Matters Memo

City of Boulder City Council Agenda Item Meeting Date: April 16, 2026 Agenda Title Legislative Update

Staff Contact • •

Heather Stauffer, Intergovernmental Affairs Officer, City Manager's Office Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, City Manager, City Manager’s Office

Executive Summary The purpose of this item is to inform and update Council on the city's ongoing advocacy efforts at the state level during a critical period in the Colorado legislative calendar. As the Colorado General Assembly enters the final weeks of its 120-day legislative session, city staff are actively monitoring, engaging in, and advocating on several pieces of priority legislation that directly align with the goals and priorities outlined in the City's 2026 Policy Statement. This memo provides an update across three key areas: Priority Legislation: Advocacy staff are engaged in multiple high-priority bills currently moving through the legislature. Each piece of legislation is evaluated against the City's adopted policy priorities, and staff are coordinating with regional partners and legislators to advance, amend, or oppose measures as appropriate. Details on specific bills and the city's position are outlined in the analysis section of the memo. FY 2026–2027 State Budget: In addition to individual legislation, the memo describes the City's advocacy efforts related to the state's annual budget process. The FY 2026– 2027 Long Bill, HB26-1410, is currently making its way through the Joint Budget

Committee and the full legislature. Staff are actively tracking budget items that may have impacts on city operations and council priorities. Where appropriate the city has taken positions on orbital bills that will impact the city; those bills are described in the analysis section of the memo. HB26-1001 – The HOME Act: The memo provides a full update on the outcome of HB26-1001, the HOME Act, which passed the legislature on March 13, 2026, and has since been signed into law by the Governor. Through sustained advocacy efforts, the city secured several amendments that addressed a number of Council's previously expressed concerns. However, not all concerns were resolved, and outstanding issues remain.

Questions for Council 1. Does Council have any questions or feedback on priority legislation or the state budget? Alignment with City Plans and City Council History

Sustainability, Equity and Resilience (SER) Framework and Citywide Strategic Plan Alignment SER Framework Goal Area City of Boulder’s advocacy work is guided by the city’s annual policy statement, which is meant to further and align with each of the several SER Framework Goal Areas. Citywide Strategic Plan As with the SER Framework, the City’s advocacy efforts are guided by the annual policy statement, which aligns with and furthers several key priorities within the citywide strategic plan.

Alignment with Additional City Plans City advocacy efforts are guided by the annual policy statement on regional, state and Federal issues. The purpose of the policy statement is to inform city advocacy on policy decisions that, while made outside the city’s jurisdictional authority, have potential to significantly impact the city. This includes legislative decisions by the Colorado General Assembly or the U.S. Congress.

City Council History This item has not previously come before council. The purpose of this item is to provide timely updates on legislation being considered by the Colorado General Assembly and city advocacy efforts.

Analysis The Colorado General Assembly convened on January 14, 2026, for their 120-day legislative session. Currently, they have less than 4 weeks left in that 120-day session in order to pass a balanced budget and any remaining bills before the session concludes at midnight on May 13. Update on City of Boulder Priority Legislation: Earlier in 2026 Council passed the city’s policy statement, which guides the city’s advocacy efforts on the regional, state and federal levels. Council identified 5 priority areas for state level advocacy within that document. 1. Fund and protect the city’s ability to reduce and prevent homelessness The city supports state action that incentivizes local governments to maintain shelters and directly invest in supporting individuals experiencing homelessness. It also supports increased statewide coordination of efforts that result in funding and programming for prevention and supportive services, expansion of mental and behavioral health prevention and treatment, transitional and permanent supportive housing options, and proposals that affect targeted populations, including the challenges presented by family, youth, veteran, and single-adult homelessness. 2. Establish On-Bill Repayment Program for Accessible Energy Upgrades Building weatherization and upgrades to electric technologies like heat pumps are critical to reaching climate goals and ensuring a resilient future for Colorado. However, they often come with thousands of dollars of up-front costs, even after incentives and tax credits, making them inaccessible to folks who cannot cut a check on day one. Establishing an On-Bill Repayment (OBR) program would enable energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy upgrades without upfront costs, making these solutions more accessible to homeowners and businesses 3. Protect Essential State Funding As the state faces increasingly severe budget shortfalls, it is essential to protect state funding that city projects and priorities rely on, and funding that ensures community member’s basic needs. This includes: Proposition 123 State Affordable Housing Funds, Transportation funding including the Highway Users Tax Fund (HUTF) and funding used to support multimodal transportation projects, PreK-12 education funding, Medicaid funds, GOCO lottery funding, and cigarette tax revenues. 4. Artificial Intelligence

