The act establishes that the practice of lead generation marketing for legal services is a deceptive trade practice that is subject to enforcement under the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act'. 'Lead generation legal marketing' is defined in the act as a form of marketing in which a lawyer, law firm, or licensed legal paraprofessional pays money or other compensation to a third party to receive information about a potential client or case, including the potential client's contact information or information about the potential client's legal issue or case. Unless a person meets certain criteria, the act prohibits a person from paying money or other compensation for lead generation legal marketing services, engaging in the practice of lead generation legal marketing, or selling leads to an attorney, law firm, or licensed legal paraprofessional. A person may solicit or market for legal services in Colorado only if the person is:Authorized by the Colorado supreme court to practice law in Colorado;Working on behalf of a person authorized by the Colorado supreme court to practice law in Colorado and that person is clearly identified in any advertisement, marketing materials, information, or resources; orA nonprofit organization that engages in legal services. The act establishes that a person that engages in the practice of lead generation legal marketing may be subject to both civil and criminal penalties.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Currently, the 'Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado' provides that certain cancers contracted by firefighters are considered occupational diseases presumed to have been a result of the firefighters' employment. A firefighter's employer or an insurer may rebut this presumption by showing by a preponderance of the medical evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job. The act expands the types of cancer that are considered occupational diseases and strengthens the rebuttable presumption to require an employer to show clear and convincing evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job. The act exempts firefighters who are employed by the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 20 of article X of the state constitution (TABOR) imposes a limitation on the amount of state fiscal year spending. If state fiscal year spending exceeds that limitation, the state is required to refund the amount of state fiscal year spending in excess of that limitation (TABOR refund). Under current law, if the state issues a TABOR refund for a state fiscal year, and the amount of that TABOR refund is greater than the amount of state fiscal year spending in excess of the limitation of state fiscal year spending for the state fiscal year (over-refund), the state reduces the amount of the next available TABOR refund by the amount of the over-refund. Changes in federal tax policy in 2025 reduced the amount of state tax revenue for the 2025 tax year. Due to when this change in federal tax policy was signed into law, it was not reflected in the amount of state fiscal year 2024-25 spending, even though the change impacted the 2025 tax year. Accordingly, if the state controller certifies in September 2026 that state revenues for state fiscal year 2025-26 did not exceed the limitation on the amount of state fiscal year spending for that state fiscal year, the act directs the office of the state controller, in consultation with the office of state planning and budgeting and the department of revenue, to determine the amount of the over-refund for state fiscal year 2024-25, taking into account the impact on state revenues from the federal tax policy change. No more than one-half of this over-refund can offset future TABOR refunds for any single state fiscal year beginning with the 2026-27 state fiscal year. $18,021 is appropriated from the general fund to the legislative department for use by the office of the state auditor to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the attorney general to submit to the peace officers standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board) a proposal by December 31, 2030, to update current basic, reserve, and refresher law enforcement training academy programs and improve the peace officer performance of future academy graduates. The act changes the makeup of the P.O.S.T. board by reducing the number of law enforcement head officials, reducing the number of non-law-enforcement persons, increasing the number of line officers, and adding representatives from law enforcement training academies and reserve officers. A person who has had their P.O.S.T. certification revoked is not eligible to serve on the P.O.S.T. board. The P.O.S.T. board is prohibited from approving skill instructors whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked for training academies and from approving training academies with an instructor whose P.O.S.T. certification has been revoked after September 1, 2026. The act requires that a person be at least 21 years old in order to be a certified peace officer. The act makes a peace officer academy full-time instructor eligible to attend P.O.S.T. certification classes funded with grant money, but the instructor is not eligible to receive individual grant funding from the P.O.S.T. board.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
