Rep. Tisha Mauro

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution (HR 25-1003) recognizes the importance of diversity in Colorado's legal community and honors the Colorado Women's Bar Association (CWBA) for its work supporting women in the legal profession. It highlights key milestones in Colorado's legal history, including the first women to earn law degrees, become judges, and serve in legal leadership roles. The resolution commends the CWBA's efforts to promote women's advancement in the judiciary and ensure equal representation. As a non-binding resolution, it does not create new law but formally acknowledges these contributions during Women's History Month.

The bill establishes that certain evidence that a person has engaged in an unfair or deceptive trade practice constitutes a significant impact to the public. The bill also clarifies that a deceptive trade practice claim cannot be based solely on a claim that a person breached a contract or engaged in negligence or on a claim for damages based on the rendering of professional services, unless the claim for damages involves an allegation of a material misrepresentation of fact, a failure to disclose material information, or an action that cannot be characterized as providing advice, judgment, or opinion.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act allows a fire protection district or a metropolitan district that provides fire protection services (district) to create a program to mitigate the presence of dead or dry plant material that can burn and contribute to a fire on privately owned property within a district (vegetative fuel program). A district that creates a vegetative fuel program may require an owner or occupier with an interest in private real property that contains vegetative fuel within the district to remove the vegetative fuel and assess a fine per incident of noncompliance. An incident covers all vegetative fuel on a property. A district may not require an owner or occupier of private real property to remove vegetative fuel on private real property that is classified as agricultural land by the tax assessor, owned by a nonprofit entity and leased for agricultural purposes, owned or occupied by a public utility with a vegetation management or wildfire mitigation plan to address vegetative fuel sources, or adjacent to a ditch that conveys decreed water rights or within the easement where the ditch is located. In order to assess a fine, for each incident, the district must provide written notice by certified mail of the requirement to remove vegetative fuel and allow at least 14 days for the owner or occupier to comply. An owner or occupier that does not remove the vegetative fuel as provided in the first notice may be subject to a second notice requiring the removal of vegetative fuel. An owner or occupier has at least 14 days to comply with the second notice. An owner or occupier that does not comply within at least 14 days after the second notice may receive a third notice providing for a fine approximately equal to the cost of removing the vegetative fuel. The fine may not exceed $200 per property per incident, and an owner or occupier is not subject to more than one fine for the same incident. The sum of all fines assessed against a single property may not exceed $1,200. An owner or occupier receiving a third notice may avoid a fine by removing the vegetative fuel within 14 days of the date of the third notice. A district may not access any privately owned real property without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property. An owner or occupier is not liable to a district for damages to district personnel or equipment that occurs on the property while district personnel or equipment are present on the property to carry out a vegetative fuel program. A district may not use a drone to discover vegetative fuel on a property or to administer or enforce a vegetative fuel program created pursuant to the act. The money that a district collects from a fine must be used by the district only to remove vegetative fuel on private real property within the district's jurisdiction. A district's board may waive the fine in all or in part, in its discretion if it determines that the fine was not assessed pursuant to law, an owner or occupier is financially unable to pay the fine, the vegetative fuel has been removed, or a waiver is appropriate under the circumstances and must prioritize use of the money to assist a low-income owner or occupier, a senior owner or occupier, or an owner or occupier with a disability in removing vegetative fuel from the owner or occupier's property. A district's board may also waive a fine for delays due to weather or upon a petition for a time extension from an owner or occupier if they have undertaken good faith efforts to remove the vegetative fuel. Good faith efforts include documentation from an arborist or licensed professional landscape architect that states when the arborist or landscape architect will be able to mitigate vegetative fuel on the property and the cost of mitigation. A district's board shall grant a property owner or occupier a time extension to mitigate or pay a fine for: No longer than 3 months if the cost to mitigate exceeds $1,000 and is less than $2,500; No longer than 6 months if the cost to mitigate equals or exceeds $2,500 and is less than $5,000; No longer than 9 months if the cost to mitigate equals or exceeds $5,000 and is less than $10,000; or No longer than one year if the cost to mitigate equals or exceeds $10,000. A district's board shall adopt rules and policies after a public hearing, public notice and public comment to implement the act and shall post the adopted rules and policies to the district's website, on social media operated by the district, and in a local newspaper of general circulation. A vegetative fuel program may only be effective 30 days or more after posting of the adopted rules and policies on the district's website. As part of the rules and policies, a district shall designate an individual to oversee and manage the district's vegetative fuel program. A district may certify to the county treasurer a delinquent charge made or levied against a property, and the treasurer may collect and pay over the charge in the same manner that property taxes are collected and paid. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires employers to implement protections for workers who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the worksite, including temperature mitigation measures, rest breaks, and temperature-related injury and illness prevention plans. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The state maintains a stockpile of essential materials (stockpile), including personal protective equipment, that the division of homeland security and emergency management (division), in consultation with the department of public health and environment, is authorized to distribute in response to a declared disaster emergency to any state agency, school, local public health agency, hospital, primary care provider, other health-care provider, tribal government with jurisdiction in Colorado, or other entity or individual (eligible recipient) that the director of the division (director) determines is in need as a result of a declared disaster emergency. The act broadens the authority of the director over the stockpile so that the director or the director's designee may distribute essential materials from the stockpile: After the governor has declared a disaster emergency; When the director or the director's designee determines that there are other circumstances in which there is a need for or benefit to distribution; or When the director or the director's designee determines that their distribution will enhance the ability of eligible recipients and their community partners to respond to future disaster emergencies or other circumstances in a way that would help protect public health or safety, including the distribution of essential materials for the purposes of ensuring that they can be used in normal, nonemergency times before their useful life ends. While included under current law as "any other entity", the act also explicitly adds "nonprofit organizations" and "faith-based organizations" to the statutory list of eligible recipients. The act also requires the department of public safety to annually include, as part of its presentation during its "SMART Act" hearing, specified information concerning the acquisition of essential materials for and distribution of essential materials from the stockpile. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act substitutes gender-neutral language for gendered language in title 35, a title concerning agriculture, of the Colorado Revised Statutes. The act also updates archaic language in title 35. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summarySJR 25-013 is a symbolic resolution recognizing Thursday, March 20, 2025, as Nowruz Day in Colorado. It honors the ancient Persian New Year celebration observed by Iranian, Kurdish, Afghan, and Central Asian communities, acknowledging its cultural significance and the contributions of Colorado's Iranian-American residents. The resolution has no legal effect but formally extends recognition to the traditions of Nowruz, including its themes of renewal and community. It directly affects Colorado's Iranian-American community by affirming their cultural heritage through state acknowledgment.