Actively advocate for revisions to SB24-205, Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure policies that uphold consumer rights and civil liberties, and policies that support the city’s implementation of AI technology. 5. Human Rights The city will support applicable state and federal laws and policies that promote equal access and protect individuals from discrimination based on ancestry, color, creed, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic characteristics, marital status, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, source of income, and age. The city opposes any laws or policies that impose funding limitations or restrictions on programs based on gender, gender identity, or that create barriers to services, condition funding on discriminatory eligibility criteria, or reduce protections below the standards established in the city's Human Rights Ordinance. City of Boulder Priority Legislation: The city has taken positions on 46 state bills this session. A few priority bills are featured below. An updated list of bills that the city has taken positions on can be found on the city’s website here. HB26-1202 Strategy to Reduce & Prevent Homelessness Sponsors: Reps Manny Rutinel and Emily Sirota; Sen. Judy Amabile Bill Summary: The bill requires the Department of Local Affairs, as part of its SMART Act hearing in January of 2027, to submit and present a proposal for the development of a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution. The bill also creates a new type of special district, a multijurisdictional homelessness response authority (authority), which may be created by any combination of local governments through an intergovernmental agreement. An authority has several discretionary powers that relate to its ability to coordinate and plan with departments and organizations to reduce and prevent homelessness, including but not limited to the power to provide for the levy of sales or sales and use taxes by the contracting local governments within the authority area (if allowed by the intergovernmental agreement). The bill also allows a county to designate a portion of documentary filing fees, which are collected for filing documents associated with the grant or conveyance of real property, to be transferred to the county government or a housing authority for the purpose of developing, preserving, or acquiring affordable housing. COB Position: Support SB26-148 Financing Utility On-Bill Repayment Program Sponsors: Sens. Matt Ball and Kyle Mullica; Reps. Junie Joseph and Sean Camacho

Bill Summary: The Colorado Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) is a nonprofit institution with experience administering clean energy financing programs and is the designated green bank for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8. The CCEF administers an on-bill repayment program (program) to help finance certain energy-related upgrades installed at a utility customer's premises that are associated with the utility meter. Under the program, in partnership with Colorado-based utilities, the CCEF finances energyrelated upgrades that are then repaid through a customer's monthly utility bill payments. The bill directs the state treasurer to, on August 15, 2026, execute a loan agreement with the CCEF for a low-interest loan of $50 million from the unclaimed property trust fund. The purpose of the loan is to capitalize and expand the CCEF's on-bill repayment program and to accelerate utility adoption of the program. The bill requires the Colorado energy office to review the design of the program before August 1, 2026. The bill specifies certain requirements for the program and for a utility to access the funding for the program, including requirements related to disclosures, notices, transfers of responsibility for an on-bill repayment obligation, and interest rates. The bill also requires CCEF to submit annual reports to the joint budget committee, the Colorado energy office, and the state treasurer detailing the deployment of the program. COB Position: Support AI Update: In May 2024, Governor Polis signed SB24-205, known as the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act (CAIA), making Colorado the second U.S. state to enact a major AI consumer protection law. After contentious negotiations during a special legislative session collapsed, lawmakers passed a bill in August 2025 to delay the law's effective date to June 30, 2026, giving the legislature time to negotiate revisions during the 2026 regular session. Most recently, in mid-March the Governor's AI Policy Working Group released a draft bill. The draft bill removes many key concerns around compliance that were noted by city staff in the CAIA, and staff will work with sponsors to address outstanding issues. At the time this memo was written, the bill has not been formally introduced in the legislature. State Budget Update: The FY2026-2027 budget bill HB26-1410 known as the “Long Bill” was introduced in the House of Representatives on Monday, April 6. The accompanying orbital bills, which are bills that accompany the Long Bill, were introduced as well. As anticipated, the near $1.2 billion deficit the committee needed to overcome was met with substantial cuts to departments across the state, while the committee worked to minimize cuts to Medicaid and K-12. Unlike previous years, the Joint Budget Committee left no room for new

