Sen. Iman Jodeh

Dependent upon sufficient gifts, grants, and donations received by the Colorado school of public health (school) and the department of health care policy and financing, the act requires the school to: Analyze draft model legislation for implementing a single-payer, nonprofit, publicly financed, and privately delivered universal health-care payment system for Colorado that directly compensates providers (analysis);and Submit a report detailing its findings to the health and human services committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 31, 2026. The act also creates the statewide health-care analysis collaborative (collaborative) for the purpose of advising the school during the analysis. The collaborative is repealed, effective December 1, 2027. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

On or before January 1, 2026, the bill requires each institute charter school, district charter school, and local board of education to adopt and implement a written policy that authorizes , or update an existing policy if applicable, concerning options for a youth service organization to present to students on school campus during the school day communicate with students about the opportunities available for extracurricular programs and enrichment activities through the youth service organization. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill requires the safe2tell program (safe2tell) to provide a handle-with-care notice to a school when a student has had an adverse childhood experience beginning with the 2026-27 school year, for students enrolled in a school in a small rural school district; beginning with the 2027-28 school year, for students enrolled in a small rural school district or a large rural school district; and beginning with the 2028-29 school year, for students enrolled in any school statewide. A peace officer who responds to an incident that is an adverse childhood experience shall may report to safe2tell the name and age of the child involved in the incident or provide information to the child's parent or guardian about how to inform the school through safe2tell . Upon receipt of a report, safe2tell shall send a handle-with-care notice to the child's school that includes only the child's name and the phrase "handle with care". A school shall only share the notice with school staff who need to know about the notice. Other than notifying school staff, a school is not required to take any action with respect to the notice. The bill expressly includes personal data as a "material" for the purposes of safe2tell. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The act makes the following changes for the purpose of improving the performance of the regional transportation district (RTD): Authorizes RTD to enter into a service partnership agreement with a local government, institution of higher education, business or housing entity, or special district to expand services within RTD's service territory or beyond the boundaries of RTD as authorized by law; Requires RTD, in discharging its responsibilities, to: Align with statewide greenhouse gas reduction targets, "Transportation Vision 2035" goals, and mode choice targets; Create worker retention goals; Adhere to the requirements of "General Directive 24-1: Required Actions Regarding Assaults on Transit Workers", issued on September 25, 2024, by the federal transit administration of the United States department of transportation; and Develop performance measures to evaluate its progress in aligning with state climate goals and achieving its worker retention goals; Requires RTD to report to the transportation legislation review committee (TLRC) on or before December 15, 2025, on RTD's 5-year financial forecast, debt capacity, and use of agency reserve accounts; Requires RTD, in coordination with the department of transportation, the Denver regional council of governments, and local governments within RTD's service territory, to create a 10-year strategic plan no later than September 30, 2026, and a comprehensive operational analysis no less frequently than every 5 years beginning on April 10, 2026, and to report quarterly to the RTD board of directors regarding the plan and analysis. RTD is also required to annually report to the TLRC on its progress in delivering the projects identified in the 10-year strategic plan and the comprehensive operational analysis. Requires RTD, in conjunction with the creation of its 10-year strategic plan, to study or contract with a third party to study and identify opportunities to increase funding to achieve the goals, measures, and targets identified in the 10-year strategic plan; Requires RTD to create, maintain, and publish on its website information and dashboards related to capital projects, ridership and service information, planned service changes, workforce statistics, and transit safety; Requires RTD to update its service policies and standards, its equitable transit-oriented development policy, and its service buy-up policy, to create specific communication protocols, and to implement parking and transportation demand management strategies and policies; Requires RTD to report to the governor, general assembly, the TLRC, and the RTD board by December 2025 on its work to achieve the transportation expansion routes identified in the transportation expansion plan, including the north lines. If RTD has not completed and begun service by January 1, 2029, on the fixed guideway mass transit system proposed in the transportation expansion plan, RTD is required to report to the governor and the transportation committees of the general assembly every 6 months until service begins. Requires RTD to periodically notify the Denver regional council of governments and the department of local affairs of any known infrastructure gaps that exist within a transit center of a transit-oriented community within RTD's service territory; Requires RTD to modernize, advertise, and conduct outreach about its EcoPass programs and to report to the transportation committees of the general assembly about its efforts; Clarifies the powers and duties of the RTD board of directors; and Prohibits write-in candidates for the RTD board of directors. The act also requires other entities to analyze opportunities for the improvement of transit services by: Requiring certain residential and mixed-use developments to survey their residents about their interest in having the development provide annual pre-paid RTD transit passes via the EcoPass program, if the development does not already provide bulk-purchased EcoPasses. If a majority of residents express interest in bulk-purchased EcoPasses, the development is required to enroll in the EcoPass program for its residents. Requiring the transportation commission, on or before March 31, 2026, to develop and publish best practices and technical assistance materials concerning the creation of regional transportation authorities to increase funding for transit and to provide additional transit services within the state; and Creating an RTD accountability committee within the Colorado energy office that consists of 15 appointed members, including 14 voting members and one ex officio nonvoting member, whose work is intended to build upon the work of the previous RTD accountability committee created in 2020. On or before January 30, 2026, the committee is required to provide recommendations to the transportation committees of the general assembly concerning: The governance structure and compensation of the RTD board and executive leadership; Paratransit services within RTD; The representation of local governments and state agencies within RTD; and RTD's labor and workforce standards and workforce retention. The act also makes changes to the information that an eligible entity is required to provide to the clean transit enterprise after being awarded money from the local transit operations cash fund. For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $146,720 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office for program administration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Subject to local voter approval, the act increases the maximum allowed rate of a county lodging tax levied on the purchase price paid or charged to persons for rooms or accommodations from 2% to 6% and expands the allowed uses of lodging tax revenue to include: Public infrastructure maintenance or improvements; or Enhancing public safety measures by funding local law enforcement, fire protection services, and emergency medical services. If a county received voter approval before January 1, 2025, to specifically allocate portions of revenue from the lodging tax to allowed uses for designated purposes, the act clarifies how those previously approved allocations are preserved and how revenue attributable to an increase in the tax rate may be allocated by the county. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

