Rep. Matt Soper

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.)

For state fiscal year 2026-27, the act appropriates $5,000,000 from the species conservation trust fund (trust fund) in the state treasury for various wildlife conservation programs directed at conserving candidate species or species that are likely to become candidate species, as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service. The executive director of the Colorado department of natural resources, after consulting with the Colorado water conservation board, the parks and wildlife commission, and the director of the division of parks and wildlife, has submitted to the general assembly a list of programs and associated costs that are eligible to receive funding from the trust fund as follows:$2,380,000 for the upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program and San Juan river basin recovery implementation program;$60,000 for Rio Grande native fish protection and habitat improvements;$60,000 for selenium management, research, monitoring, evaluation, and control;$1,250,000 for native terrestrial wildlife conservation; and$1,250,000 for native aquatic wildlife conservation.     Trust fund money made available for native terrestrial wildlife conservation is not available for purposes of importing new wolves for reintroduction into the state for state fiscal year 2026-27.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a volunteer lobbyist to register and file a registration statement attesting they are not being compensated. The act exempts volunteer lobbyists from registration fees.     The act provides that the judicial department may designate one individual for the judicial department and one individual for each independent agency in the judicial department who may lobby on behalf of the judicial department or an independent agency in the judicial department (judicial lobbyist). A person designated by a principal executive department to be responsible for lobbying a state official or employee on behalf of the department (legislative liaison), a judicial lobbyist, or an individual who lobbies on behalf of the offices of the governor or lieutenant governor as a member of the governor's cabinet or as a personal staff employee in the offices of the governor or the lieutenant governor (governor's lobbyist) must register with the secretary of state annually.     In addition to annually registering with the secretary of state, a legislative liaison, judicial lobbyist, or a governor's lobbyist must file a monthly disclosure statement with the secretary of state (disclosure statement). The act provides that a legislative liaison, judicial lobbyist, or a governor's lobbyist must indicate on the disclosure statement the bill number of any legislation for which they have lobbied or will lobby a covered official and their position regarding the legislation. The legislative liaison, judicial lobbyist, or a governor's lobbyist must update their position on the disclosure statement within 72 hours of a change in position.     The act prohibits a statewide elected official or member of the general assembly from being a legislative liaison or governor's lobbyist for a period of 2 years following vacation of office.     $91,000 is appropriated from the department of state cash fund to the department of state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a water right owner that changes the use of their water right in water division 2 from agricultural irrigation purposes to another beneficial use on or after January 1, 2027, to engage in revegetation or a conversion to dryland farming with effective erosion control and weed management on the formerly irrigated agricultural land. The act implements a procedure that includes:The identification of site-specific criteria and an associated scientific and objective evaluation methodology to measure and determine the success of the revegetation or conversion to dryland farming;A requirement that the water court appoint a third-party revegetation or dryland farming expert to conduct annual field reviews and issue reports concerning the success of the revegetation or conversion to dryland farming until the revegetation or conversion is successfully established; andA requirement that the water court:Order the water right owner to provide financial assurance to the local land use authority to cover the anticipated cost to achieve successful revegetation;Place limitations on the timing of use or percentage of the water that may be used for the new beneficial use during the revegetation or conversion to dryland farming process; orIf the water right owner has obtained a permit or entered into an intergovernmental agreement that requires financial assurance or establishes requirements governing the timing of use or percentage of the water that may be used for the new beneficial use, incorporate those requirements into the change-of-use decree.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