An interchange fee is a fee established, charged, or received by a payment card network for the purpose of compensating an issuer for its involvement in an electronic payment transaction. The act states that a payment card network shall not, whether directly or indirectly:Establish, charge, or include in a fee schedule an interchange fee if:The interchange fee is or includes a percentage multiplied by the gross dollar amount of a transaction conducted with a debit card or credit card; andThe fee does not exclude from the gross dollar amount of the transaction any amount attributable to a tax on the transaction; orIncrease the rate or amount of fees that apply to the nontax portion of a transaction in an attempt to, or in a manner that would, circumvent the prohibition on interchange fees established by the act. The act exempts electronic payment transactions involving a debit card or credit card issued by a person, or agent of a person, that issues a debit card or credit card to a cardholder (issuer) that:Did not, during any point in the previous calendar year, hold consolidated worldwide banking and nonbanking assets, including assets of affiliates, other than trust assets under management, of more than $60 billion; orAs of February 1, 2026, had contracted to brand the card with the brand of a financial institution chartered or authorized to do business in this state that did not, during any point in the previous calendar year, hold consolidated worldwide banking and nonbanking assets, including assets of affiliates, other than trust assets under management, of more than $60 billion.An issuer that satisfies either of these exemption descriptions must identify to a payment card network all of the issuer's debit cards and credit cards that are used for exempted transactions. The payment card network shall not, whether directly or indirectly through an agent, contract, requirement, condition, penalty, technological specification, or inducement or otherwise:Deny such a card access to transaction processing systems; orImpose any fee increase or penalty on the issuer or on a financial institution branded on the card for any costs of upgrades or configurations to payment and processing systems that may be necessary to comply with the act with respect to such cards. If a payment card network violates the act's prohibitions, a merchant, consumer, or other person that is injured as a result of the violation may bring a civil action against the payment card network. The act sets forth the penalties to be awarded in such an action. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter, the act requires each retail business that has more than 500 employees statewide on the effective date of the act to apply any savings resulting from the act to reducing prices for consumers or investing in employee wages or benefits.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its 2025 sunset review and report by:Continuing the 'Barber and Cosmetologist Act' for 7 years until 2033;Repealing the advisory committee;Updating definitions and terminology within the 'Barber and Cosmetologist Act';Specifying certain services and providers that are exempt from the 'Barber and Cosmetologist Act'; andReplacing gendered language with gender-neutral language.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies' 2025 sunset review and report on the biomass utilization grant program by repealing the biomass utilization grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the retail theft prevention advisory board (advisory board) in the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division). The advisory board shall develop procedures related to applying for a grant for the retail theft prevention grant program created in the act; review grant applications and award grants; collect and analyze data related to organized felony-level retail theft and gift card fraud trends, losses, prosecutions, and outcomes in Colorado; and develop policy recommendations in coordination with state and federal partners on how to combat felony-level retail theft and gift card fraud. The act creates the retail theft prevention grant program in the division. A state or local law enforcement agency, district attorney's office, multijurisdictional or regional task force, or tribal law enforcement agency may apply for a grant, which may be used to investigate and prosecute organized felony-level retail theft or gift card fraud; develop or invest in technology, data-sharing systems, and analytics tools to analyze felony-level retail theft and gift card fraud metrics; provide training and technical assistance to retailers or law enforcement agencies; and develop prevention and deterrence initiatives specific to felony-level retail theft and gift card fraud. Beginning January 2028, the act requires the division to annually report during its 'SMART Act' hearing certain information about the retail theft prevention grant program and felony-level retail theft in Colorado. The act extends the crime prevention through safer streets grant program (safer streets grant program) to November 1, 2029, and makes the retail theft prevention grant program an allowable use of the money appropriated for the safer streets grant program. On July 1, 2027, $200,000 of the unexpended and unencumbered money remaining at the end of the 2026-27 state fiscal year from the money appropriated for the safer streets grant program reverts to the general fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of corrections (department) to furnish an individual being discharged from the department's custody a release allowance of at least $100, free of any deductions. Beginning by September 15, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department is required to collect and report discharge data, including the number of individuals released from department correctional facilities, the number and percentage of released individuals who received the release allowance, and the total amount of money spent on release allowances. The department must issue a report to the general assembly annually. The act repeals provisions requiring the department to give an individual a ticket to leave prior to discharging the individual from a correctional facility. The act requires eligible offenders to participate in the department's existing program to procure state-issued identification cards for offenders (program), unless the offender affirmatively opts-out of the program. Beginning by September 15, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department is required to collect data on the process of securing necessary identification documents to issue state identification cards and issue a report to the general assembly. The report must include the number and percentage of offenders released with an identification card, birth certificate, and social security number and the number and percentage of offenders who were ineligible to participate in the program and the reason for ineligibility. The department is prohibited from charging an offender a fee to obtain a state identification card, and any fee incurred in the process of securing an offender's identification documents to create the state identification card must be assessed after the offender has been released and may be consolidated with existing restitution, fees, or other legal financial obligations owed by the offender. The department of public health and environment shall assist the department in securing necessary identification documents.