The act amends various statutes governing the operations of the department of public health and environment (department) regarding disease control. Specifically, sections 1 through 9 of the act: Repeal the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee (GEEERC); Direct the state board of health to review and amend, as necessary, the department's emergency response and recovery plan every 3 years; and Require the executive director of the department or, if the executive director is not the chief medical officer, the chief medical officer to convene a group of subject matter experts to develop crisis standards of care to be used in responding to a public health emergency. Sections 10 through 18 modify school immunization provisions as follows to: Allow the records of a physician assistant to be used to create an official certificate of immunization for a student; Extend the period within which a student whose certificate of immunization is not up to date to comply with immunization requirements to attend school from 14 days after notice of noncompliance is received to 30 days after receipt of the noncompliance notice; Extend from February 15 to April 15 the deadline for a school to distribute the annual letter to parents specifying the school's aggregate immunization rates and the immunization requirements applicable for the next school year; Direct the state board of health, in adopting rules establishing immunization requirements, to take into consideration, as appropriate and in addition to the recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices, the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American College of Physicians; For purposes of out-of-state campers attending a licensed children's residential camp, allow the camp to maintain an out-of-state immunization record for an out-of-state camper, rather than the state's official certificate of immunization; Remove gendered pronouns and replace them with gender-neutral language; and Repeal the requirement for schools to notify the department and the local public health agency when a student is suspended or expelled from school for noncompliance with immunization requirements. Section 19 extends from July 15 to September 15 the date by which the department is required to submit to the general assembly an annual report summarizing health-care-associated infections data received from health facilities in the state. Section 20 repeals the requirement for certain health-care providers to offer a hepatitis C screening test to individuals born between 1945 and 1965 and instead directs the state board of health to adopt standards, consistent with recommendations from the federal centers for disease control and prevention, for hepatitis C screening tests. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act defines a "specified semiautomatic firearm" as a semiautomatic rifle or semiautomatic shotgun with a detachable magazine or a gas-operated semiautomatic handgun with a detachable magazine. The act excludes certain types of firearms and specified models of firearms from the definition of "specified semiautomatic firearm". The act prohibits knowingly manufacturing, distributing, transferring, selling, or purchasing a specified semiautomatic firearm on or after August 1, 2026; except that a person may transfer a specified semiautomatic firearm to an individual residing in another state or a federally licensed firearm dealer. The act exempts certain manufacture, transfers, sales, and purchases from the prohibition, including specified transactions involving law enforcement agencies and peace officers, the department of corrections, armored vehicle businesses, military forces, gunsmiths, educational programs, and historical societies and museums; transfers that occur by operation of law or because of the death of a person; and conduct involving firearms for use solely as a prop for a film. Additionally, the prohibition does not apply to the transfer or sale of a specified semiautomatic firearm to, and receipt or purchase of a specified semiautomatic firearm by, a person who: Completed a hunter education course certified by the division of parks and wildlife (division) and, within 5 years before making the purchase, completed a basic firearms safety course; Within 5 years before making the purchase, completed an extended firearms safety course; or Completed an extended firearms safety course more than 5 years before making the purchase and completed a basic firearms safety course within 5 years before making the purchase. Unlawful manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a specified semiautomatic firearm is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that a second or subsequent offense is a class 6 felony. The department of revenue shall revoke the state firearms dealer permit of a dealer who unlawfully manufactures, distributes, transfers, sells, or purchases a specified semiautomatic firearm. The Colorado bureau of investigation shall deny the transfer of a firearm to a person who was convicted of misdemeanor unlawful manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a specified semiautomatic firearm within 5 years prior to the transfer. A person convicted of felony unlawful manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a specified semiautomatic firearm is prohibited from possessing a firearm and certain other weapons. The act sets minimum requirements for the instruction included in, and length of, a basic firearms safety course and an extended firearms safety course. The act requires the division to establish the course requirements for a basic or extended firearms safety course. In order to enroll