Rep. Javier Mabrey

The act makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" for a person who consults with, advises, or assists a veteran in connection with a claim for veterans' benefits (veterans' benefits matter) to: Receive compensation in excess of the lesser of $9,200 or 25% of the amount of any past-due benefits the veteran actually receives after the person procures an increase in the veteran's monthly benefits; Receive compensation in connection with a claim filed prior to a veteran's release from active duty or within the one-year period following a veteran's release from active duty; Guarantee a successful outcome in a veterans' benefits matter; Fail to memorialize the payment terms and certain disclosures in a written, signed contract; Omit certain disclosures from advertising or make false representations about accreditation; Fail to take various security measures related to veterans' personal information; or Provide services in connection with an appeal or review of the veterans administration's initial decision in a veterans' benefits matter, unless the service provider is accredited by the veterans administration. The act requires the attorney general or district attorney to transmit any civil penalty collected for a violation of the veterans' benefits matter provisions to the state treasurer for deposit in the Colorado state veterans trust fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a foreign third-party litigation funder (funder) that enters into a litigation financing agreement (agreement) to disclose and submit certain information to the Colorado attorney general. The act prohibits a funder from: Utilizing a domestic entity as a means of providing litigation financing to a party or attorney in a civil action; Deciding, influencing, or directing an attorney with respect to the conduct of the civil action or any settlement or resolution of the civil action; Assigning rights to profits other than the right to receive a share of the proceeds awarded in the civil action as outlined in the agreement; or Sharing proprietary information, or information affecting national security interests obtained as a result of the agreement for the civil action, with anyone who is not a party or an attorney. The act subjects an agreement to discovery under the Colorado rules of civil procedure and Colorado rules of evidence. The act deems an agreement entered into by a funder void if the funder fails to comply with the activity and disclosure requirements. A funder's failure to comply with the requirements of this act constitutes a deceptive or unfair trade practice. The act allows the attorney general to bring legal action against a funder to enforce compliance with the act, impose fines, prohibit a funder from operating in this state, or impose any other sanction the attorney general deems appropriate for a violation of the activity or disclosure requirements. The act requires the department of law to include information about funders in its annual "SMART Act" hearing annually, beginning in January 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends the statutes that require a person to possess a permit in order to boot a vehicle to apply any application, without the appropriate consent, of a device intended to prevent the normal operation of a motor vehicle. The act allows the public utilities commission (commission) to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a permit to immobilize a vehicle for felonies and immobilization-related offenses. An applicant must disclose each person that is an owner, a principal, an officer, a member, a partner, or a director of the vehicle immobilization company (company) in an application. The commission is authorized to deny an application for or suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a permit of a company based on a determination that it is not in the public interest for the company to possess a permit. The determination is subject to appeal. Possession of a permit is rebuttably presumed to be not in the public interest if a company has willfully and repeatedly failed to comply with the relevant law. The act adds the following new duties for companies: Before immobilizing a vehicle, the company must document the vehicle's condition and the reason for the immobilization. Standards are set for the documentation, including taking photographs. Upon demand by an authorized or interested person, the company must provide copies of the photographs, and if the company does not provide the photographs and a vehicle is damaged, it creates a rebuttable presumption that the company damaged the vehicle or did not have authority to immobilize the vehicle; A company shall display its name, the permit number, and a phone number of the company on each company vehicle used in immobilization. Standards are set for the display. The representative of a company must have business identification visibly worn at all times while immobilizing a vehicle or accepting payment; If a vehicle has been immobilized by a company, another company must not immobilize the vehicle; If a company applies more than one immobilization device to a vehicle, the company may not charge more than once for the removal of all the immobilization devices; A company must provide, upon request, evidence of the company's commercial liability insurance coverage; A company must immediately accept payment and release the vehicle if offered in cash or by valid major credit card; Upon request, a company must disclose accepted forms of payment; A company must provide an itemized act showing each charge and the rate for each fee incurred as a result of an immobilization and any fee that caused the immobilization; and A company may not pay money or provide other valuable consideration for the privilege of immobilizing vehicles. A company is prohibited from immobilizing a vehicle on private property unless: The immobilization is ordered or authorized by a court order, an administrative order, or a peace officer or by operation of law; or The company has received permission for each individual immobilization, within the 24 hours immediately preceding the immobilization, from a specified person. The company must retain the permission for 3 years. A property owner with tenants must give each tenant adequate notice of parking regulations as outlined in the act. A company may not immobilize a vehicle in a parking space or common parking area without the company or property owner giving 24 hours' written notice at least 24 hours before immobilizing the vehicle, unless the vehicle owner or operator has received a previous notice for parking inappropriately in the same manner. Standards are set for the notice. The company or property owner need not give the notice if