The act creates the 'Colorado Artist Company Act', which authorizes a person in the state to create a limited liability company with a stated artistic mission (artist company), which artist company is subject to state law applicable to limited liability companies except where specified in the act. An artist company must state its artistic mission in its articles of organization or operating agreement and be formed and owned by one or more individuals that create works of authorship or artistic expression comprising written, oral, visual, graphic, literary, musical, audiovisual, digital, or performing art in any medium (artists). Artists must own not less than 51% of all voting securities of the artist company at all times (required ownership percentage). A limited liability company that meets the required ownership percentage may elect to become an artist company by amending its articles of organization or its operating agreement to state its artistic mission and by complying with certain other requirements. A person may form an artist company by filing with the Colorado secretary of state articles of organization. The articles of organization may specify certain ownership, governance, artistic work distribution, tax treatment, and dissolution structures. An artist company may accept capital in any form and its members and managers have certain duties specified in the artist company's articles of organization or operating agreement along with the duties imposed by state law applicable to limited liability companies. Members of an artist company may assign or exclusively license intellectual property to an artist company as an in-kind capital contribution. An artist company's articles of organization or operating agreement may require artist-members to assign or exclusively license to the artist company artistic work created during membership that relates to the artistic mission of the artist company. An artist company's articles of organization or operating agreement may provide for certain procedures and terms regarding the admission and departure of members. An artist company may elect at formation, or at the time of election to become an artist company, to be a public benefit artist company (public benefit artist company) by stating in its articles of organization or operating agreement, if any, that it is a public benefit artist company and setting forth in its articles of organization or operating agreement, if any, one or more specific public benefits to be promoted by the artist company. The members and managers of a public benefit artist company are subject to certain additional duties. A public benefit artist company must provide its members and donors with an annual statement specifying certain information as to the public benefits and artistic mission of the public benefit artist company. Upon the dissolution of an artist company or public benefit artist company, artistic work assigned or licensed by artist-members to the artist company or created by artist-members of the artist company reverts to the artist-member, except as specified in the articles of organization or operating agreement and subject to certain security interests, licenses, and obligations. After giving effect to artistic work reversionary rights, the assets of the artist company must be distributed in accordance with the articles of organization or operating agreement or, if not specified in the articles of organization or operating agreement, pro rata to members based on ownership percentages. $93,878 is appropriated from the department of state cash fund to the department of state. To implement this act, the department of state may use the appropriation as follows:$5,478 for use by the business and licensing division for personal services; and$88,400 for use by the information technology division for personal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act clarifies that a state permit to engage in the business of dealing in firearms (state permit) is required for a firearms dealer (dealer) to transfer firearms. Under existing law, in order to be issued a state permit, a dealer must not have had a firearms dealer license or permit or a firearm possession permit revoked, suspended, or denied for good cause within 3 years before submitting a state permit application (prior license requirement) and must not have violated any state or federal law concerning the possession, purchase, or sale of firearms in the 3 years before applying for the state permit (prior violation requirement). The act clarifies that the prior license and prior violation requirements apply to an individual possessing, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the dealer, known as a 'responsible person' of the dealer. The act makes the dealer training requirements apply to responsible persons who, in the course of their duties, handle firearms; process the sale, loan, or transfer of firearms; or otherwise have access to firearms. The act makes provisions related to a dealer's employees who handle firearms; process the sale, loan, or transfer of firearms; or otherwise have access to firearms also apply to any individual, including an independent contractor, who performs an employee's duties, whether paid or unpaid. The act permits the department of revenue (department) to fine a dealer up to $75,000 for a second or subsequent violation of certain dealer requirements committed on or after January 1, 2027. The department shall adopt rules concerning the imposition of fines. Under existing state law, dealers are subject to record-keeping requirements involving pistols and revolvers sold, rented, or exchanged at retail. The act makes the record-keeping requirements apply to all retail transactions, including a transfer, involving a firearm other than a destructive device, clarifies that dealers may keep the records electronically, and prohibits the department and any other state agency from using information obtained from dealer records to create or maintain a registry identifying firearm ownership. The act requires a dealer to secure large-capacity magazines in the dealer's possession. The department shall adopt rules requiring security measures for dealers' places of business, and a dealer shall submit a comprehensive security plan to the department that demonstrates the security measures that the dealer will implement to comply with the rules. Beginning October 1, 2027, a dealer must implement the security measures. The act requires a dealer to report the theft or loss of a firearm to the department within 48 hours after learning of the theft or loss.