Rep. Meghan Lukens

The act prohibits using an automated driving system to drive a commercial motor vehicle unless an individual who holds a commercial driver's license is in the vehicle, monitors the vehicle's driving, and intervenes, if necessary, to avoid illegal or unsafe driving. The individual must be in the driver's seat if hazardous materials are being transported. The penalty is $1,000 for a first offense, is $2,000 for a second offense, and doubles for each subsequent offense.     The act does not apply to a light-duty vehicle or a truck-mounted attenuator.     The prohibition is repealed September 1, 2031. The chief of the Colorado state patrol will analyze the act's effects on commercial vehicle safety on highways. By November 1, 2030, the chief of the Colorado state patrol will issue a report to the relevant committees of the house of representatives and senate. The report must make recommendations as whether to continue the prohibition and, if continued, any recommended legislation to improve the prohibition.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $14,357 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends for an additional 10 years the availability of the state income tax credit allowed to a taxpayer who makes a qualifying monetary contribution to promote child care in the state equal to 50% of the total value of the contribution, not to exceed $100,000, through income tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2038.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes the following changes to the 'Labor Peace Act':Specifies that employees' right to bargain collectively includes the right to bargain collectively concerning any mandatory subject of bargaining;Eliminates the requirement for a second election to negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining process;Declares that it is not an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the exclusive representative of the employees, or for the exclusive representative of the employees to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the employer, concerning a mandatory subject of bargaining if the refusing party has bargained in good faith with the other party; andRequires employers and employees, through their exclusive representative, to bargain in good faith.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act:Increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2026-27 budget year by $208.60 to account for inflation;Sets a new statewide base per pupil funding amount for the 2026-27 budget year at $8,900.40; andSets the total program funding for the 2026-27 budget year at $10,178,856,871.     Under current law, there are 2 total program formulas that are used to determine a school district's total program, commonly referred to as the old formula and the new formula.     A school district's funded pupil count is a figure that is used as a part of determining a school district's total program. Under the new formula, for the 2026-27 budget year and each budget year thereafter, a school district's funded pupil count is calculated by determining the greater of the school district's pupil enrollment for the applicable budget year or the average of the district's pupil enrollment for the applicable budget year and the immediately preceding 2 budget years.     However, the act requires that when specified conditions are met, a school district's funded pupil count is the school district's online pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus the school district's supplemental kindergarten enrollment for the budget year, plus the school district's extended high school pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus the greater of:The school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year;An amount equal to 50% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year, plus an amount equal to 30% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the preceding budget year, plus an amount equal to 20% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the budget year that is 2 years preceding the budget year; orAn amount equal to 97% of the school district's pupil enrollment for the preceding budget year.     A school district's cost of living factor is a figure that is used as a part of determining a school district's total program. Under the old formula and the new formula, the act requires the cost of living factor that was used for the 2025-26 budget year to apply in the 2026-27 budget year.     Under current law, for the 2026-27 budget year, a district's total program is the greater of:The district's total program amount for the 2024-25 budget year; orThe amount calculated for the 2025-26 budget year under the old formula plus an amount equal to 30% of the difference between the amounts calculated between the old formula and the new formula.     The act clarifies that for the 2026-27 budget year, if the calculation under the new formula is less than the calculation under the old formula, then that district's total program for the 2025-26 budget year is the greater of:The district's total program amount for the 2024-25 budget year under the old formula; orThe amount calculated for the 2026-27 budget year under the old formula.     The act permits a school transformation grant recipient that is implementing a priority improvement or turnaround plan to use the grant award to plan for and implement rigorous redesign strategies.     The act changes the provisions that determine the amounts of total program that school districts and the state charter school institute distribute to their charter schools. Related to the changes of these provisions, the act repeals at-risk supplemental aid for charter schools.     The act exempts from a future repeal the general assembly's legislative declaration that using state education fund money for maintaining a website that explains major categories in the chart of accounts for local education providers is a permissible use of state education fund money.     The act repeals the scheduled repeal of, resulting in a continuation of, a statute that authorizes contingency reserve fund payments to be used for rural or small rural school districts if an unusual financial burden would be caused by the withholding of local property taxes due to a delay in filing the audit report due to extraordinary problems that could not have been reasonably foreseen or prevented by the rural or small rural school district. The act adds an assistant superintendent, a vice principal, and an assistant principal to the list of eligible school employees who may receive a salary without a reduction in public employees' retirement association (PERA) benefits if the service retiree meets specified conditions.     The act permits a local education provider to request that the department of education approve the local education provider's use of pencil and paper to complete any or every portion of a state assessment for grades 3 or 4 and requires that the local education provider be responsible for costs owed to the vendor that are associated with the administration of the assessment using pencil and paper.     The act authorizes the state board of education to adopt rules that are necessary to determine the district of residence of a child with a disability for a circumstance that is not described under law.     