Twenty new laws will go into effect on Friday, including three of the most significant bills to come out of the 2022 legislative session.

The state budget: With the fiscal year starting anew on Friday, the state’s 2022-23 budget kicks in. The spending plan, which legislators passed via House Bill 1329, allocates $36.4 billion in tax and cash revenue and federal dollars to cover the expenses of the state government for the next year. Notable among that spending is a 3% boost in pay for state employees; an increase in health care spending by $1.02 billion; a 33.4% hike from current levels; and, $26 million more for public safety, a 15.4% increase.

Fentanyl: major portions of House Bill 1326, the comprehensive measure dealing with the state’s fentanyl crisis, go into effect on Friday. That includes requirements for law enforcement to report to district attorneys when they respond to an overdose on whether an arrest was made. District attorneys would be required to report when they do not prosecute someone, based on the information from law enforcement, for violations of the law. Those requirements are in place for the next three years. New felony penalties for possession of between 1 and 4 grams of fentanyl or compounds containing fentanyl also go into effect on Friday.

Here's what the legislature's newly passed fentanyl legislation will do

Collective bargaining: County employees can begin the collective bargaining process in counties with 7,500 or more in population, which applies to all but the 22 smallest counties; home rule counties (Weld), and Denver and Broomfield, which are both cities and counties. However, under Senate Bill 230, county commissioners can reject collective bargaining agreements under their authority over county budgets.

Collective bargaining finally wins House approval

PERA: The state will cut a check Friday for $225 million to the Public Employees Retirement Association, the result of House Bill 1229, which covers an obligation to the state pension plan from 2020 when budget writers recommended holding off that annual payment in the midst of the pandemic-induced recession.

Campaign finance: As of July 1, campaign contributions to school board candidates, which have been unlimited in the past, will be capped at $2,500 from any individual and $25,000 from a small donor committee, under House Bill 1060.

Sexual assault: House Bill 1169, which deals consent, is intended to help jurors make decisions in sexual assault cases and help victims understand whether what happened to them legally qualifies as sexual assault.

Colorado legislature unanimously passes bill to add ‘consent’ to sexual assault law

Public benefits theft: Under House Bill 1224, theft of public benefits becomes a unique crime, applying to those those who intentionally misrepresents or withholds a material fact for determining eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, housing and other public benefits. Previously, prosecutors could charge those individuals with petty or felony theft.

The Colorado Center on Law and Policy noted that, last year, the state Supreme Court ruled all benefits a defendant received through submitting false information counted toward calculating the value of property stolen. The defendant would still be criminally liable for the full amount of benefits paid, even if they were entitled to those benefits. That resulted in harsher criminal penalties. The new law adds language around intent.

Behavioral Health Administration: The new agency, a subsection of the Department of Human Services, becomes official on Friday, the result of House Bill 1278.

Department of Early Childhood: The result of Proposition EE in 2020, which funds the agency, and House Bill 1295, which makes it law, the 20th state department also becomes official on Friday.

Polis presents 20th state department, focused on early childhood education