Sen. Byron Pelton

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 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.)

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.

Current law restricts construction defect negligence claims unless the negligence claim arises from a construction defect which results in actual damage to or loss of the use of real or personal property; bodily injury or wrongful death; or a risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property. Section 1 of the bill changes this restriction so that all construction defect claims are restricted unless the claim arises from a construction defect that causes: Actual damage to real or personal property caused by the violation of a building code, manufacturer's instructions, or industry standard; Actual loss of the use of real or personal property; Bodily injury or wrongful death; or An imminent and unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death to, or an imminent or unreasonable threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property. Sections 2 through 12 modify existing warranty of habitability laws by repealing recent updates and reenacting the laws as they were prior to the updates. The modifications include repealing certain procedures for both landlords and tenants when a warranty of habitability claim is alleged by the tenant; repealing a rebuttable presumption that a landlord failed to remedy an uninhabitable premises in certain conditions; modifying requirements regarding notice given to a landlord of an uninhabitable premises; and modifying other laws related to rental agreements, records, and procedures for remedying uninhabitable premises. Section 13 repeals law that allows the attorney general to independently initiate and bring actions to enforce laws relating to the warranty of habitability. Section 14 makes a conforming change to law governing county courts' jurisdiction over cases involving tenant's remedies in warranty of habitability cases and tenant's remedies in cases of unlawful removal. Section 15 modifies the statement included in a summons issued to a defendant in a court proceeding regarding an action for possession brought by a landlord. Sections 16 through 20 repeal provisions related to evictions of residential tenants, including repealing: Requirements that a landlord and residential tenant participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives cash assistance; A prohibition on a law enforcement officer's ability to execute a writ of restitution until 30 days after the entry of judgment if the residential tenant receives cash assistance; Requirements that a written demand include a statement that a residential tenant who receives cash assistance has a right to mediation prior to the landlord filing an eviction complaint; Requirements that a written rental agreement include a statement that current law prohibits source of income discrimination and requires a nonexempt landlord to accept any lawful and verifiable source of money paid directly, indirectly, or on behalf of a person; and Requirements that prohibit a written rental agreement from including a waiver of mandatory mediation or a clause that allows a landlord to recoup any costs associated with mandatory mediation. Sections 21 and 22 require any provision of any energy code adopted by a county or municipality on or after January 1, 2026, to be cost effective. "Cost effective" means, using the existing energy efficiency standards and requirements as a base of comparison, that the economic benefits of the proposed energy efficiency standards and requirements will exceed the economic costs of those standards and requirements based upon an incremental multi-year analysis.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.)

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.

The act establishes certain requirements for social media companies and social media platforms in order to protect users. Specifically, the act: Relocates, with amendments, certain language requiring a social media platform to include a function that provides minor users information about their engagement in social media, which language was enacted in 2024 by House Bill 24-1136; Requires a social media company to publish policies for each social media platform owned or operated by the social media company (published policies) and establishes mandatory contents for published policies; Requires a social media company to submit to the department of law an annual report that includes, for each social media platform owned or operated by the social media company, information concerning the published policies and violations of the published policies; Requires a social media company to annually make publicly available a report that includes, for each social media platform owned or operated by the social media company, certain data concerning how minor users used the social media platform; In satisfying the reporting requirements described in the act, requires a social media company to make commercially reasonable efforts to identify the age categories of users; Requires a social media company, upon the notification of a user's alleged violation of the published policies or of state law, to determine within 48 hours whether the violation occurred and, if so, to remove the user from the applicable social media platform within 24 hours after the determination is made; Requires a social media platform with at least one million discrete monthly users to provide a streamlined process to allow Colorado law enforcement agencies to contact the social media company that operates the social media platform and, under certain conditions, to comply with a search warrant within 72 hours after receiving the search warrant; Makes a violation of the new requirements an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act", to be punished accordingly; and Authorizes the attorney general to adopt rules to carry out the new requirements. VETOED by Governor April 24, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act repeals the roll-forward authority of a state department to use unexpended and unencumbered money from the department's utilities line item to purchase energy conservation equipment and services during the state fiscal year following the state fiscal year for which the money was appropriated without further appropriation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Since July 1, 2023, a state agency that terminates a lease for private space has been required to calculate the associated amount of the annual reduction in the state agency's leased space costs (cost reduction). The general assembly has been required to annually transfer to the capital construction fund, from the fund that was the source of the funding for the lease, an amount equal to the cost reduction from the fund that was the source of the funding for the lease until the total amount transferred equals the amount that has been required to be transferred to the capitol complex renovation fund from annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments that otherwise would be credited to state agency capital reserve accounts. The act repeals the requirements that a state agency calculate its cost reduction and that the general assembly make the annual transfers to the capital construction fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act provides that the following funds are no longer continuously appropriated for use by the following executive branch agencies and instead are available to be expended by those agencies subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly: The child welfare cash fund for use by the department of human services; The community impact cash fund for use by the department of public health and environment; The accelerated appeal cash fund for use by the board of assessment appeals within the department of local affairs; The mobile home park act dispute resolution and enforcement program fund for use by the division of housing in the department of local affairs; The public safety communications revolving fund for use by the office of public safety communications in the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety; and The state agency sustainability revolving fund for use by the department of personnel. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $284,167 from the child welfare cash fund to the department of human services for use by the division of child welfare for child welfare licensing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)