The availability of both the family affordability tax credit and the earned income tax credit has been determined by the compound annual growth rate between actual state revenue in state fiscal year 2024-25 and projected state revenue for the fiscal year that begins during the relevant state income tax year. Under the act, the availability of both tax credits is determined by the compound annual growth rate between state revenue for state fiscal year 2024-25, as projected in the March 2024 office of state planning and budgeting revenue forecast, and projected state revenue for the fiscal year that begins during the relevant state income tax year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The division of water resources in the department of natural resources (division) is responsible for administering water rights and issuing water well permits, among other duties. Under current law, after having received a permit to appropriate designated groundwater or construct a well outside the boundaries of a designated groundwater basin, a permit holder is required to construct the well within one year after the date of issuance of the permit. If the well is not constructed within one year, the permit expires; except that the ground water commission (commission) in the division or the state engineer, as applicable, may grant a single one-year extension. The act extends the time frame for construction of a well to 2 years, eliminating the need for the commission or the state engineer to approve a one-year extension to the initial one-year construction time frame, except for permits issued for federally authorized water projects. The act also removes the requirement that the commission or state engineer must mail a certified letter to the permit holder before a permit can be formally expired. The act allows the commission or state engineer to reinstate an expired permit if the applicant for reinstatement of the permit can show that the well was completed in a timely manner and submits a $30 fee. Under current law, the division engineer of each water division is required to decennially present to the water court a list of water rights that meet the criteria for abandonment. The act splits this decennial abandonment process into 2 batches, grouped by water division and spaced 5 years apart, beginning with 2030 and 2035. The act maintains the requirement that the abandonment process be performed every 10 years in each water division. The act extends certain time frames relating to the well permitting process. Lastly, the act eliminates final permitting requirements for non-Denver Basin bedrock aquifer wells in the designated basins. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a school district, a charter school, an institute charter school, a board of cooperative services, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education provider) to satisfy certain requirements concerning installation, inspection, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in schools if the local education provider undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money from the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" cash fund. The requirements established in the act concern: Ventilation verification assessments, which include assessments of an HVAC system's filtration, ventilation exhaust, economizers, demand control ventilation, air distribution and building pressurization, general maintenance requirements, and operational controls ; The preparation of HVAC assessment reports; The review of HVAC assessment reports by mechanical engineers, who make recommendations regarding necessary repairs and improvements, suggest pathways to reduce emissions, and estimate associated costs; HVAC adjustments, repairs, upgrades, and replacements; and The preparation of HVAC verification reports, which must be maintained for at least 5 years and made available to the public upon request. The act establishes mandatory criteria that an HVAC contractor must satisfy in order to perform work described in the act. A local education provider that undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money from the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" cash fund must do so using only contractors on the certified contractor list established by the department of labor and employment, unless the local education provider determines that there were no responsive, eligible subcontractors available to fulfill the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing portions of the contract. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the office of the state controller (office) to transfer, unless otherwise provided by law, on June 30, 2025, and each June 30 thereafter, the balance of any repealed cash fund to the general fund. The act requires the office to annually submit a report to the joint budget committee that: Identifies any cash funds that have not been appropriated from in the last 2 state fiscal years and the balance of those funds; and Identifies the total amount that the office has transferred to the general fund from repealed cash funds in the preceding state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the executive director of the department of revenue to allow a sales and use tax license and a sales and use tax exemption certificate to be searchable by the name and identification number of the sales and use tax licensee or the sales and use tax exemption certificate holder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act reinstates the sales and use tax exemption for certain low-emitting heavy-duty motor vehicles, vehicle power sources, and parts for vehicle power source conversion, which had expired as of January 1, 2025, for the period beginning on and after August 1, 2025, but prior to January 1, 2029, and clarifies the intent of the exemption. The act increases the amount of the bridge and tunnel impact fee to be imposed per gallon of special fuel by the statewide bridge and tunnel enterprise from $0.05 per gallon to $0.07 per gallon for state fiscal year 2025-26, from $0.06 per gallon