Rep. Carlos Barron

The act changes terminology related to child prostitution to commercial sexual activity with a child in the crimes of soliciting for child prostitution, pandering of a child, keeping a place of child prostitution, pimping a child, inducement of child prostitution, and patronizing a prostituted child, including changing the name of the offenses for soliciting for child prostitution, keeping a place of child prostitution, inducement of child prostitution, and patronizing a prostituted child.     A court is required to sentence an offender convicted of one of the listed offenses, other than soliciting for commercial sexual activity with a child, to at least the minimum of the presumptive range for the level of offense associated with the crime. For an offense of soliciting for commercial sexual activity with a child, if the court sentences the person to probation, the court shall order as a condition of probation that the person serve 364 days in the county jail.     In the crime of soliciting for commercial sexual activity with a child, the act adds knowingly soliciting a child for commercial sexual activity as a means of committing the offense and requires that when arranging or offering to arrange a meeting, the offender must know that meeting will facilitate commercial sexual activity with a child. The act removes the spousal exception from the crime of engaging in commercial sexual activity with a child.     The act makes the penalty for internet luring of a child a class 3 felony when the offense is committed with the intent to meet for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual activity. In this circumstance, a court is required to sentence the offender to at least the minimum of the presumptive range for the class 3 felony.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the 'Colorado Mandatory Lethality Assessment Act', which requires peace officers to conduct a lethality assessment when responding to a domestic violence incident and include the completed lethality assessment in the incident report. A peace officer is not required to administer a lethality assessment if a victim is unavailable, not at the scene, incapacitated, or if circumstances otherwise make the administration of the lethality assessment impossible or impracticable. If the lethality assessment indicates that an individual is a high-risk victim, or if the lethality assessment does not indicate a victim is high-risk but a peace officer determines an individual is a high-risk victim based on the totality of the circumstances, the peace officer is required to immediately contact a community-based victim's advocate either by phone or in person and provide the high-risk victim the opportunity to speak with the advocate.     The act requires the attorney general's office, in consultation with a Colorado-based coalition that advocates for survivors of domestic violence, to develop a mandatory training for peace officers to learn how to administer the lethality assessment and provide victim referrals. No later than June 1, 2027, the attorney general is required to make the training available and offer assistance to law enforcement agencies in providing the training. Beginning July 1, 2027, the act requires each law enforcement agency to ensure that each peace officer employed by the agency has completed the mandatory training; except that a law enforcement agency that has provided training on the administration of lethality assessments prior to July 1, 2027, is not required to provide additional training.     Beginning January 2028, and each January thereafter, the act requires the attorney general's office to report to the general assembly certain information related to lethality assessments conducted in the previous calendar year. No later than January 31, 2030, the domestic violence fatality review board shall evaluate the effectiveness of mandatory lethality assessments and referrals to resources and submit the evaluation to the general assembly.     The act does not impose criminal, administrative, or civil liability on any person for an act or omission made in good faith related to administering a lethality assessment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes various updates to language in the 'Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado' to align with technology changes in the division of workers' compensation in the department of labor and employment. These updates include changing current statutory language requiring mailing of documents to allow for electronic mailing or filing of the documents. The act also changes the fund into which an employer or employer's insurance carrier makes payments to the state for a compensable injury resulting in death of a minor without surviving parents from the subsequent injury fund to the Colorado uninsured employer fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

To improve the clarity and certainty of the statutes, the bill amends, repeals, and reconstructs various statutory provisions of law that are obsolete, imperfect, or inoperative. The specific reasons for each amendment or repeal are set forth in the appendix to the bill. The amendments made by the bill are not intended to change the meaning or intent of the statutes.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a process for employers and licensed insurance producers to update an employer's experience modification factor when:An open claim is reported by an insurance carrier to the rating bureau with a higher open claim amount than the amount after the claim was closed; andThe lower claim amount would reduce an employer's experience modification factor at least .05 compared to the previously released experience modification factor or from above 1.0 to 1.0 or below.     The employer must notify the insurance carrier between the time the claim is reported to a rating bureau and 31 days after the employer's rating effective date. The insurance carrier is required to credit the employer for a premium change resulting from the revised experience modification factor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies how Colorado uses automated vehicle identification systems (AVIS) to detect traffic violations, primarily affecting vehicle owners, law enforcement agencies, and local governments. It requires agencies to provide clearer public notice before deploying new systems, including online announcements, social media posts, and physical signs at installation locations. The bill also establishes procedures for vehicle owners to prove they were not driving when a violation occurred, which could exempt them from penalties, and limits fines for speeding during hazardous weather conditions. Additionally, it changes how penalties are structured for different speeding levels and sets a flat monthly payment rate for AVIS vendors starting in 2035.

The act defines 'first responder' to include:A peace officer;A firefighter;A volunteer firefighter;An emergency medical service provider; orA mental health professional who responds in a professional capacity to a justifiable medical emergency.     Existing law requires the emergency medical and trauma services advisory council (council) to review and approve new rules and modifications to rules prior to the adoption of such rules or modifications by the state board of health. The act requires the council to make recommendations for, instead of approve, rules and modifications to rules concerning emergency medical and trauma services prior to the adoption of such rules or modifications by the state board of health.     Beginning January 1, 2027, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to reimburse the following entities under the 'Colorado Medical Assistance Act':An ambulance service for ground transportation by an ambulance or other vehicle to a hospital or other destination as deemed appropriate by the ambulance service's medical director;An ambulance service for treatment on the scene of a medical emergency, which treatment does not result in ground transportation; andA qualified provider, an ambulance service, or an agency for evaluation by telemedicine of a person being treated by an ambulance service or an agency for the purpose of preventing the need to transport the person to a hospital.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

In current law, a person who is a member of the Colorado National Guard who is accepted for enrollment at a designated institution of higher education (member) has all their tuition costs waived. All tuition waiver costs are currently funded by the state from money in the Colorado National Guard tuition fund.     The act changes the funding mechanism of the Colorado National Guard tuition waiver program by requiring each designated institution of higher education to waive the remaining balance of a member's tuition cost in excess of the amount of any private, state, or federal financial assistance received. The act requires the department of military and veterans affairs to reimburse each institution for 50% of the cost of tuition waived by the institution and requires the general assembly to appropriate money to the Colorado National Guard tuition fund to cover the reimbursement.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the availability of the conservation easement tax credit from income tax year 2031 through income tax year 2036. The act also prohibits the division of conservation from issuing any additional credit certificates or amending previously issued credit certificates as a result of the additional authority granted by the act for a donation made prior to the effective date of the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the Colorado bureau of investigation to transmit a list of missing children to the Colorado department of education (department) instead of each school district and requires the department to notify the bureau if the department's list of enrolled students includes information about a missing child.     The act repeals the requirement for a school district, board of cooperative services, district charter school, or institute charter school to have paper and pencil assessment policies for state-administered assessments in public schools.     The act allows a school district or a charter school network with 1,200 students or fewer to submit a single plan to satisfy school district, school network, or school accreditation plan requirements.     The act prohibits the department from representing as mandatory a voluntary data collection request to a school district, the state charter school institute, or a public school and prohibits the department from conditioning any benefit unrelated to a specific grant on the completion of a voluntary data collection request.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)