republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2026a/sb-78.md

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type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Changes to Institutions of Higher Education Statutes	The act modifies statutes relating to state institutions of higher education (institutions) in the following areas: Fiscal impact information for legislative measures, definitions related to electric and plumbing work, data policies and coordination, capital construction review processes, and bond requirements and procedures for the university of Colorado. Fiscal impact information. For institutions that submit information on the potential fiscal impact of a legislative measure to the staff of the legislative council (LCS) through the department of higher education (department), the act requires the department to grant submitting institutions access to the official responses of the department and other submitting institutions at the time that the fiscal impact information is submitted to LCS. Definitions. The act modifies definitions in statutes relating to performing electric and plumbing work on the campuses of the university of Colorado and the Colorado state university to remove existing restrictions so that the university of Colorado can perform work on buildings that the university owns or leases. Data policies and coordination. The act codifies the existing data advisory group facilitated by the department. The data advisory group is made up of representatives from the department and the institutions. The data advisory group must meet quarterly and is charged with advising on the development of policies and procedures for the collection, storage, and use of data from institutions. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to consult with the data advisory group to establish certain data policies. The act also adds one member of the data advisory group, selected by the commission, to the advisory committee to the commission. Capital construction. The act increases the dollar-amount threshold from $2 million to $5 million for exceptions from the requirements for program and physical planning, exceptions from commission approval and capital development committee (CDC) and joint budget committee (JBC) review of capital construction projects funded from certain sources, and exceptions from commission approval of capital construction projects funded from cash funds. The act also exempts from the review and approval of the commission, the CDC, and the JBC any capital construction or capital renewal project funded solely from cash funds held by an institution that are not derived from student fees, so long as the institution has not participated in the higher education revenue bond intercept program for at least the preceding 5 years. Bond requirements and procedures. The act modifies certain bond requirements and procedures specific to the university of Colorado to align with current practice. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $48,098 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the commission and higher education special purpose programs. The appropriation is based on an assumption that the commission will require an additional 0.5 FTE and may be used by the commission for administration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)	us/states/co	Colorado General Assembly	2026A	SB 78	Colorado SB 78 (2026A)	bill	Capital Construction Higher Education	enacted	B. Kirkmeyer J. Amabile L. Smith R. Taggart	7	15	12	2026-01-28	2026-05-26	openstates	ocd-bill/7dada10f-09b2-4a86-86a8-bc74f9597f49	https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-078	5639cbb279c7e004bebc395aedfb3264eb4c432459bfc63e4118a3af1811f8ca	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-co

Colorado SB 78 (2026A) — Changes to Institutions of Higher Education Statutes

The act modifies statutes relating to state institutions of higher education (institutions) in the following areas: Fiscal impact information for legislative measures, definitions related to electric and plumbing work, data policies and coordination, capital construction review processes, and bond requirements and procedures for the university of Colorado. Fiscal impact information. For institutions that submit information on the potential fiscal impact of a legislative measure to the staff of the legislative council (LCS) through the department of higher education (department), the act requires the department to grant submitting institutions access to the official responses of the department and other submitting institutions at the time that the fiscal impact information is submitted to LCS. Definitions. The act modifies definitions in statutes relating to performing electric and plumbing work on the campuses of the university of Colorado and the Colorado state university to remove existing restrictions so that the university of Colorado can perform work on buildings that the university owns or leases. Data policies and coordination. The act codifies the existing data advisory group facilitated by the department. The data advisory group is made up of representatives from the department and the institutions. The data advisory group must meet quarterly and is charged with advising on the development of policies and procedures for the collection, storage, and use of data from institutions. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to consult with the data advisory group to establish certain data policies. The act also adds one member of the data advisory group, selected by the commission, to the advisory committee to the commission. Capital construction. The act increases the dollar-amount threshold from $2 million to $5 million for exceptions from the requirements for program and physical planning, exceptions from commission approval and capital development committee (CDC) and joint budget committee (JBC) review of capital construction projects funded from certain sources, and exceptions from commission approval of capital construction projects funded from cash funds. The act also exempts from the review and approval of the commission, the CDC, and the JBC any capital construction or capital renewal project funded solely from cash funds held by an institution that are not derived from student fees, so long as the institution has not participated in the higher education revenue bond intercept program for at least the preceding 5 years. Bond requirements and procedures. The act modifies certain bond requirements and procedures specific to the university of Colorado to align with current practice. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, $48,098 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the commission and higher education special purpose programs. The appropriation is based on an assumption that the commission will require an additional 0.5 FTE and may be used by the commission for administration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Engrossed (committee substitute) — source
3. Final Act (committee substitute) — source
4. Reengrossed (committee substitute) — source
5. Rerevised (committee substitute) — source
6. Revised (committee substitute) — source
7. Signed Act (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Refer Senate Bill 26-078, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. — pass (pass) · upper
• Adopt amendment L.011 — pass (pass) · upper
• Refer Senate Bill 26-078, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole and with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. — pass (pass) · upper
• REPASS — pass (pass) · lower
• Adopt amendment L.006 — pass (pass) · upper
• Adopt amendment L.002 — pass (pass) · upper
• Refer Senate Bill 26-078, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. — pass (pass) · upper
• Refer Senate Bill 26-078, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. — pass (pass) · upper
• CONCUR — pass (pass) · lower
• Adopt amendment L.012 — pass (pass) · upper
• BILL — pass (pass) · lower
• Adopt amendment L.001 — pass (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• B. Kirkmeyer — primary (person)
• J. Amabile — primary (person)
• L. Smith — primary (person)
• R. Taggart — primary (person)
• B. Pelton — cosponsor (person)
• C. Kolker — cosponsor (person)
• J. Coleman — cosponsor (person)
• J. Marchman — cosponsor (person)
• K. Brown — cosponsor (person)
• K. Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
• M. Duran — cosponsor (person)
• S. Lieder — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2026-05-26 Governor Signed executive-signature
• 2026-05-20 Sent to the Governor executive-receipt
• 2026-05-20 Signed by the Speaker of the House passage
• 2026-05-20 Signed by the President of the Senate passage
• 2026-05-13 Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
• 2026-05-12 House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments passage, reading-3
• 2026-05-11 House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
• 2026-05-09 House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole committee-passage, referral-committee
• 2026-04-30 House Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations referral-committee
• 2026-04-20 Introduced In House - Assigned to Education introduction
• 2026-04-20 Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments passage, reading-3
• 2026-04-17 Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
• 2026-04-17 Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole committee-passage
• 2026-03-02 Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations referral-committee
• 2026-01-28 Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education introduction

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/7dada10f-09b2-4a86-86a8-bc74f9597f49. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).