This bill will implement Proposition 130 (approved by voters in November 2024), which directs the state to provide $350 million in funding to local law enforcement and to establish a $1 million death benefit for families of first responders killed in the line of duty.
Peace Officer Training and Support Fund
Creates a new Peace Officer Training and Support Fund.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) will manage this fund and adopt rules by January 15, 2026, to ensure that funds are used for permissible purposes, including:
Recruitment and hiring of peace officers
Training and continuing education
Targeted staffing for crime or geographic needs
Compensation enhancements for officers
Funding Distribution Formula (Starting July 1, 2026)
DPS will annually distribute:
$15,000 base amount per law enforcement agency
Plus an amount multiplied by the number of budgeted peace officers, deputy sheriffs (uncertified), and detention officers
Use restrictions:
Funds may not supplant or supplement existing local spending
Local governments must document compliance in their annual audits
DPS is required to review those audits
Funding Sources and Flow Mechanism
July 1, 2025: State Treasurer issues a $500 million warrant to PERA (Public Employees' Retirement Association)
July 1, 2026: State transfers $15 million to launch the Peace Officer fund
Starting July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter until the $350 million is fully transferred:
Transfers equal to PERA’s investment earnings on the $500M (up to $35M/year) are made to the Peace Officer Fund
If earnings are below $15M, the state must still transfer at least $15M/year
General fund reserve floor: The $500M is counted toward the General Fund reserve, which the legislature cannot lower below $1 billion without also reducing PERA distributions
$1 Million Death Benefit for First Responders
Creates a First Responder Death Benefit Fund
Applies to deaths on or after Nov. 5, 2024, caused by:
Injuries in the line of duty
Occupational diseases from service
State Treasurer must:
Transfer $5 million on July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2027
Maintain a $10 million balance annually thereafter
Survivors receiving the $1 million benefit may exclude it from Colorado state income tax (unless already excluded federally)
Implementation Support and Rulemaking
DPS must provide technical assistance to local law enforcement and governments
Executive director of DPS may adopt rules as needed for implementation
OVERALL EFFECT
Delivers a major state funding boost to local law enforcement agencies for staffing, training, and retention
Establishes a long-term, guaranteed death benefit for first responder families
Protects core state reserves while ensuring steady funding via PERA investment returns
Adds new state oversight, compliance reporting, and auditing requirements to safeguard the use of public funds
Summary
Joint Budget Committee. At the November 2024 statewide
election, voters approved proposition 130, which requires the state to provide $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies to improve recruitment, training, and retention of local law enforcement officers and to provide a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who is killed in the line of duty. The bill modifies and implements proposition 130.
The bill creates the peace officer training and support fund (fund). The bill establishes a formula by which the department of public safety (department) disburses $350 million in additional funding to local law enforcement agencies from the fund for permissible purposes. Permissible purposes include the recruitment of peace officers, the hiring of additional peace officers to address specific geographic areas or specific types of criminal activity, the initial and continuing education and training for peace officers, and the compensation of peace officers. No later than January 15, 2026, the department is required to adopt policies and procedures to assist in the determination whether the expenditure of money received from the fund is for a permissible purpose.
Beginning July 1, 2026, the formula requires the department to
disburse an amount to each law enforcement agency equal to the total of $15,000 and an amount multiplied by the number of P.O.S.T-certified officers, noncertified deputy sheriffs, and detention officers budgeted by a local government for the law enforcement agency. Law enforcement agencies and local governments may not use these funds to supplant or supplement other spending. Local governments must include evidence of compliance with the supplanting and supplementing requirement in their annual audit and provide a copy of this audit to the department. The department must review an audit provided by a local government for compliance with the requirements of the bill.
The bill also establishes funding for the fund. First, the bill directs
the state treasurer to transfer $15 million from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2026. Second, the bill directs the state treasurer to issue a warrant from the general fund of $500 million to the public employees' retirement association (PERA) on July 1, 2025. Beginning July 1, 2027, until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund:
•
The amount of each annual direct distribution made by the state to PERA is reduced by the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million; and
•
The state treasurer annually transfers an amount equal to the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million, up to a maximum of $35 million, from the general fund to the fund.
However, beginning July 1, 2027, and each July 1 thereafter until the state treasurer has transferred a total of $350 million from the general fund to the fund, the state treasurer is required to transfer at least $15 million from the general fund to the fund regardless of the amount of PERA's earnings from the $500 million.
The bill clarifies that the $500 million in the warrant that the state
treasurer transfers to PERA is included in the general fund reserve. Accordingly, the bill prohibits a future general assembly from lowering the general fund reserve to an amount less than $1 billion. If the general assembly does so reduce the reserve, the general assembly shall also make corresponding reductions to the direct distributions made by the state to PERA. The bill also requires the governor to adjust general fund expenditures so that they do not result in the general fund reserve being reduced to an amount less than $1 billion.
The bill establishes a process by which the department distributes
a $1 million death benefit to the family of a first responder who dies on or after November 5, 2024, as either the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained while performing official duties as a first responder or because of an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of the first responder's employment or service as a first responder. These payments are paid out of the death benefit fund, which is created in the bill. The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $5 million from the general fund to the death benefit fund on both July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, and to make annual transfers from the general fund thereafter as necessary to ensure that the fund maintains a balance of $10 million. The bill also requires a survivor of an eligible first responder to deduct an amount equal to these payments from their federal taxable income for the purpose of determining their state income tax liability unless the survivor qualifies for a corresponding federal income tax deduction.
The bill also requires the department to provide technical
assistance to law enforcement agencies and local governments in complying with the requirements of the bill and allows the executive director of the department to adopt rules as necessary to implement the bill.
