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During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered measures related to child welfare and foster care, youth mental health and suicide prevention, child abuse prevention, the juvenile justice system, and other aspects of family law. The bills described in this document passed and became law, unless otherwise noted.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered bills relating to the regulation of both medical and recreational marijuana on topics such as taxes, research, use of medical marijuana, and marijuana business licensing.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered several bills to clarify practices related to events at which alcohol is auctioned or sold, redefined Japanese rice wine, and passed additional legislation related to the retail sale of low- and full-strength beer.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly created and continued programs related to employment training and recruitment.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered measures related to title insurance, records access for insurance agents, and workers' compensation insurance.

The General Assembly considered, but did not pass, several bills attempting to define cryptocurrency in law and clarify how it is regulated. In addition, the General Assembly passed legislation related to security freezes on credit reports of minors.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered bills encouraging economic development in the state; bills relating to disclosures for rental car companies and rates for parts and labor by motor vehicle manufacturers; and bills that continued regulation of mortgage lenders, made changes to the regulation of real estate appraisers, and modified licensing requirements of real estate brokers.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered a number of measures related to Medicaid, insurance carriers, and health care facilities.  It also considered measures concerning substance use disorders, health care costs, and the health care workforce.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered measures related to increasing access to behavioral health services, increasing capacity for competency restoration, protecting children in foster care, child care assistance funding, and increasing the effectiveness of other human services programs.

During the 2018 session, the General Assembly considered bills related to suicide prevention, requests to study public health effects, changes to certificates and databases overseen by the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), nad other public health-related legislation.

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered a number of bills affecting funding for capital construction and the duties of the Capital Development Committee (CDC).

This issue brief provides information on electric utilities in Colorado, and how utilities generate and distribute electricity to Colorado homes and businesses.  The issue brief also describes the regulation of investor-owned electric utilities by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

During the 2018 legislative session, the General Assembly considered measures related to state agencies and employees, boards and commissions, the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, the General Assembly, the Colorado Open Records Act, and firearms. 

House Bill 18-1379 amends the Public School Finance Act of 1994 to provide funding for school districts in FY 2018‑19.  The bill was signed by the Governor on May 24, 2018, and became effective on that date.  House Bill 18-1322, the "Long Bill," appropriates most of the state aid distributed to school districts.  The following summarizes the primary funding changes contained in these bills.

State and federal regulations set standards for the size and weight of commercial vehicles operated on public highways.  A commercial vehicle is any vehicle used for commerce that has a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more.  Commercial vehicles that exceed the established weight standards can receive state permits to travel along certain routes.  This issue brief discusses the regulation, permitting, and routing of oversize and overweight commercial vehicles.

During the 2008 session, the General Assembly enacted House Bill 08-1335, the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) act. The act replaced existing law concerning state financial assistance for public school capital construction and established a grant program in order to accelerate funding for K-12 capital construction. This issue brief discusses the origins and administration of the BEST program and funding for BEST projects.

In lieu of issuing bonds, or using another form of long-term debt, the state often uses a form of lease-purchase agreement called certificates of participation (COPs) to finance the construction of its new facilities. A certificate refers to an investor's proportionate interest in the state's lease payments. COPs give the state the flexibility to build capital facilities even when funds are not available to pay for projects on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Colorado receives annual payments from tobacco manufacturers as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). In April 2018, the state received $177.3 million, including a one-time payment of $113.3 million pursuant to the Nonparticipating Manufacturers Adjustment Settlement Agreement, a supplementary legal agreement that Colorado signed this year.  This memorandum presents the anticipated effects of the new settlement on future payments. The state is expected to receive $86.0 million in 2019 and $85.7 million in 2020.

During the 2018 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly considered measures related to civil law. Specifically, the legislature considered bills regarding civil protections, the statute of limitations for domestic violence offenses, immunity, jurisdiction, and liability.

This memorandum summarizes a request from the Department of Human Services (DHS) to acquire a 15-acre parcel of land from Adams County for the construction of a new youth services center in the 17th Judicial District.

FY 2018-19 Appropriations Report

The House Select Committee on Climate Responsibility was convened pursuant to House Rule 25B, which allows the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker) to create a committee to review a single specified subject matter area or issue during a regular legislative session. The purpose of the House Select Committee on Climate Responsibility (committee) was to consider policy options that would enable Colorado to meet its climate targets and goals. Topics included energy efficiency and local job creation; rural opportunities; and power supply, energy storage, and transmission.

In 2018, the General Assembly considered bills regulating simulated gaming devices and slot machines, as well as funding for communities affected by gaming.