance plan.


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

     The act requires the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division), no later than July 2029, to propose a final rule (rule) establishing certain limits on the emission of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide (emission limits) from an electric generating unit (unit) that is owned or operated by an electric utility; is located in the state; and emitted 200 tons or more of nitrogen oxides, or sulfur dioxide, or both in calendar year 2024 (covered unit). The rule must require compliance with the emission limits as soon as practicable after December 31, 2034, and must not cover units that, before December 31, 2029, have ceased operations; burn natural gas, fuel oil, or both only; or have certain systems installed. A unit that operates after December 31, 2034, must install certain pollution controls and comply with the emission limits on or before December 31, 2034.

     An owner or operator of a unit is required to provide quarterly emission reports showing compliance with the rule to the division. On August 1, 2029, the air quality control commission in the department of public health and environment (AQCC) must submit to the general assembly a list of any units that are subject to a federal order. If there are any units subject to a federal order, the AQCC must also submit to the general assembly recommendations on whether to amend the requirements for units subject to federal order.

     An investor-owned utility or wholesale electric cooperative that is the owner or operator of a unit is required, beginning 150 days after the issuance of a federal order requiring the unit to remain operating after the unit was scheduled to retire (order) and continuing every 90 days until the order is no longer in effect, to file a report with the public utilities commission (commission) that contains certain information about the costs to operate the unit and the amount of electricity generated by the unit. The commission must make these reports publicly available. An investor-owned utility is also permitted to submit an application for a financing order to recover the costs of complying with an order.

     Any decision by the commission approving or modifying a portfolio in an electric resource plan of an investor-owned utility serving more than 500,000 customers must approve an amount of accredited capacity that allows the investor-owned utility to reliably achieve certain retirement and carbon dioxide emission reduction requirements. This requirement applies to an investor-owned utility serving more than 500,000 customers until the division determines that the investor-owned utility has achieved certain carbon dioxide emission reductions or until the investor-owned utility has retired all covered units, whichever is later.


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

     The act allows an applicant for licensure as a marriage and family therapist (LMFT) whose master's or doctoral degree program did not include an internship or practicum to also be registered as an LMFT candidate but requires these candidates to complete an additional 700 supervised clinical hours to become an LMFT.


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

     Under current law, courts may not assess or collect administrative fees, costs, and surcharges in juvenile delinquency cases involving a juvenile under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court when a juvenile has been charged with or adjudicated of certain crimes. The act adds that courts or the state is prohibited from assessing or collecting administrative fees, costs, and surcharges assessed against a juvenile or the juvenile's parents, guardian, or legal custodian when the juvenile was under 18 years old when the crime was committed.


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

     The act declares emergency medical services as an essential service in the state and an integral part of the state's health-care infrastructure.

      The act also declares that emergency medical service providers, whether responding on duty or as a volunteer and regardless of location, provide essential services when providing emergency ambulance services and nonemergency ambulance services.

     The act also updates certain definitions related to emergency medical services, including the addition of a definition of 'out-of-hospital services', which term is defined to mean the furnishing of necessary health-care goods and services outside of a hospital setting but does not include prehospital setting transports.

     The act clarifies that an off-duty emergency medical service provider is not obligated to respond to the scene of a medical emergency or provide emergency medical services.


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

The bill defines a "consumer-regulated electric utility" as an electric generation and supply system constructed for the sole purpose of serving new industrial, commercial, data center, or other nonresidential loads not previously served by a provider of retail electric service.

The bill states that a consumer-regulated electric utility is not a public utility and is not subject to regulation by the public utilities commission (commission), unless the consumer-regulated electric utility elects to interconnect with the electric grid in a service territory of a public utility that is subject to regulation by the commission.

A consumer-regulated electric utility may construct and operate a facility within an existing public right-of-way, subject to applicable permitting, restoration, and public safety requirements.

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

     The act requires an operator of a social media platform (operator) to ensure that its social media platform provides a streamlined process to allow law enforcement agencies to contact the social media platform. The process must be available to law enforcement agencies at all times and make available a staffed hotline for the purposes of:

• Receiving and responding to questions about search warrants;
• Acknowledging the receipt of a search warrant within 8 hours after receipt; and
• Providing status updates on search warrant compliance to a requesting law enforcement agency.

     With certain exceptions, an operator must comply with a search warrant within 24 hours if certain conditions apply. A court may reasonably extend this time if the court makes a written finding that the operator or social media platform has shown good cause for the extension and that an extension would not cause an adverse result. The act sets forth enforcement options for the attorney general and district attorneys regarding operators' compliance with search warrants.

     The act requires an operator to report to a social media platform user's (user's) local law enforcement agency within 24 hours if the operator's social media platform takes any one of certain described adverse actions against a user. A violation of the reporting requirement is a violation of the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act'.

     In current law, 'social media platform' is defined as an internet-based service, website, or application that satisfies certain criteria, including having more than 100,000 active users in Colorado. The act removes this criterion.

     The act makes conforming amendments as necessary to Senate Bill 26-011, as enacted in the 2026 regular legislative session, to have Senate Bill 26-011 conform with the provisions of the act.


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

     Current law defines illicit massage businesses as businesses that engage in massage but also engage in human-trafficking-related offenses. The act expands the definition of 'illicit massage business' to include a massage business that engages in crimes other than human-trafficking-related offenses.

     Current law states that if a local government adopts a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements or to prohibit unlawful activities relating to illicit massage businesses, the resolution or ordinance must not be more restrictive than the requirements set forth in state law. The act removes this limitation. The act clarifies that a local government may adopt a resolution or ordinance for the purposes of deterring illicit massage businesses; preventing human trafficking; protecting legitimate massage therapy businesses; and safeguarding public health, safety, and welfare. The act also allows a local government to impose local licensing requirements in addition to those requirements prescribed in state law.

     Current law allows a local government to impose an administrative fee not to exceed $150 for issuing or renewing a license. The act removes the $150 cap on such fees. If a local government imposes an administrative fee, the amount of the fee must be reasonably related to the costs of the local government in administering the resolution or ordinance and the licensing of massage facilities. The fee must not exceed $500 unless necessary to cover the local government's costs of administering the resolution or ordinance and licensing the massage facilities in its jurisdiction. The fee may be adjusted yearly for inflation or deflation. Current law exempts businesses that held licenses before August 10, 2022, from the administrative fees. The act removes this exemption.

     The act allows a local government to establish additional grounds to deny, revoke, or suspend a license. The act provides that, if a local government establishes business licensure requirements for massage facilities, the resolution or ordinance adopted by the local government must prohibit ownership of massage facilities by the types of persons that are prohibited from ownership in current law.

     Current law states that preventing the operation of illicit massage businesses is a matter of statewide concern, and licensing and regulation of massage facilities is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern. The act states that preventing the operation of illicit massage businesses is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern.

     The act requires a local government that adopts a resolution or ordinance related to the local regulation of massage facilities on or after August 13, 2026, to consider the impacts of the resolution or ordinance on legitimate massage therapy businesses and conduct outreach to massage therapists and massage therapy businesses in the local government's jurisdiction and statewide organizations of massage therapists.


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

     The act extends the implementation dates for capping family copayments for child care at 7% of family income, for paying child care providers in advance of the provision of services, and for utilizing grants and contracts to improve access to child care for underserved populations to August 1, 2028.

     The act modifies existing reporting requirements to include the total amount of child care assistance program (CCCAP) allocation that is spent by the department and each county on administrative expenses, county indirect expenses, program implementation costs, and direct service expenses.


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

     The act requires each local law enforcement agency, on or before September 1, 2026, to register for the United States bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives national electronic tracing system and transmit to the electronic tracing system information about each firearm it recovers or confiscates within 90 days after recovery or confiscation of a firearm, subject to certain exceptions.


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

     The act authorizes a local government with permitting authority over land uses (local government) to designate one or more areas within the jurisdiction of the local government as renewable energy reinvestment areas for the siting of renewable energy and energy storage system projects (eligible projects). In designating an area as a renewable energy reinvestment area, the local government must hold at least one public hearing and hold at least one public hearing for any construction permit applications required for a proposed eligible project in the renewable energy reinvestment area or must designate the area as part of an urban renewal plan or county revitalization plan and ensure that any outreach to and engagement of disproportionately impacted communities is consistent with statutory requirements. A local government cannot designate an eligible site within tribal lands without first consulting with the tribe with jurisdiction over the lands.

     If an eligible project is sited in a renewable energy reinvestment area, an urban renewal authority or county revitalization authority (authority) may distribute tax increment revenue to finance or reimburse costs associated with the eligible project if the renewable energy reinvestment area is included in the authority's urban renewal plan or county revitalization plan.

     In response to a request made by a local government or an eligible project developer for information regarding a designated renewable energy reinvestment area, a utility is required to acknowledge the request and provide the requestor readily available information within 30 days after the request is made.

     The Colorado energy office is required to consolidate, publish on its website, and periodically update technical and informational resources concerning the process for siting, permitting, and developing eligible projects in renewable energy reinvestment areas.


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

     The act requires certain transit agencies that have at least one million unlinked passenger trips in the most recent year, and that are not the Colorado department of transportation or a regional transportation authority that provides funding for but does not directly provide transit services (covered transit agencies), to take specific actions to increase transit access.

     On and after June 30, 2027, a covered transit agency shall ensure that clear, up-to-date transit system maps are displayed at all rail stations, bus stations, and bus rapid transit stops and that information on fare rates and structures and eligibility requirements and application instructions for fare discount programs is available online and displayed in all transit vehicles and at all rail stations, bus stations, and transit stops with a covered shelter. A covered transit agency may meet these requirements by displaying summary information and a link or quick response (QR) code to a website with detailed information. A covered transit agency is not required to replace its fixed signage, displays, or maps solely to comply with these new requirements and, instead, is only required to update the required information upon the regularly scheduled replacement of any signage, displays, or maps.

     On and after June 30, 2027, a covered transit agency shall ensure that all publicly available information that it disseminates related to accessing its transit services, including fare structures, transit maps, service schedules, and the rights and responsibilities of transit riders, is translated into languages that are widely spoken in any county in which the covered transit agency operates or that are required by a covered transit agency's existing language access plan. A covered transit agency may use an existing language access plan to satisfy these language access requirements.

     Covered transit agencies are required to annually report their progress on the action areas required by the act, and other required information, to the governor and a joint meeting of the transportation committees of the general assembly beginning on or before January 31, 2028, and on or before each January 31 thereafter. Covered transit agencies must post this annual report on a publicly accessible website. Covered transit agencies are only required to report information that they already collect and may satisfy any of the information required to be reported by referencing or including a link to a publicly accessible official report that includes the required information.


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

     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.)

     The bill prohibits a transportation network company (TNC) from retaining more than 20% of a consumer fare paid for a driver's completion of a transportation task through the TNC's digital platform. 'Consumer fare' is defined in the bill as the amount a consumer pays for a transportation task, excluding tips, and pass-throughs such as payments for tolls, taxes, airport fees, and payments for a certified driver support organization . The amount that a TNC excludes from a consumer fare payment for a certified driver support organization must not exceed the per-task amount determined by rule and must be remitted to the certified driver support organization. Pass-throughs must be paid to the driver. A TNC is also not allowed to impose a fee on a TNC driver unless the amount of the fee plus the amount that the TNC retains from a consumer fare does not exceed 20% of the consumer fare.

      The bill adds disclosures regarding airport fees, pass-throughs, taxes, and payments for a driver support organization to be added to periodic disclosures TNCs make to the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment and changes the frequency of the disclosures from semi-annual reporting to annual reporting.

      Finally, the bill applies the same process to complaints against TNCs concerning violations of disclosure and deactivation policy requirements as the process that is applied to wage complaints.

(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 bill prohibits local and state law enforcement officers from concealing their identity while interacting with the public, with certain exceptions.

The bill clarifies state criminal jurisdiction to cover criminal conduct committed by a federal law enforcement officer in the state, even if the officer was acting under color of federal authority. Federal criminal immunity or defense from prosecution does not prohibit state criminal prosecution of a federal law enforcement officer.

The bill requires the peace officer standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) to deny certification to an individual who has previously been employed or who is currently employed by the United States immigration and customs enforcement agency or the United States customs and border protection agency.

The bill requires the P.O.S.T. board to prescribe a training for all current and future peace officers regarding immigration law, a peace officer's duty to intervene, excessive force policies, and a peace officer's jurisdictional limit.

A peace officer is required to intervene to prevent a federal law enforcement officer from using excessive force.

The bill expands the conduct that can constitute the crime of impersonating a peace officer to include a person performing a law enforcement act while concealing the person's identity.

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

     The act exempts Colorado courts' e-filing system from the requirement that users certify that they will not disclose personal identifying information obtained from the system for federal immigration enforcement.

     The act authorizes a public health agency to inspect or examine a facility that houses or detains individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings.

