The act:

• 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;
• Prohibits an employer from making a payroll deduction below a worker's applicable minimum wage;
• 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; and
• Requires a court to find that an employee pursued a wage claim that lacked substantial justification before awarding an employer reasonable costs and attorney fees in a civil action for unpaid wages or compensation. 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. The act increases this threshold over the years by increasing the maximum 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. The act 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 was willful and 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 of the unremedied willful violation.

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 the employer's license, permit, registration, or other credential. The act also repeals language requiring the division to issue a determination on a wage complaint within 90 days and clarifies that a city or county may enact and enforce wage laws within the city or county's jurisdiction.

An employer found to have misclassified an employee as a nonemployee must 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.

The act 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. The act expands this provision to specify additional protected behavior and expands the prohibition to include other persons in addition to employers.

The act 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 it is a violation to use an individual's immigration status to discriminate or retaliate against an employee or worker who has engaged in protected activity; and
• Allows the division to order reasonable attorney fees and costs after investigating a discrimination or retaliation claim.

Between August 1, 2027, and October 1, 2027, the division must report to the joint budget committee on its progress in implementing the act.

In state fiscal year 2025-26, $328,210 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the division to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a person engages in an unfair and unconscionable act or practice in violation of consumer protection laws if the person engages in price gouging during a declared disaster emergency. The act provides that a person engages in price gouging in the sale or offer for sale of certain goods or services if, after the governor declares a disaster emergency, which declaration may be based on a market disruption, the price of the good or service is increased by 10% or more above the price at which a similar good or service was sold or offered for sale before the disaster began. The act also establishes that seasonal pricing is not considered unreasonably excessive pricing and therefore is not price gouging.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act:

• Prohibits a person from offering, displaying, or advertising pricing information for a good, service, or property unless the person clearly and conspicuously 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 unless voluntarily included (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 clearly and conspicuously 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 or including in a written rental agreement a provision that requires the tenant to pay a fee, charge, or amount that is prohibited by the act.

A person complies with the disclosure requirements 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;
• Can demonstrate that the total price of services the person offers is indeterminate at the time of the offer and clearly and conspicuously discloses the factors that determine the total price, any mandatory fees associated with the transaction, and that the total price may vary;
• Can demonstrate that the person is governed by and compliant with applicable federal law, rule, or regulation regarding pricing transparency for the particular transaction at issue;
• Can demonstrate that any fees, costs, or amounts in addition to the total price are associated with real estate settlement services and are not broker commissions or fees;
• Can demonstrate that the person is providing broadband internet access service or is a cable operator or broadcast satellite provider and is compliant with specified federal law; or
• Is a delivery network company that clearly and conspicuously discloses that an additional flat fee, variable fee, or percentage fee is charged, any mandatory fees associated with the transaction, and that the total price for the services may vary and complies with other requirements related to disclosure of the additional fee.

A landlord or landlord's agent is not required to include, in the required disclosure, the actual amount charged for utility services provided to a tenant's dwelling unit. Additionally, a person is exempt from the act if the person is governed by federal law that preempts state law.

A violation of the act constitutes a deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable act or practice and is subject to penalties under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". In addition to any other remedies available by law or in equity, in a dispute regarding property, a person aggrieved by a violation may send a written demand to the alleged violator:

• For reimbursement of any fee, charge, or amount unlawfully imposed and for any actual damages suffered; or
• To notify the alleged violator of their refusal to pay a prohibited fee, charge, or amount unlawfully imposed.

If an alleged violator 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 actual damages plus 18% interest, compounded annually.

