A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning government agency assistance in services
Page 1, Line 102related to wireless communication.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov/.)
Cell Phone Connectivity Interim Study Committee. The bill requires the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety (division) to develop a single point of contact within the division to:
- Help ensure statewide coverage of the integrated public alert and warning system for wireless emergency alerts and the emergency alert system;
- Provide technical assistance to local jurisdictions on becoming integrated public alert and warning system certified;
- Provide technical assistance, consistent with the language access in emergency communications study, to implement best practices for inclusive alerting; and
- Offer recommendations to improve current wireless alert systems in Colorado that address language and access needs.
Under current law, the Colorado broadband office (office) has certain duties related to broadband in Colorado. The bill requires the office to also perform those duties for wireless services.
This Unofficial Version Includes Committee
Amendments Not Yet Adopted on Second Reading
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-37.5-903, amend (2)(b) as follows:
Page 2, Line 324-37.5-903. Colorado broadband office - creation -
Page 2, Line 4responsibilities - gifts, grants, or donations. (2) (b) The broadband
Page 2, Line 5office shall provide technical assistance to applicants seeking grant
Page 2, Line 6awards from the grant program or other state or federal grant opportunities offered for deploying broadband and wireless service.
Page 2, Line 7SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 24-33.5-432 as follows:
Page 2, Line 824-33.5-432. Emergency alerts - definitions. (1) (a) Beginning
Page 2, Line 9July 1, 2027, an alerting authority shall disseminate emergency
Page 2, Line 10alerts in English and in a predominant minority language if the
Page 2, Line 11alerting authority covers a county or city in which at least two
Page 2, Line 12thousand or two and one-half percent of residents who are
Page 2, Line 13eighteen years of age or older speak the predominant minority
Page 2, Line 14language and speak English less than very well, as reported by
Page 2, Line 15the United States census bureau's American community survey or comparable available and validated census data.
Page 3, Line 1(b) An emergency alert must be sent in the timeliest
Page 3, Line 2manner possible when using broadcast emergency alerts and
Page 3, Line 3emergency notification systems. An alerting authority may
Page 3, Line 4disseminate emergency alerts by using preloaded resident data
Page 3, Line 5and voluntary registrations. An alerting authority shall
Page 3, Line 6comply with 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq., when disseminating emergency alerts.
Page 3, Line 7(c) Emergency alerts must be in plain language.
Page 3, Line 8(d) Emergency alerts sent in English via the broadcast
Page 3, Line 9emergency alert system must also be sent in predominate minority languages that the system supports.
Page 3, Line 10(2) In addition to compliance with the requirements in
Page 3, Line 11subsection (1) of this section, the state, counties, municipalities,
Page 3, Line 12and alerting authorities are encouraged to use available
Page 3, Line 13technology to issue emergency alerts in as many languages as possible in the same method as an English alert.
Page 3, Line 14(3) (a) The state may provide assistance to counties,
Page 3, Line 15municipalities, and alerting authorities in implementing this section.
Page 3, Line 16(b) Each alerting authority that is required to send
Page 3, Line 17emergency alerts in a predominant minority language pursuant
Page 3, Line 18to subsection (1) of this section is encouraged to conduct
Page 3, Line 19community outreach to inform people with limited English
Page 3, Line 20proficiency of the availability of language interpretation and
Page 3, Line 21translation options for emergency alerts. Existing emergency
Page 3, Line 22notification systems installed or subscribed to by an alerting
Page 4, Line 1authority must adhere to this section as the alerting
Page 4, Line 2application allows and in the timeliest manner. When an
Page 4, Line 3alerting authority purchases a new emergency alerting system,
Page 4, Line 4the emergency alerting system must include translation functionality.
Page 4, Line 5(4) The 911 services enterprise created in section 29-11-108
Page 4, Line 6may distribute grants to municipal or county alerting
Page 4, Line 7authorities to implement language and accessibility services
Page 4, Line 8for emergency alerts. The enterprise board of directors shall
Page 4, Line 9determine the total amount of the grants and the manner of
Page 4, Line 10distribution of the grants. The 911 services enterprise shall use enterprise funds to support distribution of the grants.
Page 4, Line 11(5) For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
Page 4, Line 12(a) "Alerting authority" means a jurisdiction with the
Page 4, Line 13designated authority to alert and warn the public when there
Page 4, Line 14is an impending natural or human-made disaster, threat, or dangerous or missing person.
