Rep. Chad Clifford

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 a foreign third-party litigation funder (funder) that enters into a litigation financing agreement (agreement) to disclose and submit certain information to the Colorado attorney general. The act prohibits a funder from: Utilizing a domestic entity as a means of providing litigation financing to a party or attorney in a civil action; Deciding, influencing, or directing an attorney with respect to the conduct of the civil action or any settlement or resolution of the civil action; Assigning rights to profits other than the right to receive a share of the proceeds awarded in the civil action as outlined in the agreement; or Sharing proprietary information, or information affecting national security interests obtained as a result of the agreement for the civil action, with anyone who is not a party or an attorney. The act subjects an agreement to discovery under the Colorado rules of civil procedure and Colorado rules of evidence. The act deems an agreement entered into by a funder void if the funder fails to comply with the activity and disclosure requirements. A funder's failure to comply with the requirements of this act constitutes a deceptive or unfair trade practice. The act allows the attorney general to bring legal action against a funder to enforce compliance with the act, impose fines, prohibit a funder from operating in this state, or impose any other sanction the attorney general deems appropriate for a violation of the activity or disclosure requirements. The act requires the department of law to include information about funders in its annual "SMART Act" hearing annually, beginning in January 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the time frame within which a governing body of a city, town, or city and county with jurisdiction in an area within the wildland-urban interface is required to adopt wildfire codes and standards that meet or exceed the wildfire resiliency code board's wildfire codes and standards from 3 to 9 months after the board's adoption of wildfire codes and standards. The act allows a governing body to enter into a cooperative agreement with another entity, such as a third-party contractor or another governing body, in order to enforce wildfire codes and standards. (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.)

Under current law, there is an exemption from the general prohibition against covenants not to compete. The exemption allows for a covenant not to compete under specified conditions governing an individual who earns an amount of annualized cash compensation equivalent to or greater than the threshold amount for highly compensated workers. The act excludes from the highly compensated worker exemption a covenant not to compete that restricts the practice of medicine, the practice of advanced practice registered nursing, or the practice of dentistry in this state. Under current law, there is also an exemption from the general prohibition against covenants not to solicit customers (nonsolicitation covenant) that allows for a nonsolicitation covenant governing an individual who earns an amount of annualized cash compensation equivalent to or greater than 60% of the threshold amount for highly compensated workers if the nonsolicitation covenant is no broader than reasonably necessary to protect the employer's legitimate interest in protecting trade secrets. The act also excludes from the highly compensated worker exemption for nonsolicitation covenants a covenant not to compete that restricts the practice of medicine, the practice of advanced practice registered nursing, or the practice of dentistry. A covenant not to compete governing an individual who has a minority ownership share of a business and who received their ownership share in the business as equity compensation or otherwise in connection with services rendered is permissible if the covenant's duration in years does not exceed a number calculated by the total consideration received by the individual from the sale divided by the average annualized cash compensation received by the individual from the business, including income received on account of the individual's ownership interest during the preceding 2 years or during the period of time that the individual was affiliated with the business, whichever period of time is shorter. The act prohibits a covenant that prevents or materially restricts a health-care provider from disclosing to a patient to whom the health-care provider was providing consultation or treatment before the health-care provider's departure from a medical or dental practice the following information: The health-care provider's continuing practice of medicine; The health-care provider's new professional contact information; or The patient's right to choose a health-care provider.(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.)

The act requires the office of just transition (office) in the department of labor and employment to prioritize awarding funding to support tier one and tier 2 coal transition communities experiencing socioeconomic impacts of coal closures and for opportunities for economic diversification, local community input, feasibility studies of specific proposed projects, and needs assessments. The office is required to use money appropriated to the just transition cash fund after July 1, 2025, to support programs that support targeted investment in coal transition communities by collaborating with coal transition communities and eligible entities, state and regionally recognized governmental and economic development entities, employee organizations that represent coal transition workers, and workers who are not affiliated with employee organizations to implement the most effective projects and programs for those communities. The act requires the office to annually report to the joint budget committee and at the annual "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearings of the senate local government and housing committee and the house transportation, housing, and local government committee about the grants awarded by the office during the preceding state fiscal year, their recipients, and the purpose for which they were awarded. A public entity may invest public funds only as allowed by law. The act specifies that the investment of a payment or settlement to offset the socioeconomic impacts to a community or government from the closure of a coal mine or coal power generating station is not subject to these investment limitations. The act allows the executive director of the department of local affairs to establish a policy preference for awarding up to 70% of the money credited to the local government severance tax fund to just transition communities for a 3-year period beginning January 1, 2026. The act extends the deadline for the submittal by the director of the Colorado energy office of the findings and conclusions of assessments of advanced energy solutions in the northwestern and west end of Montrose county and in southeastern Colorado from July 1, 2025 to December 19, 2025, and makes the requirement that the findings and conclusion be submitted contingent on the director having sufficient federal money to support the submittal. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)