Sen. Katie Wallace

The act creates the Colorado sexual assault forensic medical evidence review board (board), consisting of the attorney general, or their designee, as board chair; the executive director of the Colorado district attorneys' council, or their designee; and various members appointed by the attorney general or the governor. The board's duties include reviewing and monitoring processes related to sexual assault response, making recommendations to improve sexual assault response, and submitting an annual report concerning its duties. The act creates a notification requirement under the "Victim Rights Act" that requires a law enforcement agency to notify a victim every 90 days when the law enforcement agency has not received the results of the forensic medical evidence DNA analysis from an accredited crime laboratory. The act requires an accredited crime laboratory to endeavor to analyze forensic medical evidence within 60 days after its receipt. The act expands public reporting requirements concerning forensic medical evidence and DNA evidence backlogs. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $112,365 from the general fund to the department of law for use by the administration division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act changes the spending authority of the division of criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety in relation to community corrections programs by: Repealing the division's authority to transfer up to 10% of annual appropriations among or between line items for community corrections program services; and Allowing the division to overexpend up to $2 million in any one fiscal year for felony placements in community corrections programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" for a person who consults with, advises, or assists a veteran in connection with a claim for veterans' benefits (veterans' benefits matter) to: Receive compensation in excess of the lesser of $9,200 or 25% of the amount of any past-due benefits the veteran actually receives after the person procures an increase in the veteran's monthly benefits; Receive compensation in connection with a claim filed prior to a veteran's release from active duty or within the one-year period following a veteran's release from active duty; Guarantee a successful outcome in a veterans' benefits matter; Fail to memorialize the payment terms and certain disclosures in a written, signed contract; Omit certain disclosures from advertising or make false representations about accreditation; Fail to take various security measures related to veterans' personal information; or Provide services in connection with an appeal or review of the veterans administration's initial decision in a veterans' benefits matter, unless the service provider is accredited by the veterans administration. The act requires the attorney general or district attorney to transmit any civil penalty collected for a violation of the veterans' benefits matter provisions to the state treasurer for deposit in the Colorado state veterans trust fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

If a service member's driver's license expires while they are serving on active duty outside of Colorado, the driver's license expiration date is extended for 3 years or until 90 days after the service member returns to the state. The act designates the service member's dependents as also subject to the extension of their driver's license expiration date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends the statutes that require a person to possess a permit in order to boot a vehicle to apply any application, without the appropriate consent, of a device intended to prevent the normal operation of a motor vehicle. The act allows the public utilities commission (commission) to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a permit to immobilize a vehicle for felonies and immobilization-related offenses. An applicant must disclose each person that is an owner, a principal, an officer, a member, a partner, or a director of the vehicle immobilization company (company) in an application. The commission is authorized to deny an application for or suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a permit of a company based on a determination that it is not in the public interest for the company to possess a permit. The determination is subject to appeal. Possession of a permit is rebuttably presumed to be not in the public interest if a company has willfully and repeatedly failed to comply with the relevant law. The act adds the following new duties for companies: Before immobilizing a vehicle, the company must document the vehicle's condition and the reason for the immobilization. Standards are set for the documentation, including taking photographs. Upon demand by an authorized or interested person, the company must provide copies of the photographs, and if the company does not provide the photographs and a vehicle is damaged, it creates a rebuttable presumption that the company damaged the vehicle or did not have authority to immobilize the vehicle; A company shall display its name, the permit number, and a phone number of the company on each company vehicle used in immobilization. Standards are set for the display. The representative of a company must have business identification visibly worn at all times while immobilizing a vehicle or accepting payment; If a vehicle has been immobilized by a company, another company must not immobilize the vehicle; If a company applies more than one immobilization device to a vehicle, the company may not charge more than once for the removal of all the immobilization devices; A company must provide, upon request, evidence of the company's commercial liability insurance coverage; A company must immediately accept payment and release the vehicle if offered in cash or by valid major credit card; Upon request, a company must disclose accepted forms of payment; A company must provide an itemized act showing each charge and the rate for each fee incurred as a result of an immobilization and any fee that caused the immobilization; and A company may not pay money or provide other valuable consideration for the privilege of immobilizing vehicles. A company is prohibited from