Section 4 of the bill creates the 'Building Excellent Teacher and Employee Residences Act' (BETER). BETER creates a new school district financing opportunity for the development of housing for teachers and other school district and public school staff (workforce housing). The bill creates an application process by which a school district (applicant) may apply to the workforce housing assistance board (board) for financial assistance in connection with developing a workforce housing project. The division of public school capital construction assistance within the department of education (division of public school capital construction assistance) and the division of housing within the department of local affairs (division of housing) shall assist applicants in identifying workforce housing needs and in submitting applications to the board. No later than June 1, the board, with the support of the division of housing and division of public school capital construction assistance, shall review these applications according to guidelines that the board establishes and creates an initial prioritized list of workforce housing projects to award financial assistance. The board shall submit this initial prioritized list to the state board of education and the state housing board for comment. No later than July 15, the board shall determine a final prioritized list of projects for which the board will provide financial assistance. The board may only award financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project if:The board determines that the project complies with affordability, tenancy, and environmental and building requirements established by the board; andUnless the board grants an exemption, the applicant provides matching money in an amount at least equal to the portion of the total development cost of the workforce housing project that can be financed with and supported by net operating income generated from the project.The board may only provide an amount of financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project that is equal to or less than the portion of the amount of the workforce housing project's total development cost that exceeds the amount that the applicant can finance and support with the workforce housing project's net operating income. The board may provide financial assistance to an applicant for a workforce housing project by awarding matching grants that are paid out of the workforce housing assistance fund (fund) or by instructing the state treasurer to enter into a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement. In this context, the financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement means a lease-purchase agreement between the state treasurer and a trustee pursuant to which:The state makes rental payments that include principal and interest components; andThe trustee, pursuant to an indenture of trust, creates certificates of participation evidencing undivided interests in the payments made by the state under the lease-purchase agreement. Any payment obligation of the state as part of a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement is subject to annual appropriation and does not create an indebtedness or multiple fiscal year financial obligation of the state within the meaning of any provision of the state constitution or state statute. If the state treasurer enters into a financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement, the board shall enter into a sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement for the workforce housing project with the applicant that will use the workforce housing. The sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement must:Require the applicant to perform for the state all duties of the state to maintain and operate the workforce housing project and to make periodic rental payments to the state or otherwise make a payment to the state in the amount of the matching money required for the award of financial assistance; andProvide for the transfer of ownership of the workforce housing from the state to the applicant upon the fulfillment of both the state's obligations under the financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement and the applicant's obligations under the sub-financed purchase of an asset or certificate of participation agreement. The board is required to present an annual written report to the education and finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate regarding the provision of financial assistance to applicants. The board is also required to post a similar report on the department of education's website. Sections 5, 6, 7, and 8 establish the funding mechanism for the fund. The state constitution restricts the use of the principal of the public school fund and only allows for the use of public school fund interest and income. Sections 6 and 7 clarify that public school fund interest and income includes realized and unrealized gains and directs the transfer of the lesser of an amount of interest and income equal to 2.5% of the total value of the public school fund after making currently required interest and income distributions from the public school fund or $40 million to the state public school fund. Section 5 creates the public school fund income stabilization account within the public school fund and directs the treasurer to credit the difference between the amount transferred from the public school fund to the state public school fund as described in section 6 and $40 million to the account. The uses of the account are limited to supplementing payment from or the principal of the public school fund. Section 8 directs the state treasurer to annually transfer an amount equal to the amount transferred from the public school fund to the state public school fund pursuant to section 6 from the state education fund to the fund. Section 1 expands school district powers concerning the development and financing of workforce housing. Specifically, section 1 allows for school districts to:Acquire, construct, improve, own, operate, lease, and lease-purchase workforce housing;Issue bonds to finance workforce housing;Enter into contracts with public entities and private parties to finance workforce housing; andCreate enterprises for the acquisition, construction, improvement, ownership, operation, leasing, and lease-purchasing of workforce housing.Section 1 also describes the characteristics of bonds issued by school district-created enterprises for the purpose of financing workforce housing. Section 2 adds certain school district and school district enterprise lease agreements, lease-purchase agreements, and revenue bonds entered into or issued in connection with financing workforce housing to the state intercept program. Sections 3, 9, and 10 grant the division of public school capital construction assistance, the state treasurer, and the division of housing the powers necessary to implement the bill.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill modifies the definition for an 'eligible nonprofit organization' that may receive a disbursement from the school security disbursement program. The modified definition requires that the nonprofit be based in Colorado. and provide school safety incident response, violence prevention, and behavioral health training and expertise at no cost to local education providers, law enforcement agencies, and other first responders from Colorado. The bill requires the department of public safety to disburse all grant money awarded pursuant to the disbursement program for use in the upcoming school year no later than August 1 of that same calendar year. The bill directs the department to give priority to applicants that commit to providing their training to local education providers, local law enforcement agencies, and other local first responders at no charge.