Rep. Lesley Smith

The act defines a 'conversational artificial intelligence service' as an artificial intelligence system that is accessible to the general public and that primarily simulates human conversation and interaction through adaptive textual, visual, or aural communications.     Effective January 1, 2027, the act creates requirements and prohibitions for a person, partnership, corporation, or entity that develops and makes publicly available a conversational artificial intelligence service or offers a conversational artificial intelligence service to a consumer (operator).     An operator is required to use commercially reasonable methods or generally accepted methods to estimate the age of a consumer who has or opens an account or profile to use a conversational artificial intelligence service (account holder) and the age of other users of a conversational artificial intelligence service. If an operator knows that an account holder or user is a minor, an operator is:Required to provide certain disclosures;Prohibited from providing the minor account holder or minor user with points or rewards to encourage engagement with the conversational artificial intelligence service;Required to institute technically feasible measures to prevent the conversational artificial intelligence service from producing explicit sexual conduct, intimate digital depictions, or statements that simulate emotional dependence;Required to implement a protocol for a conversational artificial intelligence service to stop engaging in response to a user prompt regarding sexual conduct with a minor; andRequired to provide tools for the minor account holder or minor user or a parent or guardian of the minor account holder or minor user to manage the minor account holder's or minor user's privacy and account settings.     The act also requires an operator to provide a disclosure to a user that a conversational artificial intelligence service is artificial intelligence, implement a protocol for user prompts regarding suicidal ideation or self-harm, and annually report to the attorney general's office information regarding the protocol the operator is implementing. The act prohibits an operator from stating that any output data provided by a conversational artificial intelligence service is provided by, endorsed by, or equivalent to services provided by certain licensed or certified professionals.     The act clarifies that nothing in the act limits an individual's ability to access certain information and resources pursuant to the state constitution, requires an operator to disclose confidential information, or authorizes content moderation practices inconsistent with the United States constitution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 3 of the act defines 'advanced transmission technologies' as hardware or software technologies that increase the capacity, efficiency, reliability, or resiliency of an existing or new transmission facility.     Section 4 requires the Colorado public utilities commission (commission) to adopt rules requiring a regulated electric utility to consider advanced transmission technologies in the electric utility's 10-year transmission plan and to identify strategies to reduce the costs of, and obtain financing for, new transmission. The commission is directed to minimize duplication of transmission planning processes, technical studies, or analyses conducted through an applicable regional transmission organization or independent system operator.     Section 5 requires the Colorado electric transmission authority (authority) to, as much as practicable, engage and coordinate with formal subregional transmission planning organizations.     Under current law, the authority is required to annually submit a report of its activities, including a complete operating and financial statement covering the operations of the authority for the previous state fiscal year, to certain committees of reference of the general assembly. Section 6 requires that the annual report also include a description of the activities and accomplishments of the authority during the previous calendar year.     Section 7 adds a nonvoting seat to the authority's board of directors for the director of the commission or the director's designee.     Section 8 clarifies that a project that includes advanced transmission technologies and meets certain criteria is an energy sector public works project. Section 9 states that an energy sector public works project that includes advanced transmission technologies must meet applicable prevailing wage requirements and apprenticeship utilization requirements.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The microgrids for community resilience grant program (grant program) in the division of local government in the department of local affairs provides grants for cooperative electric associations and municipally owned utilities to purchase microgrid resources for eligible rural communities located within their service territories. Under current law, the grant program is set to repeal on September 1, 2026. The act continues the grant program indefinitely by removing the repeal date.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