     Under current law, the department of public health and environment is authorized to inspect facilities that house or detain individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings. The act expands the inspection authority, including the frequency of inspections and things that are subject to inspection. A facility that refuses to allow the inspection is subject to a civil penalty. The department of public health and environment is authorized to set fees for inspections and deposit the money from the fees in the immigration facility inspection and detention cash fund, which is created in the state treasury.

     The act authorizes the department of public health and environment to require facilities that house or detain individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings to comply with requirements, including health and safety standards and reporting requirements. A facility that fails to comply is subject to a civil penalty. The act requires the department of public health and environment to submit an annual report to the attorney general concerning facilities' compliance with these new requirements and make the report publicly available on its website.

     The act requires the P.O.S.T. board to establish training standards related to peace officer compliance with current laws concerning civil immigration detainers. P.O.S.T.-certified peace officers must complete the training before December 31, 2027.

     The act requires the attorney general to develop and make publicly available a policy regarding current laws concerning the protection of personal identifying information.

     The act appropriates $107,283 to the department of public health and environment from the immigration facility inspection and detention cash fund.


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

The bill requires that an investor-owned electric utility receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity (certificate) from the public utilities commission and obtain all necessary local government land use approvals and permits prior to initiating any condemnation proceedings related to a high-voltage transmission infrastructure project requiring the certificate.

The bill does not change existing application and review processes related to the development of transmission projects that have been established by the public utilities commission or a relevant local government.

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

The bill requires a public utility to provide, at least 90 days before beginning the construction or extension of a new facility, line, plant, or system, notice by certified mail to each owner of private real property that will be used as a result of the construction or extension and to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the real property.

The bill requires a public utility to host at least one in-person public meeting at least 30 days after, but no later than 60 days after, providing notice.

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

     Under current law, if a person engages in conduct that creates a grave risk to human life with an extreme indifference to the value of human life and causes the death of another person, the person commits first degree murder. The bill requires that the person:

• Cause the death of more than one person;
• Cause the death of one person and cause serious bodily injury to 2 or more persons by means of a deadly weapon;
• Cause the death of a child who is under 12 years old; or
• Cause the death of a peace officer, emergency medical service provider, emergency medical care provider, or firefighter engaged in the performance of their duties.

     The bill creates a new charge of murder in the second degree if a person engages in conduct that creates a grave risk to human life with an extreme indifference to the value of human life and causes the death of only one other person.

      The bill expands the conduct by which a person can commit criminally negligent homicide to include proximately causing the death of another person while operating or driving a motor vehicle with criminal negligence.

     The bill creates the offense of aggravated vehicular homicide by operating a motor vehicle in a reckless manner or while under the influence of or impaired by alcohol or other drugs and causing the death of another person when the person also:

• Has been convicted twice of driving under the influence or driving while ability impaired;
• Has been convicted of vehicular homicide or vehicular assault;
• Commits the offense while eluding or attempting to elude law enforcement;
• Commits the offense while in flight from the commission of another felony offense, not including a traffic offense; or
• Commits the offense while driving at a high rate of speed, creating an imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person.

      The bill creates the new offense of negligent vehicular homicide if a person drives a motor vehicle with criminal negligence and causes the death of another person. Negligent vehicular homicide is a class 5 felony.

(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 bill requires the department of human services to include in the admission criteria for admitting a person to a mental health residential facility a prohibition on admitting a person who is required to register the person's residence in accordance with the "Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act" to a mental health residential facility that is located within 1,000 feet of a school.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act adjusts several state tax expenditures as follows:

• Requires the state treasurer to transfer $45.6 million from the general fund to the state highway fund on July 1, 2026, and $96.4 million on each July 1 from July 1, 2027, through July 1, 2031;
• Prohibits certain local use tax ordinances, resolutions, or proposals from applying to construction and building materials used by a common rail carrier pursuant to a contract with the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a special district allowing the contracting government to use the carrier's property or tracks for the provision of public passenger rail service;
• For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2027, requires a taxpayer to add to the taxpayer's federal taxable income the excess of any gain excluded from federal gross income pursuant to section 1400Z-2 (a)(1)(A) of the internal revenue code over the gain invested by the taxpayer in a Colorado-qualified opportunity fund in a manner that qualifies for exclusion from federal gross income pursuant to the same section of the internal revenue code;
• For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, allows a combined group to elect to make a water's-edge filing election and describes what should be taken into account in such a filing;
• For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2027, requires a corporation to add to the corporation's federal taxable income the excess of any gain excluded from federal gross income pursuant to section 1400Z-2 (a)(1)(A) of the internal revenue code over the amount of that gain invested in a Colorado qualified opportunity fund and the amount of any gain excluded from federal gross income as a result of an election made pursuant to section 1400Z-2(c) of the internal revenue code for amounts invested in a qualified opportunity fund that is not a Colorado qualified opportunity fund; allows a corporation to subtract from federal taxable income the amount of gain included in federal gross income pursuant to section 1400Z-2(b) of the internal revenue code to the extent that the gain was added to federal taxable income pursuant to the opportunity fund add-backs for a prior tax year; changes the definition of federal taxable income for a C corporation that is in a combined group; repeals the state corporate income tax deduction for wages or salaries paid that are not allowed to be deducted at the federal level pursuant to section 280C of the internal revenue code; and eliminates the ability of corporations to deduct from their income tax liability any amount included in federal taxable income pursuant to sections 951 (a) or 951A (a) of the internal revenue code with respect to a controlled foreign corporation incorporated in a foreign jurisdiction for the purpose of tax avoidance;
• Eliminates a potential reduction in the amount available for the heat pump technology and thermal energy network tax credit, for years following 2025 based on an economic forecast by the office of state planning and budgeting or legislative council staff;
• Increases the innovative motor vehicle tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 for certain vehicles sold or leased during the 2027 income tax year, and from $500 to $1,000 for certain vehicles sold or leased during the 2028 income tax year, and provides that certain vehicles with an manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) below $40,000 that are sold or leased on or after January 1, 2027, but before January 1, 2029, are eligible for the additional tax credit.
• Clarifies that a potential 50% reduction in the innovative motor vehicle tax credit and the innovative trucks tax credit, triggered by certain state revenue forecasts, applies to the income tax year;
• For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, modifies the income tax credit for wildfire hazard mitigation expenses by adding a definition of 'infestation mitigation measures' that includes the thinning of woody vegetation that is at risk of mountain pine beetle or spruce beetle infestation or that has been killed by mountain pine beetles or spruce beetles, if such activities meet or exceed any state forest service standards or any other applicable state rules, and modifies the amount of the credit available to be fully refundable without being carried forward;
• For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, expands the income tax credit for the purchase of small food business recovery grant program equipment to be available for additional food distributors and producers, adjusts the amount of the tax credit that may be offered and claimed for the purchase of small food business recovery grant program equipment or participation in the supplemental food assistance benefit program, requires the department of agriculture to approve or disapprove an application for a credit within a reasonable time, which shall not exceed 150 days after the filing of the application, caps the amount of credits issued at $10 million for calendar years commencing before January 1, 2027, $5 million for the calendar year commencing on January 1, 2027, and a total of $5 million for calendar years commencing on or after January 1, 2028, and allows a purchaser that is not subject to income tax to be eligible for the credit.
• Extends the electric-powered lawn equipment tax credit until January 1, 2030, and allows a qualified retailer to elect advance payments of the credit;
• For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, allows an entity not subject to income tax to be eligible for an income tax credit for developing a qualified industrial facility, allows a taxpayer to claim the credit for installing equipment used for utilization of biomethane, requires the Colorado energy office (CEO) to review applications for the credit within 120, rather than 90, days, and for any semi-annual application period commencing on or after July 1, 2026, allows the CEO to adjust the limits on the aggregate amount of tax credits available to be reserved.
• Changes the reservation process for a tax credit made in connection with a geothermal energy project beginning on July 1, 2026;
• Provides that the department may disqualify a retailer of electric bicycles from the electric bicycle tax credit if the retailer requested advance payment of the credit or claimed a credit for a transaction that does not qualify for the credit, the retailer provided false information to the department of revenue or CEO, the retailer did not comply with the statutory requirements for the credit, or the retailer does not hold a sales tax license;
• Allows the executive director of the department of revenue to share taxpayer information with the CEO relating to a claim for an income tax credit for the retail sale of a qualified electric bicycle or the sale of a heat pump, which must remain confidential;
• Repeals the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility tax credit, effective January 1, 2027;
• Establishes the sustainable aviation fuel purchase income tax credit for income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before December 31, 2032, where the amount of the credit is initially $1.50, increased by $.01 for each whole percentage of carbon intensity reduction in excess of 50%, but no greater than 100%, per gallon of SAF purchased for use in the state by the taxpayer, and the CEO may adjust that amount annually;
• Beginning January 1, 2028, the CEO may allow an additional credit of 50 cents for each gallon of SAF produced in the state that a qualified taxpayer purchased for use in the state during the income tax year, except as provided by the cap and reservation system, the total amount of credits issued cannot exceed $3 million per tax year, taxpayers must apply to the CEO for a tax credit certificate and CEO verifies eligibility and reports approved credits to the department of revenue, and the credit is refundable but may not be carried forward.
• For tax periods commencing on or after July 1, 2027, exempts from tax the storage, use, or consumption of construction and building materials by or on behalf of a common carrier by rail operating in interstate or foreign commerce when the storage, use, or consumption of the construction and building materials is pursuant to a contract with the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a special district that allows the contracting government to use the railroad's property or tracks for public passenger rail service;
• Extends the expiring sales and use tax exemption for wood from salvaged trees killed or infested in Colorado by mountain pine beetles or spruce beetles prior to the calendar year commencing on January 1, 2031;
• Repeals the sales and use tax exemption for property used in space flight, effective January 1, 2027, and reinstates the exemption beginning January 1, 2030;
• Change from 2% to 1.5% the allowance to cover losses in transit and in unloading gasoline or special fuel and repeals the 0.5% allowance for the costs of collecting the gasoline or special fuel excise tax and for uncollectible bad debts for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027;
• Repeals the 3% deduction for collecting and remitting the tax on the inventory of cigarette wholesalers for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027;
• Repeals the 0.4% discount on the face value of tax stamps affixed to packages containing cigarettes for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027;
• Repeals the 1.6% discount for expenses in the collection and remittance of the tax on the sale, use, consumption, handling, and distribution of tobacco for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027;
• Repeals the 1.1% discount for expenses in the collection and remittance of the nicotine product distributors tax for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027;
• Allows an income tax credit to a taxpayer who places a new renewable energy investment in service on or after January 1, 2027, and provides a 14-year carryover of any amount of the credit not used to offset the income taxes otherwise due; except that, beginning in the tax year commencing on January 1, 2027, a taxpayer is not allowed a credit with respect to a qualified investment in a commercial truck, truck tractor, tractor, or semitrailer with a gross vehicle rating of at least 54,000 pounds that is designated as Class A personal property pursuant to statute;
• Provides that on or after January 1, 2027, a taxpayer with more than 50 business facility employees during an income tax year is ineligible for the new enterprise zone business employee tax credit in that same income tax year;
• Requires, beginning January 1, 2027, a taxpayer to make at least $150,000 in expenditures in research and experimental activities to be eligible for the enterprise zone research and experimental activities tax credit;
• Modifies the enterprise zone vacant building rehabilitation income tax credit so that the credit only applies to buildings that have been unoccupied for any 135 calendar days within the 180 calendar days preceding when the rehabilitation is placed in service and is available in an amount equal to 25% of the aggregate qualified expenditures per building or $200,000 per building, whichever is less;
• Beginning on January 1, 2028, provides that a resident individual is allowed an earned income tax credit that equals the applicable percentage, as set forth in statute, of the amount the individual would be have been allowed under the internal revenue code;
• Removes Liechtenstein as a jurisdiction recognized as a tax shelter by the state and requires the department of revenue to engage a contractor to study whether the countries currently listed as tax shelters should remain designated as tax shelters;
• Requires the state treasurer to transfer all money in the commercial vehicle enterprise tax fund to the Colorado economic development fund on July 1, 2027;
• Requires the state treasurer to transfer the remainder of the penalty assessed for certain traffic violations that is not transferred to local jurisdictions to the general fund on or after July 1, 2027;
• Extends the residential energy storage system income tax credit to December 31, 2029; and
• Provides that the film festival incentive tax credit begins on January 1, 2026, instead of January 1, 2027, and ends on December 31, 2035, instead of December 31, 2036.

     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act makes the following appropriation adjustments to the department of health care policy and financing:

• $52,560 decrease from the general fund and a $52,560 increase from cash funds for medical and long-term care services for Medicaid eligible individuals;
• $21,024 increase from the primary care fund for the primary care fund program; and
• $332 decrease from the general fund and a $332 increase from the children's basic health plan trust fund for children's basic health plan medical and dental costs.

