republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2026a/hb-1259.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Department of Early Childhood Clean-Up"
description: "The act makes changes and clarifications in the provisions related to the department of early childhood (department). The act:Eliminates the scheduled repeal of licensing exemptions for certain in-home child care arrangements in which the children are related to the caregiver, are siblings, or number fewer than five;Updates provisions related to early care and education provider reimbursement for services performed before final eligibility determinations in the Colorado child care assistance program;Lowers the age limit for children served by the early childhood mental health consultation program from 8 years old to 6 years old and adjusts that program's reporting requirements;Clarifies the sources of money appropriated to the universal preschool program;Requires the department to keep confidential identifying records and facts regarding children and their relatives;Clarifies that child care facilities approved, certified, or licensed by tribal governments are exempt from the department's licensing rules; andAdjusts the membership requirements and duties of the early childhood leadership commission and subcommittee membership requirements for the rules advisory council.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2026A"
identifier: "HB 1259"
citation: "Colorado HB 1259 (2026A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education & School Finance (Pre & K-12)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["E. Sirota", "J. Bridges", "J. Marchman"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 14
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-02-19"
last_action: "2026-05-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e1c9945a-6235-4051-ba47-d6863336309e"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/HB26-1259"
source_hash: "4f87237a8598ce90d6c5599a3675fe4e21d69dfbcc16746b5161b8fea22addc0"
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 1259 (2026A) — Department of Early Childhood Clean-Up

The act makes changes and clarifications in the provisions related to the department of early childhood (department). The act:Eliminates the scheduled repeal of licensing exemptions for certain in-home child care arrangements in which the children are related to the caregiver, are siblings, or number fewer than five;Updates provisions related to early care and education provider reimbursement for services performed before final eligibility determinations in the Colorado child care assistance program;Lowers the age limit for children served by the early childhood mental health consultation program from 8 years old to 6 years old and adjusts that program's reporting requirements;Clarifies the sources of money appropriated to the universal preschool program;Requires the department to keep confidential identifying records and facts regarding children and their relatives;Clarifies that child care facilities approved, certified, or licensed by tribal governments are exempt from the department's licensing rules; andAdjusts the membership requirements and duties of the early childhood leadership commission and subcommittee membership requirements for the rules advisory council.(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](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/112325/download)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113212/download)
3. **Final Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115185/download)
4. **Reengrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113267/download)
5. **Rerevised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113926/download)
6. **Revised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113853/download)
7. **Signed Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115967/download)

## Votes

- REPASS — **pass** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer House Bill 26-1259, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Adopt amendment L.008 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer House Bill 26-1259 to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- E. Sirota — primary (person)
- J. Bridges — primary (person)
- J. Marchman — primary (person)
- A. Benavidez — cosponsor (person)
- A. Boesenecker — cosponsor (person)
- A. Valdez — cosponsor (person)
- B. Kirkmeyer — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kipp — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kolker — cosponsor (person)
- D. Roberts — cosponsor (person)
- I. Jodeh — cosponsor (person)
- J. Amabile — cosponsor (person)
- J. Bacon — cosponsor (person)
- J. Coleman — cosponsor (person)
- J. Gonzales — cosponsor (person)
- J. Jackson — cosponsor (person)
- J. Joseph — cosponsor (person)
- J. Mabrey — cosponsor (person)
- J. McCluskie — cosponsor (person)
- J. Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- J. Willford — cosponsor (person)
- K. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- K. Mullica — cosponsor (person)
- K. Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- K. Wallace — cosponsor (person)
- L. Cutter — cosponsor (person)
- L. Daugherty — cosponsor (person)
- L. García — cosponsor (person)
- L. Gilchrist — cosponsor (person)
- L. Goldstein — cosponsor (person)
- M. Ball — cosponsor (person)
- M. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- M. Duran — cosponsor (person)
- M. Froelich — cosponsor (person)
- M. Lindsay — cosponsor (person)
- M. Lukens — cosponsor (person)
- M. Snyder — cosponsor (person)
- M. Weissman — cosponsor (person)
- N. Hinrichsen — cosponsor (person)
- R. Taggart — cosponsor (person)
- S. Bright — cosponsor (person)
- S. Camacho — cosponsor (person)
- S. Lieder — cosponsor (person)
- T. Exum — cosponsor (person)
- T. Story — cosponsor (person)
- T. Sullivan — cosponsor (person)
- W. Lindstedt — cosponsor (person)
- Y. Zokaie — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-05-05** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-28** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-28** Signed by the Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-02** House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2026-04-01** Senate Third Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-31** Senate Third Reading Laid Over to 04/01/2026 - No Amendments
- **2026-03-30** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee `reading-2`
- **2026-03-25** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-18** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2026-03-13** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-12** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2026-03-11** House Committee on Education Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-19** 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/e1c9945a-6235-4051-ba47-d6863336309e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).