Rep. Tammy Story

Section 1 of the act amends the state public financing cash fund (fund) statute in 2 ways. First, the act removes the limit on the amounts included in the issuance or incurrence of certain financial obligations by the state that the state treasurer credits to the fund. Second, the act modifies the fund so that bond counsel approval is no longer needed before money in the fund is used to reimburse the state treasurer for certain verifiable costs. Section 2 allows the state treasurer to use a security token offering for state capital financing and adopt rules as necessary to do so. Section 3 creates a new special purpose authority: The building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars authority (authority). The authority's primary purpose is to finance infrastructure projects that are ready for construction or commencement. As used in this context, an infrastructure project includes the development, construction, repair, improvement, operation, maintenance, decommissioning, or ownership of: A transportation infrastructure project, an infrastructure project in a transit-oriented community, a county courthouse facility, a transportation facility; utility infrastructure; renewable energy infrastructure; recycling infrastructure; energy efficiency infrastructure; an education facility; water infrastructure; information technology capital construction; affordable and accessible housing infrastructure; or digital, social, or other infrastructure related to economic development. The powers of the authority are vested in a 13-member board with the following membership: The state treasurer or the state treasurer's designee; The state architect or the state architect's designee; The chair of the capital development committee of the general assembly or any successor committee; A member of the capital development committee of the general assembly or any successor committee who is the longest serving member on the committee and who is a member of the major political party other than the party of the chair of the committee; A representative of a statewide organization representing counties, appointed by the governor; A representative of a statewide organization representing municipalities, appointed by the governor; The executive director of the Colorado education and cultural facilities authority or their designee; A representative of a statewide organization of general and specialty commercial construction contractors, appointed by the governor; A representative of a statewide employee organization representing building and construction trade workers, appointed by the president of the senate; An individual representing service employees, appointed by the state treasurer; An individual with a background in finance who has experience with pension fund management, appointed by the state treasurer; and An individual with a background in commercial lending representing an institution insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation, appointed by the state treasurer. The state treasurer or the state treasurer's designee serves as the chair of the board and is required to call the first meeting of the board no later than January 1, 2026. Among other powers, the authority may: Make and execute agreements, contracts, and other instruments as necessary to achieve the authority's purposes, including contracting with the officers, personnel, and consultants of the state treasurer to achieve its purposes; Charge to and collect from state agencies and persons fees and charges in connection with the authority's loans or other services; Issue and sell building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars bonds, payable solely from the building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars bonding fund created within the authority; Invest and deposit money; Finance or participate in the financing of eligible projects or any interest in such a project; except for projects that are within the statutory authority of the Colorado housing and finance authority; and Facilitate the funding of infrastructure projects. The infrastructure and long-term development assistance program (program) is created in the authority to allow the authority to provide financing for eligible projects. The act requires the authority to develop policies and procedures necessary to implement the program. At a minimum, the policies and procedures must specify application criteria, an application process, and a selection process for the authority to determine which eligible projects it will finance or assist in financing through the program. The authority must pay for such financing out of the eligible project revolving fund created in the authority. The act also requires that the authority allow the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority a right of first refusal for the financing of eligible projects. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that, under current law, the department of public health and environment may use up to 10% of appropriated money to administer and manage project grants concerning public water systems and wastewater treatment works in small communities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

With regard to the family and medical leave insurance program (program), the act extends the duration of paid family and medical leave, up to an additional 12 weeks, for a parent who has a child receiving inpatient care in a neonatal intensive care unit. The act also changes the premiums financing the program benefits by extending the current premium amount, 0.9% of wages per employee, through 2025 and setting the premium amount for the 2026 calendar year at 0.88% of wages per employee. For each subsequent calendar year, the director of the division of family and medical leave insurance (director) is required set the premium on or before September 1 of the preceding year, in a manner such that: At the end of the year, the balance of the family and medical leave insurance fund (fund) is not less than 6 months' worth of projected expenditures from the fund required for performance of the functions and duties of the director; The volatility of the premium rate is minimized; and The premium amount does not exceed 1.2% of wages per employee.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law gives a trial court judge 91 days from the day a conviction enters in a criminal case to order restitution, which is the monetary loss a victim suffers due to a defendant's criminal conduct, in a criminal case. The act grants the prosecuting attorney 63 days to submit restitution information to the trial court judge following a conviction if the information is not available on the day a conviction enters, and then grants the trial court judge an additional 63 days following the submission of restitution information to order restitution after it receives the information from the prosecuting attorney. The act applies to defendants sentenced on or after the act's effective date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For state fiscal year 2025-26, the act appropriates $5,000,000 from the species conservation trust fund in the state treasury for various wildlife conservation programs directed at conserving candidate native species that have been listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal law or are species that are likely to become candidate species, as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service, as follows: $2,480,000 for the upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program; $20,000 for selenium management, research, monitoring, evaluation, and control; $1,250,000 for native terrestrial wildlife conservation; and $1,250,000 for native aquatic wildlife conservation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds statutory protections for in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive health-care procedures. Current law requires gamete banks and fertility clinics (donor banks) to maintain donor identifying information and update it every 3 years. The act requires donor banks to encourage donors to inform the donor banks of significant updates to the donor's medical history after the donor made a donation. The donor bank is then required to document that significant medical history update. Current law prohibits donor banks from interfering with an adult donor-conceived person communicating about the gamete donor with the donor-conceived person's friends, family, or other third parties. The act encourages donor banks to provide information to donor-conceived persons regarding the physical and emotional risks associated with releasing a donor's private information to outside parties. The act repeals certain provisions relating to gamete donor record stewardship in the event of donor bank dissolution, bankruptcy, or insolvency and eliminates the requirement that donor banks inform a recipient parent about future implications about a gamete donor's medical history or other persons conceived using the same gamete donor. Current law requires the department of public health and environment (department) to draft written materials that must be provided to individuals prior to donating or receiving gametes. The act maintains that requirement, but does not require donor banks to use the department's written material. Donor banks are permitted to develop their own written materials to meet the statutory requirement of providing certain information to an individual prior to donating or receiving gametes. The act eliminates the department's ability to perform on-site inspections or perform in-person investigations on donor banks located outside the state. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the work-based learning consortium pilot program (pilot program) in the department of higher education (department). The purpose of the 3-year pilot program is to: Demonstrate the value of work-based learning in postsecondary curricula by studying the impact of industry-sponsored projects on course objectives and learning outcomes; Promote the adoption of work-based learning in higher education by working with faculty at institutions of higher education (institutions) that participate in the pilot program (participating institutions) to embed project-based learning opportunities into credit-bearing programs; Provide broader access to collegiate work-based learning for students; Measure the impact of work-based learning on participating students; and Learn how institutions can increase the value of postsecondary education through career exposure and preparedness. Pending the receipt of sufficient funds, the department shall convene a consortium (consortium) of representatives from participating institutions, the commission on higher education (commission), the department of labor and employment, the department of education, and a subject matter expert with experience implementing work-based learning. The consortium shall: Work with each participating institution's faculty to embed industry-sponsored projects in course curriculum that meet the work-based learning quality standards; Work with the department to determine the impact of industry-sponsored projects; Work with a third-party platform to connect faculty from participating institutions to employers for the purpose of developing high-quality, project-based learning opportunities for classroom instruction; Advise the commission on strategies to improve student access to high-quality, work-based learning opportunities for students based on participating faculty members' experience embedding industry-sponsored projects into curriculum; Develop best practices for institutions to expand access to work-based learning in the classroom through industry-sponsored projects; and Develop findings and recommendations. Subject to available appropriations, at the end of the pilot program, the act requires the consortium to complete and submit a report to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or their successor committees. The report must include: A description of the consortium's findings and recommendations; Details on the consortium's impacts on participating institutions and the effects of creating additional work-based learning activities on students, faculty, and employers; and Recommendations for statutory changes, financial resources, department policy changes, and policy changes in institutions that are necessary to improve successful work-based learning opportunities for students in institutions. The department may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the pilot program. The department shall transmit all gifts, grants, or donations to the state treasurer, who shall credit the money to the higher education work-based learning consortium fund (fund). If, by June 30, 2028, the money in the fund has never reached or exceeded $2 million dollars, the state treasurer shall return each grantor's or donor's gift, grant, or donation. On or before November 1, 2026, the commission shall recommend a list of terms used by institutions related to work-based learning to the Colorado workforce development council for inclusion in the talent development glossary (glossary). The purpose of the list of terms is to: Augment the glossary so that collegiate work-based learning activities are accurately reflected in statewide efforts to promote work-based learning; and Demonstrate to institutions relevant opportunities to participate in statewide efforts to promote work-based learning. On or before July 1, 2026, the commission shall work with institutions, the Colorado workforce development council, the department of education, the consortium, nonprofit organizations, industry associations, and businesses to develop recommendations on how to best embed work-based learning opportunities into current degree pathways. On or before December 31, 2026, the department shall work with institutions to identify which work-based learning activities are measurable and how to best report work-based learning activities. Institutions that are eligible for the work-study program may use work-study program money to cover the costs of work-based learning credits for students who are required to complete credit-bearing work-based learning requirements to graduate from an institution. The office of economic development (office) administers the universal high school scholarship program (program). The act allows the office to spend unexpended or unencumbered money appropriated in the 2023-24 state fiscal year through the 2025-26 state fiscal year without further appropriation. The act requires that expenditures for the administrative costs of the program not exceed $1.5 million. The act extends the date for the state treasurer to transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money in the universal high school scholarship cash fund from December 30, 2026, to June 30, 2027. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, there are 2 programs available to low-income individuals to buy in to the state medical assistance program: One for adults with disabilities and one for children with disabilities (medicaid buy-in programs). Individuals who participate in either program pay a premium based on their family income. The premiums are credited to the medicaid buy-in cash fund. The premiums credited to the medicaid buy-in cash fund are used to offset the costs of providing the medicaid buy-in programs. The costs of providing the medicaid buy-in programs are also offset by the money in the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund in the Colorado healthcare affordability and sustainability enterprise (CHASE) within the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF). The act repeals the existing medicaid buy-in cash fund and creates the healthcare affordability and sustainability medicaid buy-in cash fund (buy-in cash fund) within CHASE and directs that individuals who participate in the existing medicaid buy-in programs pay their premiums into the buy-in cash fund. The act creates a medicaid buy-in enterprise support board within CHASE to support the existing enterprise with the implementation of the medicaid buy-in program, including consulting with HCPF and the state medical services board on the amount of the premiums for and other components of the medicaid buy-in programs. Because CHASE is an enterprise for purposes of the Taxpayer's Act of Rights, its revenue does not count against the state fiscal year spending limit. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $6,660,761 is appropriated from the buy-in cash fund to HCPF for medical and long-term care services for medicaid-eligible individuals. The act also decreases in a corresponding amount an appropriation to HCPF from the existing Medicaid buy-in cash fund and adjusts similar appropriations to HCPF for the 2024-25 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act changes the term "epinephrine auto-injector" to "emergency-use epinephrine" in order to encompass alternatives to injecting epinephrine as a means to treat anaphylaxis in school settings. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires that, for health insurance policies providing maternity coverage, policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, must include prenatal care coverage without cost sharing for up to 3 office visits. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)