republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/hb-21-1097.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establish Behavioral Health Administration"
description: "The act addresses multiple recommendations from the Colorado behavioral health task force (task force), created in 2019, related to the creation of a behavioral health administration (BHA). The BHA would be a single state agency to lead, promote, and administer the state's behavioral health priorities.The act requires the department of human services (department) to submit a plan for the creation of the BHA on or before November 1, 2021, to the joint budget committee and to the department's committees of reference. The act outlines what the plan must, at a minimum, include. The essential duties of the BHA, once established, are set forth.A timeline is described for the establishment of the BHA in the department and for a future determination of the state department in which the BHA will exist, if different than the department of human services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "HB 21-1097"
citation: "Colorado HB 21-1097 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bob Gardner", "Mary Young", "Rhonda Fields", "Rod Pelton"]
version_count: 15
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-04-22T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/51b665e1-297c-4e18-a977-a042aa703b59"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1097"
source_hash: "98b1d5e1271b4f69d8aee28417b9328336ce19bd4e03fb6a248c33e58e98b193"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado HB 21-1097 (2021A) — Establish Behavioral Health Administration

The act addresses multiple recommendations from the Colorado behavioral health task force (task force), created in 2019, related to the creation of a behavioral health administration (BHA). The BHA would be a single state agency to lead, promote, and administer the state's behavioral health priorities.The act requires the department of human services (department) to submit a plan for the creation of the BHA on or before November 1, 2021, to the joint budget committee and to the department's committees of reference. The act outlines what the plan must, at a minimum, include. The essential duties of the BHA, once established, are set forth.A timeline is described for the establishment of the BHA in the department and for a future determination of the state department in which the BHA will exist, if different than the department of human services.(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. **Amendment L.004** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachI.pdf)
2. **Amendment L.005** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachE.pdf)
3. **Amendment L.006** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachG.pdf)
4. **Amendment L.007** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachH.pdf)
5. **Amendment L.008** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachJ.pdf)
6. **Amendment L.009** (committee substitute) — [source](http://coga.prod.acquia-sites.com/sites/default/files/html-attachments/fd22bd539a2a42bc872586930075a6b6__hearing_summary/21HousePublic0309AttachF.pdf)
7. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_hb1097_s_hhs_001.pdf)
8. **Engrossed (03/12/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_eng.pdf)
9. **Final Act (04/13/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_enr.pdf)
10. **Introduced (02/16/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_01.pdf)
11. **PA1 (03/11/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097pbh_01.pdf)
12. **Reengrossed (03/16/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_ren.pdf)
13. **Rerevised (04/09/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_rer.pdf)
14. **Revised (04/08/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_1097_rev.pdf)
15. **Signed Act (04/22/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_1097_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **52–8** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **33–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bob Gardner — primary (person)
- Mary Young — primary (person)
- Rhonda Fields — primary (person)
- Rod Pelton — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-04-22T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-14T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-04-09T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-08T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-2`
- **2021-04-05T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-18T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Health & Human Services `introduction`
- **2021-03-16T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-12T07:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - No Amendments
- **2021-03-11T07:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-03-09T07:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/51b665e1-297c-4e18-a977-a042aa703b59`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).