The division of water resources in the department of natural resources (division) is responsible for administering water rights and issuing water well permits, among other duties. Under current law, after having received a permit to appropriate designated groundwater or construct a well outside the boundaries of a designated groundwater basin, a permit holder is required to construct the well within one year after the date of issuance of the permit. If the well is not constructed within one year, the permit expires; except that the ground water commission (commission) in the division or the state engineer, as applicable, may grant a single one-year extension. The act extends the time frame for construction of a well to 2 years, eliminating the need for the commission or the state engineer to approve a one-year extension to the initial one-year construction time frame, except for permits issued for federally authorized water projects. The act also removes the requirement that the commission or state engineer must mail a certified letter to the permit holder before a permit can be formally expired. The act allows the commission or state engineer to reinstate an expired permit if the applicant for reinstatement of the permit can show that the well was completed in a timely manner and submits a $30 fee. Under current law, the division engineer of each water division is required to decennially present to the water court a list of water rights that meet the criteria for abandonment. The act splits this decennial abandonment process into 2 batches, grouped by water division and spaced 5 years apart, beginning with 2030 and 2035. The act maintains the requirement that the abandonment process be performed every 10 years in each water division. The act extends certain time frames relating to the well permitting process. Lastly, the act eliminates final permitting requirements for non-Denver Basin bedrock aquifer wells in the designated basins. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act requires the office of the state controller (office) to transfer, unless otherwise provided by law, on June 30, 2025, and each June 30 thereafter, the balance of any repealed cash fund to the general fund. The act requires the office to annually submit a report to the joint budget committee that: Identifies any cash funds that have not been appropriated from in the last 2 state fiscal years and the balance of those funds; and Identifies the total amount that the office has transferred to the general fund from repealed cash funds in the preceding state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act reinstates the sales and use tax exemption for certain low-emitting heavy-duty motor vehicles, vehicle power sources, and parts for vehicle power source conversion, which had expired as of January 1, 2025, for the period beginning on and after August 1, 2025, but prior to January 1, 2029, and clarifies the intent of the exemption. The act increases the amount of the bridge and tunnel impact fee to be imposed per gallon of special fuel by the statewide bridge and tunnel enterprise from $0.05 per gallon to $0.07 per gallon for state fiscal year 2025-26, from $0.06 per gallon to $0.07 per gallon for state fiscal year 2026-27, and from $0.07 per gallon to $0.08 per gallon for state fiscal year 2027-28. For state fiscal year 2025-2026, $3,959 is appropriated from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado sexual assault forensic medical evidence review board (board), consisting of the attorney general, or their designee, as board chair; the executive director of the Colorado district attorneys' council, or their designee; and various members appointed by the attorney general or the governor. The board's duties include reviewing and monitoring processes related to sexual assault response, making recommendations to improve sexual assault response, and submitting an annual report concerning its duties. The act creates a notification requirement under the "Victim Rights Act" that requires a law enforcement agency to notify a victim every 90 days when the law enforcement agency has not received the results of the forensic medical evidence DNA analysis from an accredited crime laboratory. The act requires an accredited crime laboratory to endeavor to analyze forensic medical evidence within 60 days after its receipt. The act expands public reporting requirements concerning forensic medical evidence and DNA evidence backlogs. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $112,365 from the general fund to the department of law for use by the administration division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act changes the spending authority of the division of criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety in relation to community corrections programs by: Repealing the division's authority to transfer up to 10% of annual appropriations among or between line items for community corrections program services; and Allowing the division to overexpend up to $2 million in any one fiscal year for felony placements in community corrections programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" for a person who consults with, advises, or assists a veteran in connection with a claim for veterans' benefits (veterans' benefits matter) to: Receive compensation in excess of the lesser of $9,200 or 25% of the amount of any past-due benefits the veteran actually receives after the person procures an increase in the veteran's monthly benefits; Receive compensation in connection with a claim filed prior to a veteran's release from active duty or within the one-year period following a veteran's release from active duty; Guarantee a successful outcome in a veterans' benefits matter; Fail to memorialize the payment terms and certain disclosures in a written, signed contract; Omit certain disclosures from advertising or make false representations about accreditation; Fail to take various security measures related to veterans' personal information; or Provide services in connection with an appeal or review of the veterans administration's initial decision in a veterans' benefits matter, unless the service provider is accredited by the veterans administration. The act requires the attorney general or district attorney to transmit any civil penalty collected for a violation of the veterans' benefits matter provisions to the state treasurer for deposit in the Colorado state veterans trust fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