legislation this year, meaning that bills that currently have an appropriation will likely be unable to move forward, unless they are able to remove their expenses entirely or the Long Bill package is changed to free up more General Fund dollars. Staff have taken positions on several orbital bills that will impact city programs and the City’s General Fund. Staff are currently in the process of analyzing impacts of proposed cuts made in the Long Bill and will provide council with that analysis when available. Budget Orbital Bills: HB26-1399 Elimination of Annual Transfers from General Fund to the Multimodal Fund Sponsors: Reps. Kyle Brown and Rick Taggart; Sens. Judy Amabile and Barb Kirkmeyer Bill Summary: Under current law, the state treasurer is required to transfer $10.5 million from the general fund to the multimodal transportation and mitigation options fund (MMOF) every July 1 beginning on July 1, 2024, and ending on July 1, 2031. The bill eliminates future transfers after the July 1, 2025, transfer. City of Boulder is seeking to amend the bill to ensure that future transfers remain in statute in order to preserve the opportunity for future funding for MMOF. COB Position: City of Boulder is seeking to amend the bill to ensure that future transfers remain in statute in order to preserve the opportunity for future funding for MMOF. HB26-1409 Retail Marijuana Sales Tax Sponsors: Reps. Kyle Brown and Emily Sirota; Sens. Jeff Bridges and Barb Kirkmeyer Bill Summary: Current law requires 3.5% of the gross retail marijuana sales tax revenue to be distributed to local governments. Among other provisions and changes to the retail marijuana sales tax revenue, the bill eliminates the distribution to local governments. COB Position: City of Boulder is seeking to amend the bill to preserve the local government distribution of retail marijuana sales tax revenue. Update on HB26-1001 HOME Act: HB26-1001 passed the legislature on March 13, 2026, and was signed into law by the Governor. The bill was amended to address several of Council’s concerns, but outstanding concerns still remain. Council identified 5 areas of concern: 1. Development in unincorporated counties: The city does not want to encourage growth and sprawl in areas that are not aligned with the city’s goals around

sustainable land use patterns and would like to remove unincorporated counties as subject jurisdictions in the bill. Amended: L.028- Exempts all parcels located outside of an unincorporated county beyond a three-mile radius of a municipal border. The amendment further exempts land located within the three-mile radius if it is a census-designated place with a population under 5,000. Staff confirmed with Boulder County that this would effectively exempt all parcels in unincorporated Boulder County, except for Gunbarrel.

Amended: L.021- Exempts parcels that are primarily used for industrial use and parcels that are subject to an intergovernmental agreement or annexation agreement that limits residential development.

Amended: L.022- Exempts parcels zoned for Agricultural Use, Forestry, Natural Resources Preservation, or Open Space. It also exempts parcels within a floodway or in a one-hundred-year floodplain as identified by FEMA. For reference, Boulder’s floodplain map is available here. 2. Height limitations: Strike language in 29-35-504 (1) (a) and (b) that pertains to allowable height and instead include height in the list of equivalent standards in in 29-35-504 (d). Amended: L.027- Lowers the height limitation to 38 feet (from 45 feet as originally drafted). 3. Development alignment with city needs assessments: Council indicated a desire to allow the city to require developers to show alignment with the city’s housing needs assessment in order to take advantage of this streamlined process. Amended: L.026- Adds laws and policies related to accepted housing needs assessments and housing action plans to the list of criteria that a subject jurisdiction can consider during an administrative process. 4. Non-profit partnerships with organizations that have a demonstrated history of providing affordable housing (NDH): While council agrees that it is appropriate to provide a streamlined process for NDH, they expressed concern that allowing any non-profit to partner with NDH allowed for greater potential abuse. They would like to see language in 29-35-502 (7)(c) removed to limit this tool to public

entities listed in the bill, NDHs and nonprofits that provide public transit. No amendments were made to the definition of an NDH. 5. Development aligns with the city's comprehensive plan: Council identified a desire to more closely align development with the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. No amendments were made to require alignment with comprehensive plans.

Anticipated Fiscal and Workplan Impacts Advocacy work performed by the city is integrated into the City Manager’s Office annual workplan. Staff will continue to monitor potential budgetary impacts associated with the Long Bill and Orbital Bills and will update council as appropriate.

Equity Analysis The first policy principle listed in the city’s policy statement on regional, state and federal issues is Equity, Racial Justice and Social Resilience. When using the policy statement as a guide for intergovernmental affairs efforts, city staff consider equity implications as described in the policy statement.

Climate, Resilience, and Sustainability Considerations Climate, resilience, and sustainability are woven throughout the Policy Statement and comprise 13 distinct policy positions under “Climate Change and Community Resilience.” As staff use the Policy Statement throughout the year, climate and sustainability consideration are a key factor in policy analysis and recommendations.

Community Engagement In alignment with past practice, staff do not conduct community engagement when taking positions on legislation on behalf of the city.

Next Steps for City Council There are no formal actions that need to be taken by Council on this item. Staff will keep the Council informed about legislative actions throughout the remainder of the session and will report on outcomes post-session.

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