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.)
Sponsored bills
The state contracts to conduct emissions testing. The act repeals the limits on how long the contracts may run and authorizes the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) to determine the length of each contract. Colorado law also authorizes a vehicle emissions inspection facility to charge a fee that is set by the air quality control commission (commission). The act authorizes the commission to adopt rules adjusting the fees, but the commission is limited to adjusting: The $15 maximum fee to $30 when a licensed inspection and readjustment station inspects vehicles model year 1981 and older; and The $25 maximum fee to $50 for a clean screen inspection performed on vehicles registered in the basic emissions program. The commission may adopt rules requiring the emissions compliance of vehicles that have failed an emissions test and that are registered outside of the enhanced emissions program area but that operate within the program area. The act requires the commission to adopt rules requiring inspections of motor vehicles that are registered in the nonattainment area and identified as having excess emissions under the clean screen program and are either within the 2-year vehicle inspection cycle or exempt from periodic inspection. If a motor vehicle's emissions control system has been disconnected, deactivated, or rendered inoperable, the division may notify the executive director of the department of revenue. Under Colorado law, fines and penalties assessed for violations of air quality laws are deposited in the community impact cash fund. The act creates a motor vehicle emissions assistance fund (fund) and diverts the first $1 million from the community impact cash fund to the new fund, but at the end of each state fiscal year, any unspent money in the fund exceeding $250,000 is returned to the community impact cash fund. The division may expend money from the fund to provide grants for: Paying emissions inspection fees for motor vehicles registered to individuals participating in an established and recognized public assistance program; or Adjustments or emissions-related repairs that are necessary and sufficient to receive a certification of emissions compliance. Qualification standards are set for the grants. The division may accept and expend gifts, grants, and donations. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated. To implement the act, $5,674 is transferred from the AIR account of the highway users tax fund to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account of the highway users tax fund. The fine money is declared to be damages and exempt from the expenditure caps of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
At the November 2024 statewide election, voters approved proposition 130, which requires the state to provide $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies to improve recruitment, training, and retention of local law enforcement officers and to provide a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who is killed in the line of duty. The act modifies and implements proposition 130. The act creates the peace officer training and support fund (fund), and establishes a formula by which the department of public safety (department) disburses $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies from the fund for permissible purposes. Permissible purposes include initial and continuing education and training for peace officers and the compensation of peace officers. Beginning July 1, 2026, the formula requires the department to disburse an amount to each law enforcement agency equal to the total of $15,000 and an amount multiplied by the number of P.O.S.T-certified officers, noncertified deputy sheriffs, and detention officers budgeted by a local government for the law enforcement agency. Law enforcement agencies and local governments may not use these funds to supplant or supplement other spending. Local governments must include evidence of compliance with the no supplanting or supplementing requirement in their annual audit and provide a copy of this audit to the department. The department must review a subset of the audits provided by local governments for compliance with the requirements of the act. The act also establishes funding for the fund. First, the act directs the state treasurer to transfer $15 million from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2026. Second, the act directs the state treasurer to issue warrants from the general fund totaling $500 million to the public employees' retirement association (PERA) between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025. Beginning July 1, 2027, until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund: The amount of each annual direct distribution made by the state to PERA is reduced by the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million; and The state treasurer annually transfers an amount equal to the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million, from the general fund to the fund. However, beginning July 1, 2027, and each July 1 thereafter until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund, the state treasurer is required to transfer at least $15 million from the general fund to the fund regardless of the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million. The general assembly may annually appropriate to the department no more than 2.5% of the amount that the state treasurer annually transfers from the general fund to the fund for the department's direct and indirect costs of administering the distribution of money from the fund. The act clarifies that the $500 million in the warrants that the state treasurer issues to PERA are included in the general fund reserve. Accordingly, the act prohibits a future general assembly from lowering the general fund reserve to an amount less than $1 billion. If the general assembly does so reduce the reserve, the general assembly shall also make corresponding reductions to the direct distributions made by the state to PERA. The act also requires the governor to adjust general fund expenditures so that they do not result in the general fund reserve being reduced to an amount less than $1 billion. The act establishes a process by which the department distributes a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who dies on or after November 5, 2024, as either the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained while performing official duties as a first responder or because of an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of the first responder's employment or service as a first responder. These payments are paid out of the death benefit fund, which is created in the act. