Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer

The act eliminates the requirement that the general assembly annually appropriate money to the department of public health and environment for the comprehensive human sexuality education grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act specifies monthly subsidy payment reimbursement limits for the adoption assistance program and the relative guardianship assistance program that apply to contracts that take effect July 1, 2026, or later, and prohibits reimbursement for services other than nonreoccuring adoption expenses. The act requires the state department of human services to create a standardized notice for families that describes the reimbursement change. The act requires the county departments of human or social services to provide the notice by June 15, 2026, to families currently receiving services.     The act reduces the state fiscal year 2025-26 appropriation to the department of human services for adoption and relative guardianship assistance made in the long bill as follows:From the general fund, by $2,199,750; andFrom cash funds, by $407,295.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act eliminates financial assistance and supports and reimbursement to county departments of human or social services (county departments) for non-certified kinship care homes.     The act specifies that county departments are not required to provide financial assistance and supports for non-certified kinship care homes, except as required by the federal 'Social Security Act' and by Colorado's out-of-home placement required services and temporary custody provisions.     The act requires the department of human services to create a standardized notice for non-certified kinship care providers regarding the discontinuation of non-certified kinship care financial assistance. The act requires county departments to provide the notice by June 15, 2026, to non-certified kinship foster care homes currently receiving monthly payments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a court to sentence a defendant convicted of second degree assault by strangulation in an enhanced range as a crime of violence subject to mandatory incarceration if the defendant has previously been convicted of second degree assault by strangulation. A previous conviction must be set forth in the complaint, indictment, or information for the present act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act directs the division of brand inspection (division) in the department of agriculture and the state board of stock inspection commissioners in the department of agriculture to receive reports of lost or stolen livestock. On or before December 31, 2026, the division shall implement procedures that:Facilitate efficient coordination with law enforcement, including procedures to ensure that reports of stolen livestock are provided to relevant law enforcement within 24 hours after the division receives a report of stolen livestock; andEnsure that the public is notified of lost or stolen livestock.     The procedures implemented by the division may vary by geographic region depending on the needs of the region.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires a local government or a tribal government desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund to have filed with the division of housing of the department of local affairs (division) a commitment specifying how, within a 3-year cycle, affordable housing units within the local or tribal government's territorial boundaries will be increased by 3% each year over the baseline number of affordable housing units (baseline number). The baseline number resets every 3 years for the next cycle. To be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund, a local or tribal government is required to file a commitment with the division and achieve the 3% increase over the baseline number each year during the 3-year cycle.     The act changes the requirements for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and each 3-year cycle thereafter. A local government desiring to receive funding from the statewide affordable housing fund is no longer required to increase affordable housing units by 3% above the baseline each year, but is instead required to meet the target increase number of affordable housing units (target increase number). The target increase number equals the average annual number of permits for new housing units or functional equivalents of permits for new housing units that have been issued over the past 3 years within the jurisdiction of the local government, multiplied by the number of years of the upcoming 3-year cycle to which the local government is committing, multiplied by:0.10 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly lower than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division;0.15 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is close to the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division; or0.20 if the average annual job growth rate in the county in which the local government is located is significantly higher than the statewide median annual job growth rate over the past 3 years, as determined by the division.     The act requires the division to establish specific numerical ranges for the job growth rate thresholds.     The act permits a local government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to achieve the 3% annual increase in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2024, to file a good faith effort waiver with the division. To be eligible, the local government must have achieved at least 65% of the targeted annual increase. The division may, in its discretion, grant a good faith effort waiver to a local government that filed for a waiver on or after June 15, 2026, but before November 1, 2026, and complied with other requirements of the act.     The act permits a government that desires to be eligible for funding from the statewide affordable housing fund but is unable to meet the target increase number in affordable housing units for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, to file an adjustment waiver with the division. The adjustment waiver must be supported by verifiable data and propose a revised annual increase of at least one unit per year. The division may, in its discretion, grant an adjustment waiver to a government that filed for a waiver and complied with other requirements of the act.     To determine whether a local government has achieved the target increase number for the 3-year cycle beginning on January 1, 2027, and for each 3-year cycle thereafter, an affordable housing unit that satisfies the following criteria counts for one affordable housing unit plus the following corresponding additional unit amount:Unless local governments have a written agreement otherwise, a unit developed with money from multiple local governments may be counted by each local government as a percentage of one unit proportional to the percentage of funding it provided;A unit that is developed on land donated by the local government qualifies for an additional 0.10 of a unit. The 0.10 of a unit qualifies for the local government that donated the land.An affordable housing unit that is developed with money provided by multiple local governments qualifies for an additional 0.10 of a unit for each local government that provided money;A unit that is developed to be for-sale housing and that meets certain affordability requirements qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit; andA unit that is restricted to be rented or sold to a household with an annual income of at or below 40% of the area median income, including a supportive housing unit, qualifies for an additional 0.20 of a unit.     If affordable housing is developed and qualifies for a property tax exemption, thereby reducing property tax revenue to the county in which the affordable housing is located, and the county did not provide any money to develop the affordable housing, the division may, in its discretion, allow each such affordable housing unit to count as up to 1.15 affordable housing units for the county at the time of vertical construction.     