Rep. Tammy Story

The act allows off-campus courses to be included in concurrent enrollment programs when the off-campus courses meet the requirements for concurrent enrollment programs and the requirements of an accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education.     The act provides that additional concurrent enrollment courses shall not be approved after July 1, 2028 unless the general assembly indicates in a footnote in the general appropriations act that the department of education (department) has sufficient funding for course and audit oversight requirements to allow approval of additional concurrent enrollment courses.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $66,056 from the general fund to the department and reduces the general fund appropriation for the college opportunity fund program by $80,178 with a corresponding decrease in reappropriated funds for the regents of the university of Colorado.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that an educational institution denies a person the full and equal enjoyment of a place of public accommodation when the educational institution:On the basis of a protected class, excludes a student from participation in, denies a student the benefits of, or otherwise subjects a student to discrimination in any of the educational institution's programs or activities;Denies educational services, benefits, or opportunities to a student or group of students by treating them differently from a similarly situated student who is, or group of students who are, part of a different subgroup of students within the same protected class; orHas actual notice that a hostile environment based on a protected class exists at the educational institution but fails to take prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to eliminate the hostile environment, end the harassment that gave rise to the hostile environment, and prevent the harassment from recurring.     The act adds pregnancy and parental status as characteristics that may constitute a protected class for the purpose of 'harassment or discrimination' at an elementary or secondary public school.     The act requires each public institution of higher education (institution) to designate an individual to serve as the Title VI coordinator for the institution. The Title VI coordinator is responsible for ensuring the institution's compliance with the requirements of Title VI of the federal 'Civil Rights Act of 1964', enforcing the institution's Title VI grievance procedures, identifying institutional issues related to Title VI compliance, and aggregating and making publicly available data about alleged violations of Title VI at the institution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law states that a child or youth named in a petition related to dependency and neglect proceedings is a party to the proceedings and has a right to attend and fully participate in all hearings related to the case. The act affirms that as a party to the proceedings, the child or youth has legal standing regarding all matters related to the child's or youth's interests and the right to have the child's or youth's interests fully represented by the guardian ad litem or counsel for youth throughout the proceedings, including appeals.     If a county department of human or social services (county department) seeks dismissal of a petition prior to the adjudicatory hearing and the child or youth, through the child's or youth's guardian ad litem or counsel for youth, objects to the dismissal and articulates a basis upon which the child is abused or neglected, the court shall set a hearing to determine whether or not the county department has a reasonable basis to dismiss the case. If the court determines that the county department shows a reasonable basis for dismissal, the court shall dismiss the case. If the county department does not show a reasonable basis to dismiss the case, the court must allow the case to proceed.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act redirects a portion of certain vehicle registration fees to increase the amount of revenue that is directed to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account (DRIVES account) created in the highway users tax fund (HUTF). Beginning on July 1, 2026, the act redirects fees for special vehicle registrations for personalized license plates from the HUTF to the DRIVES account; except that, consistent with current law, $2 of each fee is remitted to the county general fund. Beginning on July 1, 2027, the act redirects $2 of each late vehicle registration fee from the HUTF to the DRIVES account and, consistent with current law, credits the remainder of the fees to the HUTF.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

