SB 47 — Colorado Firefighter Safety Act Petition Elections

SecondNOTE: Regular Session Seventy-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO REREVISED This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted in the Second House LLS NO.

26-0347.01This Jacobbill Benningtonhas x2371been SENATEprepared BILLfor 26-047the SENATEsignatures SPONSORSHIPof DanielsonandMarchman,the Amabile,Ball,Coleman,Cutter,Daugherty,Exum,Gonzalesappropriate J.,legislative Jodeh,officers Kipp, Kolker, Lindstedt, Mullica, Roberts, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Camacho and Phillips,the Duran,Governor. Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Carter, Clifford, Espenoza, Froelich,Garcia,Goldstein,Hamrick,Jackson,Lieder,Lindsay,Mabrey,McCluskie,Nguyen, Ricks, Rutinel, Smith, Stewart K., Story, Valdez, Velasco e n m 2 E n 0 U U , O i i H a p Senate Committees House Committees R A State, Veterans, & Military Affairs State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs r d A BILL FOR AN ACT d 6 e 0 C ONCERNING CHANGES TO THE DEFINITION OF A GENERAL ELECTION S a , U U 3 FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING A QUESTION TO THE VOTERS H g r d a TO ALLOW FIREFIGHTERS TO COLLECTIVELY BARGAIN WITH e M d THEIR PUBLIC EMPLOYERS .

2To Billdetermine Summarywhether dthe eGovernor 6has (Note:signed the bill or taken other action on it, please consult the legislative status sheet, the legislative history, or the Session Laws.

ThisSENATE summaryBILL applies26-047 toBY thisSENATOR(S) billDanielson as introduced and doesMarchman, mAmabile, 0Ball, TCutter, nDaugherty, ,Exum, notreflectanyamendmentsthatmaybesubsequentlyadopted.IfthisbillGonzales NJ., gJodeh, 1Kipp, passesKolker, thirdLindstedt, readingMullica, inRoberts, theSnyder, houseSullivan, ofWallace, introduction,Weissman, aColeman; bill summary that E i c S e a applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at R M r http://leg.colorado.gov.) 3 Current law allows voters to circulate a petition for a ballot question requiring a local government to engage in collective bargaining i a 6 withthefiredepartmentforthelocalgovernmentandextendcoverageof e 0 T d , A n 1 E d h Shading denotes HOUSE amendment.

Doublealso underliningREPRESENTATIVE(S) denotesCamacho SENATEand amendment.Phillips, Duran, Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Carter, Clifford, Espenoza, Froelich, Garcia, Goldstein, Hamrick, Jackson, Lieder, Lindsay, Mabrey, Nguyen, Ricks, Rutinel, Smith, Stewart K., Story, Valdez, Velasco, McCluskie.

SCONCERNING dCHANGES rTO CapitalTHE lettersDEFINITION orOF boldA &GENERAL italicELECTION numbersFOR indicateTHE newPURPOSEOFSUBMITTINGAQUESTIONTOTHE materialVOTERS toTOALLOW beFIREFIGHTERS addedTO toCOLLECTIVELY existingBARGAIN law.nWITH MTHEIR DashesPUBLIC throughEMPLOYERS the. words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.

m A the "Colorado Firefighter Safety Act" to firefighters employed by the local government(question).Thequestionmaybeaddedto the ballot for any general election, defined as a general municipal election, regular special district board election, statewide primary election, or statewide general election.

The bill changes the definition of a general election for thepurposeofdeterminingwhenaquestionmaybeaddedtotheballotto include a statewide general election in an odd-numbered year only if it qualifies as a coordinated election, as defined in the "Uniform Election Code of 1992".

SECTIONSECTION1. 1.

InInColoradoRevisedStatutes,29-5-203,amend(11) Colorado Revised Statutes, 29-5-203, amend (11) as follows:

(11)________ "GeneralCapital election"letters meansor abold general& REGULARitalic municipalnumbers election,indicate regularnew specialmaterial districtadded boardto election,existing statewidelaw; primary election, ortatewide general election,OR COORDINATED ELECTION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1-1-104 (6.5).

SECTION2.dashes through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of the act.

InColoradoRevisedStatutes,29-5-206,amend(1)(11) as"General follows:election" means a general REGULAR municipal election, regular special district board election, statewideprimaryelection, or statewide general election,OR COORDINATED ELECTION AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1-1-104 (6.5).

SECTION 2.

In Colorado Revised Statutes, 29-5-206, amend (1) as follows:

(1) If a petition signed by at least five percent of the number of persons who voted in the last generalgeneralREGULAR REGULARmunicipalelection,general municipaldistrictelection,orthetotalvotesofeachparty'sgeneralelectioninthecase election, generaldistrictelection,orthetotalvotesof each party'sgeneralelection in the case of a fire authority, unless petition requirements are otherwise outlined by city charter or local ordinance, asks the public employer to engageincollectivebargainingwithanamedemployeeorganization,the public employer shall place on the ballot at the next general election the -2- 047 followingquestionforayesornovote:"Shouldthefirefightersemployed by the [name of the public employer] be covered by the 'Colorado FirefighterSafetyAct'?".Ifamajorityoftheregisteredelectorsvotingon this question vote "yes", the public employer is obligated to engage in collective bargaining pursuantwith toa thisnamed part 2, and the employee organizationorganization, named in the petitionpublic becomesemployershallplaceontheballotatthenextgeneralelectionthefollowing thequestion exclusivefor representativea ofyes theor firefightersno ofvote: that public employer.

If"Should athe majorityoffirefighters employed by the registered[name electorsvotingonthisquestionvote"no",thepublicemployerwillnotbeof the public employer] be covered by the 'Colorado Firefighter SafetyAct'?".Ifamajorityoftheregisteredelectorsvotingonthisquestion vote "yes", the public employer is obligated to engage in collective bargaining underpursuant to this part 2, and the meetandconferprocessinsection29-5-205willcontinuetoapplytothatemployee organization named in the petition becomes the exclusive representative of the firefighters of that public employer.

If a majority of the registered electors voting on this question vote "no", the public employer will not be obligated to engage in collective bargaining under this part 2, and the meet and confer process in section 29-5-205 will continue to apply to that public employer.

on the day following the expiration of the ninety-dayperiodafterfinaladjournmentofthegeneralassembly(Augustninety-dayperiod after final adjournment of the general assembly(August 12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026);

except that, if a referendumreferendumpetitionisfiledpursuanttosection1(3)ofarticleVofthestate petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approvedPAGE by2-SENATE theBILL people26-047 atapprovedbythepeopleatthegeneralelectiontobeheldinNovember2026 the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.

-3-____________________________ 047____________________________ James Rashad Coleman, Sr.

Julie McCluskie PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES ____________________________ ____________________________ Esther van Mourik Vanessa Reilly SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES APPROVED________________________________________ (Date and Time) _________________________________________ Jared S.

Polis GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO PAGE 3-SENATE BILL 26-047