Sen. William Lindstedt

The act clarifies that the child of an inbound active duty military member (member) who has an existing individualized education program (IEP) or existing section 504 plan is eligible for open enrollment, remote enrollment, and guaranteed matriculation. The act requires the school district, district charter school, or an institute charter school (local education provider) where the child enrolls to ensure the student receives the appropriate services and accommodations, consistent with the child's existing IEP or section 504 plan, without unreasonable delay upon enrollment. The act requires each local education provider to take reasonable steps to notify members and their families of their rights, including providing information on special education services to prevent inadvertent exclusion and to ensure members and their families are fully informed of available supports. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summarySenate Joint Resolution 25-016 is a commemorative resolution from the Colorado General Assembly expressing strong support for strengthening the sister-state relationship between Colorado and Taiwan. It reaffirms the 42-year relationship and advocates for enhanced trade relations and academic exchanges between the two entities. The resolution also calls for the signing of a U.S.-Taiwan agreement on avoiding double taxation to promote bilateral investment. Additionally, it supports Taiwan's meaningful inclusion in various international organizations.

The bill authorizes a social equity license holder to deliver regulated marijuana to a hotel located within the city and county of Denver if the license holder has: A medical marijuana delivery permit; A medical marijuana transporter license; A retail marijuana delivery permit; or A retail marijuana transporter license. In order for marijuana to be delivered, the following requirements must be satisfied: The hotel must be registered with the city and county of Denver to receive deliveries; The local jurisdiction must have authorized the delivery of marijuana in accordance with current law; The hotel must have authorized the delivery of marijuana to its premises; The social equity license holder must not deliver to premises licensed to serve alcohol; and The social equity license holder must comply with marijuana law. The state licensing authority, in coordination with the city and county of Denver, must create a registry of hotels that have authorized the delivery of marijuana to their premises. The state licensing authority may adopt rules necessary for the secure storage and management of deliveries. The bill authorizes special event permits for the holder of a social equity license and a marijuana hospitality business license. Other retail license holders may partner with a qualified license holder to hold a special event. The state licensing authority or a local licensing authority may set special event permit fees in an amount that offsets the direct and indirect cost to the state or local licensing authority of implementing the bill. The marijuana enforcement division (division) or a local licensing authority may deny the issuance of a special event permit upon the grounds that the issuance would be injurious to the public welfare because of the nature of the special event, its location within the community, or the failure of the applicant in a past special event to conduct the event in compliance with applicable laws. Public notice of the proposed permit and the procedures for protesting issuance of the permit must be posted at the proposed location for at least 10 days. The state licensing authority or a local licensing authority is required to adopt appropriate rules, ordinances, or resolutions for applying for a special event permit and for protesting an application for a special event permit. If an applicant is denied, a hearing must be set. The application must be approved or denied within 90 days after the application is filed. The permit must specify the location and the time when it is valid. A license holder may be issued a permit for no more than 15 days a year. If a violation occurs during a special event and the responsible license holder cannot be identified, the division may send written notice to every license holder identified on the relevant permit applications and may fine each the same dollar amount, not to exceed $25 per license holder or $200 in the aggregate. A joint fine does not apply to the revocation of a license. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Maddy summarySJR 25-010 designates March 17, 2025, as "Colorado Aerospace Day" to recognize the state's leadership in the aerospace industry. The resolution highlights Colorado's status as the nation's top aerospace employment hub (with 33,000 direct jobs and 240,000 supporting jobs), home to major companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and key military space operations. It does not create new laws but serves as a symbolic declaration urging federal support for space exploration and celebrating the industry's economic and educational contributions. This resolution is addressed to state and federal officials, educational institutions, and aerospace organizations.

Maddy summaryThis resolution authorizes Colorado's General Assembly to file a lawsuit challenging whether the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), specifically Section 20 of Article X in the state constitution, violates the guarantee of a "republican form of government" under the state constitution and U.S. Constitution. It directs the Committee on Legal Services to hire legal counsel (excluding those involved in prior TABOR litigation) to sue in state district court, seeking a court determination on TABOR's constitutionality regarding legislative authority over taxes and spending. The suit focuses solely on whether TABOR undermines the General Assembly's role as a representative legislative body.

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.)

The act requires the division of fire prevention and control, which hosts the wildfire information and resource center website and provides information regarding active wildfires on the website, to include hyperlinks to websites that display emergency information and wildfire updates for each county in Colorado and to coordinate with county governments in order to provide the hyperlinks. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a new refundable tax credit only if at least one qualified film festival entity with a multi-decade operating history and a verifiable track record of attracting 100,000 or more in-person ticket sales and over 10,000 out-of-state and international attendees (global film festival entity) commences the relocation of the festival to Colorado by January 1, 2026. Upon relocation, for calendar years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, but before January 1, 2037, the maximum aggregate amount of refundable tax credits that any qualified global film festival entity is eligible to receive is $34 million and the maximum aggregate amount that all existing or small Colorado festival entities collectively may receive is $5 million. A film festival entity is allowed a tax credit for each tax year in which the film festival entity hosts a film festival in Colorado, and may be allowed an additional tax credit in the subsequent tax year with respect to any qualified expenditures incurred in the year the film festival entity hosted the film festival in Colorado. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, fraudulent transactions are controlled by the "Colorado Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act". The act makes updates to the "Colorado Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act" and renames it as the "Colorado Voidable Transactions Act". The act changes references in current statute from "fraudulent transfers" to "voidable transactions". The act changes Colorado law to align with uniform law regarding voidable transactions and updates some of the definitions and terminology used in current statute. The act establishes burdens of proof and evidentiary requirements for various claims related to voidable transactions. The act also establishes which jurisdictional laws control certain types of claims based on the location of a debtor. (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.)