Rep. Matt Soper

The bill clarifies that construction professionals owe an independent tort duty of care to construct residential homes in a non-defective and reasonable manner, and that this duty is owed equally to original and subsequent residential home purchasers. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill prohibits a developer that has trained a foundation artificial intelligence model (foundation model) from preventing a worker from, or retaliating against a worker for, disclosing or threatening to disclose information to the developer, the attorney general, or appropriate state or federal authorities if the worker has reasonable cause to believe the information indicates one of the following: The developer is out of compliance with law applicable to public safety or security; The developer's activities pose a substantial risk to public safety or security, even if the developer is not out of compliance with any law; or The developer has made false or misleading statements concerning public safety or security or concerning the developer's management of risks to public safety or security. A developer must provide notice to all workers working on a foundation model of the workers' rights and responsibilities under the bill. The bill requires a developer to create and provide an internal process through which a worker may anonymously disclose information to the developer regarding a risk to public safety or security enabled by the developer's foundation model. The developer shall provide a monthly update to the worker who made the disclosure regarding the status of the developer's investigation of the disclosure and the actions taken by the developer in response to the disclosure. An aggrieved worker may commence a civil action in district court against a developer for a violation of the bill. A court may order relief against a developer that is found to have violated the bill, including: Reinstatement or rehiring of a worker, with or without back pay; The greater of either $10,000 or any lost pay resulting from the violation; Punitive damages; and Reasonable attorney fees to an aggrieved worker.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Based on the findings and recommendations of the committee on legal services, the act extends all state agency rules that were adopted or amended on or after November 1, 2023, and before November 1, 2024, with the exception of certain rules of the state board of education, the division of labor standards and statistics in the department of labor and employment, the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety, and the state board of nursing in the department of regulatory agencies, as specified in the act. The specified rules will expire as scheduled in the "State Administrative Procedure Act" on May 15, 2025, on the grounds that the rules conflict with statute. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summarySenate Joint Resolution 25-015 designates a specific portion of Colorado State Highway 58 as the "Officer Evan A. Dunn Memorial Highway." This action honors Officer Evan A. Dunn, a Golden Police Department officer who died in the line of duty. The bill authorizes the Colorado Department of Transportation to accept donations for the initial placement of memorial signs and to explore a cooperative agreement with the City of Golden for their maintenance.

Under current law, a licensed manufacturer of spirituous liquor (manufacturer) may conduct tastings of the manufacturer's own spirituous liquors at the manufacturer's licensed premises or at one other approved sales room location. The bill authorizes the manufacturer to also conduct tastings: Of other alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler licensed in the state; and At up to 5 2 approved sales room locations. A manufacturer must apply for a permit from the state licensing authority to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler licensed in the state at the manufacturer's premises or a sales room location. A copy of the permit application must be posted for 30 days in a conspicuous place at the location that is the subject of the application and must be published in a local newspaper of general circulation. If the permit application is approved, the manufacturer must serve sandwiches and light snacks if selling and serving alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler licensed in the state and must not have the proceeds from the sale of alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers account for more than 50% of the total proceeds for alcohol beverage sales. (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 defines an electronic fence detection system, which is a security system that is used in conjunction with a fence and is not located on real property that has been designated by a local government as exclusively for residential use. An electronic fence detection system includes a detector that, when contacted, causes an alarm system to transmit a signal to the business, a monitoring company authorized by the business owner, or law enforcement. The act allows a local government to impose installation or operational requirements for an electronic fence detection system within the local government's adopted process for the permitting of alarm systems. In addition, the act allows a local government to require a permit for the installation or use of an electronic fence detection system if the permit is not in addition to any permit generally required for the installation or use of any other alarm system. Lastly, the act allows a local government to inspect an electronic fence detection system. A local government may impose less stringent or more stringent requirements for or prohibit the installation or operation of an electronic fence detection system that is located in a residential area. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, the Colorado broadband office provides technical assistance to grant applicants related to grants to deploy broadband services. The act expands the technical assistance to grant applicants to include assistance related to grants to deploy wireless service. The act requires an emergency alert sent by the state or a county, municipality, or alerting authority to be sent in a predominant minority language if the county has at least 2,000 citizens who are 18 years of age or older and who speak the predominant minority language and speak English less than very well, as defined by the United States bureau of the census American community survey or comparable census data. The state, counties, municipalities, and alerting authorities are encouraged to use available technology to issue emergency alerts in as many languages as possible in the same method as an English alert. Each alerting authority that is required to send emergency alerts in a predominant minority language is encouraged to conduct community outreach to inform people with limited English proficiency of the availability of language interpretation and translation options for emergency alerts. Alerts must comply with the act by July 1, 2027. The act allows the 911 services enterprise to distribute grants to local alerting authorities to implement language and accessibility services for emergency alerts. The act imposes the 911 prepaid wireless charge and 988 surcharge to prepaid wireless telecommunication services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summarySenate Joint Resolution 25-022 is a commemorative resolution concerning the remembrance of the Holocaust. It declares the General Assembly's commitment to remembering the Holocaust and encourages school districts and universities to promote antibias, bullying prevention, and Holocaust and genocide education programs to prevent antisemitic incidents, particularly those targeting Jewish students.

Maddy summaryHouse Joint Memorial 25-1001 serves to memorialize former Representative Rodney Bockenfeld, who passed away on February 13, 2025, at the age of 69. The resolution pays tribute to his years of dedicated public service as both an Arapahoe County Commissioner and a State Representative and extends sympathy to his family.

Maddy summaryHouse Joint Resolution 25-1022 designates May 2025 as "Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month" in Colorado. This resolution, affecting motorcycle riders and all motorists, aims to promote safety through education and training and encourages motorists to "share the road."