The attorney general may adopt rules to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires an insurer that issues or renews an automobile insurance policy to include in the applicable coverage the replacement cost of a child restraint system that is in a motor vehicle at the time of a motor vehicle accident and to which the coverage is applicable. The act requires the insurer to ask a claimant if a child restraint system was in the motor vehicle at the time of the accident and, if so, requires the applicable coverage to cover the cost of its replacement.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a property insurer that uses a wildfire risk model, a catastrophe model, or a scoring method to assign risk to:

• For the purposes of underwriting homeowners and other property insurance policies, adhere to specific requirements to share information with the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) and the public, include specific activities in the models, and provide notices to policyholders;
• Submit available data concerning the models and scoring method as required by rule of the commissioner to the division of insurance as part of the insurer's rate filings; and
• Ensure that specific factors are either incorporated in the wildfire risk model, catastrophe model, or combination of models or are otherwise demonstrably included in the insurer's underwriting and pricing.

If an insurer does not incorporate property-specific and community-level mitigation actions into its models, the act requires the insurer to provide discounts to policyholders who demonstrate actions taken on the property to reduce the risk of loss.

The act requires an insurer to post on its website information regarding premium savings that are available to policyholders who undertake property-specific mitigation actions or provide evidence of community-level mitigation actions and the process for appealing a wildfire risk score.

The act requires an insurer that provides a mitigation discount or that uses a wildfire risk model or risk score to underwrite, nonrenew, price, create a rate differential, or surcharge the premium based upon the policyholder's or applicant's wildfire risk to provide an annual written notice to each policyholder or applicant for property insurance of the applicable mitigation discounts, the wildfire risk score, and any other wildfire risk classification used by the insurer to underwrite the policyholder's or applicant's wildfire risk. The insurer is required to provide the wildfire risk score or classification to the policyholder or applicant. The act authorizes the policyholder and applicant to appeal the score or classification directly to the insurer.

The act authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Colorado law sets fees for the titling and registration of vehicles and authorizes county clerks, as authorized agents of the department of revenue (department), to retain a portion of these fees to cover their costs. The department must increase these fees to account for inflation, but the department must not increase a fee by more than 5% per year.

Colorado law authorizes a county clerk to set fees for shipping and handling of license plates. The act authorizes the county clerk to set fees for the shipping and handling of motor vehicle documents. The county clerk is authorized to set and publish the fee by October 15 for registration periods beginning January 1 of the following year.

The act allows an owner to select a vehicle registration period that is less than one year for any reason. The request for a shortened registration period may be made only one time in the 12 months after the transaction date.

Colorado law requires a salvage vehicle's title to have a brand that says "rebuilt from salvage". The act requires this brand to include a disclosure statement, which must:

• Include the reason the vehicle is salvage, as listed in statute;
• Contain a statement from the owner stating the nature of the damage that resulted in the determination that the vehicle is a salvage vehicle; and
• Contain the signature of the seller and buyer to sell the salvage vehicle.

Colorado law requires the seller of a salvage vehicle to provide a disclosure statement of the fact and have it signed, and, if the buyer does not know about the vehicle being rebuilt from salvage, the buyer is entitled to a refund. The act requires this disclosure statement and the buyer to be provided the refund only if the title of a salvage vehicle does not have the brand on the title or the vehicle is subject to multiple assignments.

Colorado law provides the option to have a rebuilder's certificate of title when a motor vehicle is a collector's item, the applicant is unable to provide appropriate evidence of ownership, and the applicant posts a bond. The act authorizes the department to issue a rebuilder's certificate of title to people who can prove ownership and changes the process to require only one bond.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act specifies that the fair access to insurance requirements plan association (association) is not:

• A department, unit, agency, political subdivision, or instrumentality of the state; or
• An insurance company or a person engaged in the business of insurance.

The act also grants a member insurer, the association and its agents or employees, the board of directors of the association, and the commissioner of insurance or the commissioner's representatives immunity for any action taken by them in the performance of their powers and duties for the association. The act specifies that the only causes of action and remedies available to a policyholder of a fair access to insurance requirements plan policy against the association is for breach of contract or breach of the common law covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Colorado law prohibits an insurer from refusing to insure or increasing a premium for a homeowners insurance policy or a dwelling fire insurance policy based on the breed or mixture of breeds of a dog that is kept at a dwelling unless the dog is known to be dangerous or has been declared to be dangerous. The act adds that this provision applies to all residential structures used for a residence and occupied by an owner or renter.