(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 general assembly, starting in state fiscal year 2027-28, to appropriate certain amounts to the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund, which amounts must be based on the amount of money in the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund that is used to fund grants in the prior state fiscal year. In awarding home hardening grants through the wildfire resilient homes grant program, the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety is required to prioritize homeowners who are income qualified or who lack the ability to perform the home hardening work because of age, disability, or illness.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act makes the following changes to the legislative department cash fund (fund):Transfers $12,674,766 from the fund to the general fund;Establishes a fund limit, equal to $8 million for the state fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2025, and, thereafter, adjusts the fund limit proportionally with the percentage change in total general fund appropriations for the legislative branch;Limits reversion of unexpended appropriations to the fund to prevent the balance from exceeding the fund limit and annually transfers any portion of the fund that exceeds the balance to the general fund;Excludes money in the congressional redistricting and legislative redistricting accounts (redistricting accounts) and gifts, grants, and donations in the fund from any calculations related to the fund limit;Codifies that any money received related to public records requests is deposited into the fund and that the house of representatives, the senate, and the legislative service agencies are authorized to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations; andClarifies that the interest and income in the redistricting accounts in the fund are transferred to the general fund, along with other interest and income from the fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) is a nonprofit institution with experience administering clean energy financing programs and is the designated green bank for the federal environmental protection agency's region 8. The CCEF administers an on-bill repayment program (program) to help finance certain energy-related upgrades installed at a utility customer's premises that are associated with the utility meter. Under the program, in partnership with Colorado-based utilities, the CCEF finances energy-related upgrades that are then repaid through a customer's monthly utility bill payments. The bill directs the state treasurer to, on August 15, 2026, execute a loan agreement with the CCEF for a low-interest loan of $50 million from the unclaimed property trust fund.The purpose of the loan is to capitalize and expand the CCEF's on-bill repayment program and to accelerate utility adoption of the program. The Colorado energy office is required to review the design of the program before August 1, 2026. The bill specifies certain requirements for the program and for a utility to access the funding for the program, including requirements related to disclosures, notices, transfers of responsibility for an on-bill repayment obligation, and interest rates. The CCEF is required to submit annual reports to the joint budget committee, the Colorado energy office, and the state treasurer detailing the deployment of the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill makes appropriations for matters related to the legislative department for the 2026-27 state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the secretary of state to refer a ballot issue at the November 2026 general election to seek voter approval for the state, beginning in the 2026-27 state fiscal year, to retain and spend an amount of state revenue equal to the amount of state public K-12 education funding in excess of the limitation on state fiscal year spending and to increase state public K-12 education funding by up to 2% per year for 10 years. The act directs legislative council staff to determine the amount of state public K-12 education funding and describes how legislative council staff will make that determination. The act creates a positive factor to increase state public K-12 education funding. The amount of the positive factor compounds annually for 10 years. The positive factor for the 2026-27 budget year is 2% of the program foundation calculated for the 2025-26 budget year. For the 2027-28 through 2034-35 budget years, it is the sum of 2% of the prior year's program foundation plus the prior year's positive factor. For the 2035-36 budget year and beyond, it is the sum of 2% of the 2034-35 program foundation plus the 2034-35 positive factor. A district's share of the positive factor is calculated proportionally based on the district's total program under the new school finance formula relative to the statewide total program. A district may only use its positive factor funding for increasing teacher pay, improving teacher retention, lowering class sizes, and increasing access to career and technical courses. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the children's account consists of an amount of money equal to the amount of state revenues that the state retains for a given fiscal year pursuant to voter approval of the act. For state fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2027, the account consists of that same amount minus an amount equal to the total dollar amount of warrants issued by the state treasurer to reimburse local governments for property tax exemptions. Money in the account must first be spent to pay districts their positive factor, then any remaining funds are appropriated for disability services and school services and to increase annual contact hours, and finally to programs prioritizing child care and full-day preschool. The act directs the state auditor to conduct and publish a report on excess state revenues for each state fiscal year that the state retains and spends state revenues in excess of the limitation on state fiscal year spending. That report must include descriptions of:The amount of state revenues that the state retained and spent that would otherwise have been in excess of the limitation on state fiscal year spending; andHow the state expended the state revenues that the state retained and spent that would otherwise have been in excess of the limitation on state fiscal year spending. Beginning August 1, 2027, the act requires each local education provider to post, online for free public access in a format that can be downloaded and sorted, its actual expenditures of any positive factor received. Lastly, the act updates provisions regarding the expanded earned income tax credit, the family affordability tax credit, and the affordable housing financing fund to ensure that voter approval of the act does not adversely impact those programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the large employer health-care support enterprise (enterprise) to impose, assess, and collect the large employer health-care support fee (enterprise fee) in the amount of $2,300 for each supported worker for the calendar year in an amount determined by the enterprise board (enterprise board) that reflects the costs of the services provided by the enterprise . A worker