immobilizing a vehicle on private property unless: The immobilization is ordered or authorized by a court order, an administrative order, or a peace officer or by operation of law; or The company has received permission for each individual immobilization, within the 24 hours immediately preceding the immobilization, from a specified person. The company must retain the permission for 3 years. A property owner with tenants must give each tenant adequate notice of parking regulations as outlined in the act. A company may not immobilize a vehicle in a parking space or common parking area without the company or property owner giving 24 hours' written notice at least 24 hours before immobilizing the vehicle, unless the vehicle owner or operator has received a previous notice for parking inappropriately in the same manner. Standards are set for the notice. The company or property owner need not give the notice if one of the following apply but must place a notice on the immobilized vehicle that contains the phone number of the company, the normal operating hours of the company, and the phone number to contact the company outside of normal operating hours if: The vehicle is parked a second or subsequent time in the same inappropriate manner; The vehicle is parked in a designated and marked fire zone or is effectively obstructing a fire hydrant; The vehicle is inappropriately using reserved parking for people with disabilities; The immobilization is ordered or authorized by a court order, an administrative order, or a peace officer or by operation of law; The vehicle blocks a driveway or roadway enough to effectively obstruct a person's access to the driveway or roadway; The vehicle is parked in a designated, rented, or purchased parking space of a resident; or The vehicle is parked in a parking lot marked for the exclusive use of residents. To immobilize a vehicle on private property normally used for parking, the following must be provided upon entering the private property: Notice of the parking regulations; and Notice that a violation of the regulations subjects the vehicle to immobilization at the vehicle owner's expense. Unless the immobilization is based on an order given by a peace officer, a company may not immobilize a vehicle on private property because the vehicle's registration has expired. For a company to immobilize a vehicle, the property owner must have posted signage that meets the size, visibility, and placement standards of the act and contains the following information: The restriction or prohibition on parking; The times of the day and days that the restriction is applicable, but, if the restriction applies 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, the sign must say "Authorized Parking Only"; Notice that violating the regulation subjects the violating vehicle to be immobilized at the vehicle owner's expense; and The name and telephone number of the company authorized to perform immobilization on the private property. A company may not patrol or monitor property to enforce parking restrictions on behalf of a property owner. A company may not immobilize a vehicle because the vehicle is inoperable if the vehicle is owned by a resident and is parked in the resident's designated, rented, or purchased parking space or driveway or in a mobile home lot that is leased or owned by the resident. If a company has immobilized a vehicle on private property, the company must give a written notice of the person's ability to make a complaint to the commission in accordance with the standards of the act. A company must release a motor vehicle either within 120 minutes after being contacted outside the company's normal business hours or within 90 minutes during the company's normal business hours. A company must immediately release a vehicle without charge to a towing carrier when evidence is presented that the towing carrier has authorization to conduct a nonconsensual tow or law-enforcement-directed tow. A company must immediately release an immobilized vehicle if the person retrieving the vehicle pays $60 and the person signs a form affirming that the authorized or interested person owes the company payment for the appropriate fees. A company may remotely release an immobilization device from a vehicle. The company shall retrieve the immobilization device within 120 minutes after releasing it. The driver must move the immobilization device from the road so that it is not a hazard to vehicles or pedestrians unless the driver has a physical limitation that makes moving the device unreasonably difficult or impossible. The driver need not return the device to the company or a location specified by the company. A company must charge a reduced release charge set by the commission and immediately release the vehicle if the vehicle is released after an employee of or agent of the company starts to immobilize the vehicle but before the agent or employee leaves the private property. A company must retain evidence of giving the notices and disclosures required in the act for 3 years and provide the evidence to the commission or an enforcement official upon request. Generally, the act does not apply to an immobilization that is: Ordered by a peace officer or technician directed by a peace officer; In a parking space that serves a business if the parking space is on commercial real estate; Ordered by a municipality, county, or city and county; or On federally leased land used for commercial parking purposes. A violation of the act is generally a deceptive trade practice and is subject to enforcement by the attorney general's office or a district attorney. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the time frame within which a governing body of a city, town, or city and county with jurisdiction in an area within the wildland-urban interface is required to adopt wildfire codes and standards that meet or exceed the wildfire resiliency code board's wildfire codes and standards from 3 to 9 months after the board's adoption of wildfire codes and standards. The act allows a governing body to enter into a cooperative agreement with another entity, such as a third-party contractor or another governing body, in order to enforce wildfire codes and standards. (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.)