The "Colorado Housing Act of 1970" provides financing for building or rehabilitating affordable housing. The act requires each housing development that receives financing to authorize tenants of the affordable housing to own or keep one or 2 dogs or cats, subject to reasonable conditions as defined by the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

For construction of multifamily, attached housing of 2 or more units, the act creates the multifamily construction incentive program (program). A builder may chose to participate in the program by:

• Providing a warranty that covers any defect and damage at no cost to the homeowner for specified periods;
• Having a third-party inspection performed on the property; and
• Recording a notice of election to participate in the program in the real property records before the property is offered for sale.

For construction defect claims brought for the construction of housing for which the builder is a participant in the program, the act:

• Requires a claimant to file a certificate of review with the complaint, if the complaint is against an architect or engineer;
• Limits actions to claims that have resulted in: Actual damage to real or personal property; actual loss of the use of real or personal property; actual bodily injury or wrongful death; an unreasonable reduction in the capability of, or an actual failure of, a building component to perform an intended function or purpose; or an unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential property; and
• 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.

For all construction defect claims, the act:

• 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 a construction professional who is the defendant in a construction defect action to submit specified information to the claimant;
• Prohibits an insurer from cancelling, denying, or reducing coverage based on any claim for benefits covered by an existing liability insurance policy issued to a construction professional based on the construction professional's offer to repair or settle a construction defect claim;
• Tolls the statute of limitations or repose during a claimant's mitigation of an alleged construction defect;
• Increases the percentage of owners that an executive board of a unit owners' association (executive board) must obtain approval from before initiating a construction defect claim on behalf of the owners from a majority to 65%; and
• Requires an executive board that is successful in a construction defect claim or settlement to first use the net monetary damages or net proceeds received as a result of the claim to repair the construction defect.

The act requires a local government to establish a fast-track approval process for an application for for-sale multifamily condominium projects in order to qualify for assistance from the state affordable housing fund.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A kei vehicle is the smallest road-legal, 4-wheeled vehicle in Japan and is imported into the United States as a used vehicle. The act defines a kei vehicle as a motor vehicle for the purposes of the "Uniform Motor Vehicle Law" and the "Certificate of Title Act". These acts govern issuing a certificate of title, registering a motor vehicle, and the rules of the road for motor vehicles. The act authorizes a kei vehicle to operate on the roads and requires a kei vehicle to be issued a certificate of title, be registered, and obey motor vehicle traffic laws.

Driving a kei vehicle on a roadway that has a speed limit greater than 55 miles per hour or on a limited-access highway is prohibited.

For emissions testing, a kei vehicle is tested not using a dynamometer but using a 2-speed idle test. The vehicle must pass the emissions standards for the year it was manufactured.

The department of revenue, the Colorado state patrol, and the agents or contractors of these agencies may not require a vehicle to have an inspection because it is a kei vehicle or has the design or manufacturing parameters of a kei vehicle. And a kei vehicle may not be declared not roadworthy because of its design or manufacturing parameters.

Kei vehicles are included in the motor vehicle dealer and powersports vehicle dealer statutes, and this requires a person to be licensed as a dealer to sell kei vehicles at retail.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires an employer or the employer's insurer to use the division of workers' compensation's (division) utilization standards when responding to a request for authorization from a treating physician, and, if they do not, the director of the division may deem the services as authorized, reasonable, and necessary and require payment for the services by the employer or the employer's insurer.

The act 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 subject to geographic limitations. The act 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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill creates 2 enterprises in the division of insurance (division) in the department of regulatory agencies.

The bill creates the strengthen Colorado homes enterprise (strengthen homes enterprise), which is a state-owned business that imposes and collects a fee from insurance companies (insurers), including the FAIR plan association, that offer on policyholders of homeowner's insurance policies issued by insurance companies (insurers) and the fair access to insurance requirements (FAIR) plan association in the admitted market covering property located in or risks in Colorado. which The fee is collected on a per-policy basis and is equal to 1.5% of one-half percent on the dollar amount percentage of the total premiums that the insurer collects in the immediately preceding calendar year from homeowners for issuing homeowner's insurance policies ( insurer fee); except that an insurer shall not collect the fee on policyholders that have resilient roof systems.