The act repeals the requirement that $500,000 be distributed to administrative units that enroll children with disabilities and instead requires that $1 million be distributed to fund reimbursements for administrative units that pay tuition or education expenses that ensure a free appropriate public education for a student in out-of-home placement who has an individualized education program.     The act requires the department of education to engage stakeholders concerning public placements in facility schools and on the issue of whether to make recommendations concerning such placements to the state board of education regarding rules or to the general assembly regarding statutes.     Under current law, each participating school food authority that satisfies certain requirements is eligible to receive a local food purchasing grant and an amount to increase wages or stipends for individuals employed to prepare and serve school meals. The act clarifies that a charter school that operates under a participating school food authority is eligible for the awards.     The act:Prohibits a board of cooperative services (BOCES) from acting as a statewide authorizer of programs or schools; andLimits a BOCES to operating a school or program outside the geographic boundaries of its school district members, unless specified conditions are satisfied.     The act permits a local education provider to offer one or more part-time programs for homeschool students if specified conditions are satisfied.     The act requires an authorizer contracting with an education management provider to maintain appropriate independence from, and oversight of, the education management provider. The act prohibits a school district from creating a contract school that is a full-time complete educational program offered exclusively by a private entity pursuant to a contract with the public entity.     The act appropriates:$3,755,558 to the department of education from the state education fund for the state share of districts' total program;$313,395 to the department of education from the state education fund for management and administration for information technology services and for use by school district operations for administration related to public school finance; and$3,385,203 to the department of education from the state education fund for school district operations for costs associated with holding charter schools harmless for changes in the distribution of total program funding.     The act adjusts the 2026-27 long bill by decreasing:$8,502,195 from the appropriation from the state education fund to the department of education for the state share of districts' total program funding; and$3,504,995 from the appropriation from the state education fund to the department of education for use by school district operations for at-risk supplemental aid.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires an institution of higher education (institution) that operates a student health center to provide abortion medication to all students enrolled at the institution.     The act requires an institution that has an on-site prescription drug outlet or other outlet to maintain a stock of and provide access to abortion medication to students enrolled at the institution.     The act requires an institution that does not have an on-site prescription drug outlet or other outlet to either submit a prescription for abortion medication to an off-campus prescription drug outlet or other outlet or dispense abortion medication through the institution's student health center if permitted by the student health center's licensure.     The act prohibits an institution from knowingly providing personally identifiable information contained in a student's patient records, billing records, or precise location data related to accessing abortion medication in response to a request from another state seeking to impose liability for accessing abortion medication.     An institution is not required to provide access to or stock abortion medication if doing so would jeopardize an institution's federal grant participation, require the institution to deviate from generally accepted billing practices, modify the generally accepted standards of medical practice, or conflict with the institution's sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Beginning on January 1, 2027, the act authorizes an optional collision prevention fee (fee), which is collected at the time of registration of a passenger motor vehicle, light-weight truck, motorcycle, or recreational vehicle (motor vehicle). An individual may decline to pay the fee when registering a motor vehicle, and nonpayment of the fee does not affect the individual's ability to register the motor vehicle. In connection with imposing the fee, the statewide bridge and tunnel enterprise (enterprise) within the department of transportation (department) is required to collaborate with:The department of revenue and county clerks to develop language to notify individuals about the fee, including explicit language regarding the ability to decline to pay the fee and the fact that nonpayment of the fee will not affect an individual's ability to register a motor vehicle; andThe department of revenue, the department, county clerks, the division of parks and wildlife, and other impacted stakeholders to conduct a public outreach campaign to educate the public about the fee and what benefits the fee will provide. The enterprise is required to initiate the public outreach campaign as soon as practicable and must develop and deliver customer-facing educational materials to county clerks on or before December 1, 2026.The fee amount is set at $5 and, beginning in state fiscal year 2028-29, the enterprise is allowed to adjust this fee amount upward for inflation.     75% of the revenue from the fee is credited to the newly created collision prevention fund (fund), which is continuously appropriated to the enterprise for use in the following ways:To fund wildlife safe passage projects, defined as one or more projects that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity by providing wildlife road crossings;To provide matching money as required by federal grant programs relating to wildlife safe passage projects; To expend for administrative and personnel expenses related to those purposes; andTo promote the fee and fund to maximize participation in the optional fee, in collaboration with the department of revenue, impacted stakeholders, and interested organizations.In determining which wildlife safe passage projects the enterprise will undertake, the enterprise is required to:Consult with the division of parks and wildlife (division) and the Colorado wildlife and transportation alliance;Consult with the tribal government if the project is on or adjacent to tribal land;Consult with relevant local governments with jurisdiction over the area of the proposed project and any relevant local organizations engaging in work to reduce vehicle collisions;Consider studies concerning the prioritization of wildlife within the state;Consider whether the wildlife safe passage project is related to a bridge or tunnel project undertaken by the enterprise; andIn consultation with the division, consider opportunities for landowner agreements or additional conservation efforts that may be necessary to ensure the continued functionality of infrastructure associated with a proposed wildlife safe passage project.     