Colorado Bills

signed · Colorado · House Apr 27, 2026

HB 1002: Provider Participation in Health Insurance

If a mental health provider, substance use disorder provider, or psychiatric nurse (provider) has not submitted a claim for a period of at least 12 months, the act requires a commercial insurance carrier (carrier) to contact the provider to confirm the provider's participation in the carrier's provider network and to determine whether the provider is accepting new patients. The act includes mental health providers, substance use disorder providers, and psychiatric nurses as providers who may participate in a carrier's provider network. The act requires carriers to admit prelicensed providers into the carrier's network and to reimburse prelicensed providers for services rendered when provided under the supervision of a mental health provider, substance use disorder provider, or psychiatric nurse. The act requires a clinical social worker to complete 3,000 hours of practice prior to licensure.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Healthcare

Byron Pelton (R) Matt Ball (D) Lindsay Gilchrist (D) Kyle Brown (D) · 34 co-sponsors

signed · Colorado · House Apr 27, 2026

HB 1039: Adding Municipal Jails to County Jail Oversight Requirements

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.)

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Healthcare

signed · Colorado · House Apr 23, 2026

HB 1133: Traveling Animal Protection Act Environmental Education Program

The 'Traveling Animal Protection Act' permits the use of certain animals as part of an environmental education program if certain requirements are met. The act clarifies that an environmental education program is a program that is conducted by a professional who is qualified to impart environmental education information. The act defines 'professional' as an individual or an organization that has obtained at least one specific professional accreditation or certification.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

in committee · Colorado · House Apr 21, 2026

HB 1245: Theft by Contractor

The bill specifies that a person commits theft when the person knowingly uses an advance payment for a construction project for an unrelated purpose that results in the delay, end, abandonment, or material nonperformance of the construction project.The bill requires that before a contractor can take an advance payment from a customer, a contractor shall provide the customer with a written disclosure identifying the intended use of the advance payment, the anticipated timing of expenses identified in the disclosure, and the project's anticipated start date.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

signed · Colorado · House Apr 20, 2026

HB 1090: Teacher Licensing Requirements

The act requires that an applicant for a teacher license disclose misdemeanor convictions that occurred in the last 7 years, except traffic misdemeanors, unless:The misdemeanor was committed against an at-risk person or a child; or The department of education has specified that the misdemeanor is grounds for denial, annulment, suspension, or revocation of a license, certificate, endorsement, or authorization. The act requires that an applicant for a teacher license disclose any misdemeanor conviction in the 2 above categories, regardless of the date of conviction.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Education

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 20, 2026

SB 126: Licensure for Experienced Out-of-State Teachers

The act allows the state department of education (CDE) to issue a professional teacher license to a teacher with at least 3 years of successful teaching experience in another state or country for which CDE has granted reciprocity. The act eliminates the requirement that an applicant have the successful teaching experience within the previous 7 years. The act creates a temporary licensing process for teachers from states that participate in the 'Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact' (Compact). The process requires that CDE:Issue an initial teacher license within 30 days of receiving a complete teacher license application from a person licensed by a Compact state when the applicant passes a criminal history record check and holds an unencumbered eligible license issued by a Compact state that is equivalent to an eligible license in Colorado; and Publish an annual table showing how out-of-state licenses correspond to Colorado endorsement areas. The act repeals the temporary licensing process when CDE begins issuing licenses pursuant to the Compact.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Education

signed · Colorado · House Apr 20, 2026

HB 1200: Armed Services Member Motor Vehicle Taxes & Fees

Colorado law exempts the owner of a motor vehicle who is a member of the United States armed forces (member) from motor vehicle registration fees and sets the specific ownership tax at $1 while the member is serving outside the United States. This applies to personal motor vehicles and intrastate trucks, truck tractors, trailers, and semitrailers used to transport property. To qualify, the member must show the military order or evidence acceptable to the department of revenue (department) demonstrating that the member served outside the United States. The act repeals a requirement that the member sign an affidavit to qualify for the $1 specific ownership fee or to be exempt from the motor vehicle fee. Colorado law exempts members from paying late fees for failing to renew a registration for a vehicle if the member was serving outside the state when the registration period expired. The act sets the requirement to qualify for a late fee exception by requiring the member to show the military order or evidence acceptable to the department demonstrating that the member served outside of the state. The department will notify the member that the vehicle or motor vehicle must not be driven during deployment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 20, 2026

SB 14: Modification to Defense of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

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.)