one of the following apply but must place a notice on the immobilized vehicle that contains the phone number of the company, the normal operating hours of the company, and the phone number to contact the company outside of normal operating hours if: The vehicle is parked a second or subsequent time in the same inappropriate manner; The vehicle is parked in a designated and marked fire zone or is effectively obstructing a fire hydrant; The vehicle is inappropriately using reserved parking for people with disabilities; The immobilization is ordered or authorized by a court order, an administrative order, or a peace officer or by operation of law; The vehicle blocks a driveway or roadway enough to effectively obstruct a person's access to the driveway or roadway; The vehicle is parked in a designated, rented, or purchased parking space of a resident; or The vehicle is parked in a parking lot marked for the exclusive use of residents. To immobilize a vehicle on private property normally used for parking, the following must be provided upon entering the private property: Notice of the parking regulations; and Notice that a violation of the regulations subjects the vehicle to immobilization at the vehicle owner's expense. Unless the immobilization is based on an order given by a peace officer, a company may not immobilize a vehicle on private property because the vehicle's registration has expired. For a company to immobilize a vehicle, the property owner must have posted signage that meets the size, visibility, and placement standards of the act and contains the following information: The restriction or prohibition on parking; The times of the day and days that the restriction is applicable, but, if the restriction applies 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, the sign must say "Authorized Parking Only"; Notice that violating the regulation subjects the violating vehicle to be immobilized at the vehicle owner's expense; and The name and telephone number of the company authorized to perform immobilization on the private property. A company may not patrol or monitor property to enforce parking restrictions on behalf of a property owner. A company may not immobilize a vehicle because the vehicle is inoperable if the vehicle is owned by a resident and is parked in the resident's designated, rented, or purchased parking space or driveway or in a mobile home lot that is leased or owned by the resident. If a company has immobilized a vehicle on private property, the company must give a written notice of the person's ability to make a complaint to the commission in accordance with the standards of the act. A company must release a motor vehicle either within 120 minutes after being contacted outside the company's normal business hours or within 90 minutes during the company's normal business hours. A company must immediately release a vehicle without charge to a towing carrier when evidence is presented that the towing carrier has authorization to conduct a nonconsensual tow or law-enforcement-directed tow. A company must immediately release an immobilized vehicle if the person retrieving the vehicle pays $60 and the person signs a form affirming that the authorized or interested person owes the company payment for the appropriate fees. A company may remotely release an immobilization device from a vehicle. The company shall retrieve the immobilization device within 120 minutes after releasing it. The driver must move the immobilization device from the road so that it is not a hazard to vehicles or pedestrians unless the driver has a physical limitation that makes moving the device unreasonably difficult or impossible. The driver need not return the device to the company or a location specified by the company. A company must charge a reduced release charge set by the commission and immediately release the vehicle if the vehicle is released after an employee of or agent of the company starts to immobilize the vehicle but before the agent or employee leaves the private property. A company must retain evidence of giving the notices and disclosures required in the act for 3 years and provide the evidence to the commission or an enforcement official upon request. Generally, the act does not apply to an immobilization that is: Ordered by a peace officer or technician directed by a peace officer; In a parking space that serves a business if the parking space is on commercial real estate; Ordered by a municipality, county, or city and county; or On federally leased land used for commercial parking purposes. A violation of the act is generally a deceptive trade practice and is subject to enforcement by the attorney general's office or a district attorney. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the time frame within which a governing body of a city, town, or city and county with jurisdiction in an area within the wildland-urban interface is required to adopt wildfire codes and standards that meet or exceed the wildfire resiliency code board's wildfire codes and standards from 3 to 9 months after the board's adoption of wildfire codes and standards. The act allows a governing body to enter into a cooperative agreement with another entity, such as a third-party contractor or another governing body, in order to enforce wildfire codes and standards. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state board of education (state board) to adopt standards related to Black historical and cultural studies (standards). Local education providers shall incorporate the standards into courses for public elementary and secondary school students in the state no later than 2 years after the state board adopts the standards. The act aligns the timeline for the development, adoption, and integration of the standards with the 6-year cycle that the state board of education currently uses for revising the state academic standards. The act creates the Black historical and cultural studies advisory committee (committee) in the department of education (department) to recommend standards and related materials and to provide technical assistance at the request of local education providers implementing the standards. The committee's recommendations must include updates to the state's history and civics standards and must advance developmentally appropriate but comprehensive instruction that features factual accounts of the struggles and contributions of Black Americans in all fields of endeavor. Using the committee's recommendations, the department will create and maintain a resource bank of research-based, scholarly articles and promising program materials and curricula pertaining to Black historical and cultural studies. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $19,225 from the general fund to the department for costs related to content specialists. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Beginning January 1, 2027, the act requires large group health benefit plans to provide coverage for the treatment of the chronic disease of obesity and the treatment of pre-diabetes, including coverage for a comparable program to the national diabetes prevention program, medical nutrition therapy, intensive behavioral or lifestyle therapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery. For a large group health benefit plan offered in the state, the act requires carriers to offer the policyholder the option to purchase coverage for FDA-approved anti-obesity medications, including at least one FDA-approved GLP-1 medication. The commissioner of insurance may adopt rules for the implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes an agency of government to incorporate a project labor agreement requirement for a public project in the amount of $1 million or more if the project labor agreement will promote successful project delivery by securing a skilled labor force for the project and if it will promote cost-efficiency, safety, quality, and timely completion of the project. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act refers 2 ballot issues to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election concerning funding for the healthy school meals for all program. Section 2 refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election to allow the state to retain and spend state revenue that would otherwise need to be refunded for exceeding the estimate in the ballot information booklet analysis for Proposition FF and to allow the state to maintain the increases in state taxable income established in Proposition FF that would otherwise need to be decreased. If voters reject the ballot issue, the state will both: Refund $12,430,388 to individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more and claimed itemized or standard state income tax deductions greater than $12,000 for single tax return filers and $16,000 for joint tax return filers; and Adjust the limit on itemized deductions established in Proposition FF to a level that would have reduced the amount of income tax revenue attributable to these itemized deductions by $12,430,388. If voters approve the ballot measure: The state will not refund $12,430,388 to individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more and claimed itemized or standard state income tax deductions greater than $12,000 for single tax return filers and $16,000 for joint tax return filers; and The increases in federal taxable income as a result of Proposition FF will stay at the levels established by Proposition FF. Section 3 refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election to allow the state to increase taxes by $95 million annually by increasing state taxable income to support the healthy school meals for all program. If voters approve the ballot issue: Income tax deductions for individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more will be reduced from current levels to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers; and The state will allocate the additional revenue generated by the reduction in income tax deductions to the healthy school meals for all program. If voters reject the ballot issue, income tax deductions will not be reduced, and there will not be any additional revenue to be allocated to the healthy school meals for all program. In addition to the income tax changes and potential refunds that may result from voters approving or rejecting the ballot issues described in sections 2 and 3, the act also changes the healthy school meals for all program cash fund (fund) and healthy school meals for all programs. If voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 2 and reject the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 3, $1 million is transferred annually from the fund to local school food purchasing programs. If voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 3, regardless of whether the voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 2: The permissible distribution of local food purchasing grants is modified; Certain school food authorities are allowed to collaborate to implement advisory committees; The duties of an advisory committee are clarified; and The distribution of funds from the fund is changed so that the amounts distributed through local food purchasing grants for increasing wages or providing stipends for individuals whom the participating school food authority employs to directly prepare and serve food for school meals and through the local school food purchasing technical assistance and education grant program are modified based on the amount of money in the fund. NOTE: Certain provisions of the act are contingent on the results a measure concerning Proposition FF refunds or Proposition FF revenue increases being either approved or not approved by a majority of voters at the November 2025 statewide election.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, if a consumer consents to an automatic renewal contract for a good or service through an online medium, the person that sells the good or service may provide the consumer with an opportunity to cancel the automatic renewal contract either online or in person. The act changes this provision to state that the person that sells the good or service is required to provide the consumer with an opportunity to cancel the automatic renewal contract online if the consumer consented to the automatic renewal contract through an online medium. If the consumer consented to the automatic renewal contract through other means, the person is required to provide the consumer with an online cancellation link or an in-person mechanism for canceling the automatic renewal contract. The person that sells the good or service may display a discounted offer, a retention benefit, or information regarding the effects of cancellation if the person simultaneously displays a direct link to cancel the automatic renewal contract. The attorney general may adopt rules to implement and enforce the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For vinous liquor alcohol shipper licenses, once those licenses are issued by the state, the act removes the requirement that a driver delivering vinous liquors on behalf of an alcohol beverage shipper licensee ensure that the individual accepting delivery is the individual intended to receive the product and instead requires only that the driver delivering the vinous liquor ensure that the individual accepting delivery is not under twenty-one years of age or visibly intoxicated. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)