With the insurer fee revenue, the strengthen homes enterprise board administers a grant program (grant program) to strengthen homes against the risk of future damage claims caused by high winds, wildfire, hail, and other extreme weather events (extreme weather events) by allowing a homeowner to use grant money to upgrade their roof system with certain resilient roof materials. By paying the insurer fee to support the grant program to retrofit homes with resilient roofs, policyholders may defray the cost of retrofitting their property to resist losses due to common perils, including windstorms, wildfire, and other extreme weather events, and insurers reduce their overall risk in the market due to hail and other extreme weather events, in order to promote insurance market stability throughout the state.

The bill also creates the wildfire catastrophe reinsurance enterprise (reinsurance enterprise), which is a state-owned business implementing and administering the wildfire catastrophe reinsurance program (reinsurance program). The reinsurance program makes reinsurance payments to insurers that offer homeowner's insurance on properties located in the state to partially mitigate losses in the event of a state or federally declared wildfire-related disaster (wildfire-related disaster). The purpose of the reinsurance program is to stabilize the homeowner's insurance market in the state and to attract and retain homeowner's insurers. In exchange for access to the reinsurance program, the reinsurance program requires insurers to sell homeowner's insurance in areas of the state that are at high risk for wildfires.

To pay for the reinsurance program, the reinsurance enterprise:

• Issues revenue bonds secured by the reinsurance enterprise;
• Issues a catastrophe bond to a person that purchases the bond but pays the principal to cover costs of a wildfire-related disaster if it occurs;
• May impose and collect an insurer fee on insurers to cover a shortfall if a wildfire-related disaster does not occur during the bond term and the reinsurance enterprise has insufficient money to redeem the bonds at maturity; and
• Beginning in the 2026 calendar year, impose and collect a fee on a per-policy basis on each policyholder of a homeowner's insurance policy issued in the admitted market covering property in or risks in the state. The amount of the fee is equal to one-half percent on the percentage of total premiums collected by each insurer in the immediately preceding calendar year.
• Invests the revenue from the revenue bonds and insurer fees.

In addition, the bill sets the loss ratio for homeowner's insurance by presuming that the rates charged to purchasers are excessive if the insurer's loss ratio is less than 75% over a 3-year period and, if rates are in excess of the loss ratio, requires insurers in the admitted market participating in the reinsurance program to submit rates that are at least 5% less than the previous year one set of rates taking into consideration the reinsurance program and one set without. In addition to offering a replacement-cost policy in accordance with current law, an insurer may offer a replacement-cost policy that has a reasonable coverage limit or percentage cap for additional living expenses if the insurer provides a premium decrease for the coverage limit or replacement cap that is approved by the division.

For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $7,410,037 to the department of regulatory agencies from the strengthen homes enterprise and also appropriates money to the department of law for legal services to implement the reinsurance program.

(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.)

Section 1 of the bill creates the crash prevention enterprise (enterprise) in the department of transportation (CDOT) for the purpose of lowering automobile insurance costs by providing funding for transportation system infrastructure improvements and other data-driven strategies that reduce the number of collisions that involve a motor vehicle, particularly collisions between a motor vehicle and a vulnerable road user or wildlife (eligible projects). Beginning January July 1, 2026, the enterprise is authorized to impose a crash prevention fee (fee) of up to a specified maximum amount on the policyholder of each automobile insurance policy issued in the state on a per-policy basis for each vehicle insured under an automobile insurance policy other than a motor vehicle that weighs 26,000 pounds or more or a motorcycle. Each insurer that issues an automobile insurance policy must collect the fee from the policyholder and pay the fee to the enterprise. Fee revenue is credited to a newly created crash prevention enterprise fund (fund) and continuously appropriated to the enterprise. The specified maximum amount of the fee adjusts annually on July 1, 2027, and on each July 1 thereafter for inflation, as measured by the rolling 5-year average of the national highway construction cost index published by the federal highway administration in the United States department of transportation. Fee revenue is credited to a newly created crash prevention enterprise fund (fund) and continuously appropriated to the enterprise.

