Sen. Byron Pelton

Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 2026 as "Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month" in Colorado to promote rider safety and encourage shared road awareness. The resolution aims to highlight the importance of motorcycle rider training and education while reminding all drivers to be alert around motorcycles. It does not create new laws or change existing regulations but serves as a formal recognition to raise public awareness about motorcycle safety.

Maddy summaryThis bill memorializes former Senator MaryAnne Tebedo, honoring her life and contributions to Colorado public service. The legislation formally recognizes her decades of work in politics, including her roles as a campaign staffer, state representative, and state senator, as well as her efforts in passing funeral contract laws and her work as a mediator. It expresses the General Assembly's gratitude for her public service and extends sympathy to her surviving family members. Copies of the memorial will be sent to her children as a gesture of respect.

Maddy summarySJM 2 is a memorial resolution honoring former Colorado State Senator Lewis H. Entz, who died in December 2025 at age 94. The bill formally recognizes his decades of service in the Colorado legislature (1969-2005), including eight terms in the House and five in the Senate, with focus on agriculture, water policy, and veterans' affairs. It expresses the legislature’s tribute to his public service and extends condolences to his family. As a procedural resolution, it does not enact policy changes or affect any legislation. The resolution was introduced in the Senate on February 25, 2026.

In 2024, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 24-205, which created consumer protections in interactions with artificial intelligence systems. The act repeals and reenacts those provisions with new requirements regarding the use of automated decision-making technology in consequential decisions.     The act defines an 'automated decision-making technology' (ADMT) as a technology that processes personal data and uses computation to generate output, including predictions, recommendations, classifications, rankings, scores, or other information that is used to make, guide, or assist a decision, judgment, or determination concerning an individual. The act defines a 'consequential decision' as a decision that relates to an individual's access to, eligibility for, or compensation related to education, employment, housing, financial or lending services, insurance, health-care services, or essential government services and public benefits.     The act requires the developer of an ADMT (developer) that is used to materially influence a consequential decision (covered ADMT), starting January 1, 2027, to provide a deployer of a covered ADMT (deployer) with technical documentation describing the covered ADMT's intended uses, categories of training data, known limitations, and instructions for appropriate use and human review. Developers must notify deployers of material updates or modifications to the covered ADMT. Both developers and deployers are required to retain records necessary to demonstrate compliance with the act for at least 3 years.     The act establishes consumer notice requirements, mandating that deployers provide clear and conspicuous notice to consumers at the point of interaction with a covered ADMT. A deployer is required to provide a consumer with a plain language description of a covered ADMT's role within 30 days after the covered ADMT makes a consequential decision that results in an adverse outcome for the consumer. The attorney general must adopt rules to clarify these post-adverse outcome disclosure requirements by January 1, 2027.     Consumers have the right to request personal data and correction of factually incorrect personal data used by a covered ADMT. The act also grants consumers the right to request meaningful human review and reconsideration following a covered ADMT making a consequential decision resulting in an adverse outcome.     The attorney general is directed to enforce the act through the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act', and a violation of the act is deemed a deceptive trade practice. Before initiating an action before January 1, 2030, the attorney general must provide the developer or deployer with a 60-day notice and opportunity to cure the alleged violation, if a cure is deemed possible. The act does not create a new private right of action but establishes how fault is allocated between developers and deployers in civil actions alleging unlawful discrimination under existing law.     Specified entities are exempted from the requirements of the act to the extent the entities comply with other legal obligations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the bill creates a time-limited state sales and use tax exemption (tax holiday) for back-to-school items. The tax holiday applies to the last weekend of July 2027 and reoccurs at approximately the same time in 2028 and 2029. A "back-to-school item" means an article of clothing, a school supply, or a learning aid that is purchased primarily for use by an individual who is under 21 years old. The exemption for each item is limited by cost as follows:$100 for an article of clothing;$50 for a school supply; and$30 for a learning aid. Section 2 permits a town, city, or county to create a tax holiday for back-to-school items that is identical to the state tax holiday.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill removes human trafficking for involuntary servitude and human trafficking for sexual servitude (human trafficking offenses) from the list of crimes of violence that are subject to enhanced sentencing if they involve the use, or possession and threatened use of, a deadly weapon or the infliction of serious bodily injury or death. Instead, the bill requires a court to sentence a person convicted of a human trafficking offense or a related attempt or conspiracy to the department of corrections for a term of at least the midpoint, but not more than twice the maximum, of the presumptive range authorized for the applicable offense. It clarifies that a class 3 felony human trafficking offense is also subject to sentencing modifications that are permitted under current law for crimes that present an extraordinary risk of harm to society.The bill subjects a person convicted of the following to enhanced sentencing:Pimping, if the victim is an at-risk person; andHuman trafficking for involuntary servitude, or human trafficking for sexual servitude, if the victim is an at-risk adult.The bill adds the source of money posted to satisfy a monetary condition of release, including the likelihood that the money is derived from criminal activity, to the list of criteria a court may consider in making a determination of the type of bond and conditions of release.The bill changes terminology related to child prostitution to commercial sexual activity in the crimes of soliciting for child prostitution, pandering of a child, keeping a place of child prostitution, pimping a child, inducement of child prostitution, and patronizing a prostituted child, including changing the name of the offenses for soliciting for child prostitution, keeping a place of child prostitution, inducement of child prostitution, and patronizing a prostituted child.In the crime of soliciting for commercial sexual activity with a child, the bill adds soliciting a child for commercial sexual activity as a means of committing the offense and requires that when arranging or offering to arrange a meeting, the offender must know that the meeting will facilitate commercial sexual activity with a child.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the fallen firefighter special license plate. An applicant becomes eligible to use the plate by providing a certificate to the department of revenue (department) confirming that the applicant has made a donation to a nonprofit organization (organization) designated by the department based on the organization's provision of services to the families of firefighters who have died in the line of duty.In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay 2 additional one-time fees in the amount of $25, one of which is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Maddy summaryThis bill is a Senate Joint Resolution that formally recognizes the Colorado Mining Association for its 150th anniversary in 2026. It highlights the organization's historical significance and its role in supporting Colorado's mining industry, which contributes billions to the state's economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs. The resolution acknowledges the association's partnerships with state and federal agencies in promoting safety, environmental stewardship, and responsible mineral development. This measure does not change any laws or policies but serves as an official acknowledgment of the association's contributions to Colorado's history and economy.