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the communication services for people with disabilities enterprise board (board), in consultation with the division for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind (division), to enter into a contract with a third-party researcher on or before July 1, 2027, to study sign language interpretation services for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind community in the state. If the board enters into a contract with a third-party researcher, the act establishes certain interview, data-collection, and comparative research requirements for the study and requires the third-party researcher to report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the board and the division on or before July 1, 2028.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act increases participation, representation, and support for individuals 55 years old or older in the Colorado workforce and in organizations related to employment and the workforce by:Beginning in 2027, requiring the state work force development council (council), the Colorado commission on the aging, and other entities to meet twice a year, collect data, and work collaboratively on issues related to individuals in the workforce who are 55 years old or older;Beginning in 2028, and each year thereafter, requiring the department of labor and employment and the department of human services to jointly submit a report compiling the data collected by the council, the Colorado commission on the aging, and other entities to the general assembly and requiring the department of labor and employment, during the department's annual 'SMART Act' hearings, to summarize the report to certain legislative committees; andRequiring that the council, the commission on higher education, and the advisory committee to the commission on higher education, or their successor entities, each have at least one member serving on their governing entity that is at least 55 years old and either is actively involved in or has interest, knowledge, or experience in advocating for the interests of individuals who are 55 years old or older as related to the functions of each entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) from 11 to 13 members by adding 2 nonvoting student members who are enrolled at a state-supported institution of higher education (student members). Specifically, the act adds:One student member from a graduate research university or a 4-year institution of higher education; andOne student member from a community college, local district college, or area technical college. The governor shall make initial appointments of student members on or before July 1, 2027. Student members serve on the commission for a term of 2 years. The act shrinks the advisory committee to the commission from 13 to 12 members by removing the advisory committee member designated to represent the students of the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows an injured person to bring a cause of action for claims of injury caused by sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts (efforts) against a licensed mental health professional and allows the cause of action to be commenced at any time without limitation. Specifically, the act applies to a civil cause of action brought against a licensed mental health professional who seeks to direct a patient toward a predetermined sexual orientation or gender identity outcome or eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of a particular sex or gender. The act permits the injured individual, or the individual's personal representative or estate if the individual is deceased, to recover economic, noneconomic, and exemplary damages, and any other damages deemed appropriate by the court. A cause of action may be brought as a survival action within 5 years after the death of the person who underwent efforts.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the 'Uniform Election Code of 1992' (code) as follows:Regarding elections generally, includes in the definition of 'identification' for purposes of the code a division of youth services identification card or written correspondence from a county sheriff to the county clerk indicating that an elector is confined in a county jail or detention facility; repeals the definition of 'political party district'; modifies the definition of 'video security surveillance recording' to include a system in which continuous recording is triggered when motion is detected; modifies the definition of 'watcher' to prohibit a person from being selected as a watcher if the person has been convicted of certain election offenses or of committing or conspiracy to commit certain federal offenses; if the governor declares a disaster emergency due to the inability to strictly comply with the code, allows the secretary of state (secretary) to adopt rules for the proper administration of an election and requires the governor to establish an election emergency advisory group to advise the secretary and the governor regarding emergency orders or rules necessary to ensure the proper administration of an election; allows the secretary to provide access to, rather than transmit a complete copy of, all pertinent, updated elections laws to each county clerk and recorder (clerk); and requires each clerk to set operational hours for the clerk's office;Regarding the qualification and registration of electors; specifies information that all institutions of higher education, rather than just state institutions of higher education, must provide to students via email or signs concerning voting, voter eligibility, and registration, and requires the secretary to adopt rules further specifying the form and content of the emails and signs; requires the clerk to make printed affidavit forms available to correct an error in the elector's affiliation recorded in the statewide database; requires the secretary to ensure preregistrants who are 17 years and 6 months old can access their voter registration information and update that information using the state's online voter registration system; requires the statewide voter registration system to support the integration and use of geographic information system data to improve the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of voter registration records; modifies the language concerning preregistration of high school students; specifies that the principal of a public high school or their designee who assists in preregistration and registration to vote are high school liaisons, rather than deputy registrars, and eliminates certain filing requirements for registration or preregistration to vote; modifies how a clerk verifies identifiers provided by an elector who registers to vote in another county or another state; prohibits a clerk from canceling the registration record of an elector with multiple registrations unless there is a match in the county's registration records and the statewide voter registration database with respect to certain identifiers of the elector; and makes the secretary, rather than the clerk, responsible for canceling certain registrations pursuant to existing