republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2026a/sb-126.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Licensure for Experienced Out-of-State Teachers"
description: "The act allows the state department of education (CDE) to issue a professional teacher license to a teacher with at least 3 years of successful teaching experience in another state or country for which CDE has granted reciprocity. The act eliminates the requirement that an applicant have the successful teaching experience within the previous 7 years. The act creates a temporary licensing process for teachers from states that participate in the 'Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact' (Compact). The process requires that CDE:Issue an initial teacher license within 30 days of receiving a complete teacher license application from a person licensed by a Compact state when the applicant passes a criminal history record check and holds an unencumbered eligible license issued by a Compact state that is equivalent to an eligible license in Colorado; and Publish an annual table showing how out-of-state licenses correspond to Colorado endorsement areas. The act repeals the temporary licensing process when CDE begins issuing licenses pursuant to the Compact.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2026A"
identifier: "SB 126"
citation: "Colorado SB 126 (2026A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education & School Finance (Pre & K-12)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["D. Johnson", "J. Marchman", "J. Rich", "M. Lukens"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 15
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2026-02-25"
last_action: "2026-04-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1d51b139-e29e-427d-9f07-77090bf48768"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-126"
source_hash: "c3d490b2b0a86e89dcea86f01abd087942938c4e2377d4bbc98b6883c6567adc"
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 SB 126 (2026A) — Licensure for Experienced Out-of-State Teachers

The act allows the state department of education (CDE) to issue a professional teacher license to a teacher with at least 3 years of successful teaching experience in another state or country for which CDE has granted reciprocity. The act eliminates the requirement that an applicant have the successful teaching experience within the previous 7 years. The act creates a temporary licensing process for teachers from states that participate in the 'Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact' (Compact). The process requires that CDE:Issue an initial teacher license within 30 days of receiving a complete teacher license application from a person licensed by a Compact state when the applicant passes a criminal history record check and holds an unencumbered eligible license issued by a Compact state that is equivalent to an eligible license in Colorado; and Publish an annual table showing how out-of-state licenses correspond to Colorado endorsement areas. The act repeals the temporary licensing process when CDE begins issuing licenses pursuant to the Compact.(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/112616/download)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113336/download)
3. **Final Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114203/download)
4. **Reengrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113391/download)
5. **Rerevised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113984/download)
6. **Revised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113900/download)
7. **Signed Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114952/download)

## Votes

- Adopt amendment L.001 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- CONCUR — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Refer Senate Bill 26-126, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer Senate Bill 26-126, 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
- BILL — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Adopt amendment L.002 — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Adopt amendment L.003 — **pass** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- D. Johnson — primary (person)
- J. Marchman — primary (person)
- J. Rich — primary (person)
- M. Lukens — primary (person)
- A. Benavidez — cosponsor (person)
- A. Boesenecker — cosponsor (person)
- B. Kirkmeyer — cosponsor (person)
- B. Marshall — cosponsor (person)
- B. Pelton — cosponsor (person)
- C. Clifford — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kipp — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kolker — cosponsor (person)
- C. Richardson — cosponsor (person)
- E. Hamrick — cosponsor (person)
- I. Jodeh — cosponsor (person)
- J. Amabile — cosponsor (person)
- J. Bridges — cosponsor (person)
- J. Caldwell — cosponsor (person)
- J. Carson — cosponsor (person)
- J. Coleman — cosponsor (person)
- J. Gonzales — cosponsor (person)
- J. Joseph — cosponsor (person)
- J. McCluskie — cosponsor (person)
- J. Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- K. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- K. McCormick — cosponsor (person)
- K. Mullica — cosponsor (person)
- K. Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- K. Stewart — cosponsor (person)
- K. Wallace — cosponsor (person)
- L. Cutter — cosponsor (person)
- L. Frizell — cosponsor (person)
- L. Garcia Sander — cosponsor (person)
- L. Goldstein — cosponsor (person)
- L. Smith — cosponsor (person)
- M. Catlin — cosponsor (person)
- M. Duran — cosponsor (person)
- M. Lindsay — cosponsor (person)
- M. Rutinel — cosponsor (person)
- M. Snyder — cosponsor (person)
- M. Weissman — cosponsor (person)
- R. Gonzalez — cosponsor (person)
- R. Keltie — cosponsor (person)
- R. Pelton — 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)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-04-20** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-07** Signed by the Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-07** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-06** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2026-04-02** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-01** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2026-03-31** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2026-03-26** House Committee on Education Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-03-19** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2026-03-17** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-16** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee `reading-2`
- **2026-03-16** Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-2`
- **2026-03-11** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-25** Introduced In Senate - 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/1d51b139-e29e-427d-9f07-77090bf48768`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).