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $5 million from the general fund to the death benefit fund on both July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, and to make annual transfers from the general fund thereafter as necessary to ensure that the fund maintains a balance of $10 million. The act also requires a survivor of an eligible first responder to deduct an amount equal to the amount of any death benefit received from their federal taxable income for the purpose of determining their state income tax liability unless the survivor qualifies for a corresponding federal income tax deduction. The act also requires the department to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and local governments in complying with the requirements of the act and allows the executive director of the department to adopt rules as necessary to implement the act. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, $5,046,967 is appropriated from the death benefit fund to the department for implementation of the death benefit program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In current law, the sentencing structure for theft, except for auto theft, is based on the value of the item stolen. The act exempts theft of firearms from that sentencing structure and makes theft of a firearm a class 6 felony, regardless of the firearm's value. The act appropriates $324,225 from the general fund to the judicial department to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) to establish an automated protection order notification system (notification system) to provide a protected person, a protected person's immediate family, and other interested persons (registered users) with information related to a criminal or civil protection order. The notification system must disseminate specific information to registered users in English and Spanish through a telephone call, email, text message, or mobile phone application. The act authorizes the division to contract with a third-party entity to provide the functionality for the notification system. A public entity is immune from liability in any civil action based on its release of information or failure to release information related to the notification system. The act prohibits the division from establishing or operating the notification system until the division receives sufficient money to establish and operate the notification system for at least one year from gifts, grants, or donations, including federal funds, or money appropriated to the division from the Colorado crime victim services fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a specific criminal offense related to wrongfully interfering with a transit worker and adds it to the criminal harassment statute, as well as making the offense subject to the victim rights act. The act eliminates similar criminal conduct from the regional transportation district (district) statutory scheme. Further, a law enforcement agency may grant money received from the peace officer training and support fund to the district for training, equipment, and other purposes deemed necessary to ensure the safety of employees and patrons of the district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds species that appear in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES Appendix I) to the wildlife covered under Colorado's wildlife trafficking and wildlife possession laws. The act clarifies that species listed on Colorado's endangered and threatened species list or the endangered and threatened species list pursuant to the federal "Endangered Species Act of 1973", 16 U.S.C. sec. 1531 et seq. (federal act) are also covered under Colorado's wildlife possession and wildlife trafficking laws. The act establishes penalties for violating wildlife trafficking laws. A person who violates wildlife trafficking laws commits a class 1 misdemeanor; except that: If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $1,000 but less than $10,000, the person commits a class 5 felony; If a person is convicted of trafficking wildlife and the wildlife involved is an endangered species or threatened species under Colorado law or the federal act or is a species that appears in CITES Appendix I, the person commits a class 4 felony; or If a person violates wildlife trafficking laws and the aggregate value of the wildlife involved is more than $10,000, the person commits a class 4 felony. The act grants the parks and wildlife commission (commission) in the department of natural resources (department) authority to suspend wildlife licenses held by a person convicted of a violation of wildlife trafficking laws. The act clarifies that the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department has the authority to pursue a civil action against an individual to recover the possession or value of wildlife that was unlawfully taken and the minimum value that the division may recover for certain animals that are on the federal endangered and threatened species lists. The act requires the division to conduct investigations and surveys to collect information and data related to wildlife trafficking and determine appropriate conservation, management, and law enforcement measures based on those investigations and surveys. The general assembly is required to appropriate sufficient money to implement the act from the wildlife cash fund; except that money from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses in the wildlife cash fund must not be used for these purposes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the judicial department to develop a form for a court to use to notify the department of human services (DHS) of the court's specific findings when the court denies a personal recognizance bond and orders inpatient restoration services for a defendant who is in custody for a misdemeanor, petty offense, or