law, while still allowing the secretary to request assistance from the clerks;Regarding presidential electors, specifies that if a presidential or vice-presidential candidate dies or withdraws as a candidate after accepting the nomination of a political party but prior to the meeting of presidential electors, an elector's vote for the presidential candidate or vice-presidential candidate refers to the successor candidate nominated by the political party and clarifies that such vote is not a vote for a false slate of presidential electors;Regarding congressional vacancy elections, modifies notice, preparation, and conduct of elections; requires elections to be concurrent with a primary or coordinated election if the vacancy occurs between 150 and 90 days of such election; requires elections to be conducted according to provisions for general elections; modifies candidate nomination deadlines; clarifies the manner of nomination for an unaffiliated candidate; and specifies the arrangement of names on the ballot;Regarding access to the ballot by candidates, specifies the offices for which a candidate must fully meet the qualifications of the office and expands factors the secretary may consider in determining the qualifications to hold office to include other objective, verifiable requirements such as age, birth place, term limits, and political affiliation; repeals the ability for certificates of designation by assembly to be transmitted to the secretary by fax; specifies deadlines by which major and minor political parties must fill vacancies in their party nominations and by which vacancies in unaffiliated designations or nominations must be filled prior to a primary election and a general election, and clarifies that failure to fill a vacancy in nomination by such deadline results in that vacancy nomination remaining unfilled for that election; eliminates requirement for electors to include their county when signing a petition to nominate a candidate; allows a congressional vacancy election to be presented on the same ballot used in a presidential primary election if the elections are held on the same day; modifies the timeline for nomination of minor political party candidates; and maintains the requirement that a person file a written acceptance of nomination but eliminates the specification that the acceptance be provided by mail, fax, or hand delivery;Regarding notice and preparation of elections, clarifies that a voter service and polling center (VSPC) that experiences a shortage of supplies, including ballots, shall not close and may be required to remain open longer on election day; requires that each drop box must accept mail ballots for the 22-day period, rather than the 15-day period, prior to the day of an election; reduces the required period that a VSPC on a campus with 10,000 or more students must be open from 15 days to 10 days before an election; specifies that, in addition to existing designation by sign requirements, a VSPC on the campus of an institution of higher education must be identified and described in signs conspicuously posted at the student center and in an email sent to all enrolled students; repeals the requirement that the secretary deliver the certification of the ballot order and content to the clerk by registered mail; repeals a provision for the arrangement of names on ballots to be established by lot; adds an additional trigger for the secretary to notify clerks of the requirement to provide minority language sample ballots and in-person minority language ballots based on the release of data collected pursuant to section 203 of the federal 'Voting Rights Act of 1965' by the federal government; repeals a provision regarding the adoption and payment for voting machines; and requires the clerk of any county with 1,000 or more active electors to adopt an electronic or electromechanical voting system for use in all elections conducted by the county under the code and requires the clerk to oversee the management of such voting systems subject to the rules of the secretary; Regarding election judges, changes the age eligibility requirements for a student election judge from 16 to 15 and expands the methods for notice and acceptance of an election judge appointment;Regarding the conduct of elections, repeals the requirement that an election judge proclaim the polls are open or will be closed in 30 minutes on election day; modifies the 2-hour period that eligible electors are entitled to be absent from work to vote from only on election day to any day when VSPCs are open and specifies that an employer may deny this leave if the elector has 3 or more consecutive hours off the job while the polls are open; allows an elector to take printed or written materials of their choice into a VSPC as a resource for voting; creates new reporting requirements for counties with one or more VSPCs experiencing a wait time in excess of one hour, which wait time must be measured and recorded in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary and creates a requirement for a reporting county to include certain additional information in its next proposed election plan; repeals and reenacts, with changes, the required method of counting paper ballots by hand, requiring a team of 4 judges, audible reading of each ballot, and 2 separate accountings to be kept and compared and regular intervals, in accordance with any rules adopted by the secretary; recognizes that, in addition to a software or hardware malfunction, other significant issues may make counting ballots with electronic vote-tabulating equipment impracticable; and prohibits a designated election official from transferring custody or control of election records to a third party unless the transfer is authorized or required by the secretary of a court of competent jurisdiction;Regarding mail ballot elections, modifies the timeline for submission and approval of proposed election plans; allows the secretary to request modification of an election plan; requires the secretary to release no later than August 1 for each clerk's submitted election plan, specified information for each VSPC and each ballot drop-off location in the county for that election; modifies mail ballot delivery times; changes the enrolled-student threshold at an institution of higher education from 2,000 to 1,000 for purposes of requiring a drop box on campus and requires a drop box on the campus of private institutions of higher education in addition to state institutions; requires a clerk who fails to send a signature verification form within the 2-day deadline to send the signature verification by overnight mail or hand delivery; and requires a minimum number of hours for in-person voting at a county jail or detention center based on the number of beds available;Regarding challenges to registration, repeals and reenacts, with amendments, the process for a registered