Beginning in 2027, to be eligible for direct funding, or for affordable housing projects within a tribal government's territorial boundaries to be eligible for funding, tribal governments are required to implement a system to expedite the development approval process for affordable housing projects and required to submit evidence of such satisfaction to the division.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a person seeking certification or recertification from the peace officers standards and training board to undergo training on various missing person alerts active within the state. The department of public safety is required to create a missing person alert training program for persons seeking certification or recertification of their peace officer status.     The act requires an institution of higher education (institution) to either conduct a preliminary wellness assessment for no longer than 6 hours or immediately contact a law enforcement agency if a student is reported missing. If the student is not found within the 6-hour period, or if there is evidence of a credible risk to the student's safety, the institution shall notify the institution's police department or the nearest law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the student's current local address on file with the institution or the student's permanent address on file with the institution if the institution does not have its own police department.     An institution is required to adopt and publish a preliminary wellness assessment policy. The preliminary wellness assessment must consist of at least the following steps: A digital contact attempt, a residential verification, and an academic and social inquiry. An institution that conducts a preliminary wellness assessment is immune from civil liability if the institution acted in good faith. An institution is required to maintain contemporaneous written documentation regarding the steps the institution took to complete the preliminary wellness assessment. The records are subject to certain disclosure requirements.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies statutes relating to state institutions of higher education (institutions) in the following areas: Fiscal impact information for legislative measures, definitions related to electric and plumbing work, data policies and coordination, capital construction review processes, and bond requirements and procedures for the university of Colorado.      Fiscal impact information. For institutions that submit information on the potential fiscal impact of a legislative measure to the staff of the legislative council (LCS) through the department of higher education (department), the act requires the department to grant submitting institutions access to the official responses of the department and other submitting institutions at the time that the fiscal impact information is submitted to LCS.      Definitions. The act modifies definitions in statutes relating to performing electric and plumbing work on the campuses of the university of Colorado and the Colorado state university to remove existing restrictions so that the university of Colorado can perform work on buildings that the university owns or leases.      Data policies and coordination. The act codifies the existing data advisory group facilitated by the department. The data advisory group is made up of representatives from the department and the institutions. The data advisory group must meet quarterly and is charged with advising on the development of policies and procedures for the collection, storage, and use of data from institutions. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to consult with the data advisory group to establish certain data policies. The act also adds one member of the data advisory group, selected by the commission, to the advisory committee to the commission.      Capital construction. The act increases the dollar-amount threshold from $2 million to $5 million for exceptions from the requirements for program and physical planning, exceptions from commission approval and capital development committee (CDC) and joint budget committee (JBC) review of capital construction projects funded from certain sources, and exceptions from commission approval of capital construction projects funded from cash funds. The act also exempts from the review and approval of the commission, the CDC, and the JBC any capital construction or capital renewal project funded solely from cash funds held by an institution that are not derived from student fees, so long as the institution has not participated in the higher education revenue bond intercept program for at least the preceding 5 years.      Bond requirements and procedures. The act modifies certain bond requirements and procedures specific to the university of Colorado to align with current practice.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $48,098 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the commission and higher education special purpose programs. The appropriation is based on an assumption that the commission will require an additional 0.5 FTE and may be used by the commission for administration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds kidney function screening services as mandated preventive health-care services for which insurance policies or contracts in the state must provide total-cost coverage. Coverage for kidney function screening services will be implemented for all large employer health benefit policies or contracts issued or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2027, and coverage will be implemented for all individual and small group health benefit plans issued or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2028, as long as the state is not required to defray the cost of the coverage of the kidney function screening services.     The act permits the exclusion of the 'State Employees Group Benefits Act' from this mandate and exempts certain high deductible plans from having to provide total-cost coverage for such services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires certain entities to file, or allows certain entities to voluntarily file, a clean energy plan to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by the entity's electricity sales in Colorado by 2030, relative to 2005 levels (2030 emission reductions).     The act repeals current law stating that clean energy plans submitted by a cooperative electric association or a municipally owned utility under certain circumstances are deemed approved by the public utilities commission (commission) and requiring the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) to consult with the commission in verifying a clean energy plan submitted by a cooperative electric association or a municipally owned utility. The act also repeals current law stating that voluntary submission of a clean energy plan by a cooperative electric association or a municipally owned utility does not alter the entity's regulatory status with respect to the commission.     A municipally owned utility that has encountered challenges in achieving the 2030 emission reductions may submit to the division, no later than December 31, 2026, an updated clean energy plan that demonstrates achievement of the 2030 emission reductions by the earliest date possible on or after December 31, 2029, but no later than December 31, 2032.     A municipally owned utility that submits an updated clean energy plan to the division must:Provide a detailed generation and transmission plan to the division with the updated clean energy plan;Provide an annual report to the division beginning January 1, 2028, and continuing each year until December 31, 2033, that contains certain information related to the updated clean energy plan;Cease burning coal by December 31, 2032; andSeek to achieve certain additional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions without impairing the municipally owned utility's ability to maintain certain electric reliability standards.     The updated clean energy plan must be verified by the division.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)