Colorado Bills

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1137: Adopt a Shelter Pet Account Community Cats

The act authorizes the Colorado pet overpopulation authority (authority) to distribute money to encourage a pet animal facility, a pet animal rescue, and a spay and neuter organization located in Colorado (animal welfare facility) to trap, neuter, and return to its habitat a free-roaming domestic cat that may have a caretaker and is not socialized to humans (community cat). The adopt a shelter pet account in the pet overpopulation fund (account) provides the funding for these services. The authority will allocate funding pursuant to the direction of the authority's board of directors (board). The authority must not favor a particular animal welfare facility's shelter model over another when allocating money to an animal welfare facility. A pet animal facility must be licensed and in good standing with the department of agriculture and located in Colorado to be eligible for money to support trapping, neutering, and returning to the community a community cat (trap-neuter-return). An animal welfare facility allocated money for trap-neuter-return may spend the money only on: Trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating, and ear-tipping community cats in Colorado; Veterinary care for the treatment and sterilization of community cats in Colorado; Training for community cat caretakers and animal control personnel in humane trapping and trap-neuter-return protocols in Colorado; and For an animal welfare facility that is a spay and neuter organization, veterinary materials and support for mobile clinics in Colorado. The act changes the composition of the board and board member qualifications as follows: Replaces the representative of the Colorado federation of animal welfare agencies or its successor organization with one representative of an animal shelter; Replaces the representative of an association organized for Colorado animal control officers with one representative of a Colorado animal control agency; Replaces the member of an animal rescue organization with one person who is a member of a pet animal rescue; Modifies the qualifications of the representative from western Colorado by requiring that the person represent an animal shelter or a pet animal rescue or be a veterinary professional licensed with the state board of veterinary medicine located in western Colorado; Adds one representative from southern Colorado and one representative from eastern Colorado, both of whom must represent either an animal shelter or a pet animal rescue or be a veterinary professional licensed with the state board of veterinary medicine located in their respective regions; and Adds one representative of a pet animal facility located in a county with a population of 50,000 or less. The board member who represents the general public must not also be on the board of any animal welfare organization. Any other board member may be a member of a board or subcommittee of a board of an animal welfare organization, but no more than one member of the board may be on the board or subcommittee of the board of the same animal welfare organization. A member of the board shall recuse themself from any board action or vote if they have a conflict of interest, including a vote on any allocation of funding to the board member. The board must annually publish on the pet overpopulation fund website the name of each grantee receiving money from the pet overpopulation fund, the amount of money provided to a grantee, when a grantee received a grant, and the names of each board member. The act requires at least 70% of all money awarded for grants from the pet overpopulation fund to be used for animal welfare facilities that are headquartered and located in a Colorado county with a population of 200,000 or less and requires the board to consider awarding at least 50% of the funds designated for these rural communities to counties with a population of 50,000 or less. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1179: Auto Insurance Coverage Child Restraint System

The act requires an insurer that issues or renews an automobile insurance policy to include in the applicable coverage the replacement cost of a child restraint system that is in a motor vehicle at the time of a motor vehicle accident and to which the coverage is applicable. The act requires the insurer to ask a claimant if a child restraint system was in the motor vehicle at the time of the accident and, if so, requires the applicable coverage to cover the cost of its replacement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Transportation

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1203: Misbranding Cultivated Meat Products as Meat

The act prohibits food processing plants from selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product. The act also requires food processing plants to clearly label cell-cultivated meat as cell-cultivated meat. The department of public health and environment (department) is required to inspect food at a food processing plant if the department has reasonable cause to believe that: Cell-cultivated meat sold or offered for sale by the plant is misbranded as a meat product; or The plant is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required. If, after an inspection, the department has reasonable cause to believe that a food processing plant is selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product, or is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required, the department may issue a stop order. Upon being issued the stop order, the food processing plant shall not sell the product or offer it for sale until the department determines whether it is misbranded or unlabeled in violation of the act. If the department determines that a food processing plant is selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product, or is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required, the department may issue an embargo order requiring the food processing plant to dispose of the cell-cultivated meat by means other than by sale to purchasers in Colorado. The department, the attorney general, or the district attorney in the district where cell-cultivated meat is being offered for sale or sold may petition the district court to enforce a stop order or an embargo order. The department may adopt rules as necessary to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1205: Implement Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plans