No later than January 1, 2026, the act requires the department of human services to submit an application to the United States department of agriculture food and nutrition service to implement a restaurant meals program that allows eligible supplemental nutrition assistance program recipients to purchase hot or prepared foods at participating restaurants. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of transportation (department), no later than July 1, 2026, and in coordination with local governments and transit agencies, to create a transit and active transportation project inventory that identifies gaps in transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure and access on state highways and rights-of-way that are controlled and maintained by the department. No later than July 1, 2026, metropolitan planning organizations must create a transit and active transportation project inventory that identifies gaps in transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure and access within the network of regionally significant roadways and rights-of-way that are typically subject to planning and programming by the metropolitan planning organization. No later than October 31, 2026, the department and the metropolitan planning organizations must present a report to the transportation legislation review committee on the transit and active transportation project inventories (inventories) created, including an assessment of existing and potential funding sources for the projects listed in the inventories. The department and metropolitan planning organizations must update the inventories as part of the planning processes for the regional and statewide transportation plans and must use the inventories to inform those plans, other transit service plans, and transportation improvement programs. No later than July 1, 2026, the department must develop clear definitions for roadway capacity investments and state-of-good-repair investments. No later than December 31, 2025, a local government with a population of 5,000 or more that is within a metropolitan planning organization must submit to its metropolitan planning organization all planned transit, bicycle, and pedestrian projects included in any transportation, capital, or other plan. The act also allows a local government to: Adopt goals for the share of total trips within a specified geographic area completed using certain transportation methods; Submit local transportation demand management strategies to its metropolitan planning organization; and Collaborate with the department, its metropolitan planning organization, and transit agencies to identify unfinished transit, bicycle, and pedestrian projects in certain transit areas and to prioritize such projects based on each project's potential to increase transportation mode choice, project vulnerable road users, reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions, and improve access to nondriving transportation options in disproportionately impacted communities. The act also clarifies that the Moffat tunnel improvement district is controlled and managed by the department of transportation rather than the department of local affairs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a form issued by the state or a local government that requests that the individual completing the form disclose the individual's race or ethnicity to include, in addition to spaces for any other racial or ethnic categories required by the federal office of management and budget, a space to indicate if the individual's race or ethnicity is Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian. The state and local governments are exempt from the act's requirements if: The demographic data collected in the form is reported by the state or a local government to the federal government; and The federal government rejects or will reject the demographic data reported by the state or a local government because it includes Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian as a primary demographic category. When exercising the exemption, the state and local governments shall include Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian as a demographic subcategory of the nonspecific racial category on the form. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law mandates insurance coverage of certain preventive health-care services (preventive services) in accordance with the recommendations of the United States preventive services task force, recommendations established by the advisory committee on immunization practices, or preventive care or screening as provided in the comprehensive guidelines supported by the health resources and services administration in the United States department of health and human services (authorities). The act requires that, in the event that any of these authorities is repealed, modified, or otherwise no longer in effect, the commissioner of insurance may adopt rules that require compliance with the recommendations and comprehensive guidelines regarding the coverage of those preventive services as the recommendations and guidelines existed in January 2025 or that comply with the recommendations of the nurse-physician advisory task force for Colorado health care (NPATCH). The act also tasks the NPATCH with making recommendations regarding updates or modifications to the current list of covered preventive health-care services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The"Freedom From Intimidation In Elections Act" is created and prohibits any individual from intimidating, threatening, or coercing or attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any individual for: Voting or attempting to vote; Urging or aiding any individual to vote or attempt to vote; Exercising any powers or duties to administer elections, including vote counting, canvassing, and election certification; or The individual's status as a past or present participant in the administration of elections. The act specifies that an individual who carries a visible firearm, imitation firearm, or toy firearm while interacting with or observing any of the specified election-related activities is presumed, in the absence of any affirmative showing to the contrary by a preponderance of the evidence, to have engaged in intimidation prohibited by the act; except that the presumption does not apply to a law enforcement officer or a uniformed security guard acting within the scope of their authority, and mere possession of a holstered firearm by such an officer or guard while interacting with or observing any of the specified election-related activities does not violate the Act. An aggrieved individual, an election official, a designated election official, the secretary of state, or the attorney general may enforce the provisions of the act. A suit brought by an election official, a designated election official, the secretary of state, or the attorney general does not preclude a contemporaneous private suit by an aggrieved individual to enforce the provisions of the act. In a suit to enforce the provisions of the act, a court may grant relief enjoining the use or carrying of firearms by a defendant beyond the existing prohibitions on using or carrying firearms in or near polling locations drop boxes and in or on the property of ceratin types of government buildings. To prevail in a suit to enforce the provisions of the act, a plaintiff is not required to prove that a defendant intended to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any individual, except to prove an attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, but a court may consider evidence of intent in determining the appropriate relief. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)