Bill Tracker

Section 1 of the bill amends the definition of employer for
purposes of wage and hour laws to include an individual who owns or
controls at least 25% of the ownership interest in an employer.
Section 2 prohibits an employer from making a payroll deduction
below a worker's applicable minimum wage.
Section 3 allows the director of the division of labor standards and
statistics (division) to waive the penalty for an employer's failure to pay
claimed wages or compensation within 14 days after a written demand if
certain specified conditions are met.
Section 4 repeals language allowing a court to award an employer
reasonable costs and attorney fees in a civil action for unpaid wages or
compensation in certain circumstances. In such an action, the court may
pursue all equitable relief to deter future violations and prevent unjust
enrichment.
Current law limits the ability of the director of the division to
adjudicate claims for nonpayment of wages or compensation to $7,500 or
less. Section 5 increases this threshold over the years by increasing the
amount to $13,000 for claims filed from July 1, 2026, through December
31, 2027, and in an amount specified by the director of the division to
adjust for inflation beginning January 1, 2028. Section 5 also requires the
division, in adjudicating wage claims, to determine whether a violation
is willful. For each violation:
  • The director shall publish on the division's website the
names of all employers found to be in violation and
whether the violation was willful; and
  • If the violation is not remedied within 60 days after the
division's finding that there was a violation, the division
must notify all government bodies with the authority to
deny, withdraw, or otherwise limit or impose remedial
conditions on the employer's license, permit, registration,
or other credential.
Additionally, the division may report an employer found to have
violated a law related to wages and hours to any government body with
authority to deny, withdraw, or otherwise limit or impose remedial
conditions on a license, permit, registration, or other credential that the
violating employer has or may seek. Section 5 also repeals language
requiring the division to issue a determination on a wage complaint
within 90 days.
Section 6 requires an employer found to have misclassified an
employee as a nonemployee to pay a fine in the following amounts, in
addition to any other relief ordered:
  • For a willful violation, $5,000;
  • For a violation not remedied within 60 days after the
division's finding, $10,000;
  • For a second or subsequent willful violation within 5 years,
$25,000; or
  • For a second or subsequent willful violation not remedied
within 60 days after the division's finding, $50,000.
The director of the division must adjust these fine amounts for
inflation by January 1, 2028, and every other year thereafter.
Section 6 also decreases the amount of time the division must wait
before paying an employee out of the wage theft enforcement fund from
6 months to 120 days.
Current law prohibits an employer from discriminating or
retaliating against an employee for taking protection under wage and hour
laws or the law related to the employment of minors. Section 7 expands
this provision to specify additional protected behavior and expands the
prohibition to include other persons in addition to employers.
Section 7 also:
  • Requires a fact finder to consider the time between an
individual's exercise of a protected activity and an
employer's adverse action when determining whether an
employer has retaliated against the employee or worker;
  • Specifies that any effort to use an individual's immigration
status to negatively impact the wage and hour law rights,
responsibilities, or proceedings of any employee or worker
is an unlawful act of intimidation, threatening, coercion,
discrimination, and retaliation; and
  • Allows the division to order reasonable attorney fees and
costs after investigating a discrimination or retaliation
claim.

Under current law, a person engages in an unfair and
unconscionable act or practice in violation of consumer protection laws
(unfair act) if the person engages in price gouging during a declared
disaster. The bill adds engaging in price gouging in the sale of necessities
as an unfair act and creates a presumption that, if the price of a necessity
is increased by 10% or more above the average price that the necessity
cost during the 90 days preceding the price increase, the price increase
amounts to price gouging.
The bill also defines necessities as goods or services that are
necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of consumers or of the
general public.

