Rep. Lori Garcia Sander

Maddy summaryHJR 25-1026 designates Colorado State Highway 402, from United States Highway 287 to Interstate 25, as the "Rep. Hugh McKean Memorial Highway." It also authorizes the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to accept donations for the initial placement of signs and to explore agreements with Larimer County for sign maintenance.

The act continues the early childhood leadership commission (commission) housed in the department of early childhood for 5 years, repealing on September 1, 2030. Before its repeal, the commission is subject to a sunset review. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A speech language pathology assistant (SLPA) is defined in the act as an individual who has a bachelor's degree or higher in speech-language pathology, communications disorders and speech sciences, or any other field that includes at least 24 semester hours in speech-language hearing sciences granted by an accredited institution of higher education. Only an individual who practices as an SLPA in accordance with statute or who is a school speech-language pathology assistant (school SLPA) authorized by the department of education may use the title "speech-language pathology assistant" or other terms that indicate that the individual is an SLPA or a school SLPA. An SLPA shall practice speech-language pathology only in collaboration with and under the direction and supervision of a certified speech-language pathologist (SLP). The act establishes requirements and guidelines for an SLP supervising an SLPA. The act prohibits an SLPA from engaging in certain speech-language pathology tasks, such as the diagnosis of patients and preparation of a treatment plan. An SLP may be disciplined for failing to properly direct and supervise an SLPA. The act repeals the regulation of SLPAs on September 1, 2033, subject to sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the "Know Your Health-Care Practitioner Act" that applies to certain health-care practitioners (practitioner) practicing in a health-care profession or occupation specified in the "Michael Skolnik Medical Transparency Act of 2010". The act does not apply to practitioners who work in a non-patient-care setting or do not have any direct patient care interactions, or when clinically not feasible. On and after June 1, 2026: In advertising health-care services using the practitioner's name, a practitioner must identify the type of state-issued license, certificate, or registration held by the practitioner and ensure that the advertisement is free from deceptive or misleading information; Except in certain circumstances, for practitioners providing services in a general hospital, urgent care center, ambulatory surgical center, or freestanding emergency department, the practitioner must affirmatively display an identification name tag or similar worn display that is visible during patient encounters. Except when emergent circumstances make it impracticable, while establishing a practitioner-patient relationship during the practitioner's first encounter with a patient, a practitioner must verbally communicate to the patient the practitioner's specific state-issued license, certificate, or registration or verbally identify themselves by a title or abbreviation authorized in statute to facilitate patient understanding. A practitioner does not have to display their name when interacting with a patient if the practitioner is concerned for their safety or if the patient is exhibiting signs of irrationality or violence. A practitioner may also use supplemental descriptors in advertising or identification, in the manner specified in the act. The director of the division of occupations and professions in the department of regulatory agencies may impose a fine of up to $500 if a practitioner violates the act. (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.

The act changes the tuition assistance program for eligible members of the Colorado National Guard (member) to a tuition waiver program (program). The act allows a member, upon being accepted for enrollment at a designated institution of higher education (institution), to pursue studies that lead to a postgraduate degree, a bachelor's degree, an associate degree, or a certificate of completion with all tuition waived. For a member, the tuition waiver must not exceed more than 65 credit hours at a designated 2-year institution of higher education and no more than 130 credit hours at a designated 4-year institution of higher education; except that the total credit hours for a member who attends both a 2-year institution and a 4-year institution must not exceed more than 145 credit hours. The department of military and veterans affairs (department) shall administer the program. In order to qualify for the program, a member must: Be accepted by an institution; Be in good standing with the Colorado National Guard; and Complete a Colorado application for state financial aid or a free application for federal student aid. Each institution shall determine if a member enrolled with the institution remains in satisfactory academic standing in accordance with the academic policies of the institution and is making progress toward the completion of the requirements of the education program in which the member is enrolled. If the institution finds that the member is not in satisfactory academic standing in accordance with the academic policies of the institution or is not making progress toward the completion of a degree, the member must reimburse the department for the amount of the tuition waived for that academic term. The act makes an appropriation of $562,787 to the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act suspends legislative interim committee activities during the 2025 legislative interim (interim). Specifically, the act: Prohibits the legislative council of the general assembly from prioritizing any requests for interim committees, including task forces, for the 2025 interim; For an interim committee that meets during 2025 interim, limits the number of bills the committee can request to be drafted to 5 and can recommend for introduction to 3; Prohibits meetings, field trips, and legislative recommendations and reports by, and suspends for one year certain reports required to be submitted to, existing interim committees, including the legislative emergency preparedness, response, and recovery committee; legislative oversight committee for Colorado jail standards; statewide health care review committee; Colorado health insurance exchange oversight committee; opioid and other substance use disorders study committee; pension review commission and pension review subcommittee; legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy; and sales and use tax simplification task force; and Prohibits members serving on statutorily created interim committees from receiving per diem and travel expenses for attending interim committee meetings during the 2025 interim except for attendance at a meeting of the wildfire matters review committee, the water resources and agriculture review committee, and the transportation legislation review committee. The act removes the authority of the Colorado youth advisory council review committee to recommend legislation through the interim committee process. The act reduces appropriations made in the legislative department's budget bill by $272,355. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For school districts and the state charter school institute (institute), the act requires the department of education (department) to develop a streamlined format for a performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan (plan) that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a school district or the institute to attach a locally developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board of education (state board) rule. For schools of a school district or district charter schools (district public schools) or institute charter schools, the act requires the department to develop a streamlined format for a plan that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a local school board for the district public school, or the institute if the public school is an institute charter school, to attach a locally developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board rule. The department shall maintain a centralized system for plan submissions so the department can conduct a statewide analysis in order to determine how to best distribute state resources and supports. On or before August 31, 2025, and regularly thereafter, the department must collect user feedback to assess the extent to which the streamlined format for plans is used, whether it is helpful, and how to use this feedback to improve the centralized system. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Starting on July 1, 2028, the bill creates a process and establishes a public online forum for a member of the general assembly to publish drafts or titles of the bills that the member is considering introducing during the next legislative session. The bill allows each member to post multiple bill titles, drafts, or a combination of titles and drafts on the online forum and establishes a timeline for a member to publish up to 3 versions of each bill title or draft. The bill also requires each bill title or draft published to include a disclaimer stating that the bill is subject to change and may or may not be introduced based on the discretion of the prime sponsor. The web page on which the bill titles and drafts are published must be taken down on the day before the first day of the legislative session. Legislative council staff shall begin to implement the changes necessary to create the public online forum upon passage of the bill so that a member may publish bill titles and drafts by July 1, 2028. (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.)

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.