On or before December 31, 2027, the act requires the department of higher education (department) to establish thriving institution designations and, on or before January 1, 2027, to establish an advisory committee to provide input to the department on the outcome and recognition standards and continuous improvements set by the department to identify institutions of higher education (institutions) that meet the requirements for one or more thriving institution designations.     The act requires the department, with input from the advisory committee, to:Identify institutions that meet the outcome and recognition standards to be designated as a thriving institution;Notify each institution that meets the outcome standards to be designated as a thriving institution and request the institution to respond within 10 calendar days with the institution's decision of whether to be recognized as a thriving institution;Post on the department's website the names of the institutions that earn a thriving institution designation and agree to be listed as a thriving institution; andNotify the general assembly of the names of the institutions that are recognized as thriving institutions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the executive director of the Colorado department of early childhood (CDEC) to adopt rules concerning the requirements for licensed child care facilities to maintain up-to-date employee records in the professional development information system currently administered by CDEC.     The act requires CDEC, on or before July 1, 2026, to begin phasing out its reliance on third parties to investigate and inspect facilities applying for certain types of child care licenses where feasible and to prioritize the use of CDEC personnel to conduct the investigations and inspections instead. The act exempts certain health and sanitation inspections from the phase-out. CDEC must establish standardized training, protocols, and supervision for CDEC personnel and authorized or contracted third parties.     A local governing authority that imposes requirements related to the inspection, permitting, licensing, or approval of a child care center or family child care home beyond the state-level licensing standards (local approval process) shall limit associated fees and prioritize concluding a local approval process that has been delayed or disputed.     The act creates the child care licensure task force (task force) to study and report on recommendations for a streamlined child care licensure system in the state. On or before January 1, 2027, the task force must report on its recommendations to the health and human services and education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, the governor, and CDEC. The performance of the task force's work is dependent upon the receipt of sufficient gifts, grants, and donations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, the public utilities commission (commission) may assess a civil penalty in an amount up to $550 against a transportation network company (TNC) if the TNC had written notice of a TNC driver's violation of certain prohibitions against discriminating against riders and the TNC failed to reasonably address the violation. Additionally, a driver is required to report to the TNC any refusal by the driver to provide services to a rider, and the TNC is required to annually report all such refusals to the commission.     The act removes the condition that a TNC first have written notice of a driver's violation of the discriminatory prohibitions before a civil penalty may be assessed against the TNC, increases the maximum civil penalty to $1,300, and requires the commission to consider certain mitigating and aggravating factors in determining whether to assess a civil penalty and the amount of a penalty assessed. The act also requires:A TNC to mandate and provide education to drivers concerning the transportation of riders with service animals;A TNC to provide monthly, rather than annual, reporting to the commission regarding drivers' refusal to provide services;A TNC to provide a mechanism to allow a consumer to report a driver's refusal to provide transport to the consumer directly on the TNC's digital platform, which information must be included in the TNC's monthly report; andThe commission to aggregate and anonymize the TNCs' monthly reports and make the anonymized reports available to the public.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

When the prison bed vacancy rate in correctional facilities and state-funded private contract prisons falls below 3% for 30 consecutive days, current law requires the department of corrections (department) to notify certain individuals and entities (notification) and implement prison population management measures. The act increases the threshold prison bed vacancy rate to 4% before the prison population management measures to go into effect. The act includes additional individuals and entities that are required to receive the notification and requires the notification to occur within 48 hours of the vacancy rate falling below 4% for 30 consecutive days. The act requires the individuals and entities that receive the notification to acknowledge receipt of the notification and confirm compliance with the prison population management measures. The act requires additional prison population management measures, including requiring the department to request expanding community corrections capacity and make referrals to the parole board, and requiring notified individuals and entities to consider alternatives to prison sentences for certain offenders.     The act appropriates $303,812 to the department to implement the act. The act decreases the appropriation for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department for inmate daily rate payments to local jails by $478,778.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state treasurer to make the following transfers to the general fund on June 30, 2026:$27,905,384 from the refinance discretionary account in the ARPA refinance state money cash fund;$4,085,246.49 from the revenue loss restoration cash fund;$1,974,702.20 from the economic recovery and relief cash fund;$1,005,850.24 from the behavioral and mental health cash fund; and$750,190.06 from the state highway fund.     The act extends the deadline from December 31, 2026, to June 30, 2027, for the department of human services to spend money appropriated in 2022 from the behavioral and mental health cash fund for capital construction related to a youth neuro-psych facility at the Colorado mental health institute at Fort Logan. The act delays a corresponding transfer of money from the behavioral and mental health cash fund.     The act reduces appropriations made in 2022 to the department of health care policy and financing by $800,000 and to the department of early childhood by $1,616,989.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For state fiscal year 2026-27, the act appropriates $5,000,000 from the species conservation trust fund (trust fund) in the state treasury for various wildlife conservation programs directed at conserving candidate species or species that are likely to become candidate species, as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service. The executive director of the Colorado department of natural resources, after consulting with the Colorado water conservation board, the parks and wildlife commission, and the director of the division of parks and wildlife, has submitted to the general assembly a list of programs and associated costs that are eligible to receive funding from the trust fund as follows:$2,380,000 for the upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program and San Juan river basin recovery implementation program;$60,000 for Rio Grande native fish protection and habitat improvements;$60,000 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.     Trust fund money made available for native terrestrial wildlife conservation is not available for purposes of importing new wolves for reintroduction into the state for state fiscal year 2026-27.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)