The division of water resources in the department of natural
resources (division) is responsible for administering water rights and
issuing water well permits, among other duties.
Under current law, after having received a permit to appropriate
designated groundwater or construct a well outside the boundaries of a
designated groundwater basin, a permit holder is required to construct the
well within one year after the date of issuance of the permit. If the well
is not constructed within one year, the permit expires; except that the
ground water commission (commission) in the division or the state
engineer, as applicable, may grant a single one-year extension.
The bill extends the time frame for construction of a well to 2
years, eliminating the need for the commission or the state engineer to
approve a one-year extension to the initial one-year construction time
frame, except for permits issued for federally authorized water projects.
The bill also removes the requirement that the commission or state
engineer must mail a certified letter to the permit holder before a permit
can be formally expired. The bill allows the commission or state engineer
to reinstate an expired permit if the applicant for reinstatement of the
permit can show that the well was completed in a timely manner and
submits a $30 fee.
Under current law, the division engineer of each water division is
required to decennially present to the water court a list of water rights that
meet the criteria for abandonment. The bill splits this decennial
abandonment process into 2 batches, grouped by water division and
spaced 5 years apart, beginning with 2030 and 2035. The bill maintains
the requirement that the abandonment process be performed every 10
years in each water division.
The bill extends certain time frames relating to the well permitting
process. Lastly, the bill eliminates final permitting requirements for
non-Denver Basin bedrock aquifer wells in the designated basins.

Beginning January 1, 2026, the bill requires a local government
that adopts or substantially amends a building code to ensure that the
building code meets or exceeds the accessibility standards in international
building codes.
The bill also requires the division of fire prevention and control
within the department of public safety to ensure that, when certain
building codes pertaining to public school and heath facilities are
substantially amended, the codes meet or exceed accessibility standards
in international building codes.
The bill requires the state housing board to ensure that, when the
uniform construction and maintenance standards for hotels, motels, and
multiple dwellings in jurisdictions with no local building code are
substantially updated, the standards meet or exceed the accessibility
standards in international building codes. The bill also requires the state
housing board to ensure that, when the recommendations for uniform
housing standards and building codes to the general assembly and local
governments are substantially updated, the codes meet or exceed the
accessibility standards in international building codes.

The bill requires the executive director of the department of public
health and environment (department) to establish a workforce advisory
council (council) on or before August 1, 2025, for the purposes of:
  • Discussing recommendations concerning the incorporation
of workforce impact analyses into the rule-making
procedures for rules that impact air quality;
  • Recommending standard procedures for the department and
the air quality control commission (commission) to follow
when conducting workforce impact analyses for inclusion
in rule-making procedures; and
  • Determining if the establishment of a full-time workforce
advocate position would add value to the air quality control
rule-making process.
The bill requires the department to report the council's
recommendations to the general assembly on or before January 15, 2026.
After January 15, 2026, the council is required to:
  • Meet at least 4 times per year;
  • Continue to advise the department on the impact of
proposed air quality control rules on matters related to
employment; and
  • Make ongoing recommendations to the governor, the
department, and the commission on legislative and
regulatory air quality control policies that impact
employment matters.

Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee.
Backflow is the reverse flow of water, fluid, or gas caused by back
pressure or back siphonage. Under current law, individuals who are
engaged in the business of installing, removing, inspecting, testing, or
repairing backflow prevention devices are subject to the licensure
requirements for plumbers, except when the individuals are installing or
testing a stand-alone fire suppression sprinkler system.
The bill exempts individuals engaged in the business of inspecting,
testing, or repairing backflow prevention devices from licensure
requirements but retains the licensure requirements for individuals
engaged in the installation or removal of the devices.

Section 2 of the bill:
  • Prohibits a person from offering, displaying, or advertising
pricing information for a good, service, or property unless
the person discloses the maximum total (total price) of all
amounts that a person may pay for the good, service, or
property, not including a government charge or shipping
charge (total price disclosure requirement);
  • Prohibits a person from misrepresenting the nature and
purpose of pricing information for a good, service, or
property;
  • Requires a person to disclose the nature and purpose of
pricing information for a good, service, or property that is
not part of the total price; and
  • Prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to pay certain
fees, charges, or amounts.
A person does not violate the total price disclosure requirement if
the person does not use deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable acts or
practices related to the pricing of goods, services, or property and if the
person:
  • Is a food and beverage service establishment that:
  • Includes a disclosure in the total price for a good or
service the amount of any mandatory service charge
and how the mandatory service charge is
distributed; and
  • Distributes any mandatory service charge
exclusively to nonmanagerial employees in
accordance with applicable laws; or
  • Can demonstrate that the person is governed by and
compliant with applicable federal law regarding pricing
transparency.
A violation of the above prohibitions and requirement (violation)
constitutes a deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable act or practice.
Section 2 also, along with any other remedies available by law or
in equity, allows a person aggrieved by a violation to bring a civil action
and send a written demand for the violation. If a person declines to make
full legal tender of all fees, charges, amounts, or damages demanded or
refuses to cease charging the aggrieved person within 14 days after
receiving the written demand, the person is liable for the greater of:
  • 3 times the actual damages incurred; or
  • At least $100 to no more than $1,000 per person per
violation.
Current law prohibits a written rental agreement from including a
provision requiring a tenant to pay a markup or fee for a service for which
the landlord is billed by a third party. Section 3 changes that provision to
prohibit the inclusion of a provision in a written rental agreement that
requires a tenant to pay a fee that is a violation.