Maddy summaryThis resolution (SJR 25-009) expresses Colorado's support for federal management of national public lands, including parks, forests, and monuments. It formally opposes efforts to sell, transfer, or dispose of these lands and urges Colorado's governor, attorney general, and congressional delegation to take action against such proposals. The resolution is non-binding but directs state officials to advocate for continued public stewardship by federal agencies like the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. It was passed by the Colorado Senate and referred to the House for consideration.

Under Colorado law, a person may file a claim with the division of parks and wildlife (division) for compensation for damages to property caused by wildlife, and the division must review and investigate that claim. The act requires that the personal information of a person, information related to site assessments received by the division through the claim procedures, and personal information associated with proactive nonlethal measures is kept confidential and not disclosed pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act". The act excludes from this prohibition: Information about nonlethal predator-livestock conflict minimization measures that does not reveal the identity of the person or the person's business; Nonidentifying information of county-level data highlighting the number or dollar amount of claims made to the division, the number of claims that were settled and the monetary amounts of those settlements, the number of claims that are pending at the time of a request for disclosure, and the number of claims that were denied and the reasons for denial; and Personal information that becomes public by the actions of the subject of the personal information or the subject's agent. The act prohibits bringing or maintaining a private action challenging the division's determination that a person or the person's agent has taken actions or made statements that led to the person's personal information becoming publicly known. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act provides immunity from civil liability for damage or injury to persons or property, other than that which arises from gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct, to a landowner who, in good faith and without compensation, allows access to the landowner's property for entry and exit in connection with an emergency. An emergency is a fire, a rescue call, a hazardous materials incident, a natural or human-caused disaster, or an incident reasonably determined to be an emergency by a first responder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)