Rep. Mary Bradfield

The unclaimed utility deposits program (program) helps finance electric and gas utility bill payment assistance for income-qualified households. The program is partially funded by electric and gas utilities' contributions of money that are owed to utility ratepayers but that have remained unclaimed by the ratepayers for more than 2 years. The act clarifies that a municipally owned electric or gas utility may elect to participate in the program or develop a similar mechanism for utilizing unclaimed utility deposits for utility bill payment assistance. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summarySJR 25-008 designates March 3, 2025, as "Buy Colorado Day" (also called "303 Day") and March 3-10, 2025, as "Buy Colorado Week" to encourage Coloradans to support local businesses. The resolution urges residents to spend money at homegrown Colorado brands and enterprises, highlighting the state's diverse business community including restaurants, breweries, agricultural producers, and retailers. This symbolic measure has no legal force and serves as a recognition of Colorado's economic contributions, not a new policy or requirement. It directly affects all Coloradans by promoting a voluntary shift in consumer behavior toward local spending.

Maddy summarySJR 25-018 recognizes April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and designates April 30, 2025, as Colorado Denim Day. The resolution symbolically supports the annual Denim Day observance, which began in Colorado in 2013, to raise awareness about sexual violence and honor the work of organizations like the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA). It highlights ongoing challenges such as evidence kit backlogs and the need for survivor support services, without creating new laws or funding. This is a ceremonial resolution, not a policy change, aligning Colorado with the global Denim Day movement that uses wearing jeans to protest attitudes condoning sexual assault.

The act merges 2 existing medicaid waiver programs for children into one children's home- and community-based services waiver program, known as the children with complex health needs waiver program. The act relocates provisions to the new program due to the repeal of the 2 existing waiver programs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For a minor who is 15 years of age or younger, current law authorizes electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) to be performed if certain conditions are met, including that ECT is medically necessary to treat life-threatening malignant catatonia. The act removes this condition. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act allows a candidate who is on the ballot for an election for the office of United States congress, state office, or district office of state concern and is subject to a recount to select one watcher in addition to any watchers otherwise selected for the recount. The act also allows a candidate that is on the ballot for an election coordinated by the county clerk and recorder that is not for the office of United States congress, state office, or district office of state concern and is subject to a recount to select one watcher for the recount in addition to any watchers otherwise selected for the recount. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

No later than June 30, 2026, the act requires the department of public safety (DPS), in collaboration with the behavioral health administration (BHA), to consult with stakeholders to identify: Existing resources and model programs that communities throughout Colorado utilize when responding to behavioral health crises, including, but not limited to, co-responder programs, alternative response programs, and mobile crisis response programs, and the reimbursement shortages and gaps within the continuum of care for behavioral health crisis response; and The reimbursement shortages and gaps within the continuum of care for behavioral health crisis response, and reimbursement and funding options that are available at the state and federal levels to address the shortages and gaps, including funding for treatment in place. The act requires DPS to compile a list of the existing resources and model programs, and report reimbursement shortages and gaps identified by the stakeholder group and develop recommendations for addressing the shortages and gaps. The act requires DPS to make the resources, model programs, and recommendations publicly available on DPS's website. On or before January 1, 2027, the act requires the BHA, in collaboration with the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF), to provide information to the general assembly regarding the reimbursement shortages and gaps within the continuum of care for behavioral health crisis response and the reimbursement and funding options at the state and federal level that are available to address the shortages and gaps, including funding for treatment in place. The act requires HCPF to reimburse an institution for mental diseases for providing inpatient mental health treatment to a member for up to 60 days or to the extent permitted by federal law. Current law requires each person detained for an emergency mental health hold to receive an evaluation as soon as possible after the person is presented to a facility, and the evaluation may, but is not required to, include an assessment to determine if the person continues to meet the criteria for an emergency mental health hold and requires further mental health care in a facility designated by the commissioner. The act requires the evaluation to include the assessment determination. The act requires a hospital that is subject to the federal "Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act" to only discharge a person placed on an emergency mental health hold if the person no longer meets the criteria for an emergency mental health hold; except that a hospital may transfer the person to another hospital if the hospital is unable to provide the appropriate medical or behavioral health care to the person and the receiving hospital agrees to the transfer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act provides immunity from civil liability for damage or injury to persons or property, other than that which arises from gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct, to a landowner who, in good faith and without compensation, allows access to the landowner's property for entry and exit in connection with an emergency. An emergency is a fire, a rescue call, a hazardous materials incident, a natural or human-caused disaster, or an incident reasonably determined to be an emergency by a first responder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

When a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity is accepted by a court, the act requires the court, in consultation with the department of human services (CDHS) and the parties, to determine whether a sanity examination requires the defendant to stay overnight for an extended examination and the number of days of the extended examination. If the defendant is in custody, the act authorizes the sanity examination to be conducted at the jail or place of confinement or at a facility operated by or under contract with CDHS. If the defendant is at liberty on summons or on bond, the act authorizes the sanity examination to be conducted at a facility operated by or contracted with CDHS or at an out-of-custody location that the court and CDHS determine is appropriate. If a sanity examination is recorded, the act prohibits a defendant from being dressed in prison or jail clothing and prohibits restraints on the defendant from being visible on the recording. Current law authorizes psychiatrists, forensic psychologists, and other personnel conducting a sanity examination to conduct a narcoanalytic interview of the defendant with drugs that are medically appropriate, to subject the defendant to a polygraph examination, and to testify to the results of the procedures, statements, and reactions of the defendant. The act repeals this provision. The act makes conforming amendments and technical corrections. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summaryHJR 25-1018 is a Colorado legislative resolution recognizing the service of Latina and Latino veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. It formally commends their contributions across military conflicts from the Revolutionary War through modern operations, highlighting historical units like the "Borinqueneers" and the American GI Forum. The resolution does not create new policies, benefits, or legal obligations - instead, it serves as a symbolic gesture of appreciation. A copy will be sent to the American GI Forum of Colorado, as specified in the resolution.