If a service member's driver's license expires while they are serving on active duty outside of Colorado, the driver's license expiration date is extended for 3 years or until 90 days after the service member returns to the state. The act designates the service member's dependents as also subject to the extension of their driver's license expiration date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of higher education (department), subject to available appropriations, to develop and maintain a free, publicly accessible online platform (platform) to provide current and potential students who are pursuing postsecondary education in Colorado with relevant information about which credits and courses, work-related experiences, and prior learning opportunities are transferable to or between the state's public institutions of higher education (institution). On or before January 1, 2026, an institution may submit to the department for inclusion in the platform: A comprehensive record, from the fall 2023 term onward, of the institution's awards of postsecondary transfer credit for all courses that the institution has identified as having learning outcomes equivalent to corresponding offerings at other institutions; and Descriptions of the institution's policy on work-related experiences or prior learning opportunities, and the credentials, licenses, or apprenticeship certificates for which the institution awards postsecondary academic credit. Using the data provided by an institution, the department shall include in the platform information about the transferability to or between institutions for several sources of postsecondary academic credit. These sources include courses in the statewide common course numbering system, now referred to as the guaranteed transfer pathway matrix, and credits earned through various standardized tests. A not-for-profit private institution of higher education may, but is not required to, submit applicable information for inclusion in the platform. The act creates the postsecondary transfer credit platform cash fund to accept gifts, grants, and donations for the development, implementation, and maintenance of the platform. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state board of education (state board) to adopt standards related to Black historical and cultural studies (standards). Local education providers shall incorporate the standards into courses for public elementary and secondary school students in the state no later than 2 years after the state board adopts the standards. The act aligns the timeline for the development, adoption, and integration of the standards with the 6-year cycle that the state board of education currently uses for revising the state academic standards. The act creates the Black historical and cultural studies advisory committee (committee) in the department of education (department) to recommend standards and related materials and to provide technical assistance at the request of local education providers implementing the standards. The committee's recommendations must include updates to the state's history and civics standards and must advance developmentally appropriate but comprehensive instruction that features factual accounts of the struggles and contributions of Black Americans in all fields of endeavor. Using the committee's recommendations, the department will create and maintain a resource bank of research-based, scholarly articles and promising program materials and curricula pertaining to Black historical and cultural studies. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $19,225 from the general fund to the department for costs related to content specialists. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The healthy school meals for all program (program) reimburses participating school food authorities for meals that those authorities provide to students without charge. Section 2 of the act allows the amount of these reimbursements to be modified in 2 different scenarios. First, if a referred measure that would, in combination with the income tax deduction modification that was approved by the voters in connection with the program, result in the collection of at least $150 million for the income tax year commencing on January 1, 2026, is not approved by the voters voting on the referred measure at the 2025 statewide election, the department of education (department) is required to only provide reimbursements to participating school food authorities for meals served at eligible sites. Eligible sites are those that either: Qualify for the community eligibility provision program, as that program exists on November 15, 2025; or Are identified as eligible sites by the department based on the amount that the general assembly appropriates for the purpose of providing reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge and the percentage of a site's student enrollment who are certified as eligible for free meals based on documentation of benefit receipt or categorical eligibility as described in federal rule, or any successor regulations. Second, if the department, in consultation with the office of state planning and budgeting, determines that the amount that the general assembly appropriated for the purpose of providing reimbursements to a participating school food authority is less than the costs of the department providing those reimbursements, the department may determine a prorated reimbursement amount for the reimbursements that the department provides through the program to each participating school food authority for the remainder of that budget year. Sections 4 and 6 limit the existing authority of the department, if the department determines that there is an insufficient amount of money in the healthy school meals for all program cash fund (fund) for the department to provide reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge, to make an expenditure from the general fund to provide those reimbursements to state fiscal years commencing on or before July 1, 2024. Section 3 allows the general assembly to appropriate money from the state education fund to cover program costs for which there is not sufficient money in the fund, as it was required to do for state fiscal years 2024-25, for state fiscal year 2025-26. Section 4 requires the department, on January 15, 2027, in consultation with the office of state planning and budgeting, to report to the joint budget committee on whether there is a sufficient balance in the fund for: The state treasurer to transfer an amount from the fund to the state education fund equal to the total amount of expenditures from the state education fund for the program for state fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 minus the amount of additional tax revenue deposited in the state education fund as a result of the increase in state income tax generated in connection with voter approval of the program for those same fiscal years; and The department to provide reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge. Section 8 extends the local school food purchasing program indefinitely, so that the program extends beyond the 2024-25 school year. Section 9 similarly extends the required reporting on the local school food purchasing program. Section 11 decreases the appropriation for school meal reimbursements provided through the program from the general fund by $42,240,242 and increases the appropriation from the state education fund by $8,119,271 for the same purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)