This bill brings Denver School of Science and Technology charter schools into the Denver Public Schools division of the Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA), allowing their employees to participate in the same retirement benefits as other Denver public school workers. The legislation also changes the PERA Board of Trustees by adding one voting member elected by Denver Public Schools employees and removing a non-voting ex officio member from that division. Additionally, the bill extends the deadline for charter school employees to purchase additional retirement service credit for years worked before affiliation, moving the cutoff date from November 1, 2006, to July 1, 2026. These changes affect Denver public school employees, retirees, and the governance structure of the state's public employee retirement system.
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its 2025 sunset review of the 'Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act' (PACFA) as follows:Sections 1 and 2 of the act continue the commissioner of agriculture's (commissioner) function of licensing pet animal facilities in accordance with the PACFA for 8 years, until 2034;Section 3 amends the PACFA's pet animal advisory committee (committee) membership structure by requiring the commissioner, on or before December 1, 2026, to appoint 15 members with certain specifications. Section 3 also specifies that members appointed to the committee on or before December 1, 2026, may serve no more than 2 consecutive terms of 4 years.Section 4 prohibits the importation of certain pet animals into the state without a valid certificate of veterinary inspection by an accredited veterinarian in the state of origin issued within 10 days prior to the pet animal's arrival in Colorado;Section 5 increases the current maximum fee amount of $700 for a pet animal facility license application to $1,500;Section 6 raises the maximum civil penalty amount for a violation of the PACFA or of a rule adopted pursuant to the PACFA from $1,000 per violation to $2,500 per violation;Section 7 states that a person that chooses to request a hearing in response to a cease-and-desist order issued by the commissioner for a violation of the PACFA or of a rule adopted pursuant to the PACFA must do so within 30 days after the issuance of the cease-and-desist order;Section 8 requires the commissioner to develop an administrative process for an interested person to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule by the commissioner;Section 9 amends House Bill 26-1011 concerning the transfer of certain pet animals in Colorado, by clarifying that the prohibition on a broker selling, leasing, offering to sell or lease, bartering, auctioning, or otherwise transferring ownership of a dog or cat does not apply to the sale, transfer, or adoption of a dog or cat to or by a pet store prior to January 1, 2028; andSection 10 relocates the statute that establishes the pet overpopulation authority (authority) so the authority is no longer subject to sunset review as part of the PACFA.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning June 1, 2027, a person convicted for the first time of certain offenses related to driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol is required to hold an interlock-restricted license for a consecutive period of nine months following reinstatement of the person's driver's license prior to being eligible to obtain any other driver's license, except in limited circumstances. If a person's driving privileges have been revoked for one year or more because of a refusal related to certain offenses related to driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, current law authorizes the person to apply for early reinstatement with an interlock-restricted license after the driving privilege has been revoked for 2 months. Beginning June 1, 2027, the 2-month waiting period is repealed. Under current law, a financial assistance program (assistance program) is available to assist people who apply for an interlock-restricted license and are unable to pay the full cost of an approved ignition interlock device. The act restricts eligibility for the program to those who satisfy certain income criteria. A certified ignition interlock manufacturer (manufacturer) must provide a person who is eligible for the assistance program certain discounts on installation of, lease charges for, and removal of an interlock device. The manufacturer must provide certain information regarding the assistance program at the time the interlock device installation appointment is scheduled and when a person executes an interlock device lease or service agreement. The act appropriates $15,225 to the department of revenue to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a jury selection working group (working group) in the judicial department to identify best practices and make recommendations for statutory or rule changes to improve jury selection. The act details the working group's membership and duties, and requires the working group to submit a final report of the working group's recommendations to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate and to each supreme court justice. If recommendations for rule changes are made, the Colorado supreme court shall respond to the recommendations and post the response on its website for public access.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
HB 1306 creates a special Colorado license plate for vehicles, requiring owners to pay a $50 initial donation to the Wild Horse Fund and a $25 one-time fee to obtain the plate. To renew the plate annually, owners must make an additional $25 donation to the fund. All collected funds support the state’s wild horse population management program, as specified in the bill. This option is available to any Colorado resident who qualifies for standard vehicle registration.
The act extends for an additional 10 years the availability of the state income tax credit allowed to a taxpayer who makes a qualifying monetary contribution to promote child care in the state equal to 50% of the total value of the contribution, not to exceed $100,000, through income tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2038.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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.)
