Colorado Bills

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 9, 2026

HB 1128: Limitation on Gender Transition Procedure Claims

The bill requires that a cause of action for an intentional or negligent act for an injury as a result of a youth gender transition procedure by a provider must be brought before the youth reaches 38 years old.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Topics ✗ Healthcare

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 9, 2026

HB 1243: Department of Public Health and Environment Regulation of Abortion Clinics

The bill requires the department of public health and environment (department) to annually license, and to establish and enforce standards for the operation of, facilities that are not currently required to be licensed by the department and that perform medical or surgical induced abortions during the second or third trimester of pregnancy.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Topics ✗ Healthcare

signed · Colorado · Senate Mar 9, 2026

SB 10: Agricultural Property Tax Definitions

The act broadens the definition of 'ranch' for purposes of property taxation to mean a parcel of land that is predominantly used for grazing livestock for the primary purpose of obtaining a monetary profit. A ranch must operate through a pasture-based operation, which is newly defined as a method of livestock management where pasture-grazed livestock have regular access to open pasture and derive a majority of their diet through grazing. The act also broadens the definition of 'farm' for purposes of property taxation to mirror the predominant use language in the definition of 'ranch'. With this change, a farm means a parcel of land that is predominantly used to produce agricultural products that originate from the land's productivity for the primary purpose of obtaining a monetary profit.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes

signed · Colorado · Senate Mar 9, 2026

SB 52: Coal Transition Community Investment

The act establishes a first and preferred opportunity for available employment for coal transition workers in coal transition communities (hiring preference). A business entity located in a coal transition community that is engaged in the business of constructing or operating railroads, utilities, energy generation facilities, or advanced manufacturing facilities (covered business) is required to comply with the hiring preference. A covered business does not include the state government or a local government. A covered business is required to make good faith efforts to provide a hiring preference to a coal transition worker who meets the qualifications for an employment position (qualified coal transition worker). A covered business may hire an individual who is not a qualified coal transition worker only if a qualified coal transition worker did not apply for employment with the covered business, each qualified coal transition worker declined a job offer from a covered business, or a qualified coal transition worker's qualifications did not meet the qualifications of other candidates for the same job. If a qualified coal transition worker applies for employment with a covered business, the covered business is required to report specified information annually to the just transition office. The executive director is required to adopt policies and procedures to implement the act. A hiring preference does not apply if a covered business places an existing employee in another employment position with the covered business or to the extent that a hiring preference conflicts with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that applies to the relationship between a covered business and its employees. Currently, a public entity is not allowed to invest public funds in certain types of investments, such as equity instruments, instruments convertible to equity, or equity interests, or to deposit public funds with any person except certain depository institutions, which are primarily banks. The act authorizes a public entity to deposit or invest, either directly or through an investment firm or other third party authorized by the public entity, public funds from a payment or settlement that the public entity has received to offset the socioeconomic impacts to a community or government from the closure of a coal mine or coal power generating station in any investment permitted by an investment policy approved by the public entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Topics ✓ Energy ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · Colorado · Senate Mar 5, 2026

SB 107: Modify Colorado Open Records Act

The bill makes the following changes to the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA):Excludes from the definition of a "public record" a written document or electronic record that is produced by a device or application that is used to assist an individual with a disability or individuals with language barriers to facilitate communication if the written document or electronic record has been produced to facilitate communication in lieu of verbal communication;Requires a public entity to post any rules or policies adopted pursuant to CORA, including any records retention policy, and to post information for members of the public regarding how to make a public records request; Changes the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request from 3 to 5 working days and changes the extension of time for the response period if extenuating circumstances exist from not exceeding 7 additional days to not exceeding 10 additional days;Adds an extenuating circumstance that allows extension of the response period when the custodian is not scheduled to work within the response period;If public records are in the sole and exclusive custody and control of a person who is not scheduled to work within the response period, requires a custodian to provide all other available responsive public records within the response period and to notify the requester of the earliest date on which the person is expected to be available or that the person is not expected to return. The requester may make a subsequent request for additional responsive records, if any, on or after the date the custodian provides.Allows a custodian to determine that a request, other than a request for a contract or other information delivered using computer data extraction methods that require minimal human intervention for retrieval, is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain and provides a 30-day response period for such request; requires the custodian to provide written notice of the custodian's determination to the requester and permits the requester to appeal the determination to the district court; and allows a custodian to charge the requester for the reasonable cost of directly responding to the request notwithstanding the allowance for the first hour of research and retrieval to be free of charge and notwithstanding the statutory cap on fees which otherwise would apply;In addition to the prohibition on disclosing public elementary or secondary school students' addresses and telephone numbers, prohibits disclosure of any other student information that could be used to directly contact, address, or send a message to a student through any means or method;Allows a requester to ask a custodian for a reasonable breakdown of costs that comprise the fee charged for the research and retrieval of requested public records and requires a custodian to provide such a breakdown upon request;Clarifies that the custodian of records for a public entity must allow a requester to pay any fee or deposit associated with a request for public records with a credit card or electronic payment if the public entity allows members of the public to pay in this manner for any other service or product provided by the public entity;Allows a custodian to treat a CORA request received within 14 calendar days of another CORA request for information pertaining to facially similar content and made by the same person as one request for purposes of calculating the fee that the custodian may charge the requester for research and retrieval of responsive public records;Requires a custodian who fails to respond to a request for inspection within the applicable time period to provide the requester with one additional hour of research and retrieval time without charge for each calendar day that the response is late; andClarifies that if a custodian imposes any requirements concerning the prepayment or payment of a fee in connection with a request for inspection of public records, the requirements must be in accordance with the custodian's adopted rules or written policies and must not be inconsistent with the provisions of CORA.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 5, 2026