The enterprise is authorized to expend 80% 70% of its available revenue the money in the fund to issue grants to eligible entities, which are local governments, state or federally recognized tribal entities, public entities that are not part of the state, and private entities, for eligible projects that reduce motor vehicle collisions with vulnerable road users, as defined by the bill, and 20% 30% of its available revenue the money in the fund to fund eligible projects that reduce motor vehicle collisions with wildlife. In addition to an annual reporting requirement, the enterprise is required, no later than January 31, 2031, to present a report to specified legislative committees that includes, at a minimum, any recommendations that the enterprise may have for statutory changes with respect to the imposition of the fee and the funding of eligible projects; assessments as to whether the bill's definition of "vulnerable road user" remains appropriate and whether the fee is being imposed on the correct types of motor vehicles; and a cumulative account of the enterprise's revenue, applied for and awarded grants, and projects funded and completed between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2030. Section 2 authorizes the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies, upon receiving notice from the enterprise of an insurer's failure to collect the fee from its automobile insurance policyholders and pay the fee to the enterprise, to institute an enforcement proceeding and seek specified civil penalties from the insurer.

(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 modifies current law regarding the process by which a policyholder may request a certified copy of their insurance policy (policy) from a homeowners insurance carrier (carrier) and the carrier's duty to comply. The act clarifies that such a request must be in written form and received by the carrier's registered agent (agent) and that the carrier's window of time to make the policy available begins when the agent receives the request.

The act also imposes a penalty against a carrier that fails to comply with a policyholder's request for a certified copy of their policy in the amount of $50 per day and authorizes the award of attorney fees and costs for a policyholder's enforcement of the requirement.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a foreign third-party litigation funder (funder) that enters into a litigation financing agreement (agreement) to disclose and submit certain information to the Colorado attorney general. The act prohibits a funder from:

• Utilizing a domestic entity as a means of providing litigation financing to a party or attorney in a civil action;
• Deciding, influencing, or directing an attorney with respect to the conduct of the civil action or any settlement or resolution of the civil action;
• Assigning rights to profits other than the right to receive a share of the proceeds awarded in the civil action as outlined in the agreement; or
• Sharing proprietary information, or information affecting national security interests obtained as a result of the agreement for the civil action, with anyone who is not a party or an attorney.

The act subjects an agreement to discovery under the Colorado rules of civil procedure and Colorado rules of evidence.

The act deems an agreement entered into by a funder void if the funder fails to comply with the activity and disclosure requirements. A funder's failure to comply with the requirements of this act constitutes a deceptive or unfair trade practice. The act allows the attorney general to bring legal action against a funder to enforce compliance with the act, impose fines, prohibit a funder from operating in this state, or impose any other sanction the attorney general deems appropriate for a violation of the activity or disclosure requirements.

The act requires the department of law to include information about funders in its annual "SMART Act" hearing annually, beginning in January 2026.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the act creates the prescribed fire claims cash fund (fund) in the state treasury and requires the state treasurer to transfer $250,000 from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2025. Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the division of fire prevention and control (division) shall expend money from the fund to pay claims for damages related to prescribed burns that are certified by the division in accordance with new guidelines as specified in the act and as adopted by the director of the division. The division shall authorize a payment in the amount certified in a claim; except that the maximum payment that the division may authorize for a singular burn is equal to the greater of $20,000 or 10% of the amount of money in the fund at the time the claim is filed.

Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly of money for the division to administer the fund, the division shall certify a claim that meets the following guidelines:

• The claim demonstrates, in sufficient detail, the costs or damages that resulted from the prescribed burn;
• The prescribed burn that resulted in the costs or damages was conducted in full compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements for prescribed burning;
• Before conducting the prescribed burn, the certified prescribed burn manager registered the written prescription plan for the prescribed burn with the division and paid an administrative fee; and
• No more than 60 days have passed between the completion of the prescribed burn and the date upon which costs and damages were incurred.

