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Greenhouse gas emissions have been identified by the global scientific community as the major driver of climate change.  Globally, countries are committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat the effects of climate change.  This memorandum provides background on the policies and programs related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions at the national, regional, and state levels within the United States.

2025 Fiscal Note Staff Assignments by Subject Area.

Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force Final Report.

A homeowner association (HOA) must obtain insurance to cover common elements such as physical property and liability. Unit owners within an HOA also purchase insurance to cover the homeowners’ private property, parts of the unit not covered by the HOA’s policy, and liability. This issue brief outlines insurance coverage for HOAs and unit owners, circumstances contributing to the cost of insurance, and current laws that address insurance issues.

This memorandum provides background information on Colorado’s business personal property tax. Personal property includes machinery, equipment, and other goods used to operate a business that are not part of a building or structure and its fixtures. For the purposes of this memo, business personal property encompasses generally nonresidential (income producing), private personal property that is not used in a religious or nonprofit, charitable organization.

During the 2024 legislative session, the General Assembly passed several business‑related measures including regulatory changes, consumer protections, and economic development.

During the 2024 legislative session, the General Assembly passed several pieces of legislation related to veterinary care, species conservation, public engagement, and potatoes.

This issue brief provides an overview of federal and state laws related to gender pay equity and a summary of past legislative efforts by the Colorado General Assembly on the topic.

The harmful effects of secondhand smoke and emissions from tobacco, marijuana, and electronic smoking devices continue to be an issue in Colorado. Since 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified secondhand tobacco smoke as a known cause of cancer.

This issue brief provides an overview of conservation easements in Colorado and discusses the certification process, federal and state tax incentives for the donation of conservation easements, and state purchases of conservation easements.

Many pieces of legislation regarding health care and health insurance made their way through the 74^th General Assembly. Most of the legislation fell into the following categories: removing barriers to treatment, and licensing requirements.

This handbook is designed to be a reference guide for legislators and the public on the topic of Colorado laws related to liquor licensing. It covers the three-tier regulatory structure; license and permit types; general licensing requirements; enforcement; taxes and fees; and recent legislation.

Health insurance is a method of paying or receiving reimbursement for health care costs from covered services. Health insurance companies spread the costs and risk of covered health care services across all members of a plan in exchange for premiums and other cost-sharing mechanisms, such as deductibles and copayments. These rates are actuarially determined and set at a level that covers the estimated health care costs incurred by all members of the group. This issue brief provides an overview of the health insurance market in Colorado and federal and state health insurance regulations.

Many pieces of legislation regarding human services made their way through the 74th General Assembly. Human Services legislation primarily focused on child welfare issues, funding senior services, and addressing housing concerns through Medicaid.

Addressing the substance use disorder epidemic and providing behavioral health resources to communities throughout Colorado were the two major behavioral health care themes that emerged during the Second Regular Session of the 74th General Assembly. Important behavioral health bills are discussed below.

Prior authorization—sometimes referred to as preauthorization or precertification—is a process by which an insurer reviews a request for health care services or drugs before consenting to cover the costs of the proposed treatment. Upon receiving a request, an insurer can approve or deny the request, or request additional information from the patient or their health care provider. Health insurers may require prior authorization for a variety of reasons, including cost control and verification of medical necessity.

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This issue brief provides an overview of public sector use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, including federal and state regulations, and current applications in Colorado.

House Bill 24-1448 enacted a new school finance formula, to begin in FY 2025-26 and be phased in over a 6-year period. This memorandum provides an overview of the new formula, the six‑year phase‑in period, and the parameters that would result in pausing implementation of the new formula. It does not include provisions of HB24-1448 that are not directly related to the new formula, including changes to mill levy override limits, the mill levy override match program, and capital construction funding.