In 2022, the general assembly enacted, and the governor subsequently signed into law, House Bill 22-1358 ('Concerning measures to eliminate the presence of lead in the drinking water of certain facilities where children are present, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation'), which required child care centers, family child care homes, and each public school that serves any of grades preschool through eighth grade to:Test its drinking water sources by having a state-certified laboratory measure the lead content of water drawn from each drinking water source; andSatisfy other requirements concerning the provision of safe drinking water.     House Bill 22-1358 also created the school and child care clean drinking water fund (fund) to help schools, child care centers, and family child care homes comply with House Bill 22-1358.     House Bill 22-1358 included a repeal date of June 30, 2026, for its provisions. The act extends the provisions, with amendments, until June 30, 2029. The act also adds high schools (i.e., schools that serve grades 9 to 12) to the scope of House Bill 22-1358, which means that high schools may receive grants from the fund and must satisfy certain requirements on or before dates specified in the act.     The act requires the department to adopt rules establishing how a child care center shall demonstrate compliance with the requirements concerning the testing for the presence of lead in drinking water.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act exempts pilates and barre teacher training courses, programs, and schools from regulation under the 'Private Occupational Education Act of 1981'.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summaryThis bill brings Denver School of Science and Technology charter schools into the Denver Public Schools division of the Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA), allowing their employees to participate in the same retirement benefits as other Denver public school workers. The legislation also changes the PERA Board of Trustees by adding one voting member elected by Denver Public Schools employees and removing a non-voting ex officio member from that division. Additionally, the bill extends the deadline for charter school employees to purchase additional retirement service credit for years worked before affiliation, moving the cutoff date from November 1, 2006, to July 1, 2026. These changes affect Denver public school employees, retirees, and the governance structure of the state's public employee retirement system.

The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its 2025 sunset review of the 'Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act' (PACFA) as follows:Sections 1 and 2 of the act continue the commissioner of agriculture's (commissioner) function of licensing pet animal facilities in accordance with the PACFA for 8 years, until 2034;Section 3 amends the PACFA's pet animal advisory committee (committee) membership structure by requiring the commissioner, on or before December 1, 2026, to appoint 15 members with certain specifications. Section 3 also specifies that members appointed to the committee on or before December 1, 2026, may serve no more than 2 consecutive terms of 4 years.Section 4 prohibits the importation of certain pet animals into the state without a valid certificate of veterinary inspection by an accredited veterinarian in the state of origin issued within 10 days prior to the pet animal's arrival in Colorado;Section 5 increases the current maximum fee amount of $700 for a pet animal facility license application to $1,500;Section 6 raises the maximum civil penalty amount for a violation of the PACFA or of a rule adopted pursuant to the PACFA from $1,000 per violation to $2,500 per violation;Section 7 states that a person that chooses to request a hearing in response to a cease-and-desist order issued by the commissioner for a violation of the PACFA or of a rule adopted pursuant to the PACFA must do so within 30 days after the issuance of the cease-and-desist order;Section 8 requires the commissioner to develop an administrative process for an interested person to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule by the commissioner;Section 9 amends House Bill 26-1011 concerning the transfer of certain pet animals in Colorado, by clarifying that the prohibition on a broker selling, leasing, offering to sell or lease, bartering, auctioning, or otherwise transferring ownership of a dog or cat does not apply to the sale, transfer, or adoption of a dog or cat to or by a pet store prior to January 1, 2028; andSection 10 relocates the statute that establishes the pet overpopulation authority (authority) so the authority is no longer subject to sunset review as part of the PACFA.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits using an automated driving system to drive a commercial motor vehicle unless an individual who holds a commercial driver's license is in the vehicle, monitors the vehicle's driving, and intervenes, if necessary, to avoid illegal or unsafe driving. The individual must be in the driver's seat if hazardous materials are being transported. The penalty is $1,000 for a first offense, is $2,000 for a second offense, and doubles for each subsequent offense.     The act does not apply to a light-duty vehicle or a truck-mounted attenuator.     The prohibition is repealed September 1, 2031. The chief of the Colorado state patrol will analyze the act's effects on commercial vehicle safety on highways. By November 1, 2030, the chief of the Colorado state patrol will issue a report to the relevant committees of the house of representatives and senate. The report must make recommendations as whether to continue the prohibition and, if continued, any recommended legislation to improve the prohibition.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $14,357 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends for an additional 10 years the availability of the state income tax credit allowed to a taxpayer who makes a qualifying monetary contribution to promote child care in the state equal to 50% of the total value of the contribution, not to exceed $100,000, through income tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2038.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes the following changes to the 'Labor Peace Act':Specifies that employees' right to bargain collectively includes the right to bargain collectively concerning any mandatory subject of bargaining;Eliminates the requirement for a second election to negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining process;Declares that it is not an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the exclusive representative of the employees, or for the exclusive representative of the employees to refuse to agree to a lawful proposal made by the employer, concerning a mandatory subject of bargaining if the refusing party has bargained in good faith with the other party; andRequires employers and employees, through their exclusive representative, to bargain in good faith.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)