Modify 2026 Interim Committees

Plain English Breakdown

The official text lists specific dollar amounts and FTE reductions but does not explicitly state the effective date, only the signing date.

HB26-1331: Changes to Legislative Interim Committees for 2026

This law changes how state legislative interim committees work during the 2026 period by limiting their activities, stopping certain payments, and ending some specific committees.

What This Bill Does

• Stops the Legislative Council from ranking or prioritizing requests to create new interim committees for 2026.
• Limits each active committee to requesting five draft bills and recommending three of them for introduction during the 2026 interim.
• Prohibits payment of daily allowances (per diem) and travel costs for members attending meetings during the 2026 interim.
• Suspends meetings, field trips, reports, and recommendations for several existing committees including those on capital development, jail standards, American Indian affairs, health insurance exchange oversight, behavioral health in justice systems, pensions, tax policy, and sales/use tax simplification.
• Stops all activities for the transportation legislation review committee and the water resources and agricultural review committee during the 2026-27 state fiscal year.
• Eliminates two specific committees: the legislative emergency preparedness, response, and recovery committee and the statewide health care review committee.

Who It Names or Affects

• Members of the Colorado General Assembly serving on interim committees.
• The Legislative Council of the General Assembly.
• State agencies that work with or fund these legislative committees.

Terms To Know

Legislative Interim

The time period between regular sessions of the state legislature when lawmakers meet in smaller groups to study issues.

Per Diem

A daily allowance paid to cover expenses like food and lodging for people traveling on official business.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not specify which specific bills will be drafted or recommended by committees.
• The exact effective date is not listed in the provided text, though it was signed into law on June 2, 2026.

Official Summary Text

The act modifies legislative interim committee activities during the 2026 legislative interim (interim). Specifically, the act:
Prohibits the legislative council of the general assembly from prioritizing any requests for interim committees, including task forces, for the 2026 interim;
For an interim committee that meets during the 2026 interim, limits the number of acts the interim committee can request to be drafted to 5 and can recommend for introduction to 3;
Prohibits members serving on statutorily created interim committees and state entities from receiving per diem and travel expenses for attending interim committee meetings during the 2026 interim;
Prohibits meetings, field trips, and legislative recommendations and reports by, and suspends for one year certain reports required to be submitted to, existing interim committees, including the capital development committee; legislative oversight committee for Colorado jail standards; American Indian affairs interim committee; legislation inside advisory council review committee; Colorado health insurance exchange oversight committee; legislative oversight committee concerning the treatment of persons with behavioral health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems; pension review commission and pension review subcommittee; legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy; and sales and use tax simplification task force;
Prohibits meetings and other activities of the transportation legislation review committee and the water resources and agricultural review committee during the 2026-27 state fiscal year; and
Repeals the legislative emergency preparedness, response, and recovery committee and the statewide health care review committee.
The act decreases the appropriations in House Bill 26-1333, concerning the payment of the expenses of the legislative department, for the 2026-27 state fiscal year for the legislative department as follows:
The general fund appropriation for the general assembly is decreased by $183,699;
The general fund appropriation for the legislative council is decreased by $161,162, and the related FTE is decreased by 1.9 FTE; and
The general fund appropriation for the committee on legal services is decreased by $108,336, and the related FTE is decreased by 1.4 FTE.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)