traffic offense, and who the court determines is incompetent to proceed but there is a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency in the reasonably foreseeable future. The act makes changes to the processes related to competency evaluations, including changing the deadlines and processes for requesting second evaluations and changing the requirements for conducting restoration evaluations of juveniles. The act requires a court to vacate any existing order and not enter a new order directing DHS to conduct a competency evaluation or provide restoration services to a defendant if the defendant was accepted to participate in the bridges wraparound care program. The requirements and processes related to certifying a defendant for short-term treatment are updated, including changes to the requirements for a party to request an order initiating short-term treatment and the processes when a party requests a hearing. The act permits DHS to request that the court refer a matter for filing of a petition for short-term treatment if, in the process of coordinating outpatient restoration services for a defendant, DHS determines that the defendant meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment. The court is required to set the following hearings upon the request of a party, if a final determination is made that the defendant is incompetent to proceed: A hearing following the court's receipt, prior to ordering restoration treatment, of a competency evaluator's report concluding that there is not a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency within the reasonably foreseeable future; and A hearing if, prior to ordering restoration treatment, a competency evaluator or other expert opines that the defendant's diagnosis likely includes a moderate to severe intellectual or developmental disability, acquired traumatic brain injury, or dementia, which, either alone or together with a co-occurring mental illness, affects the defendant's ability to gain or maintain competency. The court is required to make findings about whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a person meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment prior to dismissing charges against the person for certain competency reasons. If the charges are dismissed, the court shall notify DHS in writing that the charges were dismissed and the reason for the dismissal. Under existing law, if the court finds there are reasonable grounds, the court may stay the dismissal for 35 days. The act permits the court to grant up to four 35-day extensions to a stay of a dismissal in addition to the initial stay. DHS is permitted to continue to provide services for up to 90 days after a person's case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed. DHS is permitted to enter into an agreement with an organization to provide permanent supportive housing for a person whose case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed or the person has successfully completed a bridges wraparound care program, and for a person who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. DHS is required to collect information concerning where a person lives or intends to live following a dismissal or referral for each person whose charges are dismissed following a determination by the court that the person is incompetent to proceed or following satisfactory completion of a bridges wraparound care program, or who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant while the offender is in a competency-related diversion or deflection program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant beginning when the defendant's case is dismissed without prejudice for the purpose of facilitating certification for short-term treatment until either the defendant's criminal case is re-filed or 6 months have passed since the case was dismissed, whichever is earlier. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements some of the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) regarding the motorcycle operator training (MOST) program, as contained in the department's sunset review of the MOST program, as follows: Lowers the required minimum age to be a MOST instructor from 21 to 18 years of age; and To align with the placement of the MOST program within the Colorado state patrol rather than the department of transportation, clarifies that a MOST vendor must meet standards promulgated by the Colorado state patrol rather than by the department of transportation. The act also makes the following changes to the MOST program that were not included in the department's sunset review: Continues the MOST program in the office of the chief of the state patrol in the department of public safety (chief) for 5 years, until September 1, 2030; and Allows the chief to expend money from the MOST fund for a tuition benefit paid to MOST vendors to be passed on to eligible students in the form of reduced costs for eligible courses, as established by the chief by rule.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, a person convicted of certain prior offenses may be adjudged a habitual criminal and subject to enhanced sentencing. The act requires a jury, in a habitual proceeding that is separate from the trial of the charged substantive offense and for the purpose of determining whether the defendant is a habitual criminal, to determine whether the defendant has been previously convicted as alleged, whether the convictions were separately brought and tried, and whether the convictions arose out of separate and distinct criminal episodes. The habitual proceeding must be conducted before the same jury impaneled to try the substantive offense; except that, when necessary and as constitutionally permissible, a new jury may be impaneled. If a new jury is impaneled, the court shall hold the habitual proceeding as soon as practicable. The act repeals the process for a judge to try the issue of whether a person is a habitual offender when the prosecuting attorney learns of a prior felony conviction after a guilty verdict but prior to the person being sentenced. The act appropriates $17,500 from the general fund to the judicial department for court costs, jury costs, court-appointed counsel, and reimbursements for vacated convictions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)