elector to protest the registration of another person, requires a $50 fee for each protest that is refunded if the protest is successful, and specifies the reasons that a protest may challenge a person's registration as incorrect;Regarding vacancies in office, in the case of a vacancy in the office of United States senator, requires the governor to appoint a person who is a member of the same political party as the former United States senator to fill a vacancy in that office; clarifies that a person appointed to fill a vacancy in a county office other than county commissioner serves only until the next general election, at which time the remainder of the vacant term, if any, is filled by election; and specifies that a county commissioner or general assembly vacancy may be filled at the next coordinated or general election; andRegarding election offenses, clarifies the offense of voter interference occurs when a person interferes with a voter within 100 feet of any building in which a polling or drop-off location is located or within 100 feet of a drop box; specifies that the offense of voter intimidation applies to any elector who is delivering up to 10 mail ballots to a drop box or drop-off-location; clarifies that the exemption for peace officers from the law prohibiting a person from carrying a firearm at a polling location does not apply if the firearm is used to intimidate electors; clarifies that offenses involving a false slate of presidential electors extends to lists of electors voting and votes for candidates for president and vice president of the United States, or their successors; and modifies enforcement and relief provisions in the case of a suit for election-related intimidation. In addition, the act:Modifies the law regarding initiatives and referendums to eliminate the requirement for an elector to include their county of residence as part of their signature on an initiative or referendum petition; extends the secretary's period for examination and validation of signatures on a petition from 30 to 60 days; and extends the secretary's period to issue a statement as to whether a petition has sufficient valid signatures from 30 to 60 days after the petition was filed; Modifies the definition of 'disaster' for the purpose of the 'Colorado Disaster Emergency Act' to include the occurrence or imminent threat of the inability to strictly comply with the code due to any natural cause or cause of human origin;Amends the 'Colorado Open Records Act' to specify that a designated election official is not required to cover or redact from a ballot any markings or messages voluntarily made by an elector; andSpecifies that oaths or affirmations for public office filed with the clerk are exempt from certain fees imposed by law. The act takes effect upon passage, except that the provisions regarding the time frame for mailing a mail ballot packet take effect July 1, 2026. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $10,000 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for the implementation of the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows off-campus courses to be included in concurrent enrollment programs when the off-campus courses meet the requirements for concurrent enrollment programs and the requirements of an accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education. The act provides that additional concurrent enrollment courses shall not be approved after July 1, 2028 unless the general assembly indicates in a footnote in the general appropriations act that the department of education (department) has sufficient funding for course and audit oversight requirements to allow approval of additional concurrent enrollment courses. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $66,056 from the general fund to the department and reduces the general fund appropriation for the college opportunity fund program by $80,178 with a corresponding decrease in reappropriated funds for the regents of the university of Colorado.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act clarifies that an educational institution denies a person the full and equal enjoyment of a place of public accommodation when the educational institution:On the basis of a protected class, excludes a student from participation in, denies a student the benefits of, or otherwise subjects a student to discrimination in any of the educational institution's programs or activities;Denies educational services, benefits, or opportunities to a student or group of students by treating them differently from a similarly situated student who is, or group of students who are, part of a different subgroup of students within the same protected class; orHas actual notice that a hostile environment based on a protected class exists at the educational institution but fails to take prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to eliminate the hostile environment, end the harassment that gave rise to the hostile environment, and prevent the harassment from recurring. The act adds pregnancy and parental status as characteristics that may constitute a protected class for the purpose of 'harassment or discrimination' at an elementary or secondary public school. The act requires each public institution of higher education (institution) to designate an individual to serve as the Title VI coordinator for the institution. The Title VI coordinator is responsible for ensuring the institution's compliance with the requirements of Title VI of the federal 'Civil Rights Act of 1964', enforcing the institution's Title VI grievance procedures, identifying institutional issues related to Title VI compliance, and aggregating and making publicly available data about alleged violations of Title VI at the institution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a member of the public employees' retirement association (PERA) earns service credit for each year worked during which the member makes contributions to PERA. A member may purchase additional years of service credit for any previous period of public or private employment during which the member was not making contributions to PERA, subject to certain conditions. The act allows a member of PERA to also purchase service credit for previous periods of unemployment during which the member was 21 years old or older, subject to certain conditions. The act requires PERA's voluntary investment program to include options for an employee to make tax-deferred voluntary contributions and Roth voluntary contributions. The act requires PERA employers to affiliate with PERA's deferred compensation plan and requires PERA employers to offer the deferred compensation plan to employees. The deferred compensation plan must include options for an employee to make pre-tax voluntary contributions and Roth voluntary contributions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)