The act authorizes the director of the division to adopt rules and guidelines for the implementation and administration of the program and permits the division to contract with a third party to administer, certify, and pay the claims. The act also requires a claimant who accepts a payment that covers the full amount certified in the claim to waive all future claims related to the prescribed burn against the certified prescribed burn manager that conducted the burn; any organization, entity, or individual with whom the certified prescribed burn manager worked to conduct the burn; any individual or entity that provided funding for the burn; and any landowner on whose behalf the burn was conducted.

Sections 2 and 3 expand the definition of a "certified burner" in the state to include an individual who has not completed the Colorado division's training and certification program but who meets reciprocity requirements and possesses a valid Colorado certification number. An individual seeking certification through reciprocity may receive a certification number from the division by:

• Applying for certification to the division, according to the rules and standards of the division, including the payment of any associated fee; and
• Submitting evidence to the division, according to the rules and standards of the division, that the individual holds a valid certification from a state government or other entity.

The required rules and standards adopted by the director of the division, in consultation with the Colorado state forest service, pertaining to the qualification for and the terms and durations of certification, are required to include certification through reciprocity.

Section 4 adds pretax costs associated with the implementation of an approved program or project to mitigate the effects of extreme weather, wildfires, climate change, or other hazards to the definition of Colorado energy impact costs.

For the 2025-26 fiscal year:

• $250,000 is appropriated from the fund to the department of public safety for use by the division for prescribed fire claims; and
• $153,025 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public safety for implementation of the act.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires allows the division of fire prevention and control (division) in the department of public safety (department) , as needed, to establish public-private agreements with one or more issue a request for qualifications from private partners by which agreements the state may allocate responsibility or risk to one or more private partners to develop and operate wildfire detection components entities. The request for qualifications must seek proposals for a detection component that can be procured as a comprehensive service provided by a vendor. The division may establish vendor agreements with vendors that submit proposals. The bill specifies criteria that a detection component must satisfy.

The bill also creates the front line innovation and response efficiency fire technology cash fund ( FIRE fund) in the state treasury. The money in the FIRE fund is annually appropriated to the department to be expended by the division for the purposes of the bill utilization of fire detection response and management technologies, deployment of detection components through vendor agreements, and utilization of technological tools that enable advancement in fire detection and mitigation practices. In current law, money in the unused state-owned real property fund is continuously appropriated to the department of personnel for several purposes, including paying for public-private agreements and associated costs. Of the money that is appropriated for this purpose, the bill requires the general assembly to transfer the following amounts to the FIRE fund:

• For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, up to $1,000,000;
• For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $2,000,000; and
• For the 2027-28 state fiscal year, $3,000,000.

The department is required to include information concerning the division's activities under the bill in the department's annual report to the legislative subject matter committees.

(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.)

Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate $7,500,000 to the division of fire prevention and control (division) for state fiscal year 2024-25 and allows any unexpended portion of the appropriation to also be expended in state fiscal year 2025-26. The division is required to use the money to study and develop applications of artificial intelligence that predict, mitigate, or assist in fighting wildfires, including, at a minimum, applications of artificial intelligence which produce data that can be incorporated into maps displaying the following:

• Classification of vegetation and wildfire fuel;
• Predictions regarding the likelihood of wildfire ignition potential in a particular area following observed lightning events;
• The perimeter of an ongoing wildfire; and
• Predictions regarding the locations and area to which an ongoing wildfire may spread.

The division may contract with a third party that has developed artificial intelligence tools to predict, mitigate, or assist in fighting wildfires. The division is also authorized to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations for the purposes of the bill.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates an additional framework for insurance rebate law to allow usage of insurance rebates and related practices in a manner that meets specified criteria to maintain consumer protections.