Current law preempts any local governmental entity housing
growth restriction (anti-growth law) that explicitly limits the growth of
the population in the local governmental entity's jurisdiction or the
number of development permits or building permit applications for
residential development unless it is a temporary, nonrenewable
anti-growth law following a declared disaster emergency.
The bill clarifies that an anti-growth law also includes any
restriction that explicitly seeks to impose additional restrictions or
limitations on a particular housing type that exceed a governmental
entity's zoning or building codes.
The bill also clarifies when a local government must provide the
option of paying a fee in lieu of land dedication for a private property
owner whose property does not meet the local government's standards for
dedication.

In the 2024 regular legislative session, the general assembly
enacted Senate Bill 24-005, which:
  • Prohibits a local entity, on and after January 1, 2026, from
installing, planting, or placing, or allowing any person to
install, plant, or place, any nonfunctional turf, artificial turf,
or invasive plant species, as part of a new development
project or redevelopment project, on any portion of
applicable property within the local entity's jurisdiction;
and
  • Requires a local entity, on or before January 1, 2026, to
enact or amend ordinances, resolutions, regulations, or
other laws regulating new development projects and
redevelopment projects on applicable property in
accordance with the new requirements.
For the purposes of Senate Bill 24-005, the bill expands the
definition of applicable property to include residential real property that
is used for apartment or condominium housing (applicable residential real
property).
The bill also requires each local entity to enact or amend, on or
before January 1, 2028, ordinances, resolutions, regulations, or other laws
regulating new development projects and redevelopment projects within
the local entity's jurisdiction to limit the installation of turf for all
residential real property that is not applicable residential real property.
Local entities must also impose limits on the installation of turf when
enacting or amending ordinances, resolutions, regulations, or other laws
on and after January 1, 2028.

The bill authorizes the Colorado water conservation board (board)
to administer a water supply measurement and forecasting program to
collect and disseminate data on snowpack levels, investigate
technological advances in snowpack measurement and water supply
forecasting, and collect other data that the board determines will assist in
those efforts.

The bill authorizes the owner of a trailer to register the trailer for
as long as the person owns the trailer. The trailer must be class B or class
C personal property. To register the trailer, the owner must pay:
  • 10 years of specific ownership tax; and
  • $24.50 to cover fees.
Upon the transfer of ownership of the trailer, the owner is required
to notify the department of revenue of the transfer. The department will
notify the owner of this requirement. If the owner fails to make the
notification, the department may suspend the person's authority to register
a trailer under the bill for 3 years. Procedures are set for implementing the
suspension.

Under current law, common interest communities are encouraged
to use mediation prior to filing a complaint with the court. The bill
requires a dispute between a unit owner and a unit owners' association to
go through an internal dispute resolution process and mediation before the
parties can file a complaint with the court. If the parties are unable to
reach a mediation agreement, the bill allows the parties to undergo
arbitration or commence a legal proceeding.

The bill requires a subject jurisdiction, on or after December 31,
2026, to allow a residential development to be constructed on a qualifying
property that does not contain an exempt parcel, subject to an
administrative approval process.
The bill specifies that a subject jurisdiction shall not:
  • Disallow construction of a residential development on the
basis of height if the tallest structure in the residential
development is no more than 3 stories or 45 feet tall;
  • Disallow construction of a residential development on the
basis of height if the tallest structure in the residential
development complies with the height-related standards for
the zoning district in which the residential development
will be built or any zoning district that is contiguous to the
qualifying property on which the residential development
will be built;
  • Disallow construction of a residential development based
on the number of dwelling units that the residential
development will contain, except in accordance with
standards listed in the bill; or
  • Apply standards to a residential development on a
qualifying property that are more restrictive than the
standards the subject jurisdiction applies to similar housing
constructed within the subject jurisdiction, including
standards related to structure setbacks from property lines;
lot coverage or open space; on-site parking requirements;
numbers of bedrooms in a multifamily residential
development; or on-site landscaping, screening, and
buffering requirements.
A subject jurisdiction shall allow the following uses in a
residential development on a qualifying property:
  • Childcare; and
  • The provision of recreational, social, or educational
services provided by community organizations for use by
the residents of the residential development and the
surrounding community.
A subject jurisdiction may condition additional uses in a residential
development on the uses being allowed only on the ground floor of the
residential development and the uses occupying no more than 15% of the
ground floor area of the residential development.
The bill requires a faith-based organization, school district, or state
college or university to notify the county assessor that a subject
jurisdiction has allowed the construction of a residential development on
a qualifying property within the county.