to $0.07 per gallon for state fiscal year 2026-27, and from $0.07 per gallon to $0.08 per gallon for state fiscal year 2027-28. For state fiscal year 2025-2026, $3,959 is appropriated from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adjusts several tax expenditures and adds purpose statements to other tax expenditures as follows: Section 1 of the act disallows the income tax credit for unsalable alcohol after December 31, 2025, and repeals the credit on December 31, 2030; Section 2 extends the 10% of purchase price income tax credit for income tax years commencing before January 1, 2025, for a purchaser who installs an energy storage system in a residential dwelling to include subsequent income tax years commencing before January 1, 2027, and extends the repeal of the credit from January 1, 2028, to January 1, 2030. By amending a definition of "agricultural compounds" that is incorporated into the definition of "wholesale sale" used for purposes of the sales and use tax statutes, section 3 exempts from sales and use tax soil conditioners, plant amendments, plant growth regulators, mulches, compost, soil used for aboveground production of agricultural commodities, manure, fish for non-stocking purposes, fish embryos, and fish eggs beginning January 1, 2026; Section 4 states that the purpose of the insolvency assessments paid insurance premium tax credit is to offset the cost for an insurer paying required assessments into the life and health insurance protection association and that the credit's effectiveness is measured by how many eligible insurers claim the credit and the amount claimed relative to payments into the life and health insurance protection association; Sections 5 and 6 state that the purpose of the state refund income tax subtraction is to avoid re-taxing a taxpayer's state income tax refund when a state refund is required to be included as income on the taxpayer's federal return pursuant to the internal revenue code and that the effectiveness of the deduction is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the deduction and the total amount of state refunds claimed as subtractions from Colorado taxable income; Section 7 states that the purpose of the dyed special fuels and off-road fuel tax excise tax exemption is to entirely exclude dyed diesel or kerosene from the special fuels excise tax where the dyed fuel is used for specified off-road purposes or by governmental entities and that the effectiveness of the exemption is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the exemption and the amount of tax that would have been paid without the exemption; Section 8 states that the purpose of the off-road fuel use refund is to compensate taxpayers who buy and pay the tax on otherwise taxable fuels for the purpose of using the fuels for specified non-taxable purposes under federal law and that the effectiveness of the refund is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming a refund and the amount of tax that was already collected and is refunded; Section 9 states that the purpose of the wholesale sale exemption from sales tax is to ensure that sales tax is levied and collected only on a final end sale to a retail consumer and not on wholesale sales and that the effectiveness of the wholesale exemption from sales tax is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the wholesale exemption from tax and the amount of tax liability not paid; Section 10 extends the availability of the biotechnology sales and use tax refund by 1 year to include calendar years beginning before January 1, 2027; and Section 11 clarifies that the temporary property tax valuation for assessment reduction for qualified-senior primary residence real property is available whether or not the state has sufficient excess revenues to pay for it. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $13,137 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends the definition of a "portable tenant screening report" (screening report) to specify that a prospective tenant using a housing subsidy is not required to include a credit history report, a credit score, or an adverse credit event with the tenant's screening report. The act also repeals language allowing a landlord to require a tenant to make a screening report directly available to the landlord through a consumer reporting agency or third-party website. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting January 1, 2027, the act prohibits an electrical employer or plumbing employer that employs an apprentice in the state (employer) from registering an apprentice with the employer's respective governing board (board) unless the apprentice is enrolled in an apprenticeship program training the apprentice for an occupation officially recognized by the United States department of labor as an electrical occupation for an electrical apprenticeship or a plumbing occupation for a plumbing apprenticeship. On or before July 1, 2027, if existing resources are available or if the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) receives sufficient gifts, grants, or donations, the act requires the state apprenticeship agency and DORA to establish data-sharing agreements and policies to enable the entities to determine if there are apprentices registered with a board who are enrolled to be trained for occupations other than electrical or plumbing occupations and who are therefore ineligible for registration with the board. If the board cannot verify that an apprentice is eligible to be registered as an apprentice within 60 days after notice of noncompliance, the board shall remove the apprentice's registration with the board, and the noncompliant apprentice shall not perform work as a plumbing or electrical apprentice in the state. