The bill requires the public utilities commission (commission) to evaluate electrical generation and grid resilience against geomagnetic storms (evaluation) and report the findings of the evaluation to the general assembly. The bill requires each electrical utility that is subject to the jurisdiction of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to annually submit a critical energy infrastructure information request to the federal energy regulatory commission. If the utility receives the permission, each of these electrical utilities must annually brief the general assembly on the utility's contingency action plan and any information necessary to: Evaluate the ability of and identify shortfalls to restoring electrical power operation, fuel delivery, and equipment function within specified time frames following certain types of geomagnetic storms; and Evaluate the certification of hardware and software monitoring and controlling systems for energy generation and distribution. The bill sets standards for the evaluation. Based on the evaluation, the commission shall adopt rules requiring an electrical utility to meet resiliency standards for geomagnetic storms. The rules include: Requiring the monitoring of the space weather prediction center of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration in order to isolate large power transformers and power generation from the grid; Mechanically isolating critical components if or when a coronal mass ejection is likely to cause geomagnetically induced currents; Restricting or closing fuel pipeline valves to mitigate damage in a sectional failure; Installing automatic neutral ground blocking devices in large power transformers; Ensuring that computer equipment can be mechanically isolated from the grid and sheltered from geomagnetically induced surges; Requiring all networked systems that operate electrical generation and distribution to be electronically and physically separable from the outside networks; and Requiring the cyber-certification of hardware and software that operate electrical generation and distribution. (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.)
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The concurrent resolution submits a constitutional amendment to the voters of the state at the 2026 general election that will, if approved, add to the nonexclusive list of inalienable rights of all persons the right to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children.(Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.)
Under current law, a "preneed contract" is a contract, agreement, or mutual understanding, or any security or other instrument that is convertible into a contract, agreement, or mutual understanding, whereby, upon the death of the preneed contract beneficiary, a final resting place, merchandise, or services are provided or performed in connection with the final disposition of the beneficiary's body. The act states that a preneed contract does not include a transportation protection agreement, which is an agreement that primarily provides for the coordination and arrangement, by a third party that is not a general provider, of services related to: The preparation of human remains for the purpose of transportation; or The transportation of human remains. The act also makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" as well as an unlawful act under the "Mortuary Science Code" for a funeral director to commit theft of money that a client or prospective client paid for funeral services. The act also changes the date by which an applicant for a provisional funeral director, mortuary science practitioner, embalmer, cremationist, or natural reductionist license must demonstrate at least 4,000 hours of work experience from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires each institution of higher education (institution) in Colorado to create and adopt a policy and a process to support the ability of an admitted or enrolled student with a disability (student) to voluntarily self-disclose the student's disability and to engage in an interactive process with the institution to receive an academic adjustment. The adopted policy must, at a minimum, include information that: Describes the institution's process to determine whether a student is eligible for an academic adjustment; Outlines documentation that the institution may request to determine whether a student is eligible for an academic adjustment; Provides information on the available disability resources and academic adjustments provided to students with disabilities; and Describes an appeals process for academic adjustment decisions that focuses on documentary review. Each institution shall publish the policy on the institution's website in an accessible format. The act describes the type of documentation that an institution may request to determine whether a student is eligible for an academic adjustment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following changes to the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA): Excludes from the definition of a "public record" a written document or electronic record that is produced by a device or application that is used to assist an individual with a disability or individuals with a language barrier to facilitate communication if the written document or electronic record has been produced to facilitate communication in lieu of verbal communication; Changes the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request, except for requests from a mass medium or a newsperson, from 3 working days to 5 working days and changes the extension of time for the response period if extenuating circumstances exist from not exceeding 7 additional days to not exceeding 10 additional days; Adds an extenuating circumstance that allows for an extension of the response period when the custodian is not scheduled to work within the response period; Requires public entities to post any rules or policies adopted pursuant to CORA, including, if the public entity has one, the public entity's records retention policy, and to post information for members of the public regarding how to make a public records request; If public records are in the sole and exclusive custody and control of someone who is not scheduled to work within the response period, requires a custodian to provide all other available responsive public records within the response period and notify the requester of the earliest date on which the person is expected to be available or that the person is not expected to return to work. The requester may make a subsequent request for additional responsive records, if any, on or after the date the custodian provides. Allows a custodian, subject to certain exceptions, to determine that a request is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain, requires the custodian to provide written notice of the determination to the requester, allows the custodian a 30-day response period for such a request, permits the requester to submit a signed