Five days after the end of Colorado's 2023 legislative session, Gov. Jared Polis has signed 208 bills into law.
After being signed, bills take effect in August, 90 days after the general assembly adjourns, unless otherwise specified in the bill. A full list of legislation signed this year can be found online by clicking here.
Polis has until June 7 to sign, veto or let the bills passed this session become law without his signature.
Here are all of the bills signed into law this week.
House Bill 1273: Creation of wildfire resilient homes grant program
Creates a grant program to fund homeowners’ wildfire resilience projects. Signed on Friday. Read more about the bill here.
Senate Bill 161: Financing to purchase firefighting aircraft
Transfers $26 million from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety for the purchase of a Firehawk helicopter configured for wildfire and other public safety response needs. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1174: Homeowner's insurance underinsurance
Specifies what insurers must consider in establishing replacement cost coverage for homeowners, and requires the Division of Insurance to publish an annual report on replacement costs. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1288: Fair access to insurance requirements plan
Creates the FAIR Plan Association to offer property insurance coverage that is not otherwise available on the market, consisting of all companies offering property insurance in the state. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1240: Sales use tax exemption wildfire disaster construction
Creates a sales and use tax exemption for building materials purchased for rebuilding and repairing residential structures damaged by wildfire from 2020 to 2022. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1254: Habitability of residential premises
Creates habitability standards for rental units following environmental events. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 166: Establishment of a wildfire resiliency code board
Creates the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board in the Department of Public Safety to adopt statewide building codes and standards for preventing damages caused by wildland fires in urban areas. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 13: Fire investigations
Requires the Department of Public Safety to conduct fire origin and cause investigations and creates a cash fund. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 5: Forestry and wildfire mitigation workforce
Creates and expands timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation workforce development and education programs. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1237: Inclusive language emergency situations
Requires the University of Colorado’s Natural Hazards Center to conduct a study on the implementation of emergency alerts in minority languages. Signed on Friday.
House Bill 1075: Wildfire evacuation and clearance time modeling
Requires the Department of Public Safety to conduct a study investigating the integration of evacuation and clearance time modeling in local emergency management plans. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 102: Rule review bill
Postpones the expiration of all state department rules adopted or amended between November 1, 2021 and November 1, 2022 except one rule by the Department of Law and one rule by the Department of Public Health and Environment. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 204: Correct erroneous property tax exemption end date
Corrects the end date for the property tax exemption for agricultural equipment used in a controlled environment agricultural facility. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 72: Sunset Defense Counsel First Appearance Program
Continues the Defense Counsel on First Appearance Program in the Department of Local Affairs, which is scheduled to repeal on September 1, 2023. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 12: Commercial motor carrier enforcement safety laws
Changes the amount of civil penalties that may be levied on commercial motor carriers and authorizes the Department of Revenue to cancel or deny registration of a commercial motor carrier that fails to cooperate with the completion of a safety compliance review within 30 days. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 220: Public school capital construction assistance grants
Authorizes unspent money for air quality improvements to instead be used for school capital construction assistance grants and repeals a scheduled transfer from the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund and creates a new transfer from the General Fund to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund. Signed on Friday.
Senate Bill 291: Utility regulation
Updates transparency, rulemaking, and rate filing requirements for certain electric and gas utilities. Signed on Thursday. Read more about the bill here.
House Bill 1234: Streamlined solar permitting and inspection grants
Creates a grant program in the Colorado Energy Office to assist local governments in implementing automated permitting and inspection software for residential solar energy systems. Signed on Thursday.
Senate Bill 16: Greenhouse gas emission reduction measures
Creates a state income tax credit for new, electric-powered lawn equipment; requires the Public Employees’ Retirement Association and insurance companies to study climate risks to their investment portfolios; authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to regulate Class VI injection wells; updates the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals; and commissions a study on electric transmission capacity. Signed on Thursday.
House Bill 1252: Thermal energy
Makes various changes regarding the use of geothermal energy. Signed on Thursday.
House Bill 1272: Tax policy that advances decarbonization
Makes various changes to state income tax credits, sales and use taxes, specific ownership tax, and severance taxes. Signed on Thursday.
House Bill 1224: Standardized health benefit plan
Changes rate filling and disclosure requirements under the Colorado Standardized Health Benefit Plan Act. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.
House Bill 1201: Prescription drug benefits contract term requirements
Limits the amount that carriers or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) may charge beneficiaries of employer-sponsored plans for prescription drugs to no more than the amount paid by the plan to contracted pharmacies, and specifies enforcement mechanisms. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.
Senate Bill 2: Medicaid reimbursement for community health services
Requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to seek federal approval for Medicaid to pay for services provided by community health workers and to implement the new coverage once federal approval is granted. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.
House Bill 1218: Health facility patient information denied service
Requires health care facilities to report on service availability at the individual service and covered entity level. Signed on Wednesday.
House Bill 1243: Hospital community benefit
Restricts out-of-state spending for hospitals, and adds reporting, enforcement, and stakeholder engagement requirements to the Hospital Community Benefit Program. Signed on Wednesday.
House Bill 1227: Enforce laws against pharmacy benefit managers
Allows the Commissioner of Insurance to enforce existing state laws regulating pharmacy benefit managers and impose penalties, and establishes a fee-based registration program for these entities. Signed on Wednesday.
House Bill 1225: Extend and modify Prescription Drug Affordability Board
Makes several changes to the Drug Affordability Review Board’s procedures. Signed on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 260: Individual access to publicly funded vaccines
Prohibits practitioners from requiring individuals to pay or provide information in order to receive a publicly-funded vaccine. Signed on Wednesday.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Post a comment as Guest
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.