In 2019, the division of insurance within the department of regulatory agencies (department) established the primary care payment reform collaborative (collaborative) to, among other things, advise in the development of affordability standards and targets for insurance carrier investments in primary care, identify barriers to the adoption of alternative payment models by health-care providers and insurers, and develop recommendations to address barriers. The act implements the recommendations of the department's sunset review and report by: Continuing the collaborative for 7 years, until September 1, 2032; and Scheduling the next sunset review of the collaborative to be conducted pursuant to the sunset review structure for advisory committees. In addition, the act clarifies that the collaborative is required to ensure the development and consideration of alternative payment models that are responsive to the needs of primary care delivery in pediatrics and that the commissioner of insurance is required to invite pediatric primary care providers to participate in the collaborative. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act refers 2 ballot issues to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election concerning funding for the healthy school meals for all program. Section 2 refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election to allow the state to retain and spend state revenue that would otherwise need to be refunded for exceeding the estimate in the ballot information booklet analysis for Proposition FF and to allow the state to maintain the increases in state taxable income established in Proposition FF that would otherwise need to be decreased. If voters reject the ballot issue, the state will both: Refund $12,430,388 to individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more and claimed itemized or standard state income tax deductions greater than $12,000 for single tax return filers and $16,000 for joint tax return filers; and Adjust the limit on itemized deductions established in Proposition FF to a level that would have reduced the amount of income tax revenue attributable to these itemized deductions by $12,430,388. If voters approve the ballot measure: The state will not refund $12,430,388 to individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more and claimed itemized or standard state income tax deductions greater than $12,000 for single tax return filers and $16,000 for joint tax return filers; and The increases in federal taxable income as a result of Proposition FF will stay at the levels established by Proposition FF. Section 3 refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2025 statewide election to allow the state to increase taxes by $95 million annually by increasing state taxable income to support the healthy school meals for all program. If voters approve the ballot issue: Income tax deductions for individuals who have a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more will be reduced from current levels to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for joint filers; and The state will allocate the additional revenue generated by the reduction in income tax deductions to the healthy school meals for all program. If voters reject the ballot issue, income tax deductions will not be reduced, and there will not be any additional revenue to be allocated to the healthy school meals for all program. In addition to the income tax changes and potential refunds that may result from voters approving or rejecting the ballot issues described in sections 2 and 3, the act also changes the healthy school meals for all program cash fund (fund) and healthy school meals for all programs. If voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 2 and reject the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 3, $1 million is transferred annually from the fund to local school food purchasing programs. If voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 3, regardless of whether the voters approve the ballot issue submitted pursuant to section 2: The permissible distribution of local food purchasing grants is modified; Certain school food authorities are allowed to collaborate to implement advisory committees; The duties of an advisory committee are clarified; and The distribution of funds from the fund is changed so that the amounts distributed through local food purchasing grants for increasing wages or providing stipends for individuals whom the participating school food authority employs to directly prepare and serve food for school meals and through the local school food purchasing technical assistance and education grant program are modified based on the amount of money in the fund. NOTE: Certain provisions of the act are contingent on the results a measure concerning Proposition FF refunds or Proposition FF revenue increases being either approved or not approved by a majority of voters at the November 2025 statewide election.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state contracts to conduct emissions testing. The act repeals the limits on how long the contracts may run and authorizes the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) to determine the length of each contract. Colorado law also authorizes a vehicle emissions inspection facility to charge a fee that is set by the air quality control commission (commission). The act authorizes the commission to adopt rules adjusting the fees, but the commission is limited to adjusting: The $15 maximum fee to $30 when a licensed inspection and readjustment station inspects vehicles model year 1981 and older; and The $25 maximum fee to $50 for a clean screen inspection performed on vehicles registered in the basic emissions program. The commission may adopt rules requiring the emissions compliance of vehicles that have failed an emissions test and that are registered outside of the enhanced emissions program area but that operate within the program area. The act requires the commission to adopt rules requiring inspections of motor vehicles that are registered in the nonattainment area and identified as having excess emissions under the clean screen program and are either within the 2-year vehicle inspection cycle or exempt from periodic inspection. If a motor vehicle's emissions control system has been disconnected, deactivated, or rendered inoperable, the division may notify the executive director of the department of revenue. Under Colorado law, fines and penalties assessed for violations of air quality laws are deposited in the community impact cash fund. The act creates a motor vehicle emissions assistance fund (fund) and diverts the first $1 million from the community impact cash fund to the new fund, but at the end of each state fiscal year, any unspent money in the fund exceeding $250,000 is returned to the community impact cash fund. The division may expend money from the fund to provide grants for: Paying emissions inspection fees for motor vehicles registered to individuals participating in an established and recognized public assistance program; or Adjustments or emissions-related repairs that are necessary and sufficient to receive a certification of emissions compliance. Qualification standards are set for the grants. The division may accept and expend gifts, grants, and donations. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated. To implement the act, $5,674 is transferred from the AIR account of the highway users tax fund to the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account of the highway users tax fund. The fine money is declared to be damages and exempt from the expenditure caps of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows the department of health care policy and financing (department) to, on behalf of the department, contract with a recovery audit contractor (RAC) vendor to conduct RAC audits of medicaid providers (providers). RAC audits may only review claims that are no more than 3 years past the expiration date of the timely filing period. The department may only review claims that fall outside of this 3-year time frame if required by a federal audit. The act limits the number of audits a provider may undergo each year and the number of medical records that can be requested for a given audit. If the RAC vendor identifies preliminary findings during the RAC audit, the RAC vendor must send the provider a report detailing the preliminary findings, the rationale for the preliminary findings, and the methodology for how any overpayments were calculated and determined. The act allows a provider that received preliminary findings following a complex audit to request an exit conference to discuss the preliminary findings with the RAC vendor and the department to resolve the concerns detailed in the preliminary findings prior to undergoing an informal reconsideration of the preliminary findings. A provider is required to participate in an informal reconsideration before filing a formal appeal regarding the department's findings during an RAC audit. The department is required to submit an annual report to the joint budget committee containing information about the RAC audits conducted and the department's involvement in those RAC audits. The act, in the department's budget for medical and long-term care services for medical-eligible individuals, decreases the cash funds appropriation from recoveries and recoupments by $20,900,588 and increases the cash funds appropriation from the recovery audit contractor recoveries cash fund by $20,900,588. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For state fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2025, the act requires that: The state treasurer transfer any unappropriated balances or otherwise unexpended and unencumbered money remaining in the capital construction fund (fund) or the information technology capital account of the fund (IT subaccount), or any otherwise unexpended and unencumbered money remaining in the fund or the IT subaccount at the end of a fiscal year to the general fund; All unexpended or unencumbered money from an appropriation from the fund or the IT subaccount to a state agency or state institution of higher education reverts to the general fund at the end of the period for which the money is appropriated; and All interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the fund and the IT subaccount be credited to the general fund. The act also requires the state treasurer to make the following transfers on July 1, 2025: $129,498,033 from the general fund to the fund; $500,000 from the general fund exempt account of the general fund to the fund; $20,557,433 from the general fund to the IT subaccount; and $3,230,000 from the marijuana tax cash fund to the IT subaccount.(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.)
At the November 2024 statewide election, voters approved proposition 130, which requires the state to provide $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies to improve recruitment, training, and retention of local law enforcement officers and to provide a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who is killed in the line of duty. The act modifies and implements proposition 130. The act creates the peace officer training and support fund (fund), and establishes a formula by which the department of public safety (department) disburses $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies from the fund for permissible purposes. Permissible purposes include initial and continuing education and training for peace officers and the compensation of peace officers. Beginning July 1, 2026, the formula requires the department to disburse an amount to each law enforcement agency equal to the total of $15,000 and an amount multiplied by the number of P.O.S.T-certified officers, noncertified deputy sheriffs, and detention officers budgeted by a local government for the law enforcement agency. Law enforcement agencies and local governments may not use these funds to supplant or supplement other spending. Local governments must include evidence of compliance with the no supplanting or supplementing requirement in their annual audit and provide a copy of this audit to the department. The department must review a subset of the audits provided by local governments for compliance with the requirements of the act. The act also establishes funding for the fund. First, the act directs the state treasurer to transfer $15 million from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2026. Second, the act directs the state treasurer to issue warrants from the general fund totaling $500 million to the public employees' retirement association (PERA) between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025. Beginning July 1, 2027, until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund: The amount of each annual direct distribution made by the state to PERA is reduced by the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million; and The state treasurer annually transfers an amount equal to the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million, from the general fund to the fund. However, beginning July 1, 2027, and each July 1 thereafter until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund, the state treasurer is required to transfer at least $15 million from the general fund to the fund regardless of the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million. The general assembly may annually appropriate to the department no more than 2.5% of the amount that the state treasurer annually transfers from the general fund to the fund for the department's direct and indirect costs of administering the distribution of money from the fund. The act clarifies that the $500 million in the warrants that the state treasurer issues to PERA are included in the general fund reserve. Accordingly, the act prohibits a future general assembly from lowering the general fund reserve to an amount less than $1 billion. If the general assembly does so reduce the reserve, the general assembly shall also make corresponding reductions to the direct distributions made by the state to PERA. The act also requires the governor to adjust general fund expenditures so that they do not result in the general fund reserve being reduced to an amount less than $1 billion. The act establishes a process by which the department distributes a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who dies on or after November 5, 2024, as either the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained while performing official duties as a first responder or because of an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of the first responder's employment or service as a first responder. These payments are paid out of the death benefit fund, which is created in the act. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $5 million from the general fund to the death benefit fund on both July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, and to make annual transfers from the general fund thereafter as necessary to ensure that the fund maintains a balance of $10 million. The act also requires a survivor of an eligible first responder to deduct an amount equal to the amount of any death benefit received from their federal taxable income for the purpose of determining their state income tax liability unless the survivor qualifies for a corresponding federal income tax deduction. The act also requires the department to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies and local governments in complying with the requirements of the act and allows the executive director of the department to adopt rules as necessary to implement the act. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, $5,046,967 is appropriated from the death benefit fund to the department for implementation of the death benefit program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) to establish an automated protection order notification system (notification system) to provide a protected person, a protected person's immediate family, and other interested persons (registered users) with information related to a criminal or civil protection order. The notification system must disseminate specific information to registered users in English and Spanish through a telephone call, email, text message, or mobile phone application. The act authorizes the division to contract with a third-party entity to provide the functionality for the notification system. A public entity is immune from liability in any civil action based on its release of information or failure to release information related to the notification system. The act prohibits the division from establishing or operating the notification system until the division receives sufficient money to establish and operate the notification system for at least one year from gifts, grants, or donations, including federal funds, or money appropriated to the division from the Colorado crime victim services fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, there exists a working group formed by the department of human services and the state court administrator in the judicial department to perform various duties related to the allocation of juvenile detention beds. The act amends these duties. Under current law, 22 emergency detention beds are available statewide. The act expands this to 39 emergency detention beds available statewide. The act requires the department of human services to publish a monthly report concerning the status of all youth who are in detention and are awaiting services that would mitigate the substantial risk of harm to others that are presented by the juvenile or the juvenile's risk of flight from prosecution and the number of emergency beds used by each judicial district or facility. The act requires the division of youth services to: Publish a report by July 1, 2027, concerning available placements for juveniles who are awaiting mitigating services in the state; and Establish a pilot program for certain staff members to wear a body-worn camera while in a facility while interacting with youth. The act requires a court to dismiss a delinquency petition or charges against a juvenile if the court determines that the juvenile is incompetent to proceed and the highest charged act constitutes a class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense, drug misdemeanor, or traffic offense. The act amends and expands considerations for a juvenile's case management plan, if the court determines that a juvenile is incompetent to proceed. The act creates the deflection and community investment grant program in the division of criminal justice to provide grants to eligible applicants to implement a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development deflection programs for youth, including Native American youth. The grant program repeals on January 1, 2031. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act: Appropriates $6,854,420 from the general fund to the department of human services to implement the act; Reappropriates $122,279 of general funds to the department of education to the department of human services for use by the division of youth services to implement the act; Appropriates $437,264 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice to implement the act; and Appropriates $2,708,316 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for the deflection and community investment grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a working group to make findings and recommendations concerning the use of colorimetric field drug tests in the various stages of criminal proceedings and carceral settings. The act specifies the working group's membership and appointing authority, as applicable. The working group is required to: Make findings concerning the prevalence of the administration of colorimetric field drug tests in Colorado and the potential harms that result from such administration; Make findings and recommendations for legislation or policy solutions to eliminate harms from the use of colorimetric field drug tests, administering the tests for presumptive purposes only, and how to prevent future harms resulting from administering such tests; and On or before December 1, 2025, submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. On or before June 13, 2025, the director of the legislative council shall use a request for proposal process to contract with and designate a nonprofit organization to provide staffing and facilitate the performance of the working group's duties, subject to the approval of the chair of the executive committee of the legislative council. The operation of the working group is contingent on awarding a contract and designating a nonprofit organization. If a contract is not awarded, then the working group does not operate. The act prohibits the use of the general fund money to contract with a nonprofit to facilitate the working group. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)