in a basic or extended firearms safety course, a person must hold a valid firearms safety course eligibility card (firearms course card) issued by a sheriff. The act sets the requirements to be issued a firearms course card, which includes completing a name-based background check, paying a processing fee set by the sheriff, and paying the firearms training and safety course record fee established by the division. A sheriff shall issue a firearms course card to an applicant; except that a sheriff shall deny an application if the applicant cannot lawfully possess a firearm under state or federal law or the sheriff cannot positively identify the applicant. A sheriff may deny an application for a firearms course card if the sheriff has a reasonable belief that documented previous behavior by the applicant makes it likely the applicant will present a danger to themself or others if the applicant holds a card. A sheriff shall revoke an issued firearms course card if the cardholder cannot lawfully possess a firearm under state or federal law and may revoke an issued card if the sheriff has a reasonable belief that documented previous behavior by the applicant makes it likely the applicant will present a danger to themself or others. The act sets forth the process for judicial review of the denial or revocation of a firearms course card. The act requires the division to develop and maintain a firearms training and safety course record system (system) that includes records of persons who hold a valid firearms course card and who have completed a hunter education course, a basic firearms safety course, or an extended firearms safety course. The system must allow: A sheriff to electronically enter information about each person who was issued a firearms course eligibility card; The instructor of a basic or extended firearms safety course to request and receive information about whether a person holds a valid firearms course card; The instructor of a hunter education course or a basic or extended firearms safety course to electronically enter into the system information about each student who completes a course; and A federal firearms licensee to electronically request and receive information about whether a person has completed the courses necessary to purchase a specified semiautomatic firearm. The act creates the firearms training and safety course cash fund, which consists of firearms training and safety course record fee remitted to the division by a sheriff and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund. Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the division. The director of the division may report to the state treasurer an amount of money to transfer between the firearms training and safety course cash fund from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund. Within 3 days after receiving a report, the state treasurer shall make the reported transfer. By June 30, 2030, the total amount of the transfers to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund reported by the director of the division must be equal to the total amount transferred from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund, plus fair market interest. On or before December 31 of each year, the division shall submit a report to the house of representatives and senate judiciary committees, or their successor committees, about the expenses incurred by the division to implement the act, and any additional resources the division needs to effectively implement the act. The act requires the division in the department of revenue responsible for issuing state firearms dealer permits to publish and make publicly available guidance about specific models of specified semiautomatic firearms to which the act applies. The act makes the unlawful sale, transfer, or possession of a large-capacity magazine a class 1 misdemeanor. Existing law prohibits possession of a dangerous weapon. The act defines "rapid-fire device" and classifies rapid-fire devices as dangerous weapons under Colorado law. The act repeals the definition of "machine gun conversion device" and removes machine gun conversion devices from the list of dangerous weapons. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $100,000 to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology from funds received from the department of natural resources from the firearms training and safety course cash fund. The general assembly appropriated money to the department of revenue to implement House Bill 24-1353, concerning requirements to engage in the business of dealing in firearms. The act further appropriates unspent money from that appropriation to the department of revenue for expenditure until the close of the 2025-26 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On and after April 10, 2025, the act prohibits the state and local licensing authorities (licensing authorities) from issuing a new liquor-licensed drugstore license (license). Licensing authorities may continue to renew existing licenses. On and after April 10, 2025, a person holding a license (licensee) is prohibited from changing the location of, merging, selling, converting, or transferring a license; except that a licensee that holds a license that was issued to an independent pharmacy before January 1, 2025, may change the location of or sell or transfer the license to another licensee that is an independent pharmacy that holds a license or to a person that does not already have a license. The act defines an independent pharmacy as a prescription drug outlet privately owned by at least one licensed pharmacist with no ownership interest by or affiliation with a chain or publicly