25% of the revenue from the fee is credited to the wildlife cash fund and continuously appropriated to the division to provide services related to wildlife connectivity and wildlife crossing-related conservation efforts.     The act also modifies the process for the keep Colorado wild pass fee, which is an existing optional fee paid at the time an individual registers a motor vehicle, to align with the process for the collision prevention fee by removing the presumption that an individual who declines to pay the keep Colorado wild pass fee is presumed to decline to pay that fee in subsequent years with respect to registration of the same motor vehicle. With this change, an individual must affirmatively opt out of the payment of both the keep Colorado wild pass fee and the collision prevention fee each year that the individual registers the motor vehicle.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year:$53,516 is appropriated from the DRIVES cash fund to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles; Of funds appropriated from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund to the department of natural resources for use by the division, $778 is reappropriated to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles; and$19,940 is appropriated from the legal services cash fund, from revenue received from the department from the collision prevention fund, to the department of law to provide legal services for the department.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under Colorado law, a person is guilty of a crime for placing food or edible waste in the open to lure a wild bear. The act:Lowers the mental state requirement from intention to knowingly placing the food or edible waste in the open in circumstances where there is a reasonable probability of luring a wild bear;Repeals the requirement that a first offense be given a warning; andRaises the fine for a third or subsequent offense from $2,000 to $5,000.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the 'Transit Investment Area Act' to facilitate the financing of transit and rail station infrastructure. Specifically, the act:Allows a local government and a transit agency to jointly undertake a transit investment project. To finance the project, the local government may apply to the Colorado economic development commission (commission) to designate a transit investment area and an approved financing entity;Authorizes the approved financing entity, which may be a newly created transit investment authority, a county revitalization authority, a metropolitan district, or an urban renewal authority, to receive state sales tax increment revenue. This revenue consists of the state sales tax collected in the designated area above a base amount, plus an additional 20% to account for out-of-area deliveries.Permits the financing entity to issue bonds and use the state sales tax increment revenue to finance eligible improvements related to the transit project;Prohibits the financing entity from using the state sales tax increment revenue to acquire property through eminent domain;Requires projects to comply with specified hiring, apprenticeship, and workforce standards;Caps the commission's approval authority at no more than 3 transit investment projects in any calendar year and no more than 6 in total and caps the total state sales tax increment revenue dedicated to all projects at $75 million per fiscal year; andAuthorizes the commission to revoke project approval if substantial work does not commence within 5 years and requires financing entities to submit annual reports and independent financial audits.     The act requires the Colorado office of economic development, in consultation with the department of local affairs and the department of transportation, to publish a transit and housing investment zone map on or before October 30, 2026.     The act creates the Colorado affordable housing in transit and housing investment zones tax credit (tax credit). The tax credit is administered in the same manner as the Colorado affordable housing in transit-oriented communities income tax credit; except that the tax credit is awarded in connection with housing projects in transit and housing zones. The act authorizes the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority to allocate up to $8,333,333 in tax credits each calendar year beginning in the 2027 calendar year through the 2033 calendar year.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $213,349 to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department of natural resources to expand the division's capacity for outdoor recreation coordination, planning, and management and take a leading role in state-level coordination, strategic planning, and implementation of Colorado's outdoors strategy. The division is directed to, among other things, engage with relevant partners, stakeholders, tribal governments, and agencies to coordinate and incorporate wildlife, conservation, recreation, and climate-resilience considerations across agency planning and decision-making processes.     In addition, the division is required to support, in consultation with relevant entities, the planning, development, and maintenance of outdoor recreation infrastructure to enhance outdoor recreation opportunities while protecting private property rights, wildlife, and natural resources. The division is directed to coordinate and consult with local governments to identify potential impacts to services and infrastructure associated with outdoor recreation use.     The act also requires the division to create, and update at least annually, integrated regional outdoor recreation and conservation planning reports to inform division awareness and operational decision-making. In 2027 and 2028, the division is required to include an update on the outdoor recreation coordination, planning, and management efforts required by the act during its 'SMART Act' hearing.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $436,025 to the department of natural resources from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund to be used for state park operations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act directs the division of brand inspection (division) in the department of agriculture and the state board of stock inspection commissioners in the department of agriculture to receive reports of lost or stolen livestock. On or before December 31, 2026, the division shall implement procedures that:Facilitate efficient coordination with law enforcement, including procedures to ensure that reports of stolen livestock are provided to relevant law enforcement within 24 hours after the division receives a report of stolen livestock; andEnsure that the public is notified of lost or stolen livestock.     The procedures implemented by the division may vary by geographic region depending on the needs of the region.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)