A tap fee is a fee that is paid by a developer or property owner in
order to connect a property to a public water or sewer system. Current law
allows the board (board) of any sanitation, water and sanitation, or water
district (water district) to impose and set the amount of a tap fee.
The bill states that a board has a duty to provide water service if
the water district has the capacity to do so. The bill also requires a board,
in determining the amount of a tap fee, to:
  • Ensure that the amount of the tap fee is reasonably related
to the costs incurred by the water district in providing water
service, which may include costs relating to the acquisition
of water rights; and
  • Take into consideration as supporting a reduced or
proportional tap fee at least 2 of the following factors:
  • Expected long-term water usage, both indoor and
outdoor;
  • The square footage of the unit;
  • The presence of low-water-usage appliances, if
applicable;
  • The number of bedrooms and bathrooms; and
  • The presence of graywater treatment works, if
applicable.

In an action against a construction professional, section 2 of the
bill requires the construction professional to provide the claimant or the
claimant's legal representative with:
  • Copies of all plans, specifications, soils reports, and
available engineering calculations;
  • Any maintenance and preventive maintenance
recommendations;
  • The name, last-known address, and scope of work of each
construction professional that performed work or services;
and
  • Copies of all insurance policies held by the construction
professional during the appropriate time.
The construction professional may charge reasonable copying costs for
the documents. Failure to provide the identifying information of the other
construction professionals bars the construction professional from
designating the unidentified construction professionals as nonparties at
fault in any subsequent action.
Section 3 requires a court to award prejudgement interest of 8%
to a prevailing claimant who alleges defects in a residential property
construction.
Section 5 voids a provision in a real estate contract that:
  • Prohibits group lawsuits against a construction
professional; or
  • Imposes different or additional requirements than the
statutory requirements to bring or join a legal action.
Section 6 changes the time when a claim of relief arises, for the
purposes of the statute of limitation and repose, to include both the
discovery of the physical manifestation and the cause of the defect.
Current law authorizes, subject to the requirements of the common
interest community's (community) declarations, a community to engage
in certain actions, such as instituting, defending, or intervening in
litigation or administrative proceedings on matters affecting the
community. Section 7 exempts an association's authority to institute,
defend, or intervene in litigation proceedings concerning construction
defects from the requirement that the action be subject to the declaration.
Section 8 requires the department of regulatory agencies to include
in its SMART Act report information concerning construction liability
insurance and the basis for rates.

The bill updates energy use benchmarking and performance
standard requirements for owners of certain buildings (covered building
owners), including:
  • A requirement to meet 2040 performance standards, as
adopted by the air quality control commission, in
consultation with the Colorado energy office (office) and
in consideration of recommendations made by a task force
convened by the office;
  • Authorizing an alternative compliance mechanism for
covered building owners to comply with certain
performance standards; and
  • Aligning civil penalties owed for a violation of the
benchmarking and performance standard requirements with
civil penalties owed for other air quality violations.
The bill also creates a building decarbonization enterprise
(enterprise) to provide financial assistance, technical assistance, and other
programmatic assistance to covered building owners to effectively and
efficiently implement building decarbonization measures, including
energy efficiency measures, electrification measures, energy upgrades,
and participation in utility on-bill repayment programs. The enterprise is
authorized to impose and collect from covered building owners an annual
building decarbonization fee to cover the enterprise's costs in providing
the financial, technical, and programmatic assistance.
The bill exempts a local government that adopts building codes
from the requirement to adopt an energy code if the local government has
adopted an approved wildfire resiliency code.

