The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) in its 2025 sunset review and report by continuing the division of securities and the securities board until 2037. In connection with continuing these entities, the act:Clarifies that deficiency letters and communications concerning a deficiency letter are not public documents that may be inspected under the 'Colorado Open Records Act';Requires that an investment adviser or an investment adviser representative doing business in Colorado must be licensed by the securities commissioner (commissioner) unless otherwise exempt;Specifies that the executive director of the department must consult with the securities board when appointing the commissioner; andUpdates statutory language to be gender neutral. The act revises the process by which a cease-and-desist order is issued or a license is summarily suspended. Under the previous law, the commissioner issued a cease-and-desist order or conducted a summary license suspension by issuing an order to show cause as to why a cease-and-desist order or license suspension should not be issued. After appropriate notices were given, a hearing was scheduled with the securities board or an administrative law judge. At the hearing, it was determined whether to issue a cease-and-desist order or suspend the license and what form the order or suspension would take. The act changes this process to authorize the commissioner to issue a preliminary cease-and-desist order or a summary license-suspension order. If the person that is the subject of the order disagrees with the order, the person may request a hearing to resolve the issue. The hearing must take place within 45 days after issuance of the order unless both parties request an extension. The deadline for a hearing, with an exception, is changed from 35 days to 60 days. If a hearing is not requested within 15 days after issuance of the order, the order becomes final. The person that is the subject of the order must obey the order until a hearing is requested.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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A manufacturer of spirituous liquors (manufacturer) that seeks to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers licensed in the state (wholesaler) at the manufacturer's licensed premises and any approved sales room is required to apply for a permit from the local and state licensing authorities for on-premises consumption for each location where the manufacturer will serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler. Prior to issuing the permit, the local licensing authority shall provide public notice and consider the reasonable requirements of the neighborhood, zoning restrictions, and other local licensing concerns. The act includes fees that a permit applicant must pay to a local licensing authority. Upon approval from the local licensing authority, a manufacturer shall apply to the state licensing authority for a state permit. If the state permit is approved:The manufacturer must serve sandwiches and light snacks if selling and serving alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler; andThe proceeds from the sale of alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers must not account for more than 50% of the manufacturer's gross annual revenue from alcohol beverage sales. The state permit is valid until the expiration of the local permit or for one year after the date of issuance of the state permit, whichever is sooner, unless the permit is inactive, suspended, or revoked. If a manufacturer does not obtain a permit from the local and state licensing authority to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler, the manufacturer may purchase and use common alcohol modifiers to combine with the manufacturer's spirituous liquors to produce cocktails for consumption on and off the sales room premises.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines a 'conversational artificial intelligence service' as an artificial intelligence system that is accessible to the general public and that primarily simulates human conversation and interaction through adaptive textual, visual, or aural communications. Effective January 1, 2027, the act creates requirements and prohibitions for a person, partnership, corporation, or entity that develops and makes publicly available a conversational artificial intelligence service or offers a conversational artificial intelligence service to a consumer (operator). An operator is required to use commercially reasonable methods or generally accepted methods to estimate the age of a consumer who has or opens an account or profile to use a conversational artificial intelligence service (account holder) and the age of other users of a conversational artificial intelligence service. If an operator knows that an account holder or user is a minor, an operator is:Required to provide certain disclosures;Prohibited from providing the minor account holder or minor user with points or rewards to encourage engagement with the conversational artificial intelligence service;Required to institute technically feasible measures to prevent the conversational artificial intelligence service from producing explicit sexual conduct, intimate digital depictions, or statements that simulate emotional dependence;Required to implement a protocol for a conversational artificial intelligence service to stop engaging in response to a user prompt regarding sexual conduct with a minor; andRequired to provide tools for the minor account holder or minor user or a parent or guardian of the minor account holder or minor user to manage the minor account holder's or minor user's privacy and account settings. The act also requires an operator to provide a disclosure to a user that a conversational artificial intelligence service is artificial intelligence, implement a protocol for user prompts regarding suicidal ideation or self-harm, and annually report to the attorney general's office information regarding the protocol the operator is implementing. The act prohibits an operator from stating that any output data provided by a conversational artificial intelligence service is provided by, endorsed by, or equivalent to services provided by certain licensed or certified professionals. The act clarifies that nothing in the act limits an individual's ability to access certain information and resources pursuant to the state constitution, requires an operator to disclose confidential information, or authorizes content moderation practices inconsistent with the United States constitution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the secretary of state (secretary) to:Mark as void or remove from the system an entity filing and adjust the entity's status if an electronic payment for the entity filing fee is reversed or is not completed; andMark a business record with a notice that an entity has received a complaint or is under investigation without referring a complaint about the entity to the attorney general if the secretary receives a notice from the attorney general that the entity being listed as the registered agent was created or registered without authorization or for fraudulent purposes. The act prohibits using a fraudulent entity as a registered agent in a business entity filing. Colorado law provides an administrative process for determining if an entity filing is made fraudulently or otherwise violates the law when a complaint is made (violation). When a complaint is filed, the secretary may note on the entity's records a notice of the complaint and investigation. If such a determination is made, the entity filings may be canceled and the filers penalized. The procedures require the attorney general to notify the entity's registered agent. If the entity does not reply, the