Sen. Lisa Cutter

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.)

The definitions of "community mental health center" and "community mental health clinic" were repealed in House Bill 22-1278; however, references to the repealed definitions are still in statute. The act changes the obsolete references. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

With regard to the family and medical leave insurance program (program), the act extends the duration of paid family and medical leave, up to an additional 12 weeks, for a parent who has a child receiving inpatient care in a neonatal intensive care unit. The act also changes the premiums financing the program benefits by extending the current premium amount, 0.9% of wages per employee, through 2025 and setting the premium amount for the 2026 calendar year at 0.88% of wages per employee. For each subsequent calendar year, the director of the division of family and medical leave insurance (director) is required set the premium on or before September 1 of the preceding year, in a manner such that: At the end of the year, the balance of the family and medical leave insurance fund (fund) is not less than 6 months' worth of projected expenditures from the fund required for performance of the functions and duties of the director; The volatility of the premium rate is minimized; and The premium amount does not exceed 1.2% of wages per employee.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law gives a trial court judge 91 days from the day a conviction enters in a criminal case to order restitution, which is the monetary loss a victim suffers due to a defendant's criminal conduct, in a criminal case. The act grants the prosecuting attorney 63 days to submit restitution information to the trial court judge following a conviction if the information is not available on the day a conviction enters, and then grants the trial court judge an additional 63 days following the submission of restitution information to order restitution after it receives the information from the prosecuting attorney. The act applies to defendants sentenced on or after the act's effective date. (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.)

The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) in its sunset review and report concerning the regulation of outfitters and guides by the division of professions and occupations (division) within DORA. Specifically, the act: Continues the regulation of outfitters and guides for 9 years, until 2034; Allows the director of the division to take disciplinary action against an owner of an outfitter entity regardless of the owner's ownership share percentage; Credits one-half of the money that is collected as fines to the general fund rather than to the division; Exempts motor carriers and third-party booking agencies from regulation under the outfitters act; Adds provisions prohibiting an individual from working as a guide or receiving or renewing a registration as an outfitter if the individual has a license or registration suspended or revoked by the division of parks and wildlife or by an agency of any member state of the "Wildlife Violator Compact" for a violation of a law concerning wildlife; and Repeals certain language concerning the punishment for a person that engages or offers or attempts to engage in activities as an outfitter without an active registration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes a sales and use tax exemption for contractors and subcontractors that purchase, store, use, or consume construction and building materials for use in the building, erection, alteration, or repair of structures owned and used by a regional transportation authority (authority) to house authority employees or contractors. The act authorizes an authority or an authority's board to build, erect, alter, or repair such structures for the purpose of housing employees or contractors of an authority. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds statutory protections for in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive health-care procedures. Current law requires gamete banks and fertility clinics (donor banks) to maintain donor identifying information and update it every 3 years. The act requires donor banks to encourage donors to inform the donor banks of significant updates to the donor's medical history after the donor made a donation. The donor bank is then required to document that significant medical history update. Current law prohibits donor banks from interfering with an adult donor-conceived person communicating about the gamete donor with the donor-conceived person's friends, family, or other third parties. The act encourages donor banks to provide information to donor-conceived persons regarding the physical and emotional risks associated with releasing a donor's private information to outside parties. The act repeals certain provisions relating to gamete donor record stewardship in the event of donor bank dissolution, bankruptcy, or insolvency and eliminates the requirement that donor banks inform a recipient parent about future implications about a gamete donor's medical history or other persons conceived using the same gamete donor. Current law requires the department of public health and environment (department) to draft written materials that must be provided to individuals prior to donating or receiving gametes. The act maintains that requirement, but does not require donor banks to use the department's written material. Donor banks are permitted to develop their own written materials to meet the statutory requirement of providing certain information to an individual prior to donating or receiving gametes. The act eliminates the department's ability to perform on-site inspections or perform in-person investigations on donor banks located outside the state. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act removes the term "homosexuality" from the definition of sexual conduct in the sexually explicit materials harmful to children part of the "Colorado Criminal Code". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the strategic outdoor recreation management and infrastructure cash fund (infrastructure cash fund), requires a specified percentage of lottery fund money to be distributed to the infrastructure cash fund in state fiscal years when available lottery fund money exceeds $20 million, and continuously appropriates the money in the cash fund to the division of parks and wildlife for specified outdoor recreation and management purposes. The act also creates the outdoor recreation economic development cash fund (development cash fund); requires a specified amount and, in state fiscal years when available lottery fund money exceeds $20 million, an additional specified percentage, of lottery fund money to be distributed to the development cash fund; subject to annual appropriation, allows the outdoor recreation industry office to spend money from the development fund; and requires the following transfers to be made to the development cash fund on June 30, 2025: $176,830 from the damage prevention fund; $83,839 from the dispute resolution fund; $6,784 from the youthful offender system surcharge fund; $118,741 from the professional development center cash fund; $21,278 from the immunization fund; $83,354 from the family support services fund; $5,348 from the department of military and veterans affairs fund; $9,648 from the publications fund; $85,901 from the tax lien certification fund; $4,413 from the wholesale and distributing subcontractor license fund; $5,963 from the moving outreach fund; and $121,389 from the disabled parking education and enforcement fund. Law in effect before the passage of the act distributed, to the extent available, the first $3 million of the lottery fund to the outdoor equity fund, the next $3 million to the public school capital construction assistance fund, and any remaining money as follows: 25% to the wildlife cash fund; 25% to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund; and 50% to the public school capital construction assistance fund. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter, the act redistributes, to the extent available, the first $4 million of the lottery fund to the outdoor equity fund, the next $3 million to the public school capital construction assistance fund, the next $750,000 to the development cash fund, and any remaining money as follows: If the total amount of lottery fund money available is $20 million or less: 50% to the public school capital construction assistance fund; 20% to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund; 20% to the wildlife cash fund; and 10% to the outdoor equity fund; or If the total amount of lottery fund money available is more than $20 million: 50% to the public school capital construction assistance fund; 15% to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund; 15% to the wildlife cash fund; 10% to the outdoor equity fund; 5% to the development cash fund; and 5% to the infrastructure cash fund. For state fiscal year 2025-26, the act appropriates $723,488 from the development cash fund to the office of economic development for use by the outdoor recreation industry office. If not fully expended in state fiscal year 2025-26, the appropriation remains available for expenditure for state fiscal years 2026-27 and 2027-28. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)