The act authorizes the legislative council to approve agreements between the director of research of the legislative council and nonpartisan organizations to place nonpartisan legislative policy fellows (fellows) in the legislative council staff. The act also specifies the types of work that fellows may do, requires the director of research to retain supervisory authority over fellows, including over the terms and conditions of the fellowship, and requires any work product produced by a fellow during the fellowship to remain the property of the general assembly during and after the conclusion of the fellowship. The legislative council is prohibited from approving any agreement between the director of research of the legislative council and a nonpartisan organization that is registered as a lobbyist with the secretary of state to place a fellow in the legislative council staff. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act establishes and modifies requirements related to the practice of veterinary medicine by a veterinary professional associate (VPA). In November 2024, voters in Colorado approved Proposition 129, which established the role of VPAs and permits VPAs, starting on January 1, 2026, to practice veterinary medicine under certain circumstances. The act specifies how an individual can register as a VPA in Colorado and clarifies the circumstances under which a VPA can practice veterinary medicine. The act clarifies that a VPA is only permitted to practice veterinary medicine under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. A licensed veterinarian shall supervise no more than 3 VPAs who are practicing veterinary medicine at any one time. The act requires a licensed veterinarian and a VPA to enter into a mutual supervisory agreement before the licensed veterinarian and the VPA begin working together. The supervising licensed veterinarian may delegate the practice of veterinary medicine to the VPA if: The aspects of the practice are within the training, experience, and competency of the VPA; The practice of veterinary medicine delegated to the VPA is permitted under requirements of state law and board of veterinary medicine (board) rules; and The supervising licensed veterinarian and VPA are located at the same veterinary premises while practicing veterinary medicine, unless the VPA meets certain indirect supervision requirements. The act instructs the board to adopt rules regarding the practice of veterinary medicine by VPAs, including rules that: Require a VPA to practice veterinary medicine under an appropriate level of supervision by a licensed veterinarian; Determine clinical benchmarks that a VPA must meet in order to practice veterinary medicine under indirect supervision by a licensed veterinarian; Approve a nationally recognized VPA credentialing organization that requires a VPA to complete a university-approved VPA program that is approved by the board or a university-approved VPA program that is accredited by the nationally recognized credentialing organization, pass a VPA examination, and complete continuing education requirements; Provide guidance to supervising licensed veterinarians in their delegation of tasks to and supervision of VPAs; Determine a scope of practice for VPAs; Establish a registration fee for the registration of VPAs; and Determine continuing education requirements for VPAs. The board may also adopt rules establishing an equivalent registration pathway for a veterinary technician specialist to register as a VPA, which pathway considers the veterinary technician specialist's experience, education, and training as a substitute for the education requirements needed to register as a VPA and requires the veterinarian technician specialist to pass the same national credentialing exam as a VPA. The act requires a VPA to identify themself as a VPA to a client before practicing veterinary medicine on a patient. The act requires a licensed veterinarian to comply with certain restrictions when prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For state fiscal year 2025-26, the act appropriates $5,000,000 from the species conservation trust fund in the state treasury for various wildlife conservation programs directed at conserving candidate native species that have been listed as threatened or endangered under state or federal law or are species that are likely to become candidate species, as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service, as follows: $2,480,000 for the upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program; $20,000 for selenium management, research, monitoring, evaluation, and control; $1,250,000 for native terrestrial wildlife conservation; and $1,250,000 for native aquatic wildlife conservation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) in its sunset review and report concerning the regulation of outfitters and guides by the division of professions and occupations (division) within DORA. Specifically, the act: Continues the regulation of outfitters and guides for 9 years, until 2034; Allows the director of the division to take disciplinary action against an owner of an outfitter entity regardless of the owner's ownership share percentage; Credits one-half of the money that is collected as fines to the general fund rather than to the division; Exempts motor carriers and third-party booking agencies from regulation under the outfitters act; Adds provisions prohibiting an individual from working as a guide or receiving or renewing a registration as an outfitter if the individual has a license or registration suspended or revoked by the division of parks and wildlife or by an agency of any member state of the "Wildlife Violator Compact" for a violation of a law concerning wildlife; and Repeals certain language concerning the punishment for a person that engages or offers or attempts to engage in activities as an outfitter without an active registration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows enrolled members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and enrolled members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to enter state parks without having to pay an entrance fee. By June 1, 2026, the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department of natural resources (department) shall build on existing efforts to conduct outreach to and engagement with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, other tribal governments, American Indian communities, and Indigenous communities about opportunities related to state parks that are managed by the division. In January 2026 and January 2027, the department shall include, as part of its presentation during its "SMART Act" hearing, information concerning the division's outreach and engagement about opportunities related to state parks. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law states that an employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers (KSP) at any location when the worker is not performing compensable work and with respect to health-care providers at any time. The act exempts an employer's property from this provision; except that the act prohibits an employer from interfering with a worker's access to KSP through remote channels on the employer's property. The act also removes language referring to health-care providers. Current law states that the division of labor standards and statistics (division) may adopt rules regarding additional times that an employer may not interfere with a worker's reasonable access to KSP. The act clarifies that such rules must apply only to locations other than the employer's property. Lastly, the act states the division shall not adopt rules that: Infringe upon an employer's private property rights; or Conflict with the common law rights of an individual to access private property in a time of emergency.