The act specifies that the fair access to insurance requirements plan association (association) is not: A department, unit, agency, political subdivision, or instrumentality of the state; or An insurance company or a person engaged in the business of insurance. The act also grants a member insurer, the association and its agents or employees, the board of directors of the association, and the commissioner of insurance or the commissioner's representatives immunity for any action taken by them in the performance of their powers and duties for the association. The act specifies that the only causes of action and remedies available to a policyholder of a fair access to insurance requirements plan policy against the association is for breach of contract or breach of the common law covenant of good faith and fair dealing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 17, 2025

SB 25-060: Repeated Phone Calls Obstruction of Government Operations

The act expands the conduct that can constitute the crime of obstructing governmental operations to include the repeated calling of or contact with 911 dispatch centers or specified public safety entities without justifiable cause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1085: Public Hospital Boards of Trustees

The act allows a board of county commissioners to appoint an individual who is already an elected or appointed state, county, or city official to a public hospital board of trustees (hospital board). Before passage of the act, a hospital board was required organize and operate on the second Tuesday of each January. The act changes that requirement to mandate that a hospital board organize and operate on an annual basis. The act eliminates a requirement that one of the trustees of a hospital board must visit and examine the hospital at least twice each month. The act also changes the deadline by which a hospital board must certify to a board of county commissioners the amount necessary to maintain and improve the hospital for the ensuing year from October 1 to December 1. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

in committee · Colorado · Senate Apr 17, 2025

SB 25-127: Optimizing Colorado Electric Transmission System

Current law requires the Colorado electric transmission authority (authority) to conduct a study on the need for expanded transmission capacity in the state and prepare a final report of the study on or before January 31, 2025. Section 2 of the bill authorizes the authority to conduct the study on a recurring basis and requires the authority to present a statewide transmission plan, based on the results of the study, to the Colorado public utilities commission (commission) and the legislature every 3 years, beginning on or before September 1, 2027. Section 2 requires the authority to consider advanced transmission technologies in the study and identify certain projects that use advanced transmission technologies. "Advanced transmission technologies" is defined in section 1 as hardware or software technologies that increase the capacity, efficiency, reliability, or resiliency of an existing or new transmission facility. Section 3 designates the authority as a statewide transmission coordinator. Among other duties, the authority is required to facilitate coordinated statewide planning; engage with regional and interregional planning processes; and establish an expert advisory panel to review and provide feedback on model inputs, assumptions, and approaches. Under current law, an electric utility must submit an electric resource plan to the commission for approval. Sections 4 and 5 require an electric utility to: Include in the electric resource plan a transmission plan that identifies certain transmission resources and projects; Incorporate in the electric resource plan an evaluation of advanced transmission technologies or submit to the commission an explanation of why advanced transmission technologies are not included in the electric resource plan; and Provide model inputs and assumptions and other system information or methodology consultation necessary to support the authority in acting as a statewide transmission coordinator. Section 4 allows the commission to design incentives for a retail electric utility that utilizes advanced transmission technologies. Section 6 requires an electric utility to consider advanced transmission technologies in the electric utility's 10-year transmission plan.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1059: Food Waste Reduction in Public Schools