If certain conditions are met, the act requires health benefit plans that provide hospital, surgical, or medical expense insurance to provide reimbursement for health-care services provided by a pharmacist that are within the pharmacist's scope of practice without entering into a collaborative pharmacy practice agreement. Similarly, under the medical assistance program (medicaid), the act authorizes reimbursement for services that are within a pharmacist's scope of practice and not duplicative of other pharmacist services or programs reimbursed by medicaid.     Further, solely on the basis of the type of license or certification, a health benefit plan or health insurance company (carrier) shall not discriminate against a pharmacist who is acting within the scope of the pharmacist's license or certification under state law, with respect to participation, referral, reimbursement of covered services, or indemnification, or prohibit a pharmacist from membership in a provider network; except that, in selecting pharmacist providers, the act does not:Prohibit a health benefit plan or carrier from including providers in its provider network only to the extent necessary to meet the needs of the plan or from limiting referrals or establishing quality control measures;Require a health benefit plan or carrier to contract with any provider willing to abide by the terms and conditions for participation established by the health benefit plan or carrier; orRequire coverage for any health-care service that is not otherwise covered.     The act makes changes to the definitions in the pharmacy practice statutes to include a definition for 'final product verification'. For drug, device, or product orders that are not for controlled substances, final product verification may be delegated by a supervising pharmacist to a certified pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern. A pharmacy or other outlet shall have a continuous quality assessment system in place to periodically verify the accuracy of the final drug, device, or product and must create a plan for final product verification, including how pharmacists' hours will be maintained to provide direct patient care. The state board of pharmacy is required to adopt rules relating to final product verification no later than December 31, 2026.     Under current law, a pharmacist may administer certain tests to patients who are 12 years old or older for certain conditions and prescribe drugs to treat the tested conditions. The act adds to the definition of the 'practice of pharmacy' independent prescriptive authority for drugs that are not controlled substances, drug categories, or devices that are prescribed to patients who are 5 years old or older but under 12 years old for conditions that do not require a new diagnosis, that are minor and self-limiting, or that have a test that guides diagnosis and are not medications that may only be prescribed pursuant to a certified education program and a limited distribution network. If a pharmacist tests or treats any patient who is under 18 years old, the act requires a pharmacist to notify the patient's primary care provider consistent with health-care privacy laws or, if the patient does not have or disclose a primary care provider, refer the patient to a primary care provider for further care.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act appropriates the following amounts for the 2026-27 state fiscal year from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects:Continuation of the satellite monitoring system, $380,000 (section 1 of the act);Continuation of the floodplain map modernization program, $500,000 (section 2);Continuation of the weather modification permitting program, $500,000 (section 3);Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet project, $200,000 (section 5);Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $2,500,000 (section 6);Continuation of Colorado decision support system operation and maintenance, $750,000 (section 7);Support for water plan agency actions, $1,350,000 (section 9);Continuation of the Colorado watershed restoration and flood mitigation projects, $5,000,000 (section 10); andContinuation of the upper Colorado river commission planning, $750,000 (section 11).     Section 4 directs the state treasurer to transfer up to $6,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the CWCB litigation fund on or before July 1, 2026.     Section 8 restores the fish and wildlife resources fund balance by transferring $2,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the fish and wildlife resources fund.     Section 12 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $151,500,000 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the city of Fort Collins to support the Halligan water supply project.     Section 13 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $20,166,670 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the Lower Latham Reservoir Company for the Jurgens reservoir construction project.     Section 14 appropriates $37,700,000 from the water plan implementation cash fund to the CWCB to award grants that will help implement the state water plan.     Section 15 clarifies that the money that is currently in the turf replacement fund is appropriated for designated purposes to the CWCB until June 30, 2028. Any money remaining in the turf replacement fund on July 1, 2028, is transferred to the CWCB construction fund.     Section 16 makes technical corrections so that money appropriated in 2025 is available to the department of natural resources executive director's office for the purpose of paying for a study by the Colorado water center at Colorado state university.     Under current law, the CWCB may authorize loans up to $10 million from the CWCB construction fund or severance tax perpetual base fund without legislative authorization. The act increases that amount to $30 million (section 17).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A manufacturer of spirituous liquors (manufacturer) that seeks to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers licensed in the state (wholesaler) at the manufacturer's licensed premises and any approved sales room is required to apply for a permit from the local and state licensing authorities for on-premises consumption for each location where the manufacturer will serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler.     Prior to issuing the permit, the local licensing authority shall provide public notice and consider the reasonable requirements of the neighborhood, zoning restrictions, and other local licensing concerns. The act includes fees that a permit applicant must pay to a local licensing authority. Upon approval from the local licensing authority, a manufacturer shall apply to the state licensing authority for a state permit. If the state permit is approved:The manufacturer must serve sandwiches and light snacks if selling and serving alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler; andThe proceeds from the sale of alcohol beverages acquired from wholesalers must not account for more than 50% of the manufacturer's gross annual revenue from alcohol beverage sales.      The state permit is valid until the expiration of the local permit or for one year after the date of issuance of the state permit, whichever is sooner, unless the permit is inactive, suspended, or revoked.     If a manufacturer does not obtain a permit from the local and state licensing authority to serve and sell alcohol beverages acquired from a wholesaler, the manufacturer may purchase and use common alcohol modifiers to combine with the manufacturer's spirituous liquors to produce cocktails for consumption on and off the sales room premises.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits the Colorado lottery or any licensed lottery retailer from selling lottery tickets or instant scratch game tickets produced by the lottery for sale to the public on a credit basis.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summaryHB 1307 extends the Colorado Medical Board's existence until September 1, 2035 (replacing a prior 2026 sunset date) and implements several specific changes to medical licensing. It creates a new "administrative license" for physicians performing non-patient work (like research design or quality management) starting January 1, 2027, exempting them from continuing medical education requirements. The bill also exempts natural medicine facilitators (with a specific license) from needing a medical license to facilitate certain services, and modifies renewal rules for foreign teaching physicians and board procedures. These changes directly affect physicians seeking administrative roles, natural medicine facilitators, and the Medical Board’s operational structure.

Under current law, the Colorado job growth incentive tax credit (credit) may only be allowed by the economic development commission (commission) through state income tax year 2026. The act amends the Colorado job growth incentive tax credit to authorize the commission to allow new credit awards through state income tax year 2034. The act also extends the commission's annual reporting requirement through September 1, 2042.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)