Rep. Dusty Johnson

The division of water resources in the department of natural resources (division) is responsible for administering water rights and issuing water well permits, among other duties. Under current law, after having received a permit to appropriate designated groundwater or construct a well outside the boundaries of a designated groundwater basin, a permit holder is required to construct the well within one year after the date of issuance of the permit. If the well is not constructed within one year, the permit expires; except that the ground water commission (commission) in the division or the state engineer, as applicable, may grant a single one-year extension. The act extends the time frame for construction of a well to 2 years, eliminating the need for the commission or the state engineer to approve a one-year extension to the initial one-year construction time frame, except for permits issued for federally authorized water projects. The act also removes the requirement that the commission or state engineer must mail a certified letter to the permit holder before a permit can be formally expired. The act allows the commission or state engineer to reinstate an expired permit if the applicant for reinstatement of the permit can show that the well was completed in a timely manner and submits a $30 fee. Under current law, the division engineer of each water division is required to decennially present to the water court a list of water rights that meet the criteria for abandonment. The act splits this decennial abandonment process into 2 batches, grouped by water division and spaced 5 years apart, beginning with 2030 and 2035. The act maintains the requirement that the abandonment process be performed every 10 years in each water division. The act extends certain time frames relating to the well permitting process. Lastly, the act eliminates final permitting requirements for non-Denver Basin bedrock aquifer wells in the designated basins. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of higher education (department), subject to available appropriations, to develop and maintain a free, publicly accessible online platform (platform) to provide current and potential students who are pursuing postsecondary education in Colorado with relevant information about which credits and courses, work-related experiences, and prior learning opportunities are transferable to or between the state's public institutions of higher education (institution). On or before January 1, 2026, an institution may submit to the department for inclusion in the platform: A comprehensive record, from the fall 2023 term onward, of the institution's awards of postsecondary transfer credit for all courses that the institution has identified as having learning outcomes equivalent to corresponding offerings at other institutions; and Descriptions of the institution's policy on work-related experiences or prior learning opportunities, and the credentials, licenses, or apprenticeship certificates for which the institution awards postsecondary academic credit. Using the data provided by an institution, the department shall include in the platform information about the transferability to or between institutions for several sources of postsecondary academic credit. These sources include courses in the statewide common course numbering system, now referred to as the guaranteed transfer pathway matrix, and credits earned through various standardized tests. A not-for-profit private institution of higher education may, but is not required to, submit applicable information for inclusion in the platform. The act creates the postsecondary transfer credit platform cash fund to accept gifts, grants, and donations for the development, implementation, and maintenance of the platform. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

In addition to individuals who may already request that their address included in certain records be kept confidential (address confidentiality) under certain circumstances, the act allows an individual or the spouse of an individual who is or has been a peace officer, firefighter, volunteer firefighter, emergency medical service provider, or emergency communications specialist (first responder) to also request address confidentiality for voter registration records that are in the custody of a county clerk and recorder or in the centralized statewide registration system maintained by the secretary of state (secretary) and financial disclosures that certain public officials are required to file with the secretary. A first responder may request address confidentiality with the county clerk and recorder of the county where the first responder who is making the request for address confidentiality resides. The secretary is required to approve the application form for a request for address confidentiality. Each county clerk and recorder is required to make the address confidentiality request application forms available in their office, provide the address confidentiality request application forms to interested persons by United States mail, email delivery, or facsimile transmission, and to process applications for address confidentiality without imposing a processing fee or any other charge. The custodian of any records specified in the act that concern a first responder who has requested address confidentiality is required to deny, with limited exceptions, the right of inspection of the first responder's address contained in the records on the ground that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes the twenty-third judicial district commission on judicial performance on December 1, 2025, and specifies the initial terms for members of the commission. The act repeals outdated provisions concerning the terms of members of judicial commissions. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the following regarding the application for a license to practice medicine in Colorado (application) and the questionnaire accompanying the form for a license renewal (questionnaire): The Colorado medical board (board) must consider the recommendations of the Federation of State Medical Boards and the requirements of the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990" when developing the application questions; The application and questionnaire must not require the disclosure of personal medical or health information that is not relevant to the applicant's ability to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application; The application and questionnaire must not include questions seeking information about past health-related conditions that do not impact an applicant's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application; and The board shall include information in the application about the board's peer health assistance program, the applicant's ability to self-refer to the peer health assistance program at any time, and the applicant's ability to self-refer in lieu of disclosure to the board. The act clarifies that an individual subject to the licensing requirements of the "Colorado Medical Practice Act" is not required to disclose a physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder that no longer impacts the individual's ability to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients. Current law requires that if a health-care professional has a physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder that renders the person unable to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients, the licensee, registrant, or certificate holder shall notify the regulator that regulates the person's profession or occupation of the physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder. The act requires that a health-care professional must additionally provide notice of a substance use disorder and specifies that the health-care professional is required only to provide notice of a current physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits a peer support team member from disclosing, without the consent of the recipient of peer support (recipient), the confidential communications made by the recipient during a peer support interaction, with specified exceptions. With respect to an exception for which disclosure is permissible, a peer support team member who discloses or does not disclose a communication with a recipient is not liable for damages in a civil action for disclosing or not disclosing the communication. The act expands an exception allowing specified mental health professionals to disclose confidential information when a recipient makes a threat against an individual or themself or makes a threat that, if carried out, would result in harm to an individual or themself. In addition, a peer support team member is exempted from the prohibition on disclosure established by the act if: The peer support team member was a witness or a party to the incident that prompted the delivery of peer support services; A recipient admits to committing a crime or provides information pertaining to the recipient or another individual that is indicative of criminal conduct; Criteria related to an individual's participation as a witness in a court proceeding are met; or A recipient makes a threat involving damage or destruction of private or public property.