A renewable energy project developer (facility owner) that intends to undertake a project to build a renewable energy facility (renewable energy project) may currently submit an application for land use approval from the renewable energy project to a local government. However, current law does not specify what process a local government may use to charge fees or set a timeline for the local government to make a final decision regarding land use approval for the renewable energy project. The bill specifies that control over the specifics of the application process rests with the local government. The local government may establish fees for an application for a renewable energy project and may offer two independent tracks for the application based on the fee the facility owner pays. The standard track allows a facility owner to pay a lower fee, but does not guarantee a specific timeline for the local government to issue a final decision on the application. The expedited track allows a facility owner to pay an additional fee, with an agreement that if the local government takes longer than 120 days, minus any permitted tolling periods, a percentage of the higher fee will be refunded.     The bill gives local governments authority to contract with third-party technical reviewers to review the application for a final decision. The bill also requires a facility owner to pay a success fee to the local government upon final approval of the project, based on the amount of time between receipt of the application and when the project is approved, to be used by the local government for expenses related to regulating renewable energy facilities and maintaining local roads impacted by facility construction.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado nuclear workforce development and education council (council) in the Colorado school of mines to help meet growing workforce demand in the nuclear energy sector. The bill establishes a related grant program (grant program) to provide grants to institutions of higher education for the development or expansion of nuclear engineering degree or certificate programs or course offerings. The council shall convene advisory sessions with stakeholders from the nuclear, educational, and workforce development sectors; implement the grant program; and contract with one or more third-party entities for staffing and operational assistance.     The council may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations for council-related purposes. The state treasurer shall credit the gifts, grants, and donations to the Colorado nuclear workforce development and education cash fund (cash fund), which is created in the bill. The general assembly shall not appropriate general fund money to implement or maintain council operations or grant awards. The council shall convene and begin awarding grants only after the balance of the cash fund reaches or exceeds $500,000 (threshold) .     The bill imposes requirements to report to the Colorado commission on higher education and the general assembly about the council's funding sources, grant program implementation, and other uses of the grant program money. If the cash fund balance does not reach the threshold on or before September 1, 2027, the council is repealed and the money in the cash fund is refunded to the grantors or donors. Otherwise, the bill repeals the council, effective September 1, 2033, unless the council is extended following a sunset review.(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.)