complaint is deemed to be conceded. The act:Authorizes the attorney general to provide written notice to any other point of contact that the attorney general determines through investigation to be a means to reach the entity, if the address of the registered agent is the same as the address of the complainant;Repeals a requirement that a second 21-day notice be mailed before the complaint is deemed to be conceded;Authorizes a person that is injured by a violation to bring an action to dissolve the entity; andAuthorizes the secretary to take certain actions against another entity that also uses the same fraudulent or unauthorized entity as its registered agent. Under current law, actions to dissolve an entity must be brought in the district court for the county where the entity's principal office is located; if the entity has no principal office in this state, where the registered agent is located; or, if the entity has no registered agent, in Denver. The act authorizes the action to be brought in Denver when the dissolution is based on a fraudulent filing. The act also sets up a procedure through which, if the secretary has a reasonable basis to believe that a record is fraudulent or unauthorized based on the response or failure to respond to an interrogatory, the secretary may:Mark the record with a notice that the record is unauthorized or fraudulent and declare the entity delinquent;Redact the unauthorized address or name from the record and from any other relevant records;Disable filing functionality on the entity's records; andProceed with administrative procedures. A person aggrieved by any of these actions may request the secretary to reverse the actions taken. If the secretary denies the request, the aggrieved person may seek judicial review in Denver. To implement the act, $193,954 is appropriated from the department of state cash fund to the department of state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows persons who are indigenous to receive compensation for traditional Native American healing ceremonies and practices and related expenses under the 'Colorado Crime Victim Compensation Act', which includes:Traditional counseling and healing from an elder or spiritual healer;Traditional ceremonial practices;Ceremonial burials, including clothing for the deceased, meals, and other related expenses;Child care during burial ceremonies;Reimbursement for honoraria provided in connection with ceremonial services; andReasonable travel expenses related to the traditional Native American healing ceremonies and practices.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act changes the purpose of the small business recovery and resiliency loan program (program) from supporting small businesses recovering from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 to supporting Colorado's small businesses regardless of COVID-19 impacts. The act provides that money in the small business recovery and resiliency fund (fund) may be matched by participants in the program at a ratio of $1 of fund money for every $1 of money from other sources. Once the money from the fund is matched by other sources and comprises a tranche, the act specifies that the money from the tranche may be used for loans or to purchase participation interest in loans for businesses as determined by the program oversight board (board), including working capital and the purchase of equipment. The act allows a deferral of principal and interest payments on a loan made through the program for circumstances of hardship and repeals the requirement that the hardship must be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or ongoing economic conditions. The act repeals a requirement that money from the fund must be proportionally reserved for applications from eligible borrowers located in a county based on the county's metrics related to small businesses, as determined by the board, for an initial period of time and that the money must be allocated to a county. Instead, the act requires each tranche of loan funding to be used to fund businesses across the state over the duration of the program and to maintain targets and support businesses located in rural counties and businesses owned by women, minorities, or veterans. The program will track the distribution of capital to counties. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $5 million from the fund to the Colorado startup loan program fund on June 30, 2026.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the Colorado job growth incentive tax credit (credit) may only be allowed by the economic development commission (commission) through state income tax year 2026. The act amends the Colorado job growth incentive tax credit to authorize the commission to allow new credit awards through state income tax year 2034. The act also extends the commission's annual reporting requirement through September 1, 2042.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The microgrids for community resilience grant program (grant program) in the division of local government in the department of local affairs provides grants for cooperative electric associations and municipally owned utilities to purchase microgrid resources for eligible rural communities located within their service territories. Under current law, the grant program is set to repeal on September 1, 2026. The act continues the grant program indefinitely by removing the repeal date.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2022, the general assembly enacted, and the governor subsequently signed into law, House Bill 22-1358 ('Concerning measures to eliminate the presence of lead in the drinking water of certain facilities where children are present, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation'), which required child care centers, family child care homes, and each public school that serves any of grades preschool through eighth grade to:Test its drinking water sources by having a state-certified laboratory measure the lead content of water drawn from each drinking water source; andSatisfy other requirements concerning the provision of safe drinking water. House Bill 22-1358 also created the school and child care clean drinking water fund (fund) to help schools, child care centers, and family child care homes comply with House Bill 22-1358. House Bill 22-1358 included a repeal date of June 30, 2026, for its provisions. The act extends the provisions, with amendments, until June 30, 2029. The act also adds high schools (i.e., schools that serve grades 9 to 12) to the scope of House Bill 22-1358, which means that high schools may receive grants from the fund and must satisfy certain requirements on or before dates specified in the act. The act requires the department to adopt rules establishing how a child care center shall demonstrate compliance with the requirements concerning the testing for the presence of lead in drinking water.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summaryThis bill brings Denver School of Science and Technology charter schools into the Denver Public Schools division of the Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA), allowing their employees to participate in the same retirement benefits as other Denver public school workers. The legislation also changes the PERA Board of Trustees by adding one voting member elected by Denver Public Schools employees and removing a non-voting ex officio member from that division. Additionally, the bill extends the deadline for charter school employees to purchase additional retirement service credit for years worked before affiliation, moving the cutoff date from November 1, 2006, to July 1, 2026. These changes affect Denver public school employees, retirees, and the governance structure of the state's public employee retirement system.