republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2023a/hb-23-1246.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Support In-demand Career Workforce"
description: "The act directs the state board of community colleges and occupational education (board) to administer the in-demand short-term credentials program (program) to support the expansion of the number of available and qualified professionals who are able to meet Colorado's in-demand workforce needs. Under the program, the board is required to allocate funds to community and technical colleges, area technical colleges, local district colleges, and Colorado Mesa university to provide assistance to students for eligible expenses that support their enrollment in eligible programs. If unexpended resources exist, the funds must be used to pay for a student's housing, transportation, child or dependent care, or food expenses. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education to submit a report regarding the program to the house of representatives and senate education committees during its annual \"SMART Act\" hearing."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2023A"
identifier: "HB 23-1246"
citation: "Colorado HB 23-1246 (2023A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Janet Buckner", "Julie McCluskie", "Perry Will", "Rose Pugliese"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 18
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2023-03-14T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-16T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/74eacc92-d364-42a0-8276-6b4406738c72"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1246"
source_hash: "ebb57501b30b116991b7fb06f1d0eb9d286e1705d5d9fc899d6befc1417ad131"
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 23-1246 (2023A) — Support In-demand Career Workforce

The act directs the state board of community colleges and occupational education (board) to administer the in-demand short-term credentials program (program) to support the expansion of the number of available and qualified professionals who are able to meet Colorado's in-demand workforce needs. Under the program, the board is required to allocate funds to community and technical colleges, area technical colleges, local district colleges, and Colorado Mesa university to provide assistance to students for eligible expenses that support their enrollment in eligible programs. If unexpended resources exist, the funds must be used to pay for a student's housing, transportation, child or dependent care, or food expenses. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education to submit a report regarding the program to the house of representatives and senate education committees during its annual "SMART Act" hearing.

## Version chain

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

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_hb1246_s_app_003.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (04/12/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (05/12/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (03/14/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (04/10/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_h_app_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (04/18/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_s_ed_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (04/13/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_ren.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (04/28/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (04/26/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/2023a_1246_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (05/16/2023)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2023a_1246_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **56–7** (pass) · lower
- AMEND — **11–21** (fail) · upper
- BILL — **27–5** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **58–5** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **60–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Janet Buckner — primary (person)
- Julie McCluskie — primary (person)
- Perry Will — primary (person)
- Rose Pugliese — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-16T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-12T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-12T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2023-05-11T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2023-04-29T06:00:00+00:00** House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2023-04-28T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-27T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-26T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee `reading-2`
- **2023-04-25T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-21T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-04-17T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-14T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2023-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-12T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
- **2023-04-10T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2023-04-10T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-22T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Education Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-14T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/74eacc92-d364-42a0-8276-6b4406738c72`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).