     $38,432 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for tax administration system support and personal services.

     $25,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs.

     $996,276 is appropriated from the preschool programs cash fund to the department of early childhood for support of the universal preschool program.

     $35,741 is appropriated from various cash funds to the department of public health and environment for tobacco education, cancer and cardiovascular disease grants, and transfers to the general fund.

     $333 is appropriated from the general fund exempt account to the department of public health and environment for immunization operating expenses.

     The act takes effect upon passage; except that the appropriation adjustments to the department of health care policy and financing take effect only if the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year becomes law, and certain appropriation decreases are subject to the available amounts in the annual general appropriation act.


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

     The act amends the statutory requirements for the ballot information booklet (booklet) to conform with modern drafting practices and to remove antiquated and redundant language from the booklet's required text. The act also repeals obsolete provisions regarding transfers to and from the ballot information publication and distribution revolving fund in state fiscal year 2007-08 through state fiscal year 2010-11.


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

     The bill provides that, on or after December 31, 2027, subject to an administrative approval process, a subject jurisdiction shall approve the a lot split of an original lot into 2 new lots if the following conditions are met:

• The area of the original lot is 2,000 square feet or greater before the split;
• The lot split does not create a new lot that is smaller than 1,200 square feet in area;
• If the 2 new lots are not equal in area, the area of the smaller of the 2 new lots is equal to or greater than 40% 30% of the area of the original lot;
• The original lot is not subject to any previously recorded was never subject to another lot split;
• Residential use is allowed on the original lot;
• It is feasible for both of the new lots to be accessed; for utility easements to serve both new lots; and for both new lots to meet land survey plat and monument records requirements;
• The original lot is not an exempt lot; and
• The original lot is not located within a common interest community that was created on or before December 31, 2027.

      A subject jurisdiction may establish procedures to review and accept information related to a proposed lot split, including lot information related to:

• Property ownership;
• Physical characteristics of the lot, including geology and soils;
• Proposed new lot lines and new lot areas;
• Adequacy of water supply, sewer service, and drainage systems to serve the new lots;
• Adequacy of electric power and natural gas service to serve the new lots;
• Dedication for schools, parks, streets, and other public areas, or payment of money in lieu of such dedication; and
• Guarantees of necessary public improvements.

      A subject jurisdiction:

• Shall not apply a setback standard that requires a setback from the lot line adjoining 2 new lots created through a lot split if no structure existed on the original lot immediately preceding the lot split; and
• May apply a setback standard that requires a setback from the lot line adjoining 2 new lots created through a lot split if a structure existed on the original lot immediately preceding the lot split and if the setback is equal to or less than 5 feet.

     If an original lot or any structure built on the original lot is subject to an evidence of debt constituting a residential mortgage loan lien , then prior to approving the split of an original a lot split , a subject jurisdiction shall verify that the holder of the evidence of debt constituting a residential mortgage loan (holder) lienholder has received notice of the proposed lot split and has consented to the lot split in writing. The holder lienholder may condition consent to the lot split on the satisfaction of specified conditions.

     The written consent of the holder must be executed in a form that is eligible for recording in the real property records of the county in which the original lot is located and must include:

• The notarized signature of the holder lienholder or the agent of the holder lienholder ;
• The name of the record owner or ground lessee of the original lot;
• The legal description of the original lot; and
• The identities of all parties with an interest in the original lot, as reflected in the real property records. records, including any easements and encumbrances.

     The written consent of the holder lienholder must be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the original lot is located. If the holder lienholder does not provide written consent to the lot split, the subject jurisdiction shall not approve the lot split. A lot split that is approved before the written consent of the lienholder has been obtained and recorded is void.

(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.)

     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 requires the attorney general to submit to the peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) a proposal by December 31, 2030, to update current basic, reserve, and refresher law enforcement training academy programs and improve the peace officer performance of future academy graduates.

     The act changes the makeup of the P.O.S.T. board by reducing the number of law enforcement head officials, reducing the number of non-law-enforcement persons, increasing the number of line officers, and adding representatives from law enforcement training academies and reserve officers. A person who has had their P.O.S.T. certification revoked is not eligible to serve on the P.O.S.T. board.

     The P.O.S.T. board is prohibited from approving skill instructors whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked for training academies and from approving training academies with an instructor whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked after September 1, 2026.

     The act requires that a person be at least 21 years old in order to be a certified peace officer.

     The act makes a peace officer academy full-time instructor eligible to attend P.O.S.T. certification classes funded with grant money, but the instructor is not eligible to receive individual grant funding from the P.O.S.T. board.


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

     Current law requires a local government or a tribal government desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund to have filed with the division of housing of the department of local affairs (division) a commitment specifying how, within a 3-year cycle, affordable housing units within the local or tribal government's territorial boundaries will be increased by 3% each year over the baseline number of affordable housing units (baseline number). The baseline number resets every 3 years for the next cycle. To be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund, a local or tribal government is required to file a commitment with the division and achieve the 3% increase over the baseline number each year during the 3-year cycle.

     The act changes the requirements for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and each 3-year cycle thereafter. A local government desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund is no longer required to increase affordable housing units by 3% above the baseline each year, but is instead required to meet the target increase number of affordable housing units (target increase number). The target increase number equals the average annual number of permits for new housing units or functional equivalents of permits for new housing units that have been issued over the past 3 years within the jurisdiction of the local government, multiplied by the number of years of the upcoming 3-year cycle to which the local government is committing, multiplied by:

• 0.10 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly lower than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division;
• 0.15 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is close to the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division; or
• 0.20 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly higher than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division.

     The act requires the division to establish specific numerical ranges for the job growth rate thresholds.

     The act permits a local government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to achieve the 3% annual increase in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2024, to file a good faith effort waiver with the division. To be eligible, the local government must have achieved at least 65% of the targeted annual increase. The division may, in its discretion, grant a good faith effort waiver to a local government that filed for a waiver on or after June 15, 2026, but before November 1, 2026, and complied with other requirements of the act.

     The act permits a government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to meet the target increase number in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, to file an adjustment waiver with the division. The adjustment waiver must be supported by verifiable data and propose a revised annual increase of at least one unit per year. The division may, in its discretion, grant an adjustment waiver to a government that filed for a waiver and complied with other requirements of the act.

     To determine whether a local government has achieved the target increase number for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and for each 3-year cycle thereafter, an affordable housing unit that satisfies the following criteria counts for one affordable housing unit plus the following corresponding additional unit amount:

• Unless local governments have a written agreement otherwise, a unit developed with money from multiple local governments may be counted by each local government as a percentage of one unit proportional to the percentage of funding it provided;
• A unit that is developed on land donated by the local government qualifies for an additional 0.10 of a unit. The 0.10 of a unit qualifies for the local government that donated the land.
• An affordable housing unit that is developed with money provided by multiple local governments qualifies for an additional 0.10 of a unit for each local government that provided money;
• A unit that is developed to be for-sale housing and that meets certain affordability requirements qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit; and
• A unit that is restricted to be rented or sold to a household with an annual income of at or below 40% of the area median income, including a supportive housing unit, qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit.

     If affordable housing is developed and qualifies for a property tax exemption, thereby reducing property tax revenue to the county in which the affordable housing is located, and the county did not provide any money to develop the affordable housing, the division may, in its discretion, allow each such affordable housing unit to count as up to 1.15 affordable housing units for the county at the time of vertical construction.

     Beginning in 2027, to be eligible for direct funding, or for affordable housing projects within a tribal government's territorial boundaries to be eligible for funding, tribal governments are required to implement a system to expedite the development approval process for affordable housing projects and required to submit evidence of such satisfaction to the division.


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

     The act defines school zones as all roadways within at least 1,000 feet of a school property boundary, except state highways unless they are designated as part of a school zone with the written approval of the Colorado department of transportation, and including school zones established before August 12, 2026, that are 200 feet or more from a school property boundary. A school zone must have appropriate signs posted indicating it is a school zone and that the penalties and surcharges within the school zone will be doubled.

     The act allows a local government that has jurisdiction over a school zone to reduce the size of a school zone after first holding a public hearing, but the act does not allow a school zone to be reduced to less than 200 feet from a school property boundary. Additionally, the act does not prohibit local governments from expanding school zones to beyond 1,000 feet from a school property boundary.

     The act limits requirements the state, a county, a city and county, or a municipality must complete regarding placing and using an automated vehicle identification system along a safe route to school.

     The act allows a local government to designate a portion of a roadway immediately adjacent to a school property boundary as a school street and requires the local government to post signs indicating it is a school street if the local government has jurisdiction to do so. The local government may close a school street to traffic. If there is traffic on the school street, the maximum speed limit is 10 miles per hour and vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, bicyclists, or micromobility users. The local government may suspend additional traffic provisions on the school street that endanger pedestrians, bicyclists, or micromobility users.


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

     Under current law, the title board must set a ballot title for an initiative petition that is brief, does not conflict with another title for an initiative petition filed for the same election, and is in the form of a question that may be answered 'yes/for' or 'no/against' and that unambiguously states the principle of the provision sought to be added, amended, or repealed by the initiative. The act adds a requirement that the title board write a ballot title using accessible language, which means plain language that is understood by the widest possible audience. In determining whether a ballot title is written using accessible language, the title board may consider whether the title:

• Avoids using legal, technical, or specialized terminology when possible;
• Clearly identifies the principal change in law or policy proposed by the proposed statutory or constitutional amendment;
• Avoids unnecessary qualifiers, double negatives, and overly complex phrasing;
• Organizes clauses so that the effect of a 'yes/for' or 'no/against' vote is readily understood; and
• Presents necessary information within the ballot title in a logical and readable order.

     In addition, current law requires that specific language appear in the ballot title for certain initiatives that increase or reduce tax revenue. For initiatives that reduce state tax revenue or local district property tax revenue through a tax change, this required language must appear at the beginning of the ballot title. For initiatives that increase tax revenue for any district through a tax change, this required language must appear directly after language required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. The act modifies these statutory provisions so that the required ballot title language must only be substantially similar to the specific statutory language and may appear anywhere in the ballot title.

     The act applies to initiative petitions submitted to the secretary of state for title setting on or after the effective date of the act.


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

     The bill makes street takeovers, coordinated street takeovers, racing and drag racing, and stunt driving (prohibited motor vehicle activities) illegal on highways and roadways. More specifically, the bill states that a person shall not:

• Intentionally engage in a prohibited motor vehicle activity;
• Coordinate or facilitate an event the person should reasonably know is a street takeover, a race or drag race, or stunt driving;
• Ride as a passenger in a motor vehicle the person should reasonably know is participating in a street takeover, a race or drag race, or stunt driving;
• Intentionally cause the movement of traffic to slow, stop, or be impeded in any way because of a street takeover, a race or drag race, or stunt driving;
• Drive a motor vehicle to carry fuel for a motor vehicle the person should reasonably know is involved in a street takeover, a race or drag race, or stunt driving; or
• Knowingly be a spectator to a race, drag race, or street takeover prohibited by the bill.

     The bill imposes penalties for a person that engages in a prohibited motor vehicle activity. The bill also imposes penalties for a person that engages in a prohibited motor vehicle activity and then eludes or attempts to elude a peace officer. Lastly, the bill states when and how a peace officer may, or a presiding court may issue an order to, impound, immobilize, or seize a motor vehicle involved in a prohibited motor vehicle activity.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     Current law allows the governing body of a local licensing authority to create an entertainment district for the purpose of the service and consumption of alcohol beverages. The bill amends the laws governing entertainment districts by:

• Specifying that an entertainment district may exist only within a single municipality or city and county or the unincorporated portion of a single county;
• Removing the requirement that an entertainment district be no larger than 100 acres;
• Reducing the minimum square footage that licensed premises are required to contain from 20,000 square feet of premises to 5,000 square feet;
• Allowing a local licensing authority to establish the days and hours of operation for the entertainment district and licensees within the entertainment district; and
• Specifying that only licensed premises authorized to attach to a common consumption area may sell or serve alcohol beverages for consumption within the common consumption area.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The bill requires the Colorado energy office (office) to serve as the state's permitting coordinator for nuclear energy projects. The office is required to:

• Coordinate with developers of nuclear energy projects (developers), stakeholders, and state and local permitting agencies throughout the permitting process and assist developers in navigating local, state, and federal regulations;
• Build administrative and coordination capacity to prepare for federal funding opportunities; and
• On or before December 1, 2027, recommend to the public utilities commission (commission) factors for the commission to consider when approving the acquisition of a nuclear energy project or other clean firm resources and cost-recovery mechanisms for the development of nuclear energy projects.

     The bill requires an investor-owned electric utility with more than 500,000 customers to:

• On or before August 1, 2027, solicit requests for information from communities and local governments interested in hosting a nuclear energy project and from potential development partners; and
• Identify, in collaboration with other public utilities, local governments, and developers, potential sites for a nuclear energy project.

