Sen. William Lindstedt

The act creates the regional planning roundtable commission (commission) within the department of local affairs (department). The commission is a 21-member appointed board with members who serve 3-year terms; except that specified members serve initial terms of 2 years. After an initial meeting to elect a chair and establish its procedures and operation framework, the commission will only meet when a local government requests assistance in addressing a regional opportunity or challenge. In so meeting, the commission shall: Define a region for purposes of establishing a regional roundtable to assist in addressing the regional opportunity or challenge; Considering local expertise, suggest who should serve on the regional roundtable established in connection with addressing the regional opportunity or challenge; and Identify state resources available to assist in addressing the regional opportunity or challenge. The commission may also assist in establishing an integrated planning framework that considers, at a minimum, specified topics. The commission must annually report to specified committees of the general assembly regarding any assistance that it has provided to local governments. The act allows the department to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations to cover the costs of implementing the act. Only after the department has received sufficient gifts, grants, or donations to implement the act is the commission created and able to meet. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The office of legislative workplace relations (OLWR) was established in 2019 as an entity within the office of legislative legal services to provide services to the general assembly, its members and employees, and the legislative services agencies. Specifically, the OLWR is directed to provide services related to employee relations, training, compliance, workplace culture, and workplace harassment, including investigations of complaints under the general assembly's policies on workplace expectations and workplace harassment. The act rebrands the OLWR as the legislative human resources division and directs the division to provide human resource services to the legislative branch, which includes the existing services required by law and additional services, such as benefits administration, compensation and classification, hiring and recruitment, and new employee onboarding, within available resources. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a civil cause of action for a peace officer if the peace officer reports or discloses conduct that is in violation of, or the peace officer reasonably believes is in violation of, any law or policy and the report or disclosure is a contributing factor in the employer of the peace officer's decision to take adverse employment action against the peace officer. A peace officer may seek the following damages: Reinstatement; Back pay with interest; Any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate; Compensatory damages for other pecuniary losses, emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses; and Reasonable attorney fees and costs. The act creates an affirmative defense to the action if the peace officer's employer would have taken the action that forms the basis of the suit against the peace officer based on a legitimate nonretaliatory basis. The action is not subject to the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act". The statute of limitations to bring the action is 2 years. The act does not apply to an employee who provides false information or who does not follow internal reporting and administrative procedures related to whistleblower conduct. All law enforcement agencies shall provide a training to employees or a workplace posting, or both, regarding the requirements of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes the owner of a trailer to register the trailer for as long as the owner owns the trailer. The trailer must be class B or class D personal property. To register the trailer, the owner must pay: 2 years of annual specific ownership tax; and $55.82 to cover fees. Upon the transfer of ownership of the trailer, the owner is required to notify the department of revenue of the transfer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act exempts the following from the "Consumer Repair Bill of Rights Act": Devices, components, or systems designed to perform or facilitate quantum information processing; and Quantum sensing devices that exploit quantum phenomena in certain instances.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a school district, a charter school, an institute charter school, a board of cooperative services, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education provider) to satisfy certain requirements concerning installation, inspection, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in schools if the local education provider undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money from the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" cash fund. The requirements established in the act concern: Ventilation verification assessments, which include assessments of an HVAC system's filtration, ventilation exhaust, economizers, demand control ventilation, air distribution and building pressurization, general maintenance requirements, and operational controls ; The preparation of HVAC assessment reports; The review of HVAC assessment reports by mechanical engineers, who make recommendations regarding necessary repairs and improvements, suggest pathways to reduce emissions, and estimate associated costs; HVAC adjustments, repairs, upgrades, and replacements; and The preparation of HVAC verification reports, which must be maintained for at least 5 years and made available to the public upon request. The act establishes mandatory criteria that an HVAC contractor must satisfy in order to perform work described in the act. A local education provider that undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money from the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" cash fund must do so using only contractors on the certified contractor list established by the department of labor and employment, unless the local education provider determines that there were no responsive, eligible subcontractors available to fulfill the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing portions of the contract. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the executive director of the department of revenue to allow a sales and use tax license and a sales and use tax exemption certificate to be searchable by the name and identification number of the sales and use tax licensee or the sales and use tax exemption certificate holder. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Starting January 1, 2027, the act prohibits an electrical employer or plumbing employer that employs an apprentice in the state (employer) from registering an apprentice with the employer's respective governing board (board) unless the apprentice is enrolled in an apprenticeship program training the apprentice for an occupation officially recognized by the United States department of labor as an electrical occupation for an electrical apprenticeship or a plumbing occupation for a plumbing apprenticeship. On or before July 1, 2027, if existing resources are available or if the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) receives sufficient gifts, grants, or donations, the act requires the state apprenticeship agency and DORA to establish data-sharing agreements and policies to enable the entities to determine if there are apprentices registered with a board who are enrolled to be trained for occupations other than electrical or plumbing occupations and who are therefore ineligible for registration with the board. If the board cannot verify that an apprentice is eligible to be registered as an apprentice within 60 days after notice of noncompliance, the board shall remove the apprentice's registration with the board, and the noncompliant apprentice shall not perform work as a plumbing or electrical apprentice in the state. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends a definition and adds new definitions under the electricians' practice act. Existing law requires an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license or a residential wireman's license to provide evidence of having certain minimum years of apprenticeship experience, accredited training, or practical experience. For the purpose of these requirements, the act allows an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license to have a minimum of 8,000 hours over a period of at least 4 years of certain apprenticeship or practical experience and an applicant for a residential wireman's license to have a minimum of 4,000 hours over a period of at least 2 years of certain practical experience. The act also changes the time frame for which an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license must complete at least 288 hours of training in safety, the national electrical code and its applications, and any other training required by the state electrical board (board) from the last 4 years to the last 8 years of the applicant's training, apprenticeship, or practical experience. Existing law allows an applicant for a journeyman electrician's license or a residential wireman's license to substitute for required practical experience evidence of academic training or practical experience in the electrical field. The act allows an applicant to also substitute evidence of training in photovoltaic systems installation. However, the act also states that the board may, but is no longer required to, provide work experience credit for academic training, military training, photovoltaic systems installation training, or substantially similar training. A contractor that is operating as of September 1, 2025, and that performs work as a photovoltaic installer pursuant with at least one North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certified employee is required to register as a photovoltaic installer with the board on or before December 31, 2026. Existing law requires that, for all applicants seeking work experience credit toward licensure, the board give credit for electrical work that is not required to be performed by or under the supervision of a licensed electrician if the applicant can show that the experience or supervision is adequate. The act allows the board to give the credit, but it is not required to do so. Existing law allows for photovoltaic installations with a direct current design capacity of less than 300 kilowatts, the performance of all photovoltaic electrical work, the installation of photovoltaic modules, and the installation of photovoltaic module mounting equipment to be subject to on-site supervision by a certified photovoltaic energy practitioner designated by the NABCEP. The act requires that the photovoltaic energy practitioner is also working for a contractor that is not a registered electrical contractor; is registered with the department of regulatory agencies as a photovoltaic installer no later than December 31, 2026; is a business in good standing with the state; and employs a NABCEP PV installation professional. The act also: Defines "photovoltaic electrical work" as electrical work performed on a photovoltaic system that is covered electrical work in accordance with the national electrical code; Grants the board authority to regulate photovoltaic electrical work for installations of less than three hundred kilowatts and specifies that only an electrical contractor or a photovoltaic installer may perform or offer to perform such work; and Authorizes the board to charge a fee for photovoltaic installer registration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Colorado sexual assault forensic medical evidence review board (board), consisting of the attorney general, or their designee, as board chair; the executive director of the Colorado district attorneys' council, or their designee; and various members appointed by the attorney general or the governor. The board's duties include reviewing and monitoring processes related to sexual assault response, making recommendations to improve sexual assault response, and submitting an annual report concerning its duties. The act creates a notification requirement under the "Victim Rights Act" that requires a law enforcement agency to notify a victim every 90 days when the law enforcement agency has not received the results of the forensic medical evidence DNA analysis from an accredited crime laboratory. The act requires an accredited crime laboratory to endeavor to analyze forensic medical evidence within 60 days after its receipt. The act expands public reporting requirements concerning forensic medical evidence and DNA evidence backlogs. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $112,365 from the general fund to the department of law for use by the administration division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)