owned pharmacy. The act prohibits an owner, part owner, shareholder, or person interested directly or indirectly in a liquor-licensed drugstore from having an interest in more than 8 licenses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The prosecution fellowship program in the department of higher education provides money to the Colorado district attorneys' council (CDAC) to fund fellowships for persons who have recently graduated from a law school in Colorado to allow them to pursue careers as prosecutors in rural Colorado. The program, through a prosecution fellowship committee, places up to 6 fellows in rural district attorneys' offices throughout the state each year. The act changes the prosecutor fellowship program to provide fellowship funding to rural district attorneys' offices to recruit and hire new deputy district attorneys rather than selecting and placing fellows in rural district attorneys' offices. The selected offices then use the money to recruit and hire new district attorneys. The act requires the prosecution fellowship committee to determine which rural district attorneys' offices receive funding. On or before January 1, 2028, CDAC shall provide a report to the judiciary committees regarding the prosecutor fellowship program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado statute states that a marriage is valid only if it is between one man and one woman. That provision has been unenforceable since the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges , 576 U.S. 644 (2015), in which the Court ruled that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry. The act repeals the provision.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summarySJR 25-008 designates March 3, 2025, as "Buy Colorado Day" (also called "303 Day") and March 3-10, 2025, as "Buy Colorado Week" to encourage Coloradans to support local businesses. The resolution urges residents to spend money at homegrown Colorado brands and enterprises, highlighting the state's diverse business community including restaurants, breweries, agricultural producers, and retailers. This symbolic measure has no legal force and serves as a recognition of Colorado's economic contributions, not a new policy or requirement. It directly affects all Coloradans by promoting a voluntary shift in consumer behavior toward local spending.
Maddy summarySJR 25-018 recognizes April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and designates April 30, 2025, as Colorado Denim Day. The resolution symbolically supports the annual Denim Day observance, which began in Colorado in 2013, to raise awareness about sexual violence and honor the work of organizations like the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA). It highlights ongoing challenges such as evidence kit backlogs and the need for survivor support services, without creating new laws or funding. This is a ceremonial resolution, not a policy change, aligning Colorado with the global Denim Day movement that uses wearing jeans to protest attitudes condoning sexual assault.
Maddy summaryThis symbolic resolution designates March 21 as "Single Parent Day in Colorado" to recognize single parents' efforts in raising children. It directly honors single parents across the state, referencing U.S. Census data showing over 10 million single-parent households nationwide. The resolution continues Colorado's recognition of the day, aligning with President Reagan's 1984 national declaration. It has no policy or funding provisions - it is purely a commemorative gesture without legal or financial impact.
Maddy summarySenate Resolution 25-008 designates March 31 of each year as "Transgender Day of Visibility" in Colorado. The resolution commits the Colorado Senate to defending transgender rights in health care, education, employment, housing, and civic participation while acknowledging Colorado's historical role in providing gender-affirming care. It also expresses solidarity with transgender people and other marginalized groups facing rights challenges. This symbolic resolution does not create new laws or funding but serves as a formal public affirmation of support for transgender Coloradans.
Backflow is the reverse flow of water, fluid, or gas caused by back pressure or back siphonage. Under current law, individuals who are engaged in the business of installing, removing, inspecting, testing, or repairing backflow prevention devices are subject to the licensure requirements for plumbers, except when the individuals are installing or testing a stand-alone fire suppression sprinkler system. The act exempts individuals engaged in the business of inspecting, testing, or repairing backflow prevention devices from licensure requirements but retains the licensure requirements for individuals engaged in the installation or removal of the devices; except that individuals who install or replace a backflow prevention device on a stand-alone fire suppression system remain exempted from the licensure requirements. The act requires that, on and after July 1, 2025, a licensed plumber who installs, tests, inspects, repairs, or reinstalls a backflow prevention device and a certified cross-connection control technician or a licensed plumber with a cross-connection control technician certification who tests or repairs a backflow prevention device must affix a tag on the backflow prevention device that contains certain information about the licensed plumber, the certified cross-connection control technician, or the licensed plumber with a cross-connection control technician certification, as applicable, and the service that was provided. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)