     The bill states that an investor-owned electric utility may submit to the commission, and the commission is required to approve, an application to expend and recover up to $20 million to finance studies regarding potential sites, facility designs, and other activities related to the development of nuclear energy projects in the state. The bill requires the commission to issue an approval or denial of a petition from an investor-owned electric utility regarding a cost-recovery mechanism for a nuclear energy project no later than 6 months after receiving the petition.

     The bill establishes a statewide goal of identifying at least one nuclear energy project site by 2035 and beginning construction of at least one nuclear energy project by 2040.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act appropriates the following amounts for the 2026-27 state fiscal year from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects:

• Continuation of the satellite monitoring system, $380,000 (section 1 of the act);
• Continuation of the floodplain map modernization program, $500,000 (section 2);
• Continuation of the weather modification permitting program, $500,000 (section 3);
• Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet project, $200,000 (section 5);
• Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $2,500,000 (section 6);
• Continuation of Colorado decision support system operation and maintenance, $750,000 (section 7);
• Support for water plan agency actions, $1,350,000 (section 9);
• Continuation of the Colorado watershed restoration and flood mitigation projects, $5,000,000 (section 10); and
• Continuation of the upper Colorado river commission planning, $750,000 (section 11).

     Section 4 directs the state treasurer to transfer up to $6,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the CWCB litigation fund on or before July 1, 2026.

     Section 8 restores the fish and wildlife resources fund balance by transferring $2,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the fish and wildlife resources fund.

     Section 12 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $151,500,000 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the city of Fort Collins to support the Halligan water supply project.

     Section 13 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $20,166,670 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the Lower Latham Reservoir Company for the Jurgens reservoir construction project.

     Section 14 appropriates $37,700,000 from the water plan implementation cash fund to the CWCB to award grants that will help implement the state water plan.

     Section 15 clarifies that the money that is currently in the turf replacement fund is appropriated for designated purposes to the CWCB until June 30, 2028. Any money remaining in the turf replacement fund on July 1, 2028, is transferred to the CWCB construction fund.

     Section 16 makes technical corrections so that money appropriated in 2025 is available to the department of natural resources executive director's office for the purpose of paying for a study by the Colorado water center at Colorado state university.

     Under current law, the CWCB may authorize loans up to $10 million from the CWCB construction fund or severance tax perpetual base fund without legislative authorization. The act increases that amount to $30 million (section 17).


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

     Current law requires 3.5% of the gross retail marijuana sales tax revenue to be distributed to local governments. The act eliminates the distribution to local governments and allocates the gross retail marijuana sales tax revenue as follows, on and after July 1, 2026:

• 73.17% to the marijuana tax cash fund (fund);
• 11.33% to the state public school fund;
• 1.5% to the marijuana cash fund; and
• 14% to the general fund.

     The act also directs the state treasurer to transfer from the fund to the state public school fund on June 30, 2027, and on each June 30 thereafter, an amount equal to the difference between the balance of the fund and:

• 15% of the amount that the general assembly appropriated from the fund in that fiscal year; and
• Any amount of the fund designated to be part of the emergency reserve for that fiscal year.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     The act allows a board of county commissioners and the governing body of a municipality to sell and dispose of property owned by the county or municipality, as applicable, to provide for affordable housing and allows a municipality to enter into a long-term rental or lease agreement for the development of affordable housing.

     The act allows for the approval of a mutijurisdictional housing authority at a biennial local election instead of only during a general election or an election held on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year. The ballot question about establishing the authority may be combined with a question about a tax, impact fee, multiple-fiscal year debt, or other financial obligation.

     The act allows a board of county commissioners to use ad valorem tax revenue for housing authorities, housing programs, and workforce housing.

     The act entitles an entity subject to income tax to which a middle-income housing tax credit is transferred by a governmental entity or quasi-governmental entity to claim the credit without owning an interest in a qualified project.

     The sale and use of construction materials by contractors is exempt from taxation if the materials are used by the state in its governmental capacity only. The act provides that 'governmental capacity' includes the construction of workforce housing projects undertaken by counties.


(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.)

     Senate Bill 25-163, concerning the establishment of battery stewardship programs for the disposal of certain batteries, created the 'Battery Stewardship Act', which requires the establishment of battery stewardship organizations and the submittal of battery stewardship plans to the executive director of the department of public health and environment (executive director) for the collection, transportation, processing, and recycling of certain batteries.

     The act expands the scope of the 'Battery Stewardship Act' to cover the end-of-life management of propulsion batteries, which are batteries that are primarily used to supply power to an electric or hybrid vehicle, and establishes requirements concerning propulsion batteries that differ from the requirements for the batteries currently contemplated by the 'Battery Stewardship Act'.

     On or before July 1, 2027, a person selling, offering for sale, or distributing propulsion batteries or vehicles containing a propulsion battery in or into the state (propulsion battery provider) is required to register with the department of public health and environment (department).

     On or before January 2, 2029, a propulsion battery provider or group of propulsion battery providers must submit to the executive director an education and outreach plan that contains certain information about the management of propulsion batteries. On and after July 1, 2029, the act prohibits a propulsion battery provider from selling, making available for sale, or distributing a propulsion battery in or into the state unless the propulsion battery provider has submitted an education and outreach plan that meets the requirements of the act. The act also requires a propulsion battery provider to develop and maintain at least one website that, among other things, includes the information in the propulsion battery provider's education and outreach plan.

     The act requires propulsion battery providers to collect certain unwanted propulsion batteries and ensure the responsible management of the unwanted propulsion batteries collected. In addition, the act requires a propulsion battery provider to, on and after July 1, 2029, label a propulsion battery and specifies the information that must be included on the label. On or before June 1, 2030, and on or before each June 1 thereafter, a propulsion battery provider is directed to submit an annual report to the executive director covering the preceding calendar year of the responsible management of the propulsion batteries collected by the propulsion battery provider.

     A propulsion battery provider is required to pay a program initiation fee to the department. The amount of the program initiation fee for each propulsion battery provider is based on each propulsion battery provider's percentage of all propulsion battery vehicles registered in the state. On or before July 1, 2030, and on or before each July 1 thereafter, a propulsion battery provider is also required to pay an annual fee to cover the department's cost of implementing, administering, and enforcing the act. The solid and hazardous waste commission is directed to establish the annual fee amount by rule on or before July 1, 2029.

     The act specifies how the department is required to implement, administer, and enforce the act. For example, the department is required to assess annual reports submitted by propulsion battery providers, compile a list of entities registered with the department, provide a digital registration form that an entity can use to register, and conduct an email survey with registered entities to request feedback on the functioning of the propulsion battery management program.

     The act also sets forth requirements for persons that remanufacture a propulsion battery; persons that use a propulsion battery for a different use than the use for which the propulsion battery was originally designed; commercial entities that take possession of a propulsion battery for the purpose of selling, dispositioning, repairing, reusing, or recycling the propulsion battery; and entities that conduct propulsion battery recycling.

     On and after July 1, 2029, the disposal of propulsion batteries at a solid waste disposal site and facility is prohibited.


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

     The act adds a co-responder who is part of a co-responder community response to the list of community members who may petition the court for an extreme risk protection order. Health-care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, school districts, the state charter school institute, K-12 charter schools, private schools, and institutions of higher education are established as institutional petitioners that may petition a court for an extreme risk protection order.


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

     The act creates a statutory cause of action for a person who has their federal constitutional rights violated by another person who, acting under color of law, is participating in civil immigration enforcement. A person who violates the United States constitution while participating in civil immigration enforcement and whose conduct was the proximate cause of violating another person's constitutional rights is liable to the person whose rights are violated for legal or equitable relief or any other appropriate relief. The action must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrues.

     The act appropriates $125,604 to the department of law from the legal services cash fund to provide legal services for the department of personnel.


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

The bill establishes the adult mental health services program (program) to facilitate access for adults to mental health services, including substance use disorder services, and to respond to identified mental health needs. The program reimburses providers for up to 6 mental health sessions with an adult and may provide additional reimbursement, subject to available money. The adult mental health program enterprise (enterprise), created in the bill, creates, operates, and funds the program. The enterprise is required to enter into an agreement with a vendor to create or use an existing website or web-based application as a portal that is available to adults and providers to facilitate the program. The department of human services is required to annually report to the general assembly about the program.

The bill establishes the internet-enabled mental health access grant program (grant program) to award grants to entities that use the internet to facilitate mental health services. The enterprise administers the grant program. The enterprise shall annually report to the health and human services committees of the house of representatives and the senate about the grant program.

The bill creates the mental health services enterprise as a government-owned business within the behavioral health administration for the business purpose of imposing and collecting a surcharge on internet service account holders in Colorado and to use the surcharge revenue to create, operate, and fund the adult mental health services program and internet-enabled mental health access grant program. Each internet service provider shall collect from its account holders located in Colorado the mental health services access surcharge and remit the surcharge to the enterprise.

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

     The act requires operators of certain websites, online services, online applications, or mobile applications (covered platforms) to ensure that each covered platform provides a streamlined process to allow Colorado law enforcement agencies to contact the covered platform at all times. The process must, at a minimum, make available a staffed hotline for Colorado law enforcement agencies for the purposes of:

• Receiving and responding to questions about search warrants;
• Acknowledging the receipt of a search warrant within 8 hours after receipt; and
• Providing status updates on search warrant compliance to a requesting Colorado law enforcement agency.

     An operator must comply with a search warrant within 72 hours after receiving the search warrant if certain conditions apply. A court may reasonably extend this time if the court makes a written finding that the operator or covered platform has shown good cause for the extension and that an extension would not cause an adverse result. The failure of an operator or a covered platform to comply with the requirements of a court-ordered search warrant supports a finding of contempt of court.

     The attorney general or a district attorney with jurisdiction may enforce the act.


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

     Current law requires the defense to furnish a copy of any report of examination of the defendant that is made at the instance of the defense to the prosecution in a reasonable amount of time in advance of trial. The act requires a copy of the report to also be furnished to the court who, upon receipt of the copy, shall provide a copy to the department of human services.

     The act authorizes community placement of a defendant for treatment and rehabilitation.

     For a defendant who was charged with a crime allegedly committed on or after July 1, 2026, the act clarifies the legal standard for a defendant's conditional or unconditional release from the department. The standard for unconditional release is that the defendant has no abnormal mental condition that would be likely to cause the defendant to be dangerous to the defendant's self or others or to the community in the reasonably foreseeable future, is capable of distinguishing right from wrong, and has substantial capacity to conform their conduct to the law. The standard for conditional release is that the defendant can satisfy the standard for unconditional release but with the imposition of and compliance with conditions. At an unconditional release hearing for a defendant who is on conditional release, if any evidence is introduced that shows the defendant is ineligible for unconditional release, the defendant has the burden of proving that the defendant meets the applicable test for unconditional release.


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

     The act prohibits the discharge of plastic pellets and other preproduction plastic materials through land application or into state waters, wastewater, storm water runoff, or other runoff by a facility that makes, uses, packages, or transports plastic pellets or other preproduction plastic materials in the state.


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

     Current law establishes a statewide integrated system of early childhood councils (councils) to improve and sustain the availability, accessibility, capacity, and quality of early childhood services. The act expands the powers, functions, and responsibilities of a council in implementing a comprehensive system of early childhood and family support programs and services (programs and services) within the council's community.

     Current law establishes local coordinating organizations (LCOs) to increase access to, coordinate, and allocate funding for programs and services through work with the families, program and service providers, and local governments in a community and with the department of early childhood (department). Effective July 1, 2026, the act repeals provisions authorizing the creation and operation of LCOs and transfers the LCO rights, powers, duties, functions, and obligations concerning supporting access to and delivery of programs and services to the councils (transfer). If the transfer requires the consolidation, reassignment, or material modification of the duties of a council or LCO, the department may authorize a one-time extension of the transition period for up to 3 years.

     Current law requires a council to develop a community strategic plan based upon an assessment of the early childhood needs in the council's designated service area (community strategic plan). The act requires a community strategic plan to address specified issues, including:

• Assisting families in applying for programs and services;
• Coordinating outreach efforts with other local entities and tribal agencies;
• Recruiting and coordinating providers to form a mixed delivery system that promotes family choice; and
• Supporting increased recruitment and retention of individuals in the early care and education workforce.

     The act requires a council, in partnership with the department, to create, review, and revise a scope of work that reflects the community strategic plan and accurately represents the programs and services within the community, meets families' needs, and aligns with available appropriations and the department's statewide strategic planning process. Associated accountability metrics must also be reviewed and revised to align with the scope of work. The act specifies a council's new obligations regarding improving access to high-quality programs and services, early childhood workforce development, data-sharing agreements, outreach for holistic family services, and auditing.

