The act requires the state board of education (state board) to adopt standards related to Black historical and cultural studies (standards). Local education providers shall incorporate the standards into courses for public elementary and secondary school students in the state no later than 2 years after the state board adopts the standards. The act aligns the timeline for the development, adoption, and integration of the standards with the 6-year cycle that the state board of education currently uses for revising the state academic standards. The act creates the Black historical and cultural studies advisory committee (committee) in the department of education (department) to recommend standards and related materials and to provide technical assistance at the request of local education providers implementing the standards. The committee's recommendations must include updates to the state's history and civics standards and must advance developmentally appropriate but comprehensive instruction that features factual accounts of the struggles and contributions of Black Americans in all fields of endeavor. Using the committee's recommendations, the department will create and maintain a resource bank of research-based, scholarly articles and promising program materials and curricula pertaining to Black historical and cultural studies. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $19,225 from the general fund to the department for costs related to content specialists. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act authorizes an agency of government to incorporate a project labor agreement requirement for a public project in the amount of $1 million or more if the project labor agreement will promote successful project delivery by securing a skilled labor force for the project and if it will promote cost-efficiency, safety, quality, and timely completion of the project. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, if a consumer consents to an automatic renewal contract for a good or service through an online medium, the person that sells the good or service may provide the consumer with an opportunity to cancel the automatic renewal contract either online or in person. The act changes this provision to state that the person that sells the good or service is required to provide the consumer with an opportunity to cancel the automatic renewal contract online if the consumer consented to the automatic renewal contract through an online medium. If the consumer consented to the automatic renewal contract through other means, the person is required to provide the consumer with an online cancellation link or an in-person mechanism for canceling the automatic renewal contract. The person that sells the good or service may display a discounted offer, a retention benefit, or information regarding the effects of cancellation if the person simultaneously displays a direct link to cancel the automatic renewal contract. The attorney general may adopt rules to implement and enforce the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the judicial department to develop a form for a court to use to notify the department of human services (DHS) of the court's specific findings when the court denies a personal recognizance bond and orders inpatient restoration services for a defendant who is in custody for a misdemeanor, petty offense, or traffic offense, and who the court determines is incompetent to proceed but there is a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency in the reasonably foreseeable future. The act makes changes to the processes related to competency evaluations, including changing the deadlines and processes for requesting second evaluations and changing the requirements for conducting restoration evaluations of juveniles. The act requires a court to vacate any existing order and not enter a new order directing DHS to conduct a competency evaluation or provide restoration services to a defendant if the defendant was accepted to participate in the bridges wraparound care program. The requirements and processes related to certifying a defendant for short-term treatment are updated, including changes to the requirements for a party to request an order initiating short-term treatment and the processes when a party requests a hearing. The act permits DHS to request that the court refer a matter for filing of a petition for short-term treatment if, in the process of coordinating outpatient restoration services for a defendant, DHS determines that the defendant meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment. The court is required to set the following hearings upon the request of a party, if a final determination is made that the defendant is incompetent to proceed: A hearing following the court's receipt, prior to ordering restoration treatment, of a competency evaluator's report concluding that there is not a substantial probability that the defendant, with restoration services, will attain competency within the reasonably foreseeable future; and A hearing if, prior to ordering restoration treatment, a competency evaluator or other expert opines that the defendant's diagnosis likely includes a moderate to severe intellectual or developmental disability, acquired traumatic brain injury, or dementia, which, either alone or together with a co-occurring mental illness, affects the defendant's ability to gain or maintain competency. The court is required to make findings about whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a person meets the standard for a certification for short-term treatment prior to dismissing charges against the person for certain competency reasons. If the charges are dismissed, the court shall notify DHS in writing that the charges were dismissed and the reason for the dismissal. Under existing law, if the court finds there are reasonable grounds, the court may stay the dismissal for 35 days. The act permits the court to grant up to four 35-day extensions to a stay of a dismissal in addition to the initial stay. DHS is permitted to continue to provide services for up to 90 days after a person's case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed. DHS is permitted to enter into an agreement with an organization to provide permanent supportive housing for a person whose case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed or the person has successfully completed a bridges wraparound care program, and for a person who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. DHS is required to collect information concerning where a person lives or intends to live following a dismissal or referral for each person whose charges are dismissed following a determination by the court that the person is incompetent to proceed or following satisfactory completion of a bridges wraparound care program, or who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant while the offender is in a competency-related diversion or deflection program. The act tolls the time limitations to commence a criminal proceeding against a defendant beginning when the defendant's case is dismissed without prejudice for the purpose of facilitating certification for short-term treatment until either the defendant's criminal case is re-filed or 6 months have passed since the case was dismissed, whichever is earlier. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law states that a person who commits careless driving and thereby causes the death of an individual commits a class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense. The act expands current law to include careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury and states that if a person commits careless driving and thereby causes the serious bodily injury or death of more than one individual, each individual injure or killed is a separate violation. The act also clarifies that careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury or death is an included crime for the purposes of the "Victim Rights Act". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The "Identity Theft and Financial Deterrence Act" was set to repeal September 1, 2025. The act implements the department of regulatory agencies' recommendations to: Continue the "Identity Theft and Financial Fraud Deterrence Act" until September 1, 2036; Repeal the identity theft and financial fraud board; and Repeal the current cash fund funding structure; allow appropriation of money from the general fund to the department of public safety (department); and allow the department to accept gifts, grants, and donations to staff the Colorado investigators unit. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $653,345 from the identity theft and financial fraud fund to the department for use by the Colorado bureau of investigation and decreases appropriations made to the department for use by the Colorado bureau of investigation from the identity theft and financial fraud fund by $653,345. Money appropriated to the department to staff the Colorado investigators unit is subject to available appropriations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act amends the state public financing cash fund (fund) statute in 2 ways. First, the act removes the limit on the amounts included in the issuance or incurrence of certain financial obligations by the state that the state treasurer credits to the fund. Second, the act modifies the fund so that bond counsel approval is no longer needed before money in the fund is used to reimburse the state treasurer for certain verifiable costs. Section 2 allows the state treasurer to use a security token offering for state capital financing and adopt rules as necessary to do so. Section 3 creates a new special purpose authority: The building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars authority (authority). The authority's primary purpose is to finance infrastructure projects that are ready for construction or commencement. As used in this context, an infrastructure project includes the development, construction, repair, improvement, operation, maintenance, decommissioning, or ownership of: A transportation infrastructure project, an infrastructure project in a transit-oriented community, a county courthouse facility, a transportation facility; utility infrastructure; renewable energy infrastructure; recycling infrastructure; energy efficiency infrastructure; an education facility; water infrastructure; information technology capital construction; affordable and accessible housing infrastructure; or digital, social, or other infrastructure related to economic development. The powers of the authority are vested in a 13-member board with the following membership: The state treasurer or the state treasurer's designee; The state architect or the state architect's designee; The chair of the capital development committee of the general assembly or any successor committee; A member of the capital development committee of the general assembly or any successor committee who is the longest serving member on the committee and who is a member of the major political party other than the party of the chair of the committee; A representative of a statewide organization representing counties, appointed by the governor; A representative of a statewide organization representing municipalities, appointed by the governor; The executive director of the Colorado education and cultural facilities authority or their designee; A representative of a statewide organization of general and specialty commercial construction contractors, appointed by the governor; A representative of a statewide employee organization representing building and construction trade workers, appointed by the president of the senate; An individual representing service employees, appointed by the state treasurer; An individual with a background in finance who has experience with pension fund management, appointed by the state treasurer; and An individual with a background in commercial lending representing an institution insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation, appointed by the state treasurer. The state treasurer or the state treasurer's designee serves as the chair of the board and is required to call the first meeting of the board no later than January 1, 2026. Among other powers, the authority may: Make and execute agreements, contracts, and other instruments as necessary to achieve the authority's purposes, including contracting with the officers, personnel, and consultants of the state treasurer to achieve its purposes; Charge to and collect from state agencies and persons fees and charges in connection with the authority's loans or other services; Issue and sell building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars bonds, payable solely from the building urgent infrastructure and leveraging dollars bonding fund created within the authority; Invest and deposit money; Finance or participate in the financing of eligible projects or any interest in such a project; except for projects that are within the statutory authority of the Colorado housing and finance authority; and Facilitate the funding of infrastructure projects. The infrastructure and long-term development assistance program (program) is created in the authority to allow the authority to provide financing for eligible projects. The act requires the authority to develop policies and procedures necessary to implement the program. At a minimum, the policies and procedures must specify application criteria, an application process, and a selection process for the authority to determine which eligible projects it will finance or assist in financing through the program. The authority must pay for such financing out of the eligible project revolving fund created in the authority. The act also requires that the authority allow the Colorado educational and cultural facilities authority a right of first refusal for the financing of eligible projects. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under the federal 340B drug pricing program (340B program), a covered entity, including certain hospitals, programs, and federally qualified health centers (covered entity), that serves patients with low income receives discounted outpatient drugs (340B drugs) from manufacturers that participate in the federal medicaid and medicare programs. Unless the receipt of 340B drugs is prohibited by the federal department of health and human services, the act prohibits a manufacturer, third-party logistics provider, or repackager in this state, or an agent, contractor, or affiliate of those entities, including an entity that collects or processes health information, from directly or indirectly denying, restricting, prohibiting, discriminating against, or otherwise limiting the acquisition of a 340B drug by, or delivery of a 340B drug to, a covered entity, a pharmacy contracted with a covered entity, or a location otherwise authorized by a covered entity to receive and dispense 340B drugs. The act also prohibits a manufacturer from directly or indirectly requiring a covered entity, a pharmacy contracted with a covered entity, or any other location authorized to receive 340B drugs by a covered entity to submit any health information, claims or utilization data, or other specified data that does not relate to a claim submitted to certain federal health care programs, unless the data is voluntarily furnished or required to be furnished under federal law. The act defines "340B savings" as the difference between the aggregated market rate costs and the aggregated acquisition costs for 340 B drugs. Certain hospital covered entities are prohibited from using 340B savings for certain purposes. A violation of the prohibitions in the act is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" (protection act), and the violator is subject to the enforcement provisions and penalties contained in the protection act. In addition, a person regulated by the state board of pharmacy (pharmacy board) that violates the provisions of the protection act may be subject to discipline by the pharmacy board against the person's license, certification, or registration, as well as other penalties. The act requires certain hospital covered entities to annually report to the department of health care policy and financing certain information concerning 340B savings and costs relating to providing charity care. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law limits to 10 years the time a school district can lease district property not needed for its purposes. The act allows a school district to lease district property for any term of years for purposes of a solar field, energy storage system, or affordable housing. If a board of education of a school district leases or rents property for the purposes of an affordable housing project, the board of education shall develop a policy that defines affordable housing for the project. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For state fiscal year 2025-26, the act appropriates $5,000,000 from the species conservation trust fund in the state treasury for various wildlife conservation programs directed at conserving candidate native species that have been listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal law or are species that are likely to become candidate species, as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service, as follows: $2,480,000 for the upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program; $20,000 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.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)