HB 1278: Local Government Approval of Transmission Infrastructure

The bill requires that an investor-owned electric utility receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity (certificate) from the public utilities commission and obtain all necessary local government land use approvals and permits prior to initiating any condemnation proceedings related to a high-voltage transmission infrastructure project requiring the certificate.The bill does not change existing application and review processes related to the development of transmission projects that have been established by the public utilities commission or a relevant local government.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 5, 2026

HB 1124: Electrical Generation & Distribution Resiliency

The bill creates the Colorado electric grid resiliency task force (task force) to study the issue of grid resilience and to make recommendations to the governor and the general assembly. The task force is 18 members. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall organize and call the first meeting of the task force by November 28, 2026. The task force meets at least once every month until it completes its duties, but the chair may call additional meetings. Upon request by the task force, the department of regulatory agencies shall provide office space, equipment, and staff services as necessary. The task force has the following duties on a biennial basis:Doing a rigorous, uniform engineering assessment of every covered transformer in Colorado;Developing a prioritized statewide hardening and spare-transformer plan with cost estimates, cost-benefit analyses, and recommended funding mechanisms;Recommending rules, legislation, and interstate or federal cost-sharing arrangements and publishing a report detailing these recommendations; andReporting its findings to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee. The bill sets minimum technical standards for the assessment, plan, and recommendations. A transmission-owning entity must participate in the task force assessment and provide any requested data. These entities may recover reasonable and prudent costs incurred to comply with the bill through rates, member assessments, or ordinary budgeting processes. Owners or operators of covered transformers are required to file with the federal energy regulatory commission a report, marked as "Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information". Standards are set for the report. Biennially, the public utilities commission must prepare a summary of the report and present it to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee. The public utilities commission must adopt rules requiring implementation of the highest-priority hardware-based mitigation measures identified by the task force unless equivalent protection is demonstrated. The task force repeals on September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, it is scheduled for review under the sunset law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

in committee · Colorado · Senate Mar 5, 2026

SB 106: Opt-out of Mail Ballot Packets for Elections

The bill requires the secretary of state (secretary) to adopt rules to establish a process by which a registered elector may choose not to automatically receive a mail ballot packet for all elections that the county clerk and recorder conducts by mail ballot on or after November 2, 2027. The rules must include a process by which a registered elector who has chosen not to receive mail ballots may choose to resume receipt of mail ballots. The secretary is required to develop public-facing communications explaining that choosing not to receive a mail ballot packet is voluntary. A registered elector who has chosen not to receive a mail ballot packet must either vote in person at a voter service and polling center or request a mail ballot.For each mail ballot election conducted by a county clerk and recorder on or after November 2, 2027, each county clerk and recorder is required to report to the secretary the number of registered electors in the county who chose not to receive a mail ballot packet for the election and the number of mail ballot packets that the county clerk and recorder did not send as a result for that election. The secretary is required to use the information submitted by each county clerk and recorder to determine the reduction in the costs that each county incurred in conducting the election and to make the information reported by the county clerk and recorders and the savings determined by the secretary available to the public on the secretary's website.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