     The act establishes requirements for an agreement that sets forth the respective duties of a council and the department in implementing a community strategic plan (agreement). The act identifies the department's responsibilities for the coordinated distribution of public funding for programs and services; council training and technical assistance; dissemination of information about successful council strategies and innovations; and standards for communication, resolution of disputes, and contracting protocols. The act modifies the process for the department to approve or facilitate a waiver of the rules for the implementation of council projects.

     The act requires the department to implement an annual performance review process for each council and solicit community feedback about a council's performance at intervals ranging from 3 to 5 years. If the department determines that a council is not meeting the requirements of the scope of work and accountability metrics contained in the agreement, the department may require the council to implement a performance improvement plan. If a council fails to make substantial progress toward addressing the issues raised in the performance improvement plan, the department may terminate the council's agreement.

     The act makes substantive and technical conforming amendments to address the reallocation of responsibilities and functions from LCOs to councils, including administrative and funding provisions related to the Colorado child care assistance program and the Colorado universal preschool program.


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

     The act requires the executive director of the Colorado department of early childhood (CDEC) to adopt rules concerning the requirements for licensed child care facilities to maintain up-to-date employee records in the professional development information system currently administered by CDEC.

     The act requires CDEC, on or before July 1, 2026, to begin phasing out its reliance on third parties to investigate and inspect facilities applying for certain types of child care licenses where feasible and to prioritize the use of CDEC personnel to conduct the investigations and inspections instead. The act exempts certain health and sanitation inspections from the phase-out. CDEC must establish standardized training, protocols, and supervision for CDEC personnel and authorized or contracted third parties.

     A local governing authority that imposes requirements related to the inspection, permitting, licensing, or approval of a child care center or family child care home beyond the state-level licensing standards (local approval process) shall limit associated fees and prioritize concluding a local approval process that has been delayed or disputed.

     The act creates the child care licensure task force (task force) to study and report on recommendations for a streamlined child care licensure system in the state. On or before January 1, 2027, the task force must report on its recommendations to the health and human services and education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, the governor, and CDEC. The performance of the task force's work is dependent upon the receipt of sufficient gifts, grants, and donations.


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

     The act authorizes the clean fleet enterprise (enterprise) to incentivize, support, and accelerate the replacement of a truck that is part of a fleet and that is powered by a diesel-fueled internal combustion engine, is a model year of 2009 or earlier, and is registered, operable, and capable of independent roadway operation (aging diesel truck) with a diesel truck that is a model year of 2018 or later (new diesel truck) until December 31, 2031. The act also allows the enterprise to provide funding or financing through grant programs, rebate programs, revolving loan funds, or other strategies to help owners and operators of aging diesel truck fleets finance the replacement of aging diesel trucks with new diesel trucks to reduce the up-front costs of acquiring new diesel trucks until December 31, 2031.

     The enterprise may use the clean fleet enterprise fund to provide money to support the replacement of aging diesel trucks with new diesel trucks, but the enterprise is required to ensure that it does not expend more than 20% of the fund's income during a state fiscal year for the support.

     To qualify for any money provided by the enterprise for the replacement of aging diesel trucks with new diesel trucks, the act requires a purchaser of the new diesel truck to surrender an aging diesel truck to the seller of the new truck. The seller of the new diesel truck must decommission the aging diesel truck by drilling a hole in the engine's block and cutting the chassis rails in half. The seller must be an authorized dealer of new diesel trucks who must certify that the new diesel truck meets all state and federal emissions and safety standards for its model year.

     The enterprise must prioritize applications to replace aging diesel trucks from businesses that are privately owned, independently owned, or have limited access to capital. The enterprise is not allowed to accept an application from the owner or operator of a motor vehicle fleet that owns, leases, or operates more than 50 heavy-duty motor vehicles or from a business entity with annual gross revenue exceeding $100 million. The enterprise is required to prioritize the replacement of an aging diesel truck that has a model year of no later than 2006.

     The act expands the business purpose of the enterprise to include providing incentives and support for refrigerated transport units powered by zero emission technology. The act allows the enterprise to exercise its rights and powers without regard to the state 'Procurement Code'.

     The act requires the enterprise to annually prepare a report that includes the estimated pollution reduction benefits of the enterprise. The enterprise must seek to ensure that all projects funded by the enterprise achieve measurable results and outcomes.


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

Current law requires certain entities to file a clean energy plan (plan) to achieve an 80% decrease of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the entity's electricity sales in Colorado by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. Other entities may voluntarily choose to file a plan.

Under current law, no later than March 31, 2026, an entity required to submit a plan may inform the division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment in writing of challenges the entity is encountering or expects to encounter in achieving the 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The bill clarifies that an entity that has voluntarily submitted a plan may also inform the division of challenges the entity is encountering or expects to encounter in achieving the 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The bill also extends the deadline by which an entity must inform the division of challenges from March 31, 2026, to May 31, 2026.

A cooperative electric association (association) exempted from regulation by the public utilities commission or a municipal utility (utility) that informs the division of challenges the association or utility is encountering or expects to encounter has until December 31, 2026, to submit to the division an updated plan with the earliest year, not later than 2040, that the association or utility expects to be able to achieve the 80% decrease of greenhouse gas emissions, relative to 2005 levels, without impairing the association's or utility's ability to maintain applicable electric reliability standards and without increasing the association's or utility's average annual electric rates greater than 1.5%.

The bill prohibits the air quality control commission and the division from undertaking any action that impairs the association's or utility's ability to maintain applicable electric reliability standards or that increases the association's or utility's average annual electric rates greater than 1.5%.

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

The bill creates the "Unmanned Aircraft Systems Rights and Authorities Act". The bill does the following:

• Authorizes an individual to operate an unmanned aircraft system (drone system) for recreational purposes in this state;
• Authorizes a person to operate a drone system for commercial purposes within this state if the business is lawful and the operation is in compliance with state and federal law;
• Prohibits the state or a political subdivision of the state (local government) from requiring the registration of an unmanned aircraft or a drone system beyond what may be required by state and federal law;
• Clarifies that the operation of a drone system in compliance with federal law does not, standing alone, give rise to legal liability;
• Establishes and limits the regulatory authority of the state; and
• Establishes and limits the regulatory authority of a local government.

In connection with establishing and limiting the regulatory authority of the state, the bill authorizes the state to regulate the use of drone systems owned by or used by the state or launching from or landing on state property. Exceptions to the state's regulatory authority are made for emergencies, maintenance, technical malfunctions, and law enforcement.

In connection with establishing and limiting the regulatory authority of local governments, the bill prohibits a local government from regulating ownership, operation, design, manufacture, testing, maintenance, licensing, registration, certification, or equipment requirements or qualifications, training, or certification of a pilot, operator, or observer. A local government may regulate the use of drone systems owned by or used by the local government or launching from or landing on local government property. A local government's resolution or ordinance that is general in nature, such as a nuisance regulation, applies to a drone system.

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

The bill removes wind energy as an eligible renewable energy resource under Colorado's renewable energy standard and removes wind energy generation from consideration for the state's clean energy targets.

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

The bill creates the Colorado clean energy permitting coordination office (office) in the Colorado energy office to provide coordination and technical assistance to owners or operators, local governments, and state permitting authorities regarding permitting for the construction, expansion, repowering, or material modification of a clean energy resource facility project (covered clean energy project).

At the request of the owner or operator of a covered clean energy project (owner or operator) or a local government with jurisdiction over the covered clean energy project or that the owner or operator determines is likely to experience direct and significant impacts from the covered clean energy project (host community), the office must convene a meeting (application coordination meeting) to coordinate the filing of permit applications for the covered clean energy project that includes certain interested parties. Following an application coordination meeting, the office must prepare a coordinated permitting schedule for the covered clean energy project that identifies the permits and approvals likely to be required for the covered clean energy project and certain other information (coordinated permitting schedule).

The office is required to develop and maintain a public dashboard (public dashboard) on the office's website for an owner or operator that receives a coordinated permitting schedule or that receives state technical assistance from the office.

Effective July 1, 2027, at least 90 days before the owner or operator submits the first state permit application for a covered clean energy project, the owner or operator must submit a community engagement plan to the office and relevant state permitting authorities. A community engagement plan must identify host communities for the project and describe certain other community engagement efforts regarding the project.

Effective July 1, 2027, an owner or operator must prepare a community benefit agreement and submit the community benefit agreement to the office and the parties participating in the covered clean energy project's application coordination meeting. The office is required to develop model community benefit agreement terms for a covered clean energy project and post the terms on the covered clean energy project's public dashboard or the office's website.

The office is required to prioritize technical assistance and permitting readiness support for covered clean energy projects that repower or reuse retired or retiring fossil fuel generation sites, are located in coal transition communities, or are located on brownfield sites. On or before December 1, 2027, the office shall publish and update annually an inventory identifying coal plant and industrial sites and brownfield sites suitable for redevelopment for clean energy resource facilities and other key infrastructure considerations.

Effective July 1, 2027, an owner or operator must develop and submit to the office a safety and emergency preparedness plan and coordinate with relevant local emergency management agencies and the Colorado division of homeland security and emergency management in implementing the safety and emergency preparedness plan. The office shall post a safety and emergency preparedness plan on the covered clean energy project's public dashboard or the office's website.

Effective November 1, 2027, an owner or operator of a covered clean energy project must submit to the office a grid reliability and security statement. The office must coordinate with the public utilities commission and utilities as appropriate to align permitting readiness with grid reliability needs.

On or before December 1, 2027, and on or before each December 1 thereafter, the office must submit a report to certain committees of the general assembly summarizing certain information about the functions of the office.

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

     The act increases the penalties for improperly passing a vehicle in a no-passing zone and clarifies that no-passing zones are indicated by a solid yellow line or line pavement markings. The act requires the Colorado department of transportation to prioritize installing signage on roadways with increased incidents of crashes resulting from illegal overtaking on the left.

     The act increases the points assessed for multiple speeding violations within a one-year, 2-year, or 5-year period for driving 20 miles per hour or more in excess of the reasonable and prudent speed or driving in excess of a 75 miles per hour speed limit and requires drivers driving a vehicle 100 miles per hour or greater be assessed 4 additional points. The act requires that drivers who have multiple speeding violations within a one-year, 2-year, or 5-year period receive a summons and complaint upon committing their violation instead of a penalty assessment notice.

     The act increases the fine for violating regulations regarding transporting hazardous materials by motor vehicle to $500 and increases the fine range for a second or subsequent violation to $500 to $1,000.

     The act appropriates $30,943 to the Colorado department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account.


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

     The act requires that the state court administrator create a process for evaluating bond hearing officers. An evaluation must include input from the district attorney and regional public defender and allow the opportunity for input from court staff and other interested parties within each judicial district in which a bond hearing officer presides.


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

     The fire and police pension association (association) provides disability retirement and survivor benefits (disability and survivor benefits) for eligible members of the association (members) who become disabled or die. The act recodifies and reorganizes the disability and survivor benefits statutes, removes outdated provisions, and clarifies ambiguous language. In addition, the act makes the following modifications to the disability and survivor benefits statutes:

• Removes the current requirement that the association require every member who applies for disability retirement benefits to have 3 independent medical exams and instead authorizes the board of the association (board) to appoint a medical advisor to assess the needs of each applicant for disability retirement benefits;
• Authorizes the board to adopt rules to streamline the appeal process for disability retirement benefit applicants who are denied benefits;
• Allows the association to require a member who is occupationally disabled to participate in a rehabilitation and retraining program to help the member gain additional skills and knowledge so the member can earn a wage doing a job other than being a police officer or firefighter;
• Clarifies that a member who is a total disability retirement benefit recipient will begin receiving a cost of living adjustment when the member starts receiving a total disability retirement benefit;
• Clarifies eligibility for a member to apply for disability retirement benefits;
• Repeals the statute that makes an employer liable for the payment of disability retirement benefits if a member's disability existed at the commencement of employment, the employment was not ordered by a court, and the employer failed to require the member to complete and file a health history form prior to commencing employment; and
• Requires members to fill out a health history form, which notifies the association of any preexisting health conditions, prior to employment.

     The act does not change the amounts of disability retirement and survivor benefits or the length of time a member must be employed to be eligible for a benefit, nor does it require additional money from the state, employers, or members.


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

     The division of housing in the department of local affairs (division) administers an affordable home ownership program (program) that makes grants to nonprofit organizations, local governments, community development financial institutions, and community land trusts (eligible organizations) and tribal governments to support affordable home ownership, including the development of residential housing units that are described in an eligible organization's funding request (project). Current law specifies that only a household with an income less than or equal to 120% of the area median income is eligible for assistance through the program, but it is unclear whether this requirement applies to housing units constructed by an eligible organization through one of its projects. The act clarifies that only a household with an income less than or equal to either 120% of the area median income of households of that size in the jurisdiction of a local government in which the households are located, or 120% of the statewide area median income of households of that size, is eligible for housing constructed by an eligible organization through one of its projects.

     In addition, the act requires the program to offer housing that costs not more than 38% of a household's monthly income unless the ownership program is providing a homeowner with assistance for home rehabilitation.