The act:Increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2026-27 budget year by $208.60 to account for inflation;Sets a new statewide base per pupil funding amount for the 2026-27 budget year at $8,900.40; andSets the total program funding for the 2026-27 budget year at $10,178,856,871. Under current law, there are 2 total program formulas that are used to determine a school district's total program, commonly referred to as the old formula and the new formula. A school district's funded pupil count is a figure that is used as a part of determining a school district's total program. Under the new formula, for the 2026-27 budget year and each budget year thereafter, a school district's funded pupil count is calculated by determining the greater of the school district's pupil enrollment for the applicable budget year or the average of the district's pupil enrollment for the applicable budget year and the immediately preceding 2 budget years. However, the act requires that when specified conditions are met, a school district's funded pupil count is the school district's online pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus the school district's supplemental kindergarten enrollment for the budget year, plus the school district's extended high school pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus the greater of:The school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year;An amount equal to 50% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus an amount equal to 30% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the preceding budget year, plus an amount equal to 20% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year that is 2 years preceding the budget year; orAn amount equal to 97% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the preceding budget year. A school district's cost of living factor is a figure that is used as a part of determining a school district's total program. Under the old formula and the new formula, the act requires the cost of living factor that was used for the 2025-26 budget year to apply in the 2026-27 budget year. Under current law, for the 2026-27 budget year, a district's total program is the greater of:The district's total program amount for the 2024-25 budget year; orThe amount calculated for the 2025-26 budget year under the old formula plus an amount equal to 30% of the difference between the amounts calculated between the old formula and the new formula. The act clarifies that for the 2026-27 budget year, if the calculation under the new formula is less than the calculation under the old formula, then that district's total program for the 2025-26 budget year is the greater of:The district's total program amount for the 2024-25 budget year under the old formula; orThe amount calculated for the 2026-27 budget year under the old formula. The act permits a school transformation grant recipient that is implementing a priority improvement or turnaround plan to use the grant award to plan for and implement rigorous redesign strategies. The act changes the provisions that determine the amounts of total program that school districts and the state charter school institute distribute to their charter schools. Related to the changes of these provisions, the act repeals at-risk supplemental aid for charter schools. The act exempts from a future repeal the general assembly's legislative declaration that using state education fund money for maintaining a website that explains major categories in the chart of accounts for local education providers is a permissible use of state education fund money. The act repeals the scheduled repeal of, resulting in a continuation of, a statute that authorizes contingency reserve fund payments to be used for rural or small rural school districts if an unusual financial burden would be caused by the withholding of local property taxes due to a delay in filing the audit report due to extraordinary problems that could not have been reasonably foreseen or prevented by the rural or small rural school district. The act adds an assistant superintendent, a vice principal, and an assistant principal to the list of eligible school employees who may receive a salary without a reduction in public employees' retirement association (PERA) benefits if the service retiree meets specified conditions. The act permits a local education provider to request that the department of education approve the local education provider's use of pencil and paper to complete any or every portion of a state assessment for grades 3 or 4 and requires that the local education provider be responsible for costs owed to the vendor that are associated with the administration of the assessment using pencil and paper. The act authorizes the state board of education to adopt rules that are necessary to determine the district of residence of a child with a disability for a circumstance that is not described under law. The act repeals the requirement that $500,000 be distributed to administrative units that enroll children with disabilities and instead requires that $1 million be distributed to fund reimbursements for administrative units that pay tuition or education expenses that ensure a free appropriate public education for a student in out-of-home placement who has an individualized education program. The act requires the department of education to engage stakeholders concerning public placements in facility schools and on the issue of whether to make recommendations concerning such placements to the state board of education regarding rules or to the general assembly regarding statutes. Under current law, each participating school food authority that satisfies certain requirements is eligible to receive a local food purchasing grant and an amount to increase wages or stipends for individuals employed to prepare and serve school meals. The act clarifies that a charter school that operates under a participating school food authority is eligible for the awards. The act:Prohibits a board of cooperative services (BOCES) from acting as a statewide authorizer of programs or schools; andLimits a BOCES to operating a school or program outside the geographic boundaries of its school district members, unless specified conditions are satisfied. The act permits a local education provider to offer one or more part-time programs for homeschool students if specified conditions are satisfied. The act requires an authorizer contracting with an education management provider to maintain appropriate independence from, and oversight of, the education management provider. The act prohibits a school district from creating a contract school that is a full-time complete educational program offered exclusively by a private entity pursuant to a contract with the public entity. The act appropriates:$3,755,558 to the department of education from the state education fund for the state share of districts' total program;$313,395 to the department of education from the state education fund for management and administration for information technology services and for use by school district operations for administration related to public school finance; and$3,385,203 to the department of education from the state education fund for school district operations for costs associated with holding charter schools harmless for changes in the distribution of total program funding. The act adjusts the 2026-27 long bill by decreasing:$8,502,195 from the appropriation from the state education fund to the department of education for the state share of districts' total program funding; and$3,504,995 from the appropriation from the state education fund to the department of education for use by school district operations for at-risk supplemental aid.(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 makes changes to the dispute resolution process between health insurance carriers (carriers) and out-of-network health-care providers (providers) by requiring a carrier to provide, with each payment made to a provider, a remittance advice that: Identifies when the associated health benefit plan is regulated by the state and when the payment is made pursuant to services received from an out-of-network provider or at an out-of-network facility; andProvides the carrier's median in-network reimbursement rate for out-of-network claims.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act corrects a statutory reference related to depositing bond forfeiture money in the judicial stabilization cash fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $10 million from the tobacco education programs fund to the preschool programs cash fund on June 30, 2027. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act reduces the general fund appropriation to the department of early childhood (department) for the universal preschool program by $10 million and makes a corresponding $10 million appropriation to the department from the preschool programs cash fund for the universal preschool program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