in committee · Colorado · Senate Mar 5, 2026

SB 41: Consumer Protections Medical Care Entities

Section 1 of the bill amends and relocates the current requirements for notification to the attorney general regarding certain mergers, acquisitions, or transfers of securities or assets. Current law prohibits the attorney general from charging a party to a merger a fee connected with filing of the merger or a fee for providing additional information regarding the merger. The bill allows the attorney general to charge each filing party a reasonable fee, not to exceed $5,000. Section 1 also requires that the parties to a merger, acquisition, or contracting affiliation of one or more health-care entities (material change transaction) comply with specified notice requirements at least 60 days before the closing of the material change transaction. If the material change transaction requires the filing of a premerger notification with the federal trade commission or the United States department of justice pursuant to the federal "Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976", the parties shall also submit notice to the attorney general. If the terms of the material change transaction are altered following the submission of the written notice to the attorney general, the parties must provide notice to the attorney general of the alteration.The attorney general may deem information and materials provided in compliance with the notice requirements as public records subject to disclosure under the "Colorado Open Records Act". Section 1 also prohibits a material change transaction if the material change transaction may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly or may harm consumer welfare. A party to a material change transaction shall not close the material change transaction until specified conditions are met. Sections 3 through 9 amend the current requirements for transactions that involve licensed hospitals and are subject to notice requirements to the attorney general (covered transactions) by:Including in the definition of a "covered transaction" a transaction that would result in the sale, transfer, lease, exchange, or other disposition of the management, control, or operations of a hospital;Requiring parties to a covered transaction to include, in the notice to the attorney general of the transaction, a statement describing the charitable missions of each nonprofit entity entering into the covered transaction and the services provided by each nonprofit entity in furtherance of the nonprofit entity's charitable purposes and charitable missions;Specifying that if a covered transaction will not result in a material change in the charitable purposes, charitable missions, or services provided in furtherance of the charitable purposes or missions of a nonprofit entity entering into the covered transaction, and will not result in a termination of the attorney general's jurisdiction over the charitable assets due to a transfer of a material amount of those assets outside of the state of Colorado, the parties may proceed with the covered transaction without additional review by the attorney general. The attorney general may perform specified actions to review, and use specified criteria to determine, whether the covered transaction will result in a material change.Authorizing the attorney general to exercise their common law authority to assess and review or challenge a covered transaction that will result in a material change in the charitable purposes, charitable missions, or services provided in furtherance of the charitable purposes or missions of a nonprofit entity entering into the covered transaction or will result in a termination of the attorney general's jurisdiction over the charitable assets due to a transfer of a material amount of those assets outside of the state of Colorado;Adding specified information to the notice requirements for covered transactions in which the parties involved in the transaction are all for-profit entities; andCreating notice requirements for and attorney general review of covered transactions involving a for-profit hospital and a nonprofit entity. Section 10 requires that, if certain health-care providers refer a patient to an entity for health-care services and the provider, or an immediate family member of the provider, has a financial relationship with the entity, the provider shall disclose the nature of the financial relationship to the patient at the time of the referral. The attorney general is required to study the effect of these provisions and the impact the provisions have on consumer knowledge and costs and submit a report on the findings of the study. Sections 11 through 30 make conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 4, 2026

HB 1093: College Opportunity Fund Working Group

The bill creates a working group to make findings and recommendations concerning how to implement the college opportunity fund for persons who are incarcerated in Colorado, including whether fee-for-service contracts for participating institutions of higher education need to be modified. The bill requires the working group to report its findings and recommendations to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate on or before December 1, 2026.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Education

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 4, 2026

HB 1125: Parent Penalties Minor Using Electric Bicycle

The bill creates penalties to be assessed against a parent or guardian who permits their minor child or ward to operate an electrical assisted bicycle, electric motorcycle, electric scooter, or electric skateboard (electric vehicle) if the minor child or ward operates the electric vehicle in a manner that violates certain laws concerning the usage of such electric vehicles, including laws regarding age requirements for different classes of such electric vehicles, how to safely and properly operate such electric vehicles on roadways or pathways, and required safety gear.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Topics ✓ Transportation

in committee · Colorado · House Mar 4, 2026

HB 1060: Expand Criminal Jurisdiction for Out-of-State Conduct

The bill clarifies that the criminal jurisdiction of prosecutions includes conduct that causes injury, loss, damage, or deprivation of a thing of value, rights, privileges, access, or identity to a person located in the state.Jurisdiction exists even if a defendant does not have actual knowledge that the victim is located in the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Bill results