House Bill 25-1215 Introduced

A Bill for an Act

• Page 1, Line 101Concerning the redistribution of the lottery fund, and, in

• Page 1, Line 102connection therewith, redistributing funds for the

• Page 1, Line 103outdoor equity fund and the public school capital

• Page 1, Line 104construction assistance fund.

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.)

Current law distributes, to the extent available, the first $3 million of the lottery fund to the outdoor equity fund, the next $3 million to the public school capital construction assistance fund, and any remaining money as follows:

• 25% to the wildlife cash fund;
• 25% to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund; and
• 50% to the public school capital construction assistance fund.
• 10% to the wildlife cash fund;
• 10% to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund;
• 30% to the outdoor equity fund; and
• 50% to the public school capital construction assistance fund.

For the 2024-25 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter, the bill redistributes, to the extent available, the first $3 million of the lottery fund to the outdoor equity fund, the next $4 million to the public school capital construction assistance fund, and any remaining money as follows:

• Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

• Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1.  Legislative declaration. (1)  The general assembly finds and declares that:

• Page 2, Line 3(a)  Since its creation, the outdoor equity grant program,

• Page 2, Line 4administered by the outdoor equity board in the division of parks and

• Page 2, Line 5wildlife, has provided a total of $8.5 million to support meaningful

• Page 2, Line 6outdoor experiences for Colorado youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth,

• Page 2, Line 7low-income youth, indigenous youth, rural youth, and youth with

• Page 2, Line 8disabilities. These transformative experiences have allowed individuals

• Page 2, Line 9to discover and cherish the beauty of our state through environmental

• Page 2, Line 10education, experiential learning, stewardship programming, and more.

• Page 2, Line 11Through December 2024, this investment has supported more than 65,000

• Page 2, Line 12Colorado youth and families in experiencing the positive impact of the great outdoors.

• Page 2, Line 13(b)  The demand for the outdoor equity grant program reflects a

• Page 2, Line 14deep and growing need for opportunities that connect Colorado's

• Page 2, Line 15underserved youth to the outdoors. In 2023, hundreds of organizations

• Page 3, Line 1across the state put forward meaningful projects to empower youth

• Page 3, Line 2through outdoor experiences, but the program could only support a small

• Page 3, Line 3fraction of them due to limited funding. In 2024, the outdoor equity grant

• Page 3, Line 4program board received 263 grant proposals with a total ask of $21 million dollars.

• Page 3, Line 5(c)  This pattern has repeated year after year, with the

• Page 3, Line 6overwhelming majority of thoughtful and impactful applications going

• Page 3, Line 7unfunded. Despite the program's success in transforming lives, only 14%

• Page 3, Line 8of eligible applications have received support so far. The demand for this

• Page 3, Line 9program is a testament to its importance, but it also highlights how much

• Page 3, Line 10more could be done to ensure every young person in Colorado has the

• Page 3, Line 11chance to experience the outdoors and the life-changing opportunities it provides.

• Page 3, Line 12(d)  Public school capital construction assistance grant requests to

• Page 3, Line 13address health and safety needs in school buildings vastly outnumber

• Page 3, Line 14available grant funds every year. Increased funds for the public school

• Page 3, Line 15capital construction assistance fund will help meet more of those

• Page 3, Line 16qualified requests. These funds also generate local matching dollars for

• Page 3, Line 17public school facility projects and are local economic drivers, with more

• Page 3, Line 18than 17 direct and indirect jobs created or supported for every $1 million

• Page 3, Line 19invested in building excellent schools today (BEST) grant program schools.

• Page 3, Line 20(e)  Increased investment in public school capital construction

• Page 3, Line 21assistance grants ensures that more public school facilities can be

• Page 3, Line 22renovated or rebuilt to meet modern safety and accessibility standards,

• Page 3, Line 23creating healthier learning environments and fostering long-term

• Page 3, Line 24educational success for Colorado's students; and

• Page 4, Line 1(f)  The general assembly has the opportunity to reallocate existing

• Page 4, Line 2resources to support more of these critical programs without any new funding.

• Page 4, Line 3(2)  Therefore, the general assembly declares that by prioritizing

• Page 4, Line 4the outdoor equity grant program within our current budget, we can

• Page 4, Line 5expand access to transformative outdoor experiences for Colorado's

• Page 4, Line 6underserved youth, ensuring that more young people benefit from the life-changing impact of nature.

• Page 4, Line 7SECTION 2.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 44-40-111, amend (12)(b)(III) and (12)(b)(IV); and add (12)(b)(V) as follows:

• Page 4, Line 844-40-111.  Lottery fund creation - definitions.

• Page 4, Line 9(12) (b)  Pursuant to subsection (10)(b) of this section, the state treasurer

• Page 4, Line 10shall transfer money that would otherwise be allocated to the general fund

• Page 4, Line 11pursuant to section 3 (1)(b)(III) of article XXVII of the state constitution, and as described in section 33-60-104 (1)(c), as follows:

• Page 4, Line 12(III)  For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, to the extent available, the

• Page 4, Line 13first two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the outdoor equity

• Page 4, Line 14fund; the next three million dollars to the public school capital

• Page 4, Line 15construction assistance fund; and any remaining money as follows:

• Page 4, Line 16Twenty-five percent to the wildlife cash fund, twenty-five percent to the

• Page 4, Line 17parks and outdoor recreation cash fund, and fifty percent to the public school capital construction assistance fund; and

• Page 4, Line 18(IV)  For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, and each state fiscal year

• Page 4, Line 19thereafter, to the extent available, the first three million dollars to the

• Page 4, Line 20outdoor equity fund; the next three million dollars to the public school

• Page 4, Line 21capital construction assistance fund; and any remaining money as follows:

• Page 4, Line 22Twenty-five percent to the wildlife cash fund, twenty-five percent to the

• Page 5, Line 1parks and outdoor recreation cash fund, and fifty percent to the public school capital construction assistance fund; and

• Page 5, Line 2(V)  For the 2024-25 state fiscal year and each state fiscal

• Page 5, Line 3year thereafter, to the extent available, the first three million

• Page 5, Line 4dollars to the outdoor equity fund; the next four million

• Page 5, Line 5dollars to the public school capital construction assistance

• Page 5, Line 6fund; and any remaining money as follows: Ten percent to the

• Page 5, Line 7wildlife cash fund, ten percent to the parks and outdoor

• Page 5, Line 8recreation cash fund, thirty percent to the outdoor equity

• Page 5, Line 9fund, and fifty percent to the public school capital construction assistance fund.

• Page 5, Line 10SECTION 3.  Act subject to petition - effective date. This act

• Page 5, Line 11takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the

• Page 5, Line 12ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except

• Page 5, Line 13that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V

• Page 5, Line 14of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this

• Page 5, Line 15act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take

• Page 5, Line 16effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in

• Page 5, Line 17November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.