In 2023, the general assembly established water and energy efficiency standards for irrigation controllers and spray sprinkler bodies that are sold or leased in the state on and after January 1, 2026. The act repeals these standards.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act expands the 'Colorado Cottage Foods Act' (CCFA) by allowing for the sale of homemade foods that require refrigeration and foods that include meat and meat products. A producer of a food (producer) that requires time and temperature control must take a food safety course that includes food handling training concerning time and temperature control and acquire and maintain proof of course completion. A producer selling products that require time and temperature control for safety may sell one type of such food product, with the ability to offer up to 5 variations of that one type of food product. The producer must specify the individual food products that require time and temperature control for safety and provide a list of such food products to the department of public health and environment (department) or a county, district, or regional health agency (public health agency) upon request. A producer selling products under the CCFA is required to register with the department before selling. The department must issue a registration number to each producer and maintain an electronic registry of producers. A producer may earn up to $150,000 of net revenues under the CCFA each calendar year, increased from $10,000 . The department is required to adjust this cap annually for inflation. The act authorizes a public health agency that inspects or investigates homemade food products produced pursuant to the CCFA to impose a fine for a violation of the requirements of the CCFA and to recover the cost of the inspection or investigation. If a public health agency determines that, on 3 separate occasions within 12 months, a producer has misbranded food that requires time and temperature control for safety or failed to comply with requirements related to food that requires time and temperature control for safety, the producer shall not sell foods that require time and temperature control. The act creates the cottage foods cash fund (cash fund) and transfers $300,000 into the cash fund ($200,000 from the medication administration cash fund and $100,000 from the assisted living residence cash fund). The act also appropriates $119,354 to the department to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act increases participation, representation, and support for individuals 55 years old or older in the Colorado workforce and in organizations related to employment and the workforce by:Beginning in 2027, requiring the state work force development council (council), the Colorado commission on the aging, and other entities to meet twice a year, collect data, and work collaboratively on issues related to individuals in the workforce who are 55 years old or older;Beginning in 2028, and each year thereafter, requiring the department of labor and employment and the department of human services to jointly submit a report compiling the data collected by the council, the Colorado commission on the aging, and other entities to the general assembly and requiring the department of labor and employment, during the department's annual 'SMART Act' hearings, to summarize the report to certain legislative committees; andRequiring that the council, the commission on higher education, and the advisory committee to the commission on higher education, or their successor entities, each have at least one member serving on their governing entity that is at least 55 years old and either is actively involved in or has interest, knowledge, or experience in advocating for the interests of individuals who are 55 years old or older as related to the functions of each entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act defines 'first responder' to include:A peace officer;A firefighter;A volunteer firefighter;An emergency medical service provider; orA 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; andA 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.)

The executive committee of the legislative council (executive committee) is authorized to adopt policies regarding the ability of members of the general assembly to remotely participate in interim committee meetings and in legislative proceedings during a disaster emergency. The act expands the executive committee's authority to adopt policies to allow remote participation in meetings of any joint committees comprised of members from both chambers that are held at any time of the year.(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.)

Under current law, a veteran who is disabled and who meets certain standards does not need to pay the taxes and fees to register one motor vehicle. The veteran is issued a disabled veteran license plate with the "D.V." inscription or a United States disabled woman veteran license plate. The bill authorizes the veteran to be issued another plate in lieu of being issued either of the license plates for veterans who are disabled if the veteran qualifies for the plate. If the plate requires additional fees to be issued or renewed, the additional fees must also be paid unless the plate is a military license plate.This program does not apply to commercial vehicles, implements of husbandry, or farm trucks or truck tractors that are taxed at a reduced rate.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the my Colorado card pilot program (pilot program) in the department of public health and environment (department) to provide individuals in grades 6 through 12 (youth) access to cultural, arts, recreational, or extracurricular activities throughout the state (activities). The department must develop a physical or digital my Colorado card for the youth participating in the pilot program to access the activities covered by the pilot program.No later than December 30, 2026, the department, after obtaining feedback and recommendations from community-led organizations no later than December 1, 2026, must select a limited number of pilot communities to participate in the pilot program (selected pilot communities). A selected pilot community must appoint a coordination team to support youth participation in the pilot program.The department must also coordinate with the selected pilot communities and community-led organizations to:Identify youth in the selected pilot communities to participate in the pilot program;Facilitate access to activities for youth participating in the pilot program; andCollect nonidentifying participation data for evaluation and reporting purposes.The department shall evaluate the pilot program on an annual basis to assess certain components of the pilot program. On or before December 1, 2027, and on or before each December 1 thereafter, the department shall submit a report to certain committees of the general assembly summarizing the results of the department's evaluation, observed outcomes and challenges of the pilot program, and recommendations regarding the continuation or modification of the pilot program.The pilot program repeals on September 1, 2031, subject to the sunset review process.