     The act also requires the program to offer grants and loans to groups or associations of mobile home owners and their assignees to support affordable homeownership for households with income less than or equal to 120% of the area median income of households of that size in the territory or jurisdiction of the local government in which the households are located, and specifies that the monthly housing payment must not cost more than 35% of the monthly household income. The act allows the division to modify the maximum percentage of income that a household may allocate pursuant to the program as applied to a residential unit constructed by an eligible organization as part of an affordable housing project pursuant to a waiver process initiated by an eligible organization if a substantial need for housing the project's target population exists, the unit has been adequately marketed to eligible buyers for purchase for at least 6 months after final completion of the unit, and the unit has not been purchased by an eligible buyer within that 6-month period.

     For grants from the program to support tribal government programs, the tribe is responsible for establishing limitations on household income and maximum percentage of income that a household may allocate for monthly housing costs and a tribal affordability mechanism in lieu of any state-prescribed use covenant. The tribe shall submit evidence to the division that it has satisfied these requirements but is not required to disclose confidential tribal data, including the specific limitations or mechanisms it sets.

     The division also administers a land banking program (land banking program) that makes grants to local and tribal governments and loans to nonprofits to acquire and preserve land for the development of affordable housing. For grants made to local governments or loans to nonprofits, the development of affordable housing includes rental housing projects with an imputed income limit by household size not to exceed 60% of area median income. Regulated units in the project must have a gross rent limit that does not exceed 30% of the imputed income limitation applicable to the units. Current law requires that a project provide for-sale housing that may be purchased by a household with an annual income of 100% of area median income. The act changes the income limit to 120% of area median income. For land banking program grants to support tribal government programs, the tribe is required to establish income limits by household size and gross rent limits and is not required to use the limits otherwise required for eligible organizations. The tribal government is required to submit evidence that it has established income and gross rent limits but is not required to disclose confidential tribal data, including what the specific limitations are.

     The division may issue a waiver with housing cost limits that are different from those requested by an eligible organization if different housing cost limits would better serve needs identified in the community, the project remains financially feasible, and there are eligible buyers that meet the division's requirements. Alternatively, the division may modify the total amount of funding to account for an increase in the sales price of the unit. In lieu of this process, the division may approve an eligible organization's process for determining when to exceed the maximum monthly household income for a unit funded by the program, which shall not require a 6-month marketing period.

     The division may allow an eligible organization to rent residential units constructed as part of the project. On or before December 31, 2026, the division is required to issue guidance for when units within a project may be rented and develop a process by which rented units may return to the for-sale market. A homeowner may rent a unit funded by the ownership program as long as the unit remains their primary residence.


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

     Existing law allows voters to circulate a petition for a ballot question requiring a local government to engage in collective bargaining with the fire department for the local government and extend coverage of the 'Colorado Firefighter Safety Act' to firefighters employed by the local government (question). The question may be added to the ballot for any general election, as defined in the 'Colorado Firefighter Safety Act'. The act changes the definition of a general election for the purpose of determining when a question may be added to the ballot to include a coordinated election as defined in the 'Uniform Election Code of 1992'. The act also changes the definition of a general election to refer to a regular municipal election rather than a general municipal election to align the language with other municipal elections law.


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

     The act expands eligibility for mortgage loans through the Colorado housing and finance authority to first responders. The act also defines the term 'first responder' to include peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians, and defines the term 'peace officer' to include a noncertified deputy sheriff, an emergency communications specialist, a corrections officer, a port of entry officer, or a wildlife officer.

The act also sets an income limit for families made eligible for mortgage loans by the act.


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

     Current law prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to submit a security deposit in an amount that exceeds 2 monthly rent payments. The act creates an exception to this prohibition for cases in which a buyer and a seller of residential real property have executed a post-closing occupancy agreement in connection with the sale. The exception takes effect January 1, 2027.


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

The bill prohibits a government entity from accessing a database that reveals an individual's or a vehicle's historical location information, subject to certain exceptions. The bill prohibits a government entity from sharing historical location information with third parties or government agencies outside their jurisdiction, subject to certain exceptions, and makes historical location information not a public record for the purposes of the "Colorado Open Records Act".

The bill requires a government entity that collects historical location information to adopt a policy to maintain compliance with the provisions of the regulatory scheme.

An enforcement action is created for the attorney general to enforce the provisions of the bill. Historical location information obtained in violation of the prohibitions of the bill are inadmissible in trial.

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

The bill establishes the "Surveillance Accountability and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act" (SAFE Act). On and after July 1, 2027, the SAFE Act requires a law enforcement agency to use surveillance technology only for lawful purposes directly related to public safety or for an active investigation.

If a law enforcement agency uses surveillance technology to collect surveillance data, the law enforcement agency must comply with certain requirements related to the collection, storage, sharing, and destruction of the data.

The law enforcement agency must ensure that:

• Facial recognition systems are only used after a warrant is obtained or in exigent circumstances when there is an imminent threat to public safety;
• Traffic cameras and automated license plate readers must only be used in public spaces and for specific enforcement purposes, such as traffic violations or identifying stolen vehicles; and
• Drone cameras are operated in compliance with federal aviation administration regulations.

A law enforcement agency may store data collected by surveillance technology only for a specified amount of time depending on the type of technology used and how the data is collected or until an active investigation is concluded.

A law enforcement agency shall not sell any data that is collected from its surveillance technologies, but the law enforcement agency may share the surveillance data with another law enforcement agency if the data is related to an active investigation and the other law enforcement agency agrees to comply with the requirements of the SAFE Act. A law enforcement agency must also ensure that surveillance data is permanently destroyed at the end of an applicable retention period or once the data is no longer needed for the matter. The bill creates civil penalties for violations of these provisions.

The bill also requires a law enforcement agency to make certain information related to the law enforcement agency's compliance with the SAFE Act available to residents who request it at no cost to the resident.

The bill requires the attorney general to conduct an audit of a law enforcement agency every 2 years and authorizes the attorney general to bring a civil action to enforce the SAFE Act.

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

     The act clarifies the conduct by which a person can commit criminally negligent homicide to include proximately causing the death of another person while operating or driving a motor vehicle with criminal negligence. The act repeals the class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense of a person being the proximate cause of death to another person while driving a motor vehicle, while clarifying it can be charged as a class 5 felony elsewhere in statute.


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

     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.)

A renewable energy project developer (facility owner) that intends to undertake a project to build a renewable energy facility (renewable energy project) may currently submit an application for land use approval from the renewable energy project to a local government. However, current law does not specify what process a local government may use to charge fees or set a timeline for the local government to make a final decision regarding land use approval for the renewable energy project. The bill specifies that control over the specifics of the application process rests with the local government. The local government may establish fees for an application for a renewable energy project and may offer two independent tracks for the application based on the fee the facility owner pays. The standard track allows a facility owner to pay a lower fee, but does not guarantee a specific timeline for the local government to issue a final decision on the application. The expedited track allows a facility owner to pay an additional fee, with an agreement that if the local government takes longer than 120 days, minus any permitted tolling periods, a percentage of the higher fee will be refunded.

The bill gives local governments authority to contract with third-party technical reviewers to review the application for a final decision. The bill also requires a facility owner to pay a success fee to the local government upon final approval of the project, based on the amount of time between receipt of the application and when the project is approved, to be used by the local government for expenses related to regulating renewable energy facilities and maintaining local roads impacted by facility construction.

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

     When a peace officer has reasonable suspicion that a crime of domestic violence has occurred, the peace officer is required to search the national crime information center database to determine whether a military protection order has been issued against one of the parties. If a military protection order has been issued against a party, the peace officer shall notify the military law enforcement agency that entered the protection order into the database.

     The act includes the existence of a military protection order as relevant evidence that the court shall consider when determining whether to issue a temporary civil protection order.


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

     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.)

Currently, a person licensed as a manufacturer of spirituous liquors, malt liquors, or vinous liquors; a brew pub; a vintner's restaurant; or a limited winery (licensee) may allow another licensee to manufacture and store vinous liquors and malt liquors on the first licensee's premises. The bill specifies that a person licensed as a distillery pub is a licensee. The bill also specifies that, in addition to vinous liquors and malt liquors, a licensee may allow another licensee to manufacture and store spirituous liquors on the first licensee's premises.

The bill also allows a licensee to manufacture and store vinous liquors, spirituous liquors, or malt liquors (alcohol beverages) on the first licensee's premises on behalf of another licensee (alternating premises licensed premises). An alternating premises licensed premises must be adjacent to the premises of the person on whose behalf the licensee is manufacturing or storing alcohol beverages. A licensee may not sell alcohol beverages at retail from an alternating premises licensed premises.

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

The bill requires the statewide decriminalization of commercial sexual activity among consenting adults. It declares that decriminalizing commercial sexual activity among consenting adults is a matter of statewide concern and expressly preempts statutory or home rule city, town, city and county, or county ordinances, resolutions, regulations, or codes criminalizing commercial sexual activity.

The bill repeals the state criminal offenses of prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, keeping a place of prostitution, patronizing a prostitute, and prostitute making display. It also repeals the offense of pandering when it involves knowingly arranging or offering to arrange a situation that permits a person to practice prostitution. The bill maintains current state criminal penalties for pandering that involves menacing or criminal intimidation and for pimping, but it changes terminology in those offenses by replacing "prostitution" with "commercial sexual activity".The bill makes various conforming amendments, including those related to: Reporting requirements, immunity, affirmative defenses, and criminal conviction records in human trafficking cases; public nuisances; certification by the peace officers standards and training board; and the regulation of escort bureaus and massage parlors. The bill eliminates a court program for persons charged with certain prostitution-related offenses.

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

     Under current law, there are statewide standards for noise level limits for various time periods and areas, and noise in excess of those limits is a public nuisance. The statewide noise level limits do not apply to the use of property for certain purposes.

     The bill states that the statewide noise level limits also do not apply to the following:

• The use of property owned or controlled by the state or a political subdivision of the state;
• The use of property pursuant to a permit or license that addresses sound emitted and that is issued by a local government; and
• The use of property owned or controlled by a nonprofit entity for a cultural, entertainment, athletic, or patriotic event.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill requires a youth sports organization and local government that provides youth athletic activities (youth sports organization) to have at least one adult who possesses a current first aid, CPR, and AED certification present at each youth athletic activity.

Current law requires all youth sports organization coaches who work directly with youth members to obtain a criminal history record check (background check) prior to employment. The bill requires chaperones who accompany the youth sports organization on a trip that includes one or more overnight stays to pass a background check. The bill requires a coach or chaperone who lived outside the U.S. for more than 180 days since the coach's or chaperone's last background check to also obtain an international background check. The act creates a cause of action for failing to conduct a background check.

Current law prohibits a youth sports organization from hiring a person to be a coach if the person has been convicted of certain crimes. The bill adds crimes of violence and other violent crimes to the list of disqualifying offenses.

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

     The act:

• Allows the department of public health and environment (department) to expend money from the community impact cash fund to provide grants for municipal solid waste landfill methane emission reduction projects;
• Requires the environmental justice advisory board to prioritize a grant request from a local government that owns or operates a municipal solid waste landfill over a grant request from a private entity that owns or operates a municipal solid waste landfill;
• Requires an entity that receives money from the department to use the money as supplemental funding only; and
• Amends the definition of 'disproportionately impacted community'.
  
  (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 requires each school district or, for an institute charter school or nonpublic school, the school, (local education provider) to install an exterior key box that contains keys and other access control devices necessary for law enforcement agencies to access each building and room located on the school grounds. A local education provider is not required to install an exterior key box at a school if:

• The school has a key box that does not satisfy the requirements in the act and has an alternative plan and procedures to provide emergency access for local law enforcement; or
• The local education provider applied for but does not receive a disbursement from the school security disbursement program that may be used to install an exterior key box at the school.

     The contents of an exterior key box and the information contained therein are not a public record for the purposes of the 'Colorado Open Records Act'.


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

The bill requires the secretary of state (secretary) to adopt rules to establish a process by which a registered elector may choose not to automatically receive a mail ballot packet for all elections that the county clerk and recorder conducts by mail ballot on or after November 2, 2027. The rules must include a process by which a registered elector who has chosen not to receive mail ballots may choose to resume receipt of mail ballots. The secretary is required to develop public-facing communications explaining that choosing not to receive a mail ballot packet is voluntary. A registered elector who has chosen not to receive a mail ballot packet must either vote in person at a voter service and polling center or request a mail ballot.

For each mail ballot election conducted by a county clerk and recorder on or after November 2, 2027, each county clerk and recorder is required to report to the secretary the number of registered electors in the county who chose not to receive a mail ballot packet for the election and the number of mail ballot packets that the county clerk and recorder did not send as a result for that election. The secretary is required to use the information submitted by each county clerk and recorder to determine the reduction in the costs that each county incurred in conducting the election and to make the information reported by the county clerk and recorders and the savings determined by the secretary available to the public on the secretary's website.