who is receiving medical assistance benefits under the state medical assistance program, except for a worker eligible for medical assistance benefits based on disability, is a supported worker (supported worker). An employer is subject to the enterprise fee if the employer is a large employer, which is defined in the bill as an employer that has 500 or more supported workers (large employer). An employer is exempted from paying the enterprise fee if the employer:Provides affordable health coverage to all workers working 20 or more hours per week or 80 or more hours per month;Is a franchisee of the employer;Is a nonprofit employer;Is a public employer; orHas a collective bargaining agreement with its employees that includes health-care coverage. The business purpose s of the enterprise are to use enterprise fee revenue to help large employers retain supported workers who are not provided employer-sponsored affordable health coverage by using enterprise fee revenue to:Help finance the costs for medical assistance benefits for large employers' supported workers ; and Provide reimbursement grants to large employers for some or all of an employer's costs incurred for allowing a worker to buy into an employer-sponsored health benefit plan, should the employer choose to participate in the worker buy-in program created in the bill.This These business service s reduce s lost productivity due to worker illness and training costs to replace workers who may otherwise seek employment that provides affordable health coverage. Starting with a review of the 2027 calendar year, the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF) every employer that employed 500 or more workers in the state shall prepare an annual employer report on or before January 31, 2028, and on or before the same date each year thereafter, that includes information about the employer's employees, including the employee's name, date of birth, hours worked, and dates of employment for the preceding calendar year. An employer may seek an exemption from the requirement to file the annual employer report by demonstrating that it provides affordable health coverage to all workers working 20 or more hours per week or 80 or more hours per month. Upon receipt of the annual employer report, the enterprise shall determine whether an employer is a large employer and shall issue a report by March of the following same calendar year that identifies large employers by their number of supported workers for the preceding calendar year and impose the enterprise fee on each large employer . An employer may contest the employer's identification as a large employer. Once identified, a large employer shall either pay the enterprise fee for each of the large employer's supported workers or demonstrate that it provides will offer affordable health coverage to all workers working 20 or more hours per week or 80 or more hours per month. The enterprise may adjust the amount of the enterprise fee to reflect the cost of the services, for inflation, or for other reasons. A large employer commits a petty offense and is subject to a civil penalty for The enterprise shall contract with the department of revenue to collect and enforce the payment of the enterprise fee on behalf of the enterprise, including the failure to provide information necessary to calculate the enterprise fee or to either timely pay the enterprise fee or demonstrate that the large employer offers affordable health coverage as specified in the bill. The department of revenue may collect interest and penalties and institute collection actions on behalf of the enterprise. Enterprise revenue is used to support the pay for payment of medical assistance benefits for working-age adults under the state medical assistance program, and to increase reimbursement rates for ensure access to health-care providers providing medical assistance program services, to ensure worker access to medical services and to pay for large employer reimbursement grants under the worker buy-in program for large employers that pay the enterprise fee. The enterprise is governed by the enterprise board, and the enterprise board shall report annually to the general assembly on the enterprise revenue and the enterprise's use of the enterprise revenue in support of large employers. If the enterprise determines that the enterprise to would receive more than $100 million dollars in its first 5 fiscal years, the state treasurer shall credit the additional fee revenue to the large employer fee cash fund created in the state treasury for administration by HCPF, and that fee revenue is subject to the state fiscal year spending limit imposed by section 20 of article X of the state constitution and the excess revenues cap. The money in the large employer fee cash fund shall be used by HCPF to pay for costs for medical assistance benefits to support large employers' supported workers enterprise shall reduce the amount of the enterprise fee.(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 appropriates the following amounts for the 2026-27 state fiscal year from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects:Continuation of the satellite monitoring system, $380,000 (section 1 of the act);Continuation of the floodplain map modernization program, $500,000 (section 2);Continuation of the weather modification permitting program, $500,000 (section 3);Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet project, $200,000 (section 5);Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $2,500,000 (section 6);Continuation of Colorado decision support system operation and maintenance, $750,000 (section 7);Support for water plan agency actions, $1,350,000 (section 9);Continuation of the Colorado watershed restoration and flood mitigation projects, $5,000,000 (section 10); andContinuation of the upper Colorado river commission planning, $750,000 (section 11). Section 4 directs the state treasurer to transfer up to $6,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the CWCB litigation fund on or before July 1, 2026. Section 8 restores the fish and wildlife resources fund balance by transferring $2,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the fish and wildlife resources fund. Section 12 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $151,500,000 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the city of Fort Collins to support the Halligan water supply project. Section 13 authorizes the CWCB to make a loan in an amount of $20,166,670 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the Lower Latham Reservoir Company for the Jurgens reservoir construction project. Section 14 appropriates $37,700,000 from the water plan implementation cash fund to the CWCB to award grants that will help implement the state water plan. Section 15 clarifies that the money that is currently in the turf replacement fund is appropriated for designated purposes to the CWCB until June 30, 2028. Any money remaining in the turf replacement fund on July 1, 2028, is transferred to the CWCB construction fund. Section 16 makes technical corrections so that money appropriated in 2025 is available to the department of natural resources executive director's office for the purpose of paying for a study by the Colorado water center at Colorado state university. Under current law, the CWCB may authorize loans up to $10 million from the CWCB construction fund or severance tax perpetual base fund without legislative authorization. The act increases that amount to $30 million (section 17).(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.)