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law allows the department of revenue (department) to retain an amount equal to its administrative costs in collecting, administering, and enforcing the production fees for clean transit and wildlife and land remediation, the enterprise per ride fees, the retail delivery fees, and the enterprise retail delivery fees. Current law also allows the department to retain 3% of the prepaid wireless trust cash fund to mitigate administrative costs. The money retained by the department is currently transmitted into multiple individual cost recovery cash funds that are used to mitigate the department's administrative costs of collecting those fees and charges. These cash funds include the oil and gas production fees collection fund, the enterprise per ride fees fund, and the retail delivery fees fund (cost recovery funds). The act repeals each of these cost recovery funds and directs the state treasurer to transmit the money retained by the department to mitigate the department's administrative costs for all the programs into a single cost recovery cash fund, which is created in the act. The act also requires the department to submit an annual report starting November 1, 2027, to the joint budget committee with information about the costs associated with collecting, administering, and enforcing the fees and, where applicable, the specific tasks that contribute significantly to the fee collection workload.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates new requirements and civil remedies beginning June 1, 2027, related to individuals under 18 years old (minors) who are featured in compensated content on online hosting platforms (online content). A minor is considered to be engaged in content creation work if, over a 12-month period, the following 3 criteria are met:At least 30% of a content creator's online content produced within a 30-day period includes the minor's likeness, name, or photograph;The number of views of the online content meets the online hosting platform's compensation threshold or the content creator receives $0.10 or more per view, including compensation from sponsorships; andThe content creator receives at least $40,000 in actual compensation from the online content. Content creators whose online content features a minor engaged in content creation work must maintain specific records, including:Proof of the minor's age;The total compensation generated; andThe total number of minutes the minor was featured in posts featuring online content. A content creator shall compensate a minor engaged in content creation work by setting aside a portion of the gross earnings into a trust account for the minor until the minor reaches the age of majority or is declared emancipated. A court may distribute money from the trust account to the minor before the minor reaches the age of majority or is declared emancipated upon petition from the trustee and a finding that the money will only be used for specific expenses that solely benefit the minor. An adult or an emancipated minor who was featured as a uniquely identifiable minor in a content creator's post featuring online content on or after June 1, 2027, may request that the content creator delete the post or remove the uniquely identifiable information. The content creator must comply with the request within 72 hours. If the content creator fails to comply after 30 days, the individual may sue for various types of relief, and the online hosting platform must review and take reasonable steps to remove the content unless certain exceptions apply. The act prohibits a person from financially benefiting from knowingly producing or distributing online content of a minor with the intent to sexually gratify or elicit a sexual response in the viewer. Exceptions apply for law enforcement, reporting unlawful activity, legal proceedings, and certain actions engaged in by online hosting platforms. Online hosting platforms are required to develop and implement a risk-based strategy to help mitigate risks related to the monetization of the intentional sexualization of known minors. A civil action may be filed on behalf of a minor for damages, including actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees, if a content creator fails to comply with specified provisions of the act.(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; andThe 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; andPermits 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 act requires measures to improve equity in maternal health, including:Requiring the Colorado medical board to consider, as part of its stakeholder process for continuing medical education, a requirement that a physician complete continuing medical education on cultural competence and equity in maternal care;Requiring the state board of nursing rules relating to continuing education to include rules relating to health-care provider attention to cultural competence and equity in providing health-care services;Authorizing the department of public health and environment (CDPHE), subject to available appropriations, to provide a health survey to additional birthing parents, beyond those currently surveyed, and to compile the data if surveyed;Requiring a health facility that provides labor and childbirth services to make available to a birthing parent and a birthing parent's companion, electronically or in writing, a statement on respectful labor and childbirth regarding rights and components, including freedom from harm, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent, and allowing a birthing parent to have a birthing companion present at the birth, and to make available information, including telephone contact information, for the appropriate state or federal agency to receive a complaint alleging discrimination in labor and childbirth services;Subject to available federal grant funding for the maternal health task force (task force) established by CDPHE, ensuring that the maternal health task force includes at least one advocate representing populations with the worst maternal mortality outcomes in the state; andBeginning October 1, 2026, with respect to CDPHE's Colorado maternal mortality review committee, changing the reporting to the general assembly every 3 years concerning maternal health outcomes and equity from July to October and requiring the reporting of certain maternal health outcomes for populations known to have the worst maternal mortality outcomes in the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires a person to obtain a license to provide earned-wage access services (provider) but allows current providers to continue providing the services without a license until a license is issued or denied. The licensing, administrative, and disciplinary functions of the regulation of providers are performed by the assistant attorney general (administrator) who administers the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code". The administrator is given several powers, including adopting rules, related to this regulation.License application and issuance standards and procedures are established. A provider is issued a license if the administrator finds that the financial responsibility, character, and fitness of the applicant and of the applicant's members, managers, partners, officers, and directors are sufficient to demonstrate that the applicant will operate the business honestly and fairly and in compliance with the bill.The license fee is set by the administrator to cover the cost of regulating providers. Administrative procedures are established. A license is valid for one year, and to renew a license, a licensee must file a renewal form annually. If a licensee fails to pay the prescribed renewal fee on or before May 1 of each year, the licensee must pay a penalty of $5 per day per license until the license is renewed, but if a licensee fails to pay the appropriate renewal and penalty