Rep. Bob Marshall

The act establishes visitation as a right for a person confined in a correctional facility (confined person). The department of corrections (department) may: Limit visitation for a confined person who is in restrictive housing or as a sanction following a conviction for a class 1 code of penal discipline violation; Reduce, but not eliminate, the number of visits available per week to a confined person as a result of an increase in the person's custody classification level; Temporarily deprive visitation as necessary for facility operations or for the safety of the facility, persons in the facility, and the general public; and Deny or cancel visitation for a confined person at any time as necessary to comply with requirements imposed by a court order, for victim safety, to prevent communication with a co-defendant, to preserve the integrity of a criminal investigation, to comply with treatment protocols, or for any other reason required by law. Video visits may supplement, but must not take the place of, in-person visits when in-person visits are permitted. If a confined person provides the department with reasonable notice that a requested visitation is for virtual attendance at a funeral or during or immediately following the birth of a child in the person's family, the act requires the department to make all reasonable efforts to allow the person to participate in the visitation via virtual attendance, or, if virtual attendance is not possible, via telephone. The department may adopt policies to govern visitations, including policies necessary to allow visitation as part of routine facility operations. The act states that it does not create a private right of action. The act permits a confined person to file a grievance with the department if the confined person alleges deprivation of visitation. The department is required to include information about visitation and grievances in its annual SMART Act hearing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires an employer or the employer's insurer to use the division of workers' compensation's (division) utilization standards when responding to a request for authorization from a treating physician, and, if they do not, the director of the division may deem the services as authorized, reasonable, and necessary and require payment for the services by the employer or the employer's insurer. The act provides injured workers control over the selection of their primary treating physician in workers' compensation cases, allowing them to choose from any level I or level II accredited physician through the division subject to geographic limitations. The act creates the mechanism by which an injured worker may select the treating physician and requires the employer or insurer to choose the physician when an injured worker is unable or unwilling to select the treating physician. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Cell Phone Connectivity Interim Study Committee. The bill requires that an application by a telecommunications provider for the siting and construction of a new wireless telecommunications service facility for telecommunications or for the substantial change of an existing wireless telecommunications service facility for telecommunications (application) submitted to a local government is deemed approved by the local government if: The local government has not approved or rejected the application within 60 90 days after the application is submitted to the local government or conducted a pre-application meeting or other documented communication regarding the application, whichever is earlier (60-day time period) the applicant complies with the first procedural step required by the local government as part of its applicable regulatory review process or after the applicant submits a collocation application if the local government's applicable regulatory process does not specify that first procedural step; except that the period for approval or rejection of a siting application that is not for a collocation or a small cell facility is 120 days (applicable consideration period); The telecommunications provider has provided all public notices required under applicable law; and The telecommunications provider has provided notice to the local government that the 60-day time applicable consideration period has lapsed and that the application is deemed approved. A local government may toll the 60-day time applicable consideration period to allow the local government to make timely requests for information to complete an application. The 60-day time applicable consideration period may also be extended by mutual agreement of the telecommunications provider and the local government. If a local government determines that a collocation or siting application is incomplete, the local government is required to provide written notification to the applicant within 30 days after the submission of the application of the missing documents or information that the applicant must submit to render the application complete and identify the specific regulation that requires the applicant to provide the missing documents or information, and the applicable consideration period is tolled from the date of notification until the applicant provides the missing documents or information. A local government may seek judicial review of the deemed approval of a collocation application or siting application within 30 days after it receives notice of the deemed approval. If a local government requires an applicant to obtain a traffic control plan or other permit related to obstruction of, or safety in, a public right-of-way before a collocation or siting application is approved, the applicant shall not commence the construction or substantial change of a wireless service facility for telecommunications pursuant to an collocation or siting application deemed approved pursuant to the bill until the traffic control plan or other permit is obtained. A local government is prohibited from unreasonably withholding, conditioning, or delaying approval of the issuance of a traffic control plan or other permit to delay the approval of a collocation application or siting application or prohibiting or unreasonably discriminating in favor of, or against, any technology in taking action on a collocation or siting application. The bill also prohibits a A local government is prohibited from requiring a telecommunications provider that removes, discontinues, or replaces telecommunications equipment at an existing wireless telecommunications facility to file a new application or obtain additional permits if: The telecommunications provider notifies the local government of the necessary removal, discontinuance, or replacement of the telecommunications equipment; and The removal, discontinuance, or replacement of the telecommunications equipment is not a substantial change to the facility. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2026. The bill clarifies that its requirements do not supersede, nullify, or otherwise alter generally applicable and nondiscriminatory building, electrical, fire, or other safety requirements. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The act allows the director of the division of oil and public safety (division), on and after August 15, 2025, to impose a civil penalty of not more that $5,000 per day for the retail distribution of reformulated gasoline that violates the applicable fuel quality specification when the federal environmental protection agency (EPA) requires the sale of reformulated gasoline in a nonattainment area in the state. "Nonattainment area" is defined as an area of the state that the EPA has designated as being in nonattainment with a national ambient air quality standard. On or before August 15, 2025, the division is required to notify, through the division's email system, any owner of a gas station that is located in a nonattainment area of the penalty amount established by the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the Emily Keyes - John W. Buckner organ and tissue donation awareness fund indefinitely. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements and describes the operation of the pediatric primary care practice program (primary care program) in the department of early childhood (department). The purpose of the primary care program is to provide funding and support to a pediatric primary care medical practice (medical practice) to integrate into the medical practice a professional who specializes in whole-child and whole-family health and well-being. The department shall contract with an implementation partner (primary care partner) to implement, operate, and administer the primary care program. The primary care partner shall create and implement a team-based, research-informed pediatric primary care practice evidence-based model (evidence-based model). The evidence-based model must be a comprehensive approach to guide pediatric care medical practices to deliver services to children from birth to 3 years of age and their families. The primary care partner shall: Establish an application and selection process with the department for select medical practices to participate in the primary care program; Review applications from medical practices and select applicants to participate in the primary care program; Work with selected applicants to complete assessments on the applicants' community health-care systems, health and well-being practices, and related concerns; and Train and support the medical practices selected to participate in the primary care program to maintain fidelity to the evidence-based model. The executive director of the department may adopt rules to carry out the purposes of the primary care program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a metropolitan district that is a party to a lease or rental agreement that was effective as of January 1, 2025, or later and was filed with the county assessor's office in support of a claim for a property tax exemption based on the use of the property for purposes of the metropolitan district to file with the county assessor's office a statement (statement) describing: The metropolitan district's use of the leased property; The metropolitan district's authority to use the leased property for the metropolitan district's purposes; Any use of the leased property by a private person for private purposes; and Any disclosure filed by a member of the board of directors of the metropolitan district in accordance with certain laws that govern disclosures of conflicts of interest. If the statement includes a disclosure that relates to the leased property and is filed by a member of the board of directors of the metropolitan district in accordance with certain laws that govern disclosures of conflicts of interest, the county assessor shall, within 14 days of receipt of the statement, submit the statement to the metropolitan district's governing body. Within 63 days of receipt of the statement, the governing body shall issue a written decision including findings of fact and a conclusion as to whether the leased property is used for a public purpose. If the governing body concludes that the leased property is not used for a public purpose, the leased property is not exempt from taxation, and the county assessor shall implement the governing body's decision. The decision of the governing body is not subject to appeal and does not give rise to any private right of action. The act clarifies that a leasehold interest in real or personal property that is owned by a private person and that has been leased to the state or a political subdivision of the state, the use and possession of which has been leased back to a private person for private purposes, is taxable to the owner. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a civil cause of action for a peace officer if the peace officer reports or discloses conduct that is in violation of, or the peace officer reasonably believes is in violation of, any law or policy and the report or disclosure is a contributing factor in the employer of the peace officer's decision to take adverse employment action against the peace officer. A peace officer may seek the following damages: Reinstatement; Back pay with interest; Any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate; Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses; and Reasonable attorney fees and costs. The act creates an affirmative defense to the action if the peace officer's employer would have taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the peace officer based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis. The action is not subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act". The statute of limitations to bring the action is 2 years. The act does not apply to an employee who provides false information or who does not follow internal reporting and administrative procedures related to whistleblower conduct. All law enforcement agencies shall provide a training to employees or a workplace posting, or both, regarding the requirements of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes the owner of a trailer to register the trailer for as long as the owner owns the trailer. The trailer must be class B or class D personal property. To register the trailer, the owner must pay: 2 years of annual specific ownership tax; and $55.82 to cover fees. Upon the transfer of ownership of the trailer, the owner is required to notify the department of revenue of the transfer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adjusts several tax expenditures and adds purpose statements to other tax expenditures as follows: Section 1 of the act disallows the income tax credit for unsalable alcohol after December 31, 2025, and repeals the credit on December 31, 2030; Section 2 extends the 10% of purchase price income tax credit for income tax years commencing before January 1, 2025, for a purchaser who installs an energy storage system in a residential dwelling to include subsequent income tax years commencing before January 1, 2027, and extends the repeal of the credit from January 1, 2028, to January 1, 2030. By amending a definition of "agricultural compounds" that is incorporated into the definition of "wholesale sale" used for purposes of the sales and use tax statutes, section 3 exempts from sales and use tax soil conditioners, plant amendments, plant growth regulators, mulches, compost, soil used for aboveground production of agricultural commodities, manure, fish for non-stocking purposes, fish embryos, and fish eggs beginning January 1, 2026; Section 4 states that the purpose of the insolvency assessments paid insurance premium tax credit is to offset the cost for an insurer paying required assessments into the life and health insurance protection association and that the credit's effectiveness is measured by how many eligible insurers claim the credit and the amount claimed relative to payments into the life and health insurance protection association; Sections 5 and 6 state that the purpose of the state refund income tax subtraction is to avoid re-taxing a taxpayer's state income tax refund when a state refund is required to be included as income on the taxpayer's federal return pursuant to the internal revenue code and that the effectiveness of the deduction is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the deduction and the total amount of state refunds claimed as subtractions from Colorado taxable income; Section 7 states that the purpose of the dyed special fuels and off-road fuel tax excise tax exemption is to entirely exclude dyed diesel or kerosene from the special fuels excise tax where the dyed fuel is used for specified off-road purposes or by governmental entities and that the effectiveness of the exemption is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the exemption and the amount of tax that would have been paid without the exemption; Section 8 states that the purpose of the off-road fuel use refund is to compensate taxpayers who buy and pay the tax on otherwise taxable fuels for the purpose of using the fuels for specified non-taxable purposes under federal law and that the effectiveness of the refund is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming a refund and the amount of tax that was already collected and is refunded; Section 9 states that the purpose of the wholesale sale exemption from sales tax is to ensure that sales tax is levied and collected only on a final end sale to a retail consumer and not on wholesale sales and that the effectiveness of the wholesale exemption from sales tax is measured by the number of taxpayers claiming the wholesale exemption from tax and the amount of tax liability not paid; Section 10 extends the availability of the biotechnology sales and use tax refund by 1 year to include calendar years beginning before January 1, 2027; and Section 11 clarifies that the temporary property tax valuation for assessment reduction for qualified-senior primary residence real property is available whether or not the state has sufficient excess revenues to pay for it. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $13,137 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)