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current Colorado laws do not always expressly provide whether the laws apply to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe or the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Tribes). The act creates a rule of construction that a law does not apply to the Tribes unless the law clearly and expressly states that the law applies to the Tribes. The act further clarifies that if the general assembly enacts a new law or materially amends an existing law that is silent as to its application to the Tribes or to tribally controlled entities; purports to apply statewide; or grants a governmental agency or entity civil, criminal, or regulatory authority, it is presumed that the law does not apply within the exterior boundaries of the reservations to the Tribes, including the Tribes' officials and employees acting in their official capacities, to a tribally controlled entity, or to Tribal lands. The act reinforces that these rules of construction do not: Preclude or limit the authority of the Tribes' governing bodies from requesting inclusion in legislation pending before the general assembly; Abrogate the sovereign immunity of the state or the Tribes; or Affect the rights of the state, the Tribes, or other persons to pursue legal remedies that may be available to contest the application of laws passed by the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the provider stabilization fund for use by Colorado department of health care policy and financing (department) to distribute provider stabilization payments to safety net providers who provide services to low-income, uninsured individuals on a sliding-fee schedule or at no cost. Provider stabilization payments will be distributed to eligible safety net providers based on the proportion of low-income, uninsured individuals that an individual provider serves in comparison to the total number of low-income, uninsured individuals served by all eligible safety net providers. The state treasurer is directed to make an interest-free loan of interest earnings on the principal in the unclaimed property trust fund (UPTF) and, if the interest earnings are insufficient, from the principal of the UPTF as well, to the provider stabilization fund as follows: $25 million for the 2025-26 state fiscal year; $20 million for the 2026-27 state fiscal year; and $15 million for each of the 2027-28, 2028-29, and 2029-30 state fiscal years. The act specifies that the loan from the UPTF to the provider stabilization fund is an interfund loan that is not classified as revenue, is booked as an interfund receivable or payable, is not state fiscal year spending or state revenues, and does not count against the state fiscal year spending limit or the excess state revenues cap. The department is directed to repay the loan by January 1, 2045, but in any year in which state revenues do not exceed the limit on state fiscal year spending, the department must present to the joint budget committee a proposal to repay all or a portion of the loan at an earlier time, and to the extent possible, the general assembly must prioritize repaying the loan starting in the 2030-31 state fiscal year or sooner if funds are available. The provider stabilization fund also consists of any money the general assembly appropriates, transfers, or credits to the fund and any gifts, grants, or donations the department may receive for the fund. The act directs the department to leverage money in the provider stabilization fund to obtain federal matching money. The act establishes a provider stabilization fund advisory board (advisory board) to assist the department in implementing and administering the provider stabilization fund. The department, with assistance from the advisory board, is required to submit an annual report on the provider stabilization fund to specified committees, the governor, and the medical services board in the department. The advisory board is scheduled for repeal on September 1, 2031, and is subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies before the repeal. The act appropriates $25,000,000 from the provider stabilization fund to the department to implement the act, allocated as follows: $138,505 for personal services to administer the act, including 2.0 FTE; $15,900 for operating expenses; and $24,845,595 for provider stabilization payments to eligible safety net providers.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the American Indian affairs interim committee (committee). The purpose of the committee is to examine issues and challenges that impact American Indian Tribal Nations. The committee consists of 6 voting members of the general assembly who serve for the duration of the committee unless they resign, are removed, or are no longer in office and 2 nonvoting members, one from the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and one from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The act allows the committee to meet up to 6 times and recommend up to 5 bills during each interim, but the committee does not meet or recommend legislation during the 2025 interim. On or before January 15, 2031, the act requires the committee to submit a report to the executive committee of the legislative council summarizing the work of the committee during the preceding 5 years. The committee is repealed, effective June 30, 2031. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a property insurer that uses a wildfire risk model, a catastrophe model, or a scoring method to assign risk to: For the purposes of underwriting homeowners and other property insurance policies, adhere to specific requirements to share information with the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) and the public, include specific activities in the models, and provide notices to policyholders; Submit available data concerning the models and scoring method as required by rule of the commissioner to the division of insurance as part of the insurer's rate filings; and Ensure that specific factors are either incorporated in the wildfire risk model, catastrophe model, or combination of models or are otherwise demonstrably included in the insurer's underwriting and pricing. If an insurer does not incorporate property-specific and community-level mitigation actions into its models, the act requires the insurer to provide discounts to policyholders who demonstrate actions taken on the property to reduce the risk of loss. The act requires an insurer to post on its website information regarding premium savings that are available to policyholders who undertake property-specific mitigation actions or provide evidence of community-level mitigation actions and the process for appealing a wildfire risk score. The act requires an insurer that provides a mitigation discount or that uses a wildfire risk model or risk score to underwrite, nonrenew, price, create a rate differential, or surcharge the premium based upon the policyholder's or applicant's wildfire risk to provide an annual written notice to each policyholder or applicant for property insurance of the applicable mitigation discounts, the wildfire risk score, and any other wildfire risk classification used by the insurer to underwrite the policyholder's or applicant's wildfire risk. The insurer is required to provide the wildfire risk score or classification to the policyholder or applicant. The act authorizes the policyholder and applicant to appeal the score or classification directly to the insurer. The act authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)