fees by May 15, the licensee's license automatically expires.The administrator may deny an application for a license or take disciplinary action against a licensee for failing to meet the standards set in the bill.To discipline a provider, the administrator may deny an application for licensure, revoke the license, suspend the license, issue a cease-and-desist order, impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation, bar the person from applying for or holding a license for 5 years after a revocation, issue a letter of admonition, or impose a penalty of $200 per day for records violations. A respondent aggrieved by an action or order of the administrator may obtain judicial review of the action or order in the Colorado court of appeals.A licensee is required to maintain records in conformity with the bill, rules adopted under the bill, and generally accepted accounting principles and practices in a manner that will enable the administrator to determine if the licensee is complying with the bill. A licensee shall give the administrator free access to the records in the licensee's storage location. A licensee need not preserve records pertaining to an earned-wage access services transaction for more than one year. Standards are set for this access.A licensee must file an annual report that includes all relevant information that the bill and the administrator reasonably require concerning the business and operations conducted during the preceding calendar year. Standards are set for the report. The administrator must keep the report confidential and not open it to the public for inspection pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act". If a licensee fails to file an annual report by April 15, the administrator may impose a penalty of $5 per day until the report is filed, but if the licensee fails to file the report and pay this penalty by May 1 of the same year, the licensee's license automatically expires.After the administrator has examined a licensee's records, the administrator shall provide a report of the examination to the licensee and may require the licensee to take corrective action. The licensee shall take the corrective action and provide proof that the corrective action was taken. The administrator is prohibited from disclosing the name or identity of a person whose acts or conduct is under investigation or examination or the facts disclosed in the investigation or examination, except for disclosures in actions or enforcement proceedings.A provider has the duty to:Develop and implement policies and procedures to respond to questions raised by consumers and address complaints from consumers;If the provider offers a consumer the option to receive proceeds for a service fee (proceeds), offer to the consumer at least one reasonable option to obtain proceeds at no cost to the consumer and clearly explain how to elect the no-cost option;Make certain disclosures about the earned-wage access services to the consumer;Inform the consumer before implementing material changes to the terms and conditions of the earned-wage access services agreement;Allow the consumer to cancel use of the earned-wage access services at any time without incurring a cancellation fee;Provide proceeds to a consumer by the means mutually agreed upon by the consumer and the provider; andTo be repaid for outstanding proceeds or payment of service fees or other amounts owed in connection with earned-wage access services from a consumer's account at a depository institution, comply with federal law and reimburse the consumer for the full amount of any overdraft or insufficient funds fees imposed on the consumer that were caused by the provider attempting to seek payment on a date before the date or in an amount different from the amount disclosed to the consumer.A provider shall not:Share with an employer a portion of a service fee that was received from or charged to a consumer for earned-wage access services;Require a consumer's credit score provided by a consumer reporting agency to determine the consumer's eligibility for earned-wage access services;Accept payment of outstanding proceeds or service fees from a consumer by means of a credit card or charge card;Charge a consumer a late fee, a deferral fee, interest, or any other penalty or charge for failure to pay outstanding proceeds or service fees;Report to a collection agency or to a debt collector information about a consumer regarding the inability of the provider to be repaid outstanding proceeds or service fees;Impose a service fee in excess of $5 for an advance of proceeds in an amount less than $75 or $7 for an advance of proceeds in an amount more than $75; except that the fee may be increased for inflation;Enter into an agreement with an employer that would require a consumer who is an employee of the employer to use earned-wage access services as a necessary condition of receiving payment of wages;Compel a consumer to pay outstanding proceeds or service fees to the provider through a lawsuit, the use of a third party to pursue collection from the consumer, or the sale of outstanding proceeds to a third-party collector or debt buyer. The collection limitations do not apply to the act of compelling payment of outstanding proceeds paid through fraudulent or other unlawful means or to pursuing an employer for breach of its contractual obligations to the provider.Solicit a tip, gratuity, or donation during the time between when a consumer requests proceeds and when the provider confirms that a transfer of proceeds has been approved and provides a listing of the fees that will be charged.The administrator may bring a civil action to recover a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for willfully violating the bill, and, if the court finds that the defendant has engaged in a course of repeated and willful violations, the court may assess a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. In addition, the administrator may recover reasonable costs of the investigation and action and may request an order for reimbursement of reasonable attorney fees.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under current law, a local education provider is required to ensure that a preschool or kindergarten student receives an individualized readiness plan (plan). The act makes it optional for local education providers to provide plans to students who demonstrate proficiency on specified assessment domains and the kindergarten reading assessment, unless the student's parent requests a plan. Under current law, a local education provider is required to annually provide information concerning assessments to students' parents. The act requires this written notice to include:The results of the student's specified assessment domains and kindergarten reading assessment;If applicable, information explaining that because of the student's assessment results, the local education provider is not required, and does not intend, to provide a plan for the student; andLanguage indicating that the student's parent may request a plan. Under current law, the department of education is required to submit an annual report to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate concerning specified educational accountability requirements. One of the reporting requirements concerns the level of school readiness demonstrated by students enrolled in kindergarten. The act requires the department to report this information on a statewide basis and to disaggregate the information based on specific characteristics.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)