The act encourages each local education provider to adopt a policy to reduce food waste in school cafeterias and food preparation facilities (policy). The policy may address food waste diversion and aversion initiatives, including composting, donation of excess food to local nonprofits, or share table programs that permit students to return whole food or beverage items for redistribution to other students. A local education provider that implements a policy shall comply with all applicable sanitation and health requirements, including protocols to prevent student exposure to allergens, and shall require school personnel to complete related safety training. Current law establishes the Colorado circular communities enterprise (enterprise) to award grants and other funding and to provide technical assistance to certain entities throughout the state that pursue a circular economy for waste management, including waste diversion and aversion. The act requires the enterprise to consider reducing food waste by incentivizing public schools to develop and implement effective composting, excess food donation, or share table programs. The act extends limited immunity from civil and criminal liability to school personnel and local education providers that supervise food and beverage redistribution in accordance with policies that include share tables. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Environment

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1109: Gender Identity Certificate of Death

The act requires an individual who completes a certificate of death to record the decedent's sex to reflect the decedent's gender. If an individual who completes a certificate of death is presented with a document memorializing the decedent's gender (gender document), the individual must record the decedent's sex to reflect the gender indicated in the gender document. If a gender document is not presented and an individual with the right to control the disposition of the decedent's remains objects to the sex recorded by the individual who completes the certificate of death, the individual with the right to control the disposition of the decedent's remains may state their objection to the individual who completes a certificate of death before the certificate of death is filed, and the individual who completes the certificate of death must record the sex as the gender reported by the individual with the right to control the disposition of the decedent's remains. If a gender document is presented to the office of state registrar of vital statistics in the department of public health and environment (state registrar) for a decedent that died in the state, the state registrar must issue an amended certificate of death for the decedent that changes the decedent's sex to reflect the gender indicated in the gender document. The state registrar must also amend the certificate of death to reflect a legal name change if the appropriate legal name change documentation is submitted to the state registrar. An individual with the right to control the disposition of a decedent's remains may file a claim seeking an order of the court to amend the information recorded on the decedent's certificate of death. The act requires the department of public health and environment to add a gender field to the certificate of death form and the electronic death registration system. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

in committee · Colorado · Senate Apr 17, 2025

SCR 25-001: Property Tax Exemption First Responders

The concurrent resolution exempts from taxation a percentage of the actual value of a former or currently serving first responder's primary residence as follows: 50% if the first responder served for at least 30 years, or if the first responder served for at least one year and, while providing first responder services, died or was critically injured in a way that prevented the first responder from serving post-injury; 40% if the first responder served for at least 20 years; and 10% if the first responder served for at least 10 years and remained in service as a first responder at the close of the applicable property tax year. The concurrent resolution exempts from taxation a percentage of the actual value of a volunteer first responder's primary residence as follows: 30% if the volunteer first responder served for at least 30 years; and 20% if the volunteer first responder served for at least 20 years. These exemptions apply to surviving spouses of first responders and volunteer first responders. The general assembly is required to enact laws to implement the exemptions. (Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.)

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 17, 2025

SB 25-073: Military-Connected Children with Disabilities

The act clarifies that the child of an inbound active duty military member (member) who has an existing individualized education program (IEP) or existing section 504 plan is eligible for open enrollment, remote enrollment, and guaranteed matriculation. The act requires the school district, district charter school, or an institute charter school (local education provider) where the child enrolls to ensure the student receives the appropriate services and accommodations, consistent with the child's existing IEP or section 504 plan, without unreasonable delay upon enrollment. The act requires each local education provider to take reasonable steps to notify members and their families of their rights, including providing information on special education services to prevent inadvertent exclusion and to ensure members and their families are fully informed of available supports. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Education

signed · Colorado · House Apr 17, 2025

HB 25-1007: Paratransit Services

Beginning on January 1, 2026, any political subdivision of the state, public entity, or nonprofit corporation that provides paratransit services in the state (paratransit provider) is required to establish, in coordination with local public entities providing emergency services, a plan to communicate information and provide paratransit services during emergencies. The communication plan must include information on the number of riders who use paratransit services and the resource capacity of the paratransit provider, including the number of drivers and the number of vehicles used to provide paratransit services. Paratransit providers and public entities providing emergency services are also required to submit a report to the transportation legislation review committee on or before September 1, 2026, about the implementation of the communication and emergency services plan. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Transportation

Bill results