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 20, 2026

SB 18: Legal Protections for Dignity of Minors

Beginning July 1, 2026, if a petitioner is under 18 years old at the time of filing a petition seeking to change the petitioner's name, the act requires the court to suppress the record unless the petitioner was previously convicted of a felony. The act authorizes the court to use the suppressed court record for administrative purposes, but the court is prohibited from publishing the petitioner's name or the petitioner's new name online. A petitioner who is under 18 years old is not required to give public notice of the name change. The act authorizes an individual to access a suppressed court record without a court order if the individual obtains verbal consent from a party to the case and submits an affidavit to the court, upon penalty of perjury, that the individual has obtained the verbal consent.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Technology

failed · Colorado · Senate Apr 20, 2026

SB 62: Rodenticide Use Restrictions

The bill prohibits a person from selling, distributing, applying, or using certain types of rodenticide and rodent glue traps in the state except as authorized for restricted and limited use in a public health emergency and in accordance with certain use requirements and time periods. A person conducting professional rodent control services in the state is required to prioritize integrated pest management strategies, which involve implementing a combination of nonchemical rodent control measures. designates second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which are pesticides containing brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, or difethialone as an active ingredient, as restricted-use pesticides and authorizes the commissioner of agriculture to restrict their distribution and use.(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.)

Topics ✓ Environment

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 20, 2026

SB 9: Charitable Organization State Sales & Use Tax

Under existing law, charitable organizations are exempt from state sales and use tax. The definition of charitable organization for purposes of state sales and use tax includes criteria that mirror the federal definition of a 501(c)(3) organization. The act requires the department of revenue to presume that an organization that presents the department with a 501(c)(3) determination letter from the internal revenue service is a charitable organization for purposes of state sales and use tax.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

signed · Colorado · Senate Apr 17, 2026

SB 118: Legacy Giving to Charitable Organizations

The act requires a bank, broker-dealer, depository institution, credit union, or financial or institutional investor (covered entity) that holds benefits that are designated by a donor to a charitable organization to pay the designated benefits no later than 60 calendar days after the charitable organization submits an affidavit attesting to the death of the donor and other information to the covered entity, except as described in federal law. If a covered entity that holds designated benefits is unable to pay the designated benefits to a charitable organization because federal law requires the covered entity to take certain actions or satisfy certain criteria in order to pay the designated benefits, the covered entity must take the actions or satisfy the criteria that are required by federal law and comply with the act no less than 120 calendar days after the charitable organization submits the affidavit to the covered entity. If a charitable organization receives designated benefits that concern a creditor claim, statutory allowance, or the unsatisfied balance of an elective-share or a supplemental elective-share claim (outstanding claim) for which the charitable organization may be liable, the charitable organization must return to the donor's estate a portion or all of the designated benefits in order to satisfy the outstanding claim within 60 days after receiving written notice of the liability, with certain exceptions. If the charitable organization fails to comply, it must pay statutory interest to the donor's estate for each day the unreturned amount remains outstanding. Upon receiving notice of the outstanding claim from the personal representative of the donor's estate, the charitable organization must hold all or a portion of the designated benefits in a constructive trust pending a determination of the outstanding claim. Moreover, the charitable organization may be subject to one or more court actions. A covered entity that holds benefits that are designated to a charitable organization shall not:Require the charitable organization to establish an account with the covered entity as a condition of receiving the designated benefits; orRequire an individual employed by, or serving on the board of, the charitable organization to submit personal information as a condition of receiving designated benefits. The act may be enforced by the division of banking, the financial services board, or the division of securities, as appropriate.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Bill results