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This issue brief provides an overview of state laws related to pet animal facilities. These facilities are licensed and regulated under the Colorado Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA).

In response to the ongoing drought in Colorado, the General Assembly passed House Bill 22-1151 to promote the efficient and maximum utilization of Colorado’s water resources by decreasing the amount of irrigated turf within the state. The bill required the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in the Department of Natural Resources to create a turf replacement program that incentivizes the voluntary replacement of nonessential irrigated turf across the state.

This memorandum provides an overview of the process in Colorado for removing criminal records from publicly available sources, known as the “sealing” or “expungement” of criminal records.

Public K-12 education in Colorado is financed through state and local sources. The school finance formula in state law establishes a statewide total funding level. The difference between this amount and the local share determines the state’s school finance obligation. The local share is paid primarily from property taxes. Exemptions, policy adjustments, or other factors that reduce or slow the growth of property taxes requires the state to increase its share of K-12 education funding.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastic containers and packaging, including single-use plastics, constitute the majority of plastic waste in the United States. One of the EPA’s National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution objectives is reducing the production and consumption of single-use plastics. In recent years, Colorado legislators have addressed reducing the use of single-use plastics in the state. This issue brief describes single-use plastics and outlines key elements of Colorado’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act.

This memorandum provides an overview of the Colorado Judicial Branch, also referred to as the Judicial Department when described as part of the state budget. Established in Section 1 of Article VI of the Colorado Constitution, and further governed by Title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes and the Colorado Court Rules, the branch is responsible for administering a court system to resolve disputes and enforce civil and criminal laws.

When Colorado became a state, the federal government granted the state lands to be held in an intergenerational public trust to support public education. This trust is made up of about 2.8 million acres of surface land and 4.0 million subsurface acres, and is managed by the State Land Board (SLB) in the Deparment of Natural Resources. This issue brief discusses how revenue earned on those lands is used, invested, and spent for public education.

This memorandum provides information about the interstate compacts, Supreme Court decrees, and international treaties that govern Colorado’s use of interstate streams. Specifically, it gives a brief history of each compact and outlines the specific components and requirements of each compact currently in state law. In addition, the memorandum discusses the two memoranda, two Supreme Court decrees, and two international treaties that govern rivers in Colorado. Appendix A outlines the technical components of the laws affecting Colorado’s rivers.

This memorandum provides an overview of Colorado’s Medical Aid-in-Dying law, which legalized the practice of prescribing medical aid-in-dying medication to eligible terminally ill patients in Colorado.

Colorado’s child welfare system provides services to protect children from abuse and neglect and to support families in caring for their children. This issue brief provides an overview of the child welfare system in Colorado, including its administration and funding; reporting of child abuse or neglect; and the judicial process and types of services provided in child welfare cases.

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Este documento incluye declaraciónes de impacto fiscal preparadas por el personal del Consejo Legislativo para las medidas en la boleta estatal de noviembre de 2025.

Este documento incluye los dos proyectos de ley que remitieron medidas a la boleta de noviembre de 2025.

This document includes fiscal impact statements prepared by Legislative Council Staff for the following measures on the November 2025 statewide ballot.

This document includes the two bills that referred measures to the November 2025 ballot.

This document includes the bills that referred measures to the November 2025 ballot.

The statewide General Election will be held on November 4, 2025. This booklet provides information on the 14 statewide measures that will appear on your ballot. You will receive information about local government ballot measures separately.

Legislative Council Staff economic outlook presentation to the Joint Budget Committee.

Focus Colorado presents forecasts for the economy and state government revenue through FY 2026-27. Implications of the forecast for the state's General Fund budget and spending limit are described in the report's highlights and executive summary sections. The report is based on current law, legislation passed by the General Assembly affecting the forecast is described throughout the report.

Report No. 2025-TE12

Medicaid is a joint federal and state insurance program that provides health care coverage to low-income families and individuals, including children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities. Colorado’s Medicaid program is known as Health First Colorado and is administered by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). This memorandum provides an overview of recent Medicaid changes under H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). For additional information, see LCS’s memo providing an Overview of Colorado’s Medicaid Program.

Medicaid is a joint federal and state insurance program that provides health care coverage to low-income families and individuals, including children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities. The federal government establishes general rules and policies for Medicaid, including required services and eligible populations, and each state administers its own Medicaid program.

Many pieces of legislation regarding health care and health insurance made their way through the 75^th General Assembly. The majority of the legislation fell into the following categories: Medicaid, health insurance, access to care, pharmacy and prescription services, rural safety net, abortion, and gender identity.