SB 77: Epilepsy-Related Mortality Awareness - Colorado

Rerevised → Final Act · 5 edits · Apr 6, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was finalized and signed into law, transitioning from a draft version to an enacted act. The core policy content regarding epilepsy mortality awareness remained largely consistent, but the final version includes specific effective dates and formal signatures from legislative officers and the Governor. The bill mandates that death certification professionals stay aware of national recommendations for identifying epilepsy-related deaths and requires the Department of Public Health and Environment to notify medical certifiers of these new requirements.

Scope change

The bill's scope is now formally established as 'Lincoln's Law' within the Colorado Revised Statutes, applying to all death certification professionals and the Department of Public Health and Environment.

TIMELINE

Added specific effective dates: the notification requirement must be completed by June 1, 2027, and the awareness requirement begins July 1, 2027.

TECHNICAL

Added formal signatures from the Senate President, House Speaker, Chief Clerk, Secretary of the Senate, and the Governor to finalize the legislation.

Included a note directing readers to legislative status sheets for the Governor's final action.

REQUIREMENT

Refined the requirement for death certification professionals to ensure they are aware of the most recent epilepsy-related death certification recommendations from nationally recognized organizations.

Authorized the Department of Public Health and Environment to provide online guidelines for clinicians and medical certifiers regarding epilepsy-related deaths.

Revised → Rerevised · 4 edits · Apr 2, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was re-revised to include additional House sponsors and updated reading dates, while removing the introductory text regarding the bill's intent to mitigate sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. The substantive policy content, including definitions and specific provisions, remains unchanged in this excerpt.

TECHNICAL

Added new House sponsors (Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Camacho, Clifford, Duran, Feret, Froelich, Hamrick, Jackson, Lieder, Lindsay, Marshall, McCluskie, Nguyen, Rutinel, Rydin, Stewart R., Story, Titone) to the House sponsorship list.

Removed the introductory statement explaining the bill's intent to help mitigate risk and prevent unnecessary deaths by increasing awareness and education concerning sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Updated the document header from 'REVISED' to 'REREVISED' and adjusted the amendment adoption language to reflect changes adopted in the Second House.

Added a '3rd Reading Unamended' date stamp of April 2, 2026, for the House.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · Mar 27, 2026

MINOR

The bill was transitioned from a House-referred 'Reengrossed' version to a 'Revised' version after being amended during the Second Reading in the Senate. This revision incorporates changes made by the Senate, including the addition of a new sponsor and a stamp indicating the amendment date. Substantively, the text provided shows the removal of several lines defining a 'Death Certification Professional' and the beginning of a section regarding epilepsy-related mortality training, suggesting the Senate amended the bill to alter or remove specific definitions and procedural requirements related to death certification.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding death certification definitions appears to have been reduced or altered by the Senate amendments, as specific lines defining the 'Death Certification Professional' were removed.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'Death Certification Professional' was partially removed, deleting lines that specified who determines the cause of death and completes medical certification.

TECHNICAL

A new sponsor, Stewart K., was added to the list of House sponsors, and a stamp indicating 'Amended 2nd Reading' with a date of March 27, 2026, was inserted.

REQUIREMENT

Specific lines detailing the requirements for epilepsy-related mortality awareness training (beginning July 1, 2027) were deleted from the provided text.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 2 edits · Mar 12, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional sponsors and updated the legislative metadata to reflect amendments adopted in the House. The core policy text regarding epilepsy-related death certification requirements remains unchanged, though the summary note was updated to indicate that a new bill summary for the reengrossed version will be available online.

Scope change

The bill's substantive scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the list of Senate sponsors was expanded and the legislative status was updated.

TECHNICAL

Added multiple new Senate sponsors (Amabile, Ball, Benavidez, Bright, Carson, Coleman, Cutter, Danielson, Daugherty, Exum, Frizell, Gonzales J., Hinrichsen, Kipp, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Lindstedt, Marchman, Mullica, Roberts, Rodriguez, Simpson, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman) to the bill's sponsorship list.

Updated the legislative header from 'ENGROSSED' to 'REENGROSSED' and revised the accompanying note to state that a new summary for the reengrossed version will be available at the specified website.

Introduced → Engrossed · 5 edits · Mar 10, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was amended to change the terminology from 'death investigation professional' to 'death certification professional' and shifted the department's responsibility from gathering information to ensuring professionals are aware of specific recommendations. The timeline for compliance was moved from July 1, 2027, to June 1, 2027, and the source of information was narrowed to the National Association of Medical Examiners.

Scope change

The scope of the requirement was narrowed to apply specifically to death certification professionals rather than all death investigation professionals, and the source of required information was restricted to a single national organization.

DEFINITION

Changed the definition of 'DEATH INVESTIGATION PROFESSIONAL' to 'DEATH CERTIFICATION PROFESSIONAL' to align the requirement with the specific role of issuing death certificates.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the requirement for the Department to gather and create standard information with a requirement for professionals to ensure they are aware of specific recommendations.

Narrowed the source of required information to recommendations from the National Association of Medical Examiners instead of a broader range of publications and organizations.

Added a new subsection requiring the Department to electronically notify registered users of the Colorado Vital Events System about these new requirements.

TIMELINE

Changed the compliance deadline from July 1, 2027, to June 1, 2027.

Epilepsy-Related Mortality Awareness

What changed between versions

How they voted

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