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.)

Beginning January 1, 2027, the act requires large group health benefit plans to provide coverage for the treatment of the chronic disease of obesity and the treatment of pre-diabetes, including coverage for a comparable program to the national diabetes prevention program, medical nutrition therapy, intensive behavioral or lifestyle therapy, and metabolic and bariatric surgery. For a large group health benefit plan offered in the state, the act requires carriers to offer the policyholder the option to purchase coverage for FDA-approved anti-obesity medications, including at least one FDA-approved GLP-1 medication. The commissioner of insurance may adopt rules for the implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The healthy school meals for all program (program) reimburses participating school food authorities for meals that those authorities provide to students without charge. Section 2 of the act allows the amount of these reimbursements to be modified in 2 different scenarios. First, if a referred measure that would, in combination with the income tax deduction modification that was approved by the voters in connection with the program, result in the collection of at least $150 million for the income tax year commencing on January 1, 2026, is not approved by the voters voting on the referred measure at the 2025 statewide election, the department of education (department) is required to only provide reimbursements to participating school food authorities for meals served at eligible sites. Eligible sites are those that either: Qualify for the community eligibility provision program, as that program exists on November 15, 2025; or Are identified as eligible sites by the department based on the amount that the general assembly appropriates for the purpose of providing reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge and the percentage of a site's student enrollment who are certified as eligible for free meals based on documentation of benefit receipt or categorical eligibility as described in federal rule, or any successor regulations. Second, if the department, in consultation with the office of state planning and budgeting, determines that the amount that the general assembly appropriated for the purpose of providing reimbursements to a participating school food authority is less than the costs of the department providing those reimbursements, the department may determine a prorated reimbursement amount for the reimbursements that the department provides through the program to each participating school food authority for the remainder of that budget year. Sections 4 and 6 limit the existing authority of the department, if the department determines that there is an insufficient amount of money in the healthy school meals for all program cash fund (fund) for the department to provide reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge, to make an expenditure from the general fund to provide those reimbursements to state fiscal years commencing on or before July 1, 2024. Section 3 allows the general assembly to appropriate money from the state education fund to cover program costs for which there is not sufficient money in the fund, as it was required to do for state fiscal years 2024-25, for state fiscal year 2025-26. Section 4 requires the department, on January 15, 2027, in consultation with the office of state planning and budgeting, to report to the joint budget committee on whether there is a sufficient balance in the fund for: The state treasurer to transfer an amount from the fund to the state education fund equal to the total amount of expenditures from the state education fund for the program for state fiscal years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 minus the amount of additional tax revenue deposited in the state education fund as a result of the increase in state income tax generated in connection with voter approval of the program for those same fiscal years; and The department to provide reimbursements to a participating school food authority for offering eligible meals without charge. Section 8 extends the local school food purchasing program indefinitely, so that the program extends beyond the 2024-25 school year. Section 9 similarly extends the required reporting on the local school food purchasing program. Section 11 decreases the appropriation for school meal reimbursements provided through the program from the general fund by $42,240,242 and increases the appropriation from the state education fund by $8,119,271 for the same purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)