Page 4, Line 15(b) "Broadcast emergency alert" including wireless
Page 4, Line 16emergency alerts means short emergency messages from
Page 4, Line 17authorized federal, state, local, and territorial public alerting
Page 4, Line 18authorities that may be broadcast in multiple delivery formats,
Page 4, Line 19including, but not limited to, cellular providers, to any
Page 4, Line 20pre-enabled device in a locally targeted area. Wireless
Page 4, Line 21providers primarily use cell broadcast technology for message
Page 4, Line 22delivery. The system utilized for broadcasting emergency
Page 4, Line 23alerts is a partnership among the federal emergency
Page 5, Line 1management agency, the federal communications commission and wireless providers to enhance public safety.
Page 5, Line 2(c) "Emergency alert" means critical life safety
Page 5, Line 3information disseminated by an alerting authority that advises
Page 5, Line 4the public to prepare to take action or take action immediately due to an imminent life threat.
Page 5, Line 5(d) "Emergency notification system" means a
Page 5, Line 6communications system or network of systems, as defined by the
Page 5, Line 7alerting authority, designed to quickly alert the public to
Page 5, Line 8critical life safety information through multiple
Page 5, Line 9communications channels including, but not limited to, text messages, phone calls, emails, or desktop alerts.
Page 5, Line 10(e) "Predominant minority language" means a language
Page 5, Line 11spoken by at least two thousand or two and one-half percent of
Page 5, Line 12residents who are eighteen years of age or older who also speak
Page 5, Line 13English less than very well in a city or county within an
Page 5, Line 14alerting authority's jurisdiction, as reported by the American
Page 5, Line 15community survey data or comparable available and validated census data.
Page 5, Line 16SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 29-11-108, add (5)(b)(V.5) as follows:
Page 5, Line 1729-11-108. 911 services enterprise - creation - powers and
Page 5, Line 18duties - cash fund - legislative declaration. (5) The enterprise's primary powers and duties are to:
Page 5, Line 19(b) Distribute funding to governing bodies, PSAPs, statewide 911
Page 5, Line 20organizations, or third parties for the benefit of governing bodies or
Page 5, Line 21PSAPs for purposes that are pre-approved by the board of directors of the
Page 6, Line 1enterprise and are consistent with applicable statutes, regulations, ordinances, policies, and procedures. The purposes may include:
Page 6, Line 2(V.5) Awarding grants to local alerting authorities, as
Page 6, Line 3defined in section 24-33.5-432 (5), to implement language and accessibility services for emergency alerts;
Page 6, Line 4SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 29-11-101, amend (21) as follows:
Page 6, Line 529-11-101. Definitions. As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise requires:
Page 6, Line 6(21) "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service" means a
Page 6, Line 7wireless telecommunications
access that allows the user to make 911Page 6, Line 8
calls, is paid for in advance, and is sold in predetermined units or dollars,Page 6, Line 9
of which the number of units or dollars available to the caller declines with use in a known amount.Page 6, Line 10(a) Is paid for in advance;
Page 6, Line 11(b) Is sold in predetermined units of time or dollars that
Page 6, Line 12decline with use in a known amount or provides unlimited use of the service for a fixed period of time; and
Page 6, Line 13(c) Allows a service user to access 911 emergency service.
Page 6, Line 14SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 29-11-102.5, add (1.5) as follows:
Page 6, Line 1529-11-102.5. Imposition of charge on prepaid wireless -
Page 6, Line 16prepaid wireless trust cash fund - rules - applicability - definitions -
Page 6, Line 17repeal. (1.5) This section applies to prepaid wireless
Page 6, Line 18telecommunications service. All other telecommunication services are subject to sections 29-11-102 and 29-11-102.3.
Page 6, Line 19SECTION 6. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 40-17.5-101, add (9.5) as follows:
Page 7, Line 140-17.5-101. Definitions. As used in this article 17.5, unless the context otherwise requires:
Page 7, Line 2(9.5) "Prepaid wireless telecommunications service", for
Page 7, Line 3the purposes of this section, has the same meaning as in section 29-11-101.
Page 7, Line 4SECTION 7. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 7, Line 5takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 7, Line 6ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 7, Line 7that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 7, Line 8of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 7, Line 9act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 7, Line 10effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 7, Line 11November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.