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or before December 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the act requires each transportation broker that administers nonemergency medical transportation to medicaid members to submit certain information to the department of health care policy and financing (state department) regarding transportation providers that the transportation broker contracts with. Beginning January 1, 2027, the state department is required to include this information in its annual 'SMART Act' presentation. The act changes the term 'qualified alien' to 'qualified noncitizen' to align with federal requirements. If the state department plans to implement, apply, or enforce new multiple procedure payment reductions for outpatient therapy services, the act requires the state department to provide notice to the impacted providers of the changes at least 6 months prior to implementing the changes and to hold at least one stakeholder meeting to discuss the payment reductions. The act requires the state department to reimburse a provider who is licensed and authorized to prescribe, dispense, compound, or administer medication-assisted treatment in a jail setting. The act requires the medical services board to adopt rules before January 1, 2027, to comply with federal community engagement requirements and requires the state department make available on its website data on the community engagement requirements and their impact on medical assistance enrollment. The act requires the state department to collect direct care service cost to administrative cost ratio information from home- and community-based service provider agencies and submit a report to the general assembly detailing the information collected. The act repeals the state medical assistance and services advisory council.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, the act makes it a petty offense for a person, in connection with nonresidential property, to certify the truth and accuracy of information provided to the assessor in connection with property valuation when the information is not true and accurate as to every material matter. The act also makes it a petty offense for a person, in connection with nonresidential property, to willfully aid or assist in filing information that is fraudulent or false in connection with property valuation. The act specifies the sentencing requirements for a person convicted of a petty offense pursuant to the act and authorizes the county attorney to file and prosecute any action arising under the act in the county court of the county in which the property is located. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a taxpayer committed a petty offense pursuant to the act, the property owner is not entitled to penalty interest earned on any tax refund; the board of assessment appeals does not have the authority to determine whether a taxpayer has forfeited this right. Existing law requires a petitioner appealing either a valuation of rent-producing commercial real property to the board of assessment appeals or a denial of an abatement of taxes to the board of county commissioners to provide certain information to the board of equalization or to the board of county commissioners. The act requires the petitioner to provide information that is specific to the property at issue. For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, the act allows a county to file a motion with the board of assessment appeals noting the county's preference that a case appealing a decision of the board of assessment appeals be heard in district court. The act allows the petitioner to elect whether the case will be heard by the board of assessment appeals or the district court.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to establish a statewide database to provide accurate information about certain individual residential services and supports settings and their associated service provider agencies. The database will be used by the state department, the department of public health and environment, and service provider agencies. Information from the database may only be shared with the public upon determination by the state department and consistent with state and federal privacy and confidentiality laws. The act requires service provider agencies to submit the required information to the state department beginning July 1, 2026, and quarterly thereafter, and requires the state department to update the database within one month after receiving the required information from the service provider agencies. The act clarifies that individual residential services and supports settings must be treated as residential properties in the application of local regulations, including zoning, land use development, fire and life safety, sanitation, and building codes. The act prohibits local governing authorities from imposing additional regulations on individual residential services and supports settings that do not apply to other residential properties. The act appropriates $20,000 to the state department from the general fund to implement the act. It is anticipated that the state department will receive $60,000 in federal funds for the executive director's office to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