For construction of middle market housing, section 3 of the bill
requires a person filing a construction defect action against an architect
or engineer to file with the complaint an affidavit of a third-party licensed
professional indicating the negligence or other action, error, or omission
of the construction professional. Section 3 also establishes a rebuttable
presumption that a property does not have a construction defect when a
state agency or local government has issued a certificate of occupancy for
the property.
Section 4:
  • Establishes a claimant's duty to mitigate an alleged
construction defect and specifies how a claimant may
satisfy this duty and the consequences to a claimant that
fails to satisfy this duty;
  • Requires that a construction professional must send or
deliver to the claimant an offer to settle the claim or a
written response that identifies the standards that apply to
the claim and explains why the defect does not require
repair; and
  • Requires a construction professional who is the defendant
in a construction defects action to submit specified
information to the claimant.
Section 5 updates the statute of limitations for construction defect
claims to 10 years unless the construction professional provided the
consumer with a warranty that meets the requirements of the bill, in
which case the statute of limitations is 6 years. Section 6 tolls the statute
of limitations or repose during a claimant's mitigation of an alleged
construction defect claim brought for the construction of middle market
housing.
Section 7 allows a construction professional that meets specified
requirements to use certain affirmative defenses in construction claims
brought against the construction professional for the construction of
middle market housing.
Current law requires the executive board of a unit owners'
association (executive board) to obtain approval from a majority of
owners before initiating a construction defect claim on behalf of the
owners. Section 8 increases the approval amount to 65%. Section 8 also
requires an executive board that is successful in a construction defect
claim to first use monetary damages received as a result of the claim to
repair the construction defect.

The bill requires employers to implement protections for workers
who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the worksite,
including temperature mitigation measures, rest breaks, and
temperature-related injury and illness prevention plans.

In a dispute in a workers' compensation claim, current law requires
a claimant to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the claimant's
entitlement to medical benefits. When the dispute concerns whether the
medical treatment recommended by an authorized treating physician is
reasonable, necessary, and related to the claimant's injury, the bill shifts
the burden of proof from the claimant to the claimant's employer or the
employer's workers' compensation insurer.
The bill provides injured workers control over the selection of
their primary treating physician in workers' compensation cases, allowing
them to choose from any level I or level II accredited physician through
the division of workers' compensation. The bill creates the mechanism by
which an injured worker may select the treating physician and requires
the employer or insurer to choose the physician when an injured worker
is unable or unwilling to select the treating physician.

The bill provides that after the state housing board (board) adopts
rules about any activity required to undertake or complete the
construction or installation of a factory-built nonresidential structure, a
factory-built residential structure, or a factory-built tiny home
(factory-built structure), the state plumbing board, the state electrical
board, and the state fire suppression administrator do not have jurisdiction
over and their rules do not apply to a factory-built structure.
On or before July 1, 2026, the advisory committee on factory-built
structures (advisory committee) is required to develop regional building
codes for factory-built structures and implementation requirements and
submit the recommended codes to the board.
On or before July 1, 2026, the board must adopt rules:
  • Implementing regional building code recommendations
from the advisory committee that account for local climatic
and geographic conditions for the construction and
installation of factory-built structures, which supersede any
conflicting ordinance, code, regulation, or other law of a
local government unless the local government adopts the
rules of the board;
  • Covering the implementation requirements developed by
the advisory committee, including authorizing a local
government certified by the division of housing (division)
to perform inspections of factory-built structures on behalf
of the division and registration, responsibility, and
accountability requirements for a manufacturer, installer,
seller, or general contractor who develops the installation
site or completes the construction of a factory-built
structure at the installation site;
  • Covering electrical, plumbing, or fire suppression activity
required to undertake or complete the construction or
installation of a factory-built structure;
  • Allowing the division to contract for third-party review and
approval of a final design plan for a factory-built structure
on behalf of the division;
  • Allowing the division to create a process for vetting and
approving the ability of a third party to review and approve
a final design plan for a factory-built structure on behalf of
the division; and
  • Requiring the division to cause an audit to be performed on
a third party that reviews and approves design plans.
On or before July 1, 2026, the advisory committee is required to conduct
a study on behalf of the division about whether the international building
code or residential code standards that apply to site requirements should
be incorporated into state statutes and rules and to determine whether the
state should regulate non-factory-built components that are connected to
a factory-built structure at the installation site and are currently under
local jurisdiction. The division is required to deliver the study to the board
when complete.
A county or municipality may not:
  • Enact a regulation that excludes factory-built structures and
manufactured homes from the county or municipality;
  • Impose more restrictive standards on factory-built
structures and manufactured homes than those that the
county or municipality applies to site-built homes in the
same residential zones in the county or municipality; or
  • Enact or enforce a regulation, law, or ordinance affecting
the installation or construction of a factory-built structure
or manufactured home.
A county or municipality may:
  • Enact land use regulations to the extent that the regulations
are applicable to existing housing or structures or new
site-built housing in the county or municipality; and
  • Enact a building code provision for unique public safety
requirements unless the provision applies to a factory-built
structure or manufactured home.
A county or municipality must comply with the requirements established
by the division for factory-built structures and by the United States
department of housing and urban development for manufactured homes.
The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $600,000 on July 1,
2025, from the innovative housing incentive program fund to the building
regulation fund.