statement affirming that the request is not for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain that the custodian must consider in making their determination, permits the requester to appeal the determination that the request is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain to the district court, and allows a custodian to charge the requester for the reasonable cost of directly responding to the request notwithstanding the allowance for the first hour of research and retrieval to otherwise be free of charge and notwithstanding the statutory cap on fees, which otherwise would apply; In addition to the prohibition on disclosing public elementary or secondary school students' addresses and telephone numbers, prohibits disclosure of any other information of such a student that could be used by a person to directly contact, address, or send a message to the student through any means or method; Clarifies that if a custodian imposes any requirements concerning the prepayment of fees or the payment of fees in connection with a request for inspection of public records, the requirements must be in accordance with the custodian's adopted rules or written policies and must not be inconsistent with the provisions of CORA; Allows a requester to ask a custodian for a reasonable break-down of costs that comprises the fee charged for the research and retrieval of the requested public records; Modifies the requirement that, if a custodian of records for a public entity allows members of the public to pay for any other service or product provided by the custodian with a credit card or electronic payment, then the custodian must allow a requester of a public record to pay any fee or deposit associated with the request with a credit card or electronic payment, to instead require that the custodian allow for payment in this manner if the public entity allows members of the public to pay for any other service or product provided by the public entity; and Allows a custodian to treat a CORA request made within 14 calendar days of another CORA request for information pertaining to facially similar content made by the same person as one request for purposes of calculating the fee that the custodian may charge the requester for research and retrieval of responsive public records. VETOED by Governor April 17, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summarySenate Bill 25-171 repeals the Commodity Metals Theft Task Force, effectively ending its operations. This task force was previously established to address issues related to the theft of commodity metals and detached catalytic converters, bringing together law enforcement and industry representatives. The bill removes the specific sections of state law that created and outlined the responsibilities of the task force. This action aligns with a recommendation from the 2024 sunset report by the Department of Regulatory Agencies.
The act prohibits food processing plants from selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product. The act also requires food processing plants to clearly label cell-cultivated meat as cell-cultivated meat. The department of public health and environment (department) is required to inspect food at a food processing plant if the department has reasonable cause to believe that: Cell-cultivated meat sold or offered for sale by the plant is misbranded as a meat product; or The plant is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required. If, after an inspection, the department has reasonable cause to believe that a food processing plant is selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product, or is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required, the department may issue a stop order. Upon being issued the stop order, the food processing plant shall not sell the product or offer it for sale until the department determines whether it is misbranded or unlabeled in violation of the act. If the department determines that a food processing plant is selling or offering for sale cell-cultivated meat that is misbranded as a meat product, or is failing to label cell-cultivated meat as required, the department may issue an embargo order requiring the food processing plant to dispose of the cell-cultivated meat by means other than by sale to purchasers in Colorado. The department, the attorney general, or the district attorney in the district where cell-cultivated meat is being offered for sale or sold may petition the district court to enforce a stop order or an embargo order. The department may adopt rules as necessary to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act clarifies that the child of an inbound active duty military member (member) who has an existing individualized education program (IEP) or existing section 504 plan is eligible for open enrollment, remote enrollment, and guaranteed matriculation. The act requires the school district, district charter school, or an institute charter school (local education provider) where the child enrolls to ensure the student receives the appropriate services and accommodations, consistent with the child's existing IEP or section 504 plan, without unreasonable delay upon enrollment. The act requires each local education provider to take reasonable steps to notify members and their families of their rights, including providing information on special education services to prevent inadvertent exclusion and to ensure members and their families are fully informed of available supports. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning on January 1, 2026, any political subdivision of the state, public entity, or nonprofit corporation that provides paratransit services in the state (paratransit provider) is required to establish, in coordination with local public entities providing emergency services, a plan to communicate information and provide paratransit services during emergencies. The communication plan must include information on the number of riders who use paratransit services and the resource capacity of the paratransit provider, including the number of drivers and the number of vehicles used to provide paratransit services. Paratransit providers and public entities providing emergency services are also required to submit a report to the transportation legislation review committee on or before September 1, 2026, about the implementation of the communication and emergency services plan. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summarySenate Joint Resolution 25-016 is a commemorative resolution from the Colorado General Assembly expressing strong support for strengthening the sister-state relationship between Colorado and Taiwan. It reaffirms the 42-year relationship and advocates for enhanced trade relations and academic exchanges between the two entities. The resolution also calls for the signing of a U.S.-Taiwan agreement on avoiding double taxation to promote bilateral investment. Additionally, it supports Taiwan's meaningful inclusion in various international organizations.