In provisions regarding unfair and deceptive trade practices in insurance, the act identifies, as an additional practice that shall not be construed as falling within the definition of discrimination or rebates, the practice of offering or providing a value-added product or service not specified in the insurance policy, at no cost or at a reduced cost, if the product or service:

• Relates to the insurance coverage; and
• Is primarily aimed to:
• Provide loss mitigation or loss control;
• Reduce claim costs or claim settlement costs;
• Provide education about liability risk or risk of loss to individuals or property;
• Monitor or assess risk, identify sources of risk, or develop strategies for eliminating or reducing risk;
• Enhance health;
• Promote financial wellness through items such as educational or financial planning services;
• Provide post-loss services;
• Encourage behavioral changes to improve the health or reduce the risk of death or disability of a customer; or
• Assist in the administration of employee or retiree benefit insurance coverage.

The act implements additional provisions governing the usage of insurance rebates, including requirements to offer such rebates at a reasonable cost and in a manner that is not unfairly discriminatory and that provides certain other customer protections.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law restricts construction defect negligence claims unless the negligence claim arises from a construction defect which results in actual damage to or loss of the use of real or personal property; bodily injury or wrongful death; or a risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property. Section 1 of the bill changes this restriction so that all construction defect claims are restricted unless the claim arises from a construction defect that causes:

• Actual damage to real or personal property caused by the violation of a building code, manufacturer's instructions, or industry standard;
• Actual loss of the use of real or personal property;
• Bodily injury or wrongful death; or
• An imminent and unreasonable risk of bodily injury or death to, or an imminent or unreasonable threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants of the residential real property.

Sections 2 through 12 modify existing warranty of habitability laws by repealing recent updates and reenacting the laws as they were prior to the updates. The modifications include repealing certain procedures for both landlords and tenants when a warranty of habitability claim is alleged by the tenant; repealing a rebuttable presumption that a landlord failed to remedy an uninhabitable premises in certain conditions; modifying requirements regarding notice given to a landlord of an uninhabitable premises; and modifying other laws related to rental agreements, records, and procedures for remedying uninhabitable premises. Section 13 repeals law that allows the attorney general to independently initiate and bring actions to enforce laws relating to the warranty of habitability. Section 14 makes a conforming change to law governing county courts' jurisdiction over cases involving tenant's remedies in warranty of habitability cases and tenant's remedies in cases of unlawful removal. Section 15 modifies the statement included in a summons issued to a defendant in a court proceeding regarding an action for possession brought by a landlord. Sections 16 through 20 repeal provisions related to evictions of residential tenants, including repealing:

• Requirements that a landlord and residential tenant participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives cash assistance;
• A prohibition on a law enforcement officer's ability to execute a writ of restitution until 30 days after the entry of judgment if the residential tenant receives cash assistance;
• Requirements that a written demand include a statement that a residential tenant who receives cash assistance has a right to mediation prior to the landlord filing an eviction complaint;
• Requirements that a written rental agreement include a statement that current law prohibits source of income discrimination and requires a nonexempt landlord to accept any lawful and verifiable source of money paid directly, indirectly, or on behalf of a person; and
• Requirements that prohibit a written rental agreement from including a waiver of mandatory mediation or a clause that allows a landlord to recoup any costs associated with mandatory mediation.

Sections 21 and 22 require any provision of any energy code adopted by a county or municipality on or after January 1, 2026, to be cost effective. "Cost effective" means, using the existing energy efficiency standards and requirements as a base of comparison, that the economic benefits of the proposed energy efficiency standards and requirements will exceed the economic costs of those standards and requirements based upon an incremental multi-year analysis.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

With regard to the family and medical leave insurance program (program), the act 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.

The act also changes the premiums financing the 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) is required set the premium on or before September 1 of the preceding year, 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.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its 2024 sunset review of the workers' compensation accreditation of health-care providers program (program), including extending the program for 11 years to September 1, 2036, and authorizing any health-care professional regulated by the division of professions and occupations and listed in the utilization standards established by the director of the division of workers' compensation (division) who provides treatment in the workers' compensation system to obtain level I accreditation from the division.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)