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

The bill makes the following changes to the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA):

• Excludes from the definition of a "public record" a written document or electronic record that is produced by a device or application that is used to assist an individual with a disability or individuals with language barriers to facilitate communication if the written document or electronic record has been produced to facilitate communication in lieu of verbal communication;
• Requires a public entity to post any rules or policies adopted pursuant to CORA, including any records retention policy, and to post information for members of the public regarding how to make a public records request;
• Changes the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request from 3 to 5 working days and changes the extension of time for the response period if extenuating circumstances exist from not exceeding 7 additional days to not exceeding 10 additional days;
• Adds an extenuating circumstance that allows extension of the response period when the custodian is not scheduled to work within the response period;
• If public records are in the sole and exclusive custody and control of a person who is not scheduled to work within the response period, requires a custodian to provide all other available responsive public records within the response period and to notify the requester of the earliest date on which the person is expected to be available or that the person is not expected to return. The requester may make a subsequent request for additional responsive records, if any, on or after the date the custodian provides.
• Allows a custodian to determine that a request, other than a request for a contract or other information delivered using computer data extraction methods that require minimal human intervention for retrieval, is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain and provides a 30-day response period for such request; requires the custodian to provide written notice of the custodian's determination to the requester and permits the requester to appeal the determination to the district court; and allows a custodian to charge the requester for the reasonable cost of directly responding to the request notwithstanding the allowance for the first hour of research and retrieval to be free of charge and notwithstanding the statutory cap on fees which otherwise would apply;
• In addition to the prohibition on disclosing public elementary or secondary school students' addresses and telephone numbers, prohibits disclosure of any other student information that could be used to directly contact, address, or send a message to a student through any means or method;
• Allows a requester to ask a custodian for a reasonable breakdown of costs that comprise the fee charged for the research and retrieval of requested public records and requires a custodian to provide such a breakdown upon request;
• Clarifies that the custodian of records for a public entity must allow a requester to pay any fee or deposit associated with a request for public records with a credit card or electronic payment if the public entity allows members of the public to pay in this manner for any other service or product provided by the public entity;
• Allows a custodian to treat a CORA request received within 14 calendar days of another CORA request for information pertaining to facially similar content and made by the same person as one request for purposes of calculating the fee that the custodian may charge the requester for research and retrieval of responsive public records;
• Requires a custodian who fails to respond to a request for inspection within the applicable time period to provide the requester with one additional hour of research and retrieval time without charge for each calendar day that the response is late; and
• Clarifies that if a custodian imposes any requirements concerning the prepayment or payment of a fee in connection with a request for inspection of public records, the requirements must be in accordance with the custodian's adopted rules or written policies and must not be inconsistent with the provisions of CORA.(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.)

Under current law, a court is required to release a person on a personal recognizance bond if the person was charged with an offense for a violation with a maximum penalty that does not exceed 6 months' imprisonment and the court cannot require the person to give security of any kind for their appearance for trial other than their personal recognizance, unless certain conditions exist. The bill clarifies that these provisions apply in both state and municipal courts. The bill adds to the conditions for which a person may be required to give security that the defendant previously failed to appear in court 2 or more times in the present case.

Existing law prohibits a court from imposing a monetary condition of release for a defendant charged with a traffic offense, petty offense, or comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense for which there is no comparable state misdemeanor offense, with specified exceptions. The bill adds exceptions for:

• A petty offense for theft, criminal mischief, or arson, or a comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense involving threats of violence, injury, or property damage, if the defendant has previously failed to appear in court 2 or more times in the present case; and
• Any other petty offense, traffic offense, or a comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense for which there is no comparable state offense, if the defendant has previously failed to appear for a court proceeding 2 or more times in the present case and has another pending charge for the same offense in the same jurisdiction.

The bill states that if a defendant's counsel is present at a court proceeding as required by a court and the defendant is not present, with the exceptions of trial, arraignment, contested hearings, and hearings in which a witness or victim is testifying before the court, the defendant's absence may not be considered a failure to appear. The bill applies the exceptions involving previous instances of a defendant's failure to appear for a municipal court proceeding only when, prior to issuing a warrant for the arrest of the defendant for the previous failure to appear, the court conducted a search to determine whether the defendant was being held in a correctional facility or county jail, and at the time of the previous failure to appear, the court had certain processes in place governing failures to appear.

The bill requires municipal courts to not consider a person's absence from a place and time specified in a summons or summons and complaint as a failure to appear if the person's counsel is present on their behalf.

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

     Current law requires a recovery residence operated in Colorado to be certified by a third-party certifying body, unless the recovery residence has been operating in Colorado for 30 or more years as of May 23, 2019.

     Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires a recovery residence to obtain a license from the behavioral health administration (BHA). The act sets forth application procedures and rules for minimum standards of operating a recovery residence. A recovery residence must report specified occurrences to the BHA, including occurrences that result in the death of or specified injury to a resident, involve abuse and neglect of a resident, involve misappropriation of a resident's property, or in which a resident's drugs are diverted for use by another person. Recovery residence licensing is subject to sunset review prior to its repeal in 2033.


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

     A manufacturer of spirituous liquors (manufacturer) that seeks to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers licensed in the state (wholesaler) at the manufacturer's licensed premises and any approved sales room is required to apply for a permit from the local and state licensing authorities for on-premises consumption for each location where the manufacturer will serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler.

     Prior to issuing the permit, the local licensing authority shall provide public notice and consider the reasonable requirements of the neighborhood, zoning restrictions, and other local licensing concerns. The act includes fees that a permit applicant must pay to a local licensing authority. Upon approval from the local licensing authority, a manufacturer shall apply to the state licensing authority for a state permit. If the state permit is approved:

• The manufacturer must serve sandwiches and light snacks if selling and serving alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler; and
• The proceeds from the sale of alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers must not account for more than 50% of the manufacturer's gross annual revenue from alcohol beverage sales.

      The state permit is valid until the expiration of the local permit or for one year after the date of issuance of the state permit, whichever is sooner, unless the permit is inactive, suspended, or revoked.

     If a manufacturer does not obtain a permit from the local and state licensing authority to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler, the manufacturer may purchase and use common alcohol modifiers to combine with the manufacturer's spirituous liquors to produce cocktails for consumption on and off the sales room premises.


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

The bill amends the "Colorado Local Government Election Code" (local code) and the "Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965" to add authorization for special districts and municipalities to use electronic ballot return in elections under the local code. Electronic ballot return allows a voter to return a marked ballot to the designated election official or clerk using a qualified electronic transmission system. A qualified electronic transmission system must:

• Provide for secure identification and authentication;
• Transmit encrypted information over a secure network;
• Protect the privacy, anonymity, and integrity of each elector's ballot;
• Protect against abuse; and
• Provide any additional security or other measures identified as necessary in the rules of the secretary of state.

The designated election official or clerk is responsible for ensuring electronic ballot returns are anonymously transcribed to paper ballots, counted, and secured pursuant to the law for all ballots. Any electronic data generated by an elector using the electronic transmission system is confidential. The secretary of state is required to publish guidance and may also adopt rules as necessary to further specify the qualifications for an electronic transmission system used for electronic ballot return.

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

With regard to the family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program, the bill:

• Defines a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for the duration extension that applies to a covered individual who has a child receiving care in a NICU; and
• Extends the duration of paid FAMLI leave for claims arising on or after January 1, 2027, up to an additional 2 weeks, following the death of a family member for whom a covered individual cared for while using such leave.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law requires county revitalization authorities and urban renewal authorities to, in certain instances, submit impact reports that detail the potential impacts of a proposed urban renewal or county revitalization plan on local services and infrastructure. The bill requires taxing entities that would be subject to tax increment financing pursuant to a proposed urban renewal or county revitalization plan to file either a certification of or a technical rebuttal to an impact report. If a taxing entity does not file either a certification or a technical rebuttal within 45 days after a county revitalization authority or urban renewal authority's submission of an urban renewal or county revitalization impact report, the impact report is presumed certified. The bill also requires taxing entities that would be subject to tax increment financing pursuant to a downtown development authority's proposed plan of development to file either a certification of or a technical rebuttal to a downtown development authority's impact report.

On or before October 1, 2027, and on or before October 1 of each year thereafter, the legislative council staff is required to prepare a report or issue brief on the impact of tax increment financing on the state and local shares of education funding.

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

      Section 4 of the bill creates the 'Building Excellent Teacher and Employee Residences Act' (BETER). BETER creates a new school district financing opportunity for the development of housing for teachers and other school district and public school staff (workforce housing).

     The bill creates an application process by which a school district (applicant) may apply to the workforce housing assistance board (board) for financial assistance in connection with developing a workforce housing project. The division of public school capital construction assistance within the department of education (division of public school capital construction assistance) and the division of housing within the department of local affairs (division of housing) shall assist applicants in identifying workforce housing needs and in submitting applications to the board. No later than June 1, the board, with the support of the division of housing and division of public school capital construction assistance, shall review these applications according to guidelines that the board establishes and creates an initial prioritized list of workforce housing projects to award financial assistance. The board shall submit this initial prioritized list to the state board of education and the state housing board for comment. No later than July 15, the board shall determine a final prioritized list of projects for which the board will provide financial assistance.

     The board may only award financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project if:

• The board determines that the project complies with affordability, tenancy, and environmental and building requirements established by the board; and
• Unless the board grants an exemption, the applicant provides matching money in an amount at least equal to the portion of the total development cost of the workforce housing project that can be financed with and supported by net operating income generated from the project.

The board may only provide an amount of financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project that is equal to or less than the portion of the amount of the workforce housing project's total development cost that exceeds the amount that the applicant can finance and support with the workforce housing project's net operating income.

     The board may provide financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project by awarding matching grants that are paid out of the workforce housing assistance fund (fund) or by instructing the state treasurer to enter into a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement. In this context, the financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement means a lease-purchase agreement between the state treasurer and a trustee pursuant to which:

• The state makes rental payments that include principal and interest components; and
• The trustee, pursuant to an indenture of trust, creates certificates of participation evidencing undivided interests in the payments made by the state under the lease-purchase agreement.

Any payment obligation of the state as part of a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement is subject to annual appropriation and does not create an indebtedness or multiple fiscal year financial obligation of the state within the meaning of any provision of the state constitution or state statute.

     If the state treasurer enters into a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement, the board shall enter into a sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement for the workforce housing project with the applicant that will use the workforce housing. The sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement must:

• Require the applicant to perform for the state all duties of the state to maintain and operate the workforce housing project and to make periodic rental payments to the state or otherwise make a payment to the state in the amount of the matching money required for the award of financial assistance; and
• Provide for the transfer of ownership of the workforce housing from the state to the applicant upon the fulfillment of both the state's obligations under the financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement and the applicant's obligations under the sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement.

     The board is required to present an annual written report to the education and finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate regarding the provision of financial assistance to applicants. The board is also required to post a similar report on the department of education's website.

      Sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 establish the funding mechanism for the fund. The state constitution restricts the use of the principal of the public school fund and only allows for the use of public school fund interest and income. Sections 6 and 7 clarify that public school fund interest and income includes realized and unrealized gains and directs the transfer of the lesser of an amount of interest and income equal to 2.5% of the total value of the public school fund after making currently required interest and income distributions from the public school fund or $40 million to the state public school fund. Section 5 creates the public school fund income stabilization account within the public school fund and directs the treasurer to credit the difference between the amount transferred from the public school fund to the state public school fund as described in section 6 and $40 million to the account. The uses of the account are limited to supplementing payment from or the principal of the public school fund. Section 8 directs the state treasurer to annually transfer an amount equal to the amount transferred from the public school fund to the state public school fund pursuant to section 6 from the state education fund to the fund.

      Section 1 expands school district powers concerning the development and financing of workforce housing. Specifically, section 1 allows for school districts to:

• Acquire, construct, improve, own, operate, lease, and lease-purchase workforce housing;
• Issue bonds to finance workforce housing;
• Enter into contracts with public entities and private parties to finance workforce housing; and
• Create enterprises for the acquisition, construction, improvement, ownership, operation, leasing, and lease-purchasing of workforce housing.

Section 1 also describes the characteristics of bonds issued by school district-created enterprises for the purpose of financing workforce housing.

      Section 2 adds certain school district and school district enterprise lease agreements, lease-purchase agreements, and revenue bonds entered into or issued in connection with financing workforce housing to the state intercept program.

      Sections 3, 9, and 10 grant the division of public school capital construction assistance, the state treasurer, and the division of housing the powers necessary to implement the bill.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act authorizes a local government or a special district (local government) to enter into an agreement with one or more entities for the purpose of providing the local government with service from a thermal energy network. A local government that is authorized by law to issue bonds may issue bonds for the purpose of financing thermal energy infrastructure, interconnections, or customer connections within the jurisdiction of the local government.