The bill eliminates the requirement for a second election to
negotiate a union security agreement clause in the collective bargaining
process.

Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force. Currently, the
department of revenue (department) does not have authority to allow a
sales and use tax license and a sales and use tax exemption certificate to
be searchable by the name and identification number of the sales and use
tax licensee or the sales and use tax exemption certificate holder. The bill
directs the department's executive director to allow this type of search.

Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee. Under
current law, owners of certain large buildings (covered buildings) are
required to annually collect and report each covered building's energy use
to the Colorado energy office.
The bill clarifies that agricultural buildings are not covered
buildings, and, therefore, owners of agricultural buildings are exempt
from the energy use collecting and reporting requirements. The bill
defines an agricultural building as a building or structure used to house
agricultural implements, hay, unprocessed grain, poultry, livestock, or
other agricultural products or inputs.

Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee. The bill
creates the future of severance taxes and water funding task force (task
force).
The department of natural resources is required to contract with a
third party to conduct a study on severance taxes and water funding and
develop recommendations for ways to continue funding water needs in
the face of decreasing severance tax revenue (study). The purpose of the
task force is to work with the third party to conduct the study and develop
recommendations.
No later than January 15, 2026, the third party must submit a draft
report, detailing the results of the study and any recommendations, to the
department of natural resources and the task force for review. The task
force is required to provide input on the draft report. No later than July
15, 2026, the third party must submit a final report, which incorporates
the input of the task force, to the water resources and agriculture review
committee (committee). The task force must present the final report to the
committee during the 2026 legislative interim.

Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force. Section 1 of the
bill establishes uniform confidentiality standards for the protection of
taxpayer information used or obtained in connection with a sales or use
tax investigation performed by a third-party auditor on behalf of a local
taxing jurisdiction. Third-party auditors are generally prohibited from
divulging or making known in any way to any person information that is
obtained from a sales or use tax investigation on behalf of a local taxing
jurisdiction or disclosed in any document, report, or return filed in
connection with local sales or use taxes. Third-party auditors are
permitted to disclose taxpayer information in certain limited
circumstances, including disclosure to:
  • An official, employee, hearing officer, attorney, or other
public agent of the local taxing jurisdiction who is
authorized to receive such information in connection with
the local taxing jurisdiction's sales or use tax investigation
performed by the third-party auditor;
  • A requesting taxpayer, or the taxpayer's authorized agent,
of the taxpayer's own tax filings;
  • The department of revenue (department) for purposes of
statistical analysis and publication as authorized by current
law; and
  • The department and the federal internal revenue service as
necessary and pertinent to a taxpayer's compliance or
failure to comply with state or federal tax law.
Violation of the confidentiality provisions in section 1 is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 per violation.
Section 2 clarifies the authority of the executive director of the
department to share taxpayer information with statutory local
governments, special districts, and requesting home rule jurisdictions as
necessary to facilitate dispute resolution, coordination, intergovernmental
agreements, and information sharing between the department and such
local governments consistent with current law, which prohibits the
disclosure of any such shared information to any third party.

Joint Budget Committee. For money appropriated to the
Colorado state university system for use by the Colorado state forest
service to renovate and expand the seedling tree nursery, the bill extends
the spending authority through the 2026-27 state fiscal year.

The bill repeals current state law provisions that, in part, govern
agricultural workers' key service providers' access to private property.