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends a definition and adds new definitions under the electricians' practice act. Existing law requires an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license or a residential wireman's license to provide evidence of having certain minimum years of apprenticeship experience, accredited training, or practical experience. For the purpose of these requirements, the act allows an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license to have a minimum of 8,000 hours over a period of at least 4 years of certain apprenticeship or practical experience and an applicant for a residential wireman's license to have a minimum of 4,000 hours over a period of at least 2 years of certain practical experience. The act also changes the time frame for which an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license must complete at least 288 hours of training in safety, the national electrical code and its applications, and any other training required by the state electrical board (board) from the last 4 years to the last 8 years of the applicant's training, apprenticeship, or practical experience. Existing law allows an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license or a residential wireman's license to substitute for required practical experience evidence of academic training or practical experience in the electrical field. The act allows an applicant to also substitute evidence of training in photovoltaic systems installation. However, the act also states that the board may, but is no longer required to, provide work experience credit for academic training, military training, photovoltaic systems installation training, or substantially similar training. A contractor that is operating as of September 1, 2025, and that performs work as a photovoltaic installer pursuant with at least one North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certified employee is required to register as a photovoltaic installer with the board on or before December 31, 2026. Existing law requires that, for all applicants seeking work experience credit toward licensure, the board give credit for electrical work that is not required to be performed by or under the supervision of a licensed electrician if the applicant can show that the experience or supervision is adequate. The act allows the board to give the credit, but it is not required to do so. Existing law allows for photovoltaic installations with a direct current design capacity of less than 300 kilowatts, the performance of all photovoltaic electrical work, the installation of photovoltaic modules, and the installation of photovoltaic module mounting equipment to be subject to on-site supervision by a certified photovoltaic energy practitioner designated by the NABCEP. The act requires that the photovoltaic energy practitioner is also working for a contractor that is not a registered electrical contractor; is registered with the department of regulatory agencies as a photovoltaic installer no later than December 31, 2026; is a business in good standing with the state; and employs a NABCEP PV installation professional. The act also: Defines "photovoltaic electrical work" as electrical work performed on a photovoltaic system that is covered electrical work in accordance with the national electrical code; Grants the board authority to regulate photovoltaic electrical work for installations of less than three hundred kilowatts and specifies that only an electrical contractor or a photovoltaic installer may perform or offer to perform such work; and Authorizes the board to charge a fee for photovoltaic installer registration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or before September 1, 2025, the act requires the office of school safety (office) to convene and oversee a work group to develop best practices for the use of trauma-informed practices to conduct school safety drills. The act requires the work group to convene its first meeting no later than 56 days after the office receives $50,000 of gifts, grants, or donations for the purpose of the work group or receives an in-kind donation with a value of $50,000 as part of a public-private partnership agreement. No later than one year and one month after the office receives $50,000 of gifts, grants, or donations or receives an in-kind donation with a value of $50,000, the act requires the work group to develop recommendations to support schools in training school personnel on the use of trauma-informed practices in conducting school safety drills, how to best conduct school safety drills in a trauma-informed manner, and how to best respond to a school safety incident. The act requires that the work group be entirely funded by gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind donations as part of a public-private partnership agreement. If by June 30, 2027, the work group has not received $50,000 in gifts, grants, or donations or an in-kind donation with a value of $50,000 as part of a public-private partnership agreement, the state treasurer must transfer any money received for purposes of the work group to the state education fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado sexual assault forensic medical evidence review board (board), consisting of the attorney general, or their designee, as board chair; the executive director of the Colorado district attorneys' council, or their designee; and various members appointed by the attorney general or the governor. The board's duties include reviewing and monitoring processes related to sexual assault response, making recommendations to improve sexual assault response, and submitting an annual report concerning its duties. The act creates a notification requirement under the "Victim Rights Act" that requires a law enforcement agency to notify a victim every 90 days when the law enforcement agency has not received the results of the forensic medical evidence DNA analysis from an accredited crime laboratory. The act requires an accredited crime laboratory to endeavor to analyze forensic medical evidence within 60 days after its receipt. The act expands public reporting requirements concerning forensic medical evidence and DNA evidence backlogs. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $112,365 from the general fund to the department of law for use by the administration division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