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes and modifies requirements related to the practice of veterinary medicine by a veterinary professional associate (VPA). In November 2024, voters in Colorado approved Proposition 129, which established the role of VPAs and permits VPAs, starting on January 1, 2026, to practice veterinary medicine under certain circumstances. The act specifies how an individual can register as a VPA in Colorado and clarifies the circumstances under which a VPA can practice veterinary medicine. The act clarifies that a VPA is only permitted to practice veterinary medicine under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. A licensed veterinarian shall supervise no more than 3 VPAs who are practicing veterinary medicine at any one time. The act requires a licensed veterinarian and a VPA to enter into a mutual supervisory agreement before the licensed veterinarian and the VPA begin working together. The supervising licensed veterinarian may delegate the practice of veterinary medicine to the VPA if: The aspects of the practice are within the training, experience, and competency of the VPA; The practice of veterinary medicine delegated to the VPA is permitted under requirements of state law and board of veterinary medicine (board) rules; and The supervising licensed veterinarian and VPA are located at the same veterinary premises while practicing veterinary medicine, unless the VPA meets certain indirect supervision requirements. The act instructs the board to adopt rules regarding the practice of veterinary medicine by VPAs, including rules that: Require a VPA to practice veterinary medicine under an appropriate level of supervision by a licensed veterinarian; Determine clinical benchmarks that a VPA must meet in order to practice veterinary medicine under indirect supervision by a licensed veterinarian; Approve a nationally recognized VPA credentialing organization that requires a VPA to complete a university-approved VPA program that is approved by the board or a university-approved VPA program that is accredited by the nationally recognized credentialing organization, pass a VPA examination, and complete continuing education requirements; Provide guidance to supervising licensed veterinarians in their delegation of tasks to and supervision of VPAs; Determine a scope of practice for VPAs; Establish a registration fee for the registration of VPAs; and Determine continuing education requirements for VPAs. The board may also adopt rules establishing an equivalent registration pathway for a veterinary technician specialist to register as a VPA, which pathway considers the veterinary technician specialist's experience, education, and training as a substitute for the education requirements needed to register as a VPA and requires the veterinarian technician specialist to pass the same national credentialing exam as a VPA. The act requires a VPA to identify themself as a VPA to a client before practicing veterinary medicine on a patient. The act requires a licensed veterinarian to comply with certain restrictions when prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Beginning January 1, 2027, the act: Allows a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) to earn income derived from the assessment of a flat-dollar service fee for the provision of a prescription drug; Prohibits a PBM from earning income based on the price or cost of a prescription drug; Prohibits a PBM from designing a formulary to favor a certain branded pharmaceutical or biologic; Requires a PBM to be reimbursed by a health benefit plan for lowering the plan's prescription drug spending over a given period of time and for the direct services the PBM provides to the plan; Sets the amount that a PBM shall reimburse an unaffiliated pharmacy or a PBM-affiliated retail, mail order, or specialty pharmacy for a prescription drug; and Requires a contract between a PBM and a health benefit plan to contain a provision where the PBM discloses prescription drug cost information to the health benefit plan and a provision authorizing the health benefit plan to execute an audit to validate compliance with the contract.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For ground ambulance services (ambulance services), the act: Allows a political subdivision or an ambulance service providing ambulance services on behalf of the political subdivision to submit to the division of insurance (division) the established rates for the ambulance services, if the rates meet specified conditions; Requires the division to publish reimbursement rates on the division's public-facing website; Establishes reimbursement rates for ambulance services that are out of network; and Prohibits an out-of-network ambulance service from billing an individual covered under a health insurance coverage plan (covered person) any outstanding balance for a covered service not paid for by an insurance carrier, except for any coinsurance, deductible, or copayment amount required to be paid by the covered person. If a covered person makes a payment for an out-of-network ambulance service, the payment must be applied to the covered person's in-network deductibles and in-network out-of-pocket maximum amounts. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $38,149 is appropriated from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division to implement the act. VETOED by Governor 5/29/2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state board of education (board) to adopt high school health education standards regarding drug overdose risks, identification of a drug overdose event, and drug overdose prevention and response. The act authorizes the board to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the purpose of adopting these standards. The board must adopt the standards on or before July 1, 2028, if, the board receives by July 1, 2026, $20,000 from gifts, grants, or donations to adopt the standards. If sufficient money is not received, the board is required to adopt the standards on or before July 1, 2032, pursuant to the general standards schedule. Under current law, a school district, the state charter school institute (institute), or the governing board of a nonpublic school may adopt and implement a policy allowing an employee or agent of the school to furnish an opioid antagonist to any individual, including a student, but only if the student has received appropriate school-sponsored training. The act repeals the required condition that a student must receive appropriate school-sponsored training. The act authorizes a school district, the institute, a public school, or a nonpublic school to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for purposes related to acquiring, maintaining, and providing training for administering opioid antagonists. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)