With regard to the family and medical leave insurance program
(program), section 1 of the bill extends the duration of paid family and
medical leave, up to an additional 12 weeks, for a parent who has a child
receiving inpatient care in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Section 2 changes the premiums financing the payment of program
benefits by extending the current premium amount, 0.9% of wages per
employee, through 2025 and setting the premium amount for the 2026
calendar year at 0.88% of wages per employee. For each subsequent
calendar year, the director of the division of family and medical leave
insurance (director) in the department of labor and employment is
required set the premium on or before November 1 of the preceding year.
The director is required to set the premium in a manner such that:
  • At the end of the year, the balance of the family and
medical leave insurance fund (fund) is not less than 6
months' worth of projected expenditures from the fund
required for performance of the functions and duties of the
director;
  • The volatility of the premium rate is minimized; and
  • The premium amount does not exceed 1.2% of wages per
employee.

The bill establishes that certain evidence that a person has engaged
in an unfair or deceptive trade practice constitutes a significant impact to
the public. The bill also clarifies that a deceptive trade practice claim
cannot be based solely on a claim that a person breached a contract or
engaged in negligence or on a claim for damages based on the rendering
of professional services, unless the claim for damages involves an
allegation of a material misrepresentation of fact, a failure to disclose
material information, or an action that cannot be characterized as
providing advice, judgment, or opinion.

The bill requires an organization, defined in the bill as a battery
stewardship organization, to, no later than July 1, 2026, and every 5 years
thereafter, submit to the executive director of the department of public
health and environment (executive director) a battery stewardship plan
(plan), which is a plan for the collection, transportation, processing, and
recycling of certain batteries.
On and after August 1, 2026, a producer selling, making available
for sale, or distributing certain batteries or battery-containing products in
or into the state must participate in and finance a battery stewardship
organization that has submitted a plan to the executive director. On and
after July 1, 2028, a retailer is prohibited from selling, offering for sale,
distributing, or otherwise making available for sale certain batteries or
battery-containing products in the state, unless the producer of the
batteries or battery-containing products is participating in a battery
stewardship organization that has an approved plan. A retailer is
prohibited from charging a point-of-sale fee to consumers to cover the
costs of a battery stewardship organization.
The bill specifies what a plan must contain to be approved by the
executive director, including, among other things, contact information for
participating producers, performance goals, and methods to promote
participation in the plan and increase public awareness of the battery
stewardship program (program) that will be implemented by the battery
stewardship organization pursuant to the plan. In addition, a plan must
detail how the battery stewardship organization will arrange for the
collection of certain batteries by establishing collection sites that are
freely available to any person.
A battery stewardship organization implementing an approved plan
is required to develop and administer a system to collect charges from
participating producers to cover the costs of implementing the program.
In addition, a battery stewardship organization, in consultation with the
department of public health and environment (department) and interested
stakeholders, must complete an assessment of the opportunities and
challenges associated with the end-of-life management of certain
batteries, which assessment must be submitted to the general assembly on
or before October 1, 2027.
On or before June 1, 2028, and on or before each June 1 thereafter,
a battery stewardship organization with an approved plan must submit an
annual report to the executive director, which report must include certain
information about the preceding year of plan implementation. The bill
also requires a battery stewardship organization to carry out promotional
activities to increase public awareness of the program. Battery
stewardship organizations with approved plans must coordinate to
conduct a survey of public awareness of the programs and share the
results of the survey with the executive director as part of the annual
reports.
On or before December 1, 2026, and on or before each December
1 thereafter, the department must provide each battery stewardship
organization with an accounting of the organization's portion of the costs
in administering a program, and the battery stewardship organization is
required to pay to the department an annual fee based on the department's
accounting by July 1 of each year. Fees will be credited to the battery
stewardship fund created in the state treasury.
The bill requires a producer or retailer to mark certain batteries
with labels that:
  • Identify the producer of the batteries; and
  • Include certain information to ensure the proper collection
and recycling of the batteries.
Beginning January 1, 2029, a person is required to manage certain
unwanted batteries through delivery to a collection site, event, or program
established by a battery stewardship program. A person is prohibited from
disposing of certain batteries in a landfill.
A producer or battery stewardship organization that violates any
of the bill's requirements is liable for a civil penalty of $7,000 per
violation; except that a battery stewardship organization that fails to pay
a fee required by the department pursuant to the bill's requirements is
liable for a civil penalty that is double the applicable fee.

The bill clarifies that construction professionals owe an
independent tort duty of care to construct residential homes in a
non-defective and reasonable manner, and that this duty is owed equally
to original and subsequent residential home purchasers.