     The act increases the net electric generating capacity of a community geothermal garden from 5 megawatts to 25 megawatts.

     The act requires the Colorado energy and carbon management commission (commission) and the Colorado geological survey to collect data and information related to geological resources in the state. The commission shall make recommendations to encourage safe and effective development of geothermal resources and report those recommendations to the general assembly on or before November 15, 2026.

     The act requires investor-owned electric utilities (utilities) to identify small-scale geothermal projects and large-scale geothermal projects (geothermal projects). The utility must solicit proposals for the development of small-scale geothermal projects of up to 25 megawatts of net electric generating capacity and large-scale geothermal projects that are greater than 25 megawatts of net electric generating capacity. The utility shall submit applications for the development of the geothermal projects to the public utilities commission if the utility receives a bid in response to the request for proposals. The public utilities commission must review the application and approve, conditionally approve, deny, or modify the application within 120 days after receiving the application.


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

     The act requires a school district that is considering submitting to its voters a ballot question concerning capital construction to solicit proposals from its charter schools about their capital construction needs. The act specifies the solicitation process requirements and requires the school district to notify a charter school that submitted a proposal whether the school district will include the charter school's capital construction needs in the school district's ballot question or questions. If the school district decides not to include the charter school's capital construction needs in the ballot question, the notification must include the school district's reasons for the exclusion and must include an opportunity for the charter school to address issues raised by the school district.

     If the school district and charter school mutually agree to the content of the charter school's proposal, a school district that voluntarily submits to its voters a ballot question for the charter school's capital construction needs is not required to comply with the required solicitation process.


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

     The Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) is a nonprofit institution with experience administering clean energy financing programs and is the designated green bank for the federal environmental protection agency's region 8. The CCEF administers an on-bill repayment program (program) to help finance certain energy-related upgrades installed at a utility customer's premises that are associated with the utility meter. Under the program, in partnership with Colorado-based utilities, the CCEF finances energy-related upgrades that are then repaid through a customer's monthly utility bill payments.

     The bill directs the state treasurer to, on August 15, 2026, execute a loan agreement with the CCEF for a low-interest loan of $50 million from the unclaimed property trust fund.The purpose of the loan is to capitalize and expand the CCEF's on-bill repayment program and to accelerate utility adoption of the program.

     The Colorado energy office is required to review the design of the program before August 1, 2026. The bill specifies certain requirements for the program and for a utility to access the funding for the program, including requirements related to disclosures, notices, transfers of responsibility for an on-bill repayment obligation, and interest rates.

     The CCEF is required to submit annual reports to the joint budget committee, the Colorado energy office, and the state treasurer detailing the deployment of the program.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

     The act changes requirements for the regional transportation district (RTD) relating to paratransit and accessible transportation, the composition of the board of directors, coordination with the subregional service councils, and reporting requirements.

      Paratransit and accessible transportation. On or before December 31, 2026, RTD is required to contract with an independent third-party entity for a comprehensive paratransit service study (study) that includes:

• A needs assessment of the population, needs, and service gaps for riders with disabilities in the district;
• A cost-benefit assessment;
• A definition of measurable performance metrics related to access, reliability, equity, and cost-effectiveness;
• An assessment of opportunities for RTD to collaborate with local and regional partners to address service gaps;
• Engagement with paratransit users, riders with disabilities, service providers, and other key stakeholders;
• An assessment of system performance; and
• An assessment of barriers for paratransit riders and riders with disabilities to access a low-income fare discount.

     The study must be completed by June 30, 2027. On or before December 31, 2027, RTD is required to complete, adopt, and begin implementing an accessible transportation service plan that is informed by the study.

      Composition of RTD board of directors. The act ends the terms of the current 15 elected members of the RTD board of directors (board) on January 1, 2029, and replaces the board with 5 members elected from director districts and 4 at-large appointed members. 5 members constitute a quorum for the new board. Board members serve 4-year terms; except that the new member terms are staggered such that, on January 1, 2031, 4 of the 9 members' terms expire.

     At the November 2028 general election, 5 new members are elected, 2 of which are elected to 2-year terms. At every general election in an even-numbered year thereafter, the number of members to be elected at the election equals the number of member terms expiring on January 1 of the following year. On or before the day of the November 2028 general election, the governor shall appoint 4 new board members. On or before the day of the November general election in every even-numbered year thereafter, the governor shall appoint 2 new board members to replace the members whose terms will expire the following year. Members may serve up to 2 4-year terms, and any term that lasts for fewer than 2 years does not count towards the member's 2-term limit.

     On or before September 15, 2027, the office of legislative legal services and the legislative council staff are required to apportion the composition of the board so that the 5 elected directors will represent, to the extent practical, the people of the district on the basis of population. After the federal census in 2030, and after each federal census thereafter, the independent legislative redistricting commission is required to apportion the composition of the board so that the 5 elected directors will represent, to the extent practical, the people of the district on the basis of population.

     The 4 appointed board members are appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate. Of the 4 members:

• One member is appointed from a list of at least 3 nominees provided by the Denver regional council of governments;
• One member must be a current or former member of the union that represents the largest collective bargaining unit of RTD employees; and
• 2 members are appointed at the governor's discretion.

     The 4 appointed members must represent diverse geographic areas of the district and are collectively required to possess expertise related to public finance, land use and multimodal transportation planning, transit operations, and transit agency programs serving disproportionately impacted communities.

     The governor may remove an appointed member for malfeasance in office, neglect of duty, failure to regularly attend meetings, or any other cause that renders the member incapable or unfit to discharge the duties of the board. A member to be appointed is required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest prior to confirmation and any conflicts that arise during the member's term to the board. Failure to disclose a conflict, or taking action on a matter in which the member has an undisclosed conflict of interest, constitutes cause for removal by the governor.

     The board may elect one member as chairperson of the board, one member as chairperson pro tempore of the board, and one or more individuals as secretary and treasurer of the board. The annual salary for an elected or appointed member whose term begins on or after January 1, 2029, is increased from $12,000 to $36,000, and the salary for the board chairperson is 150% of the salary of the other board members.

      Subregional service council coordination. Beginning in 2027, RTD is required to provide dedicated staff to co-chair and support each subregional service council (council) and must work with council members to identify a local leader to also co-chair each council. Beginning in 2028, the councils are required to make recommendations to the RTD board on:

• Aligning RTD transit services with local and regional plans;
• Implementing joint projects to address service gaps;
• Leveraging existing intergovernmental agreements and projects for expanded service delivery;
• Identifying strategies to expand funding; and
• Considerations of equity, ridership, demand, and long-term regional growth.

     The RTD board is required to meet at least twice a year to receive recommendations from the councils.

      Reporting requirements. RTD is required to report to the house of representatives transportation, housing, and local government committee and the senate transportation and energy committee, or their successor committees, on the following:

• On or before December 31, 2027, progress toward the recommendations made to RTD by the 2025-2026 RTD accountability committee created in Senate Bill 25-161. RTD is also required to submit this report to the governor.
• On or before January 31, 2027, and on or before each January 31 thereafter:

• RTD's budget and financial performance;
• Ridership;
• The implementation of Senate Bill 25-161, including RTD's progress on delivering the projects identified in its 10-year strategic plan and its comprehensive operational analysis;
• Aligning with state climate goals; and
• The implementation of this act, including RTD's progress on implementing the accessible transportation service plan;

• On or before January 31, 2028, the study and accessible transportation plan; and
• Annually beginning in 2028, the recommendations from the councils and RTD's responses to the recommendations. RTD is also required to report this information to the transportation legislation review committee.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

     Under current law, an excise tax of 15% is levied and collected on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility, and a sales tax of 15% is imposed on sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products by a retailer. The bill lowers the excise tax to $1 per pound of unprocessed retail marijuana and replaces the 15% sales tax with a sales tax structure that is based on the content of intoxicating cannabinoids in retail cannabis products. The sales tax may be changed by an act of the general assembly but may not exceed 2 cents per milligram of total intoxicating cannabinoids until January 1, 2030, and 5 cents thereafter.

     The legislative council staff shall make projections based on the tax changes and propose adjustments to the joint budget committee in order to stabilize intoxicating cannabinoid tax revenue. If such a proposal is made, the joint budget committee may propose legislation to stabilize the tax revenue.

     Current law creates a bifurcated regulatory structure for marijuana and intoxicating hemp. The bill moves the testing and safety elements from the department of revenue to the department of public health and environment (department). The state licensing authority (authority) in the department of revenue is currently directed to adopt rules to, among other things, establish testing standards. The bill transfers these responsibilities from the authority to the department. Mandatory compliance testing requirements are shifted from throughout the supply chain to the point at which products are packaged for sale to or use by consumers. Mandatory compliance testing standards are set by a new reference laboratory, which will also conduct statewide off-shelf surveillance testing of intoxicating cannabis products. This means that the products are tested at the retail level where consumers may purchase them.

     The bill requires the following be made available for public inspection via an online portal:

• Adverse health reports, including the product manufacturer and basis for the report, with personally identifiable information related to the affected customers redacted; and
• Traceability information and testing results for intoxicating cannabis products transferred to a consumer, so that consumers may access and view product batches, manufacturers, cultivators, or retailers and the associated traceability or testing data.

     The bill requires marijuana product producers to be registered with the department and regulated in a like manner as other food manufacturers. The department may enforce labeling and content claim requirements and impose penalties for health- and labeling-related violations or refer violations to the authority for license discipline.


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

     The bill regulates the manufacture, distribution, sale, and consumption of lawful tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) beverages. A 'lawful THC beverage' is defined as a nonalcoholic beverage product that is infused with THC derived from a legal source of hemp that contains no more than 10 milligrams of total THC per serving.

     The bill permits a person that is registered (registrant) with the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) as a hemp products manufacturer to manufacture lawful THC beverages if the registrant uses an approved source of hemp, complies with rules adopted by the CDPHE related to product labeling, production, and transportation, and sells the lawful THC beverages under certain circumstances.

     A registrant that manufactures a lawful THC beverage shall only sell the lawful THC beverage to a wholesaler that is licensed by the state licensing authority in the department of revenue (DOR). The bill prohibits manufacturers from selling lawful THC beverages directly to a retail licensee or directly to a consumer.

     The bill directs the CDPHE to adopt rules related to the labeling, packaging, and consumer notice requirements for lawful THC beverages on or before January 1, 2028. A manufacturer of a lawful THC beverage shall also adhere to the testing standards and requirements adopted by the CDPHE for hemp products.

     A person licensed by the state licensing authority in the DOR (licensee) may sell a lawful THC beverage to a consumer if the licensee obtains a lawful THC beverage permit. A licensee must apply to the state licensing authority for the lawful THC beverage permit, and, if the lawful THC beverage permit is granted, the licensee may sell a lawful THC beverage under the rules of their existing license and additional rules adopted by the DOR specific to the sale of a lawful THC beverage. A licensee shall not:

• Sell a lawful THC beverage to an individual under 21 years old;
• Sell a lawful THC beverage to an individual who is visibly intoxicated;
• Allow a lawful THC beverage to be removed from the premises if the beverage is sold for on-site consumption;
• Permit the use of marijuana or marijuana products on the premises; or
• Mix a lawful THC beverage and an alcohol beverage in the same container.

     The bill prohibits the manufacture or sale of lawful THC beverages that are made from synthetic or semi-synthetic cannabinoids.

     The bill directs the DOR, in consultation with the CDPHE, to adopt rules related to the sale, transportation, inventory, recall, and seizure of lawful THC beverages.

     The bill permits a local government to prohibit the sale of lawful THC beverages within the local government's jurisdiction.


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

     The act changes the boundaries of the front range passenger rail district (district) to include certain listed municipalities, any municipality whose governing body and, if necessary, electors, consent for the municipality to be included in the district, certain listed metropolitan districts, and any metropolitan district that is not within a municipality, whose governing body consents for the metropolitan district to be included in the district, and that is identified for inclusion in the district by a district board (board) resolution.

     The act requires that directors of the board appointed on or after July 1, 2026, reside within the district, unless that director is already serving on the board.

     The act allows the board to create subdistricts within the district. The only voting members of a subdistrict board must be directors appointed by an entity that includes territory within the subdistrict and directors who reside within the subdistrict.

     The act requires that any action by a subdistrict to establish or increase a tax or create a multiple-fiscal year debt must be submitted to a vote of the registered electors of the subdistrict. Before submitting a tax question to the voters, the district or subdistrict must certify that it has made every reasonable effort to secure federal, state, or special purpose authority funding.

     Lastly, the act changes the method for determining the distribution of the costs of a district or subdistrict election. Under the new method, the costs of such an election are reimbursed in the same method and manner as state primary, coordinated, general, congressional vacancy, special legislative, or recall elections conducted after July 1, 2024. The act also requires that any constitutionally required notice for a district or subdistrict election be included in the ballot information booklet.


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