HB 26-1396

House Bill 26-1396, which has been signed into law, changes how Colorado manages its disaster emergency fund. It requires the state planning office to report on closed disasters and remaining funds every quarter. The bill also sets a timeline for closing out disaster funding—three years for federally declared disasters and eight years for those declared only by the state—and limits the total unspent balance in the fund to $200 million, with any excess money transferred to the general fund annually starting from August 12, 2026. This affects how Colorado allocates funds during emergencies and ensures better financial oversight of disaster relief resources.

Official Summary

Joint Budget Committee. The bill makes the following changes to the disaster emergency fund:Requires the office of state planning and budgeting (office) to include in its quarterly reports to the joint budget committee an identification of disasters that have been closed out and the amount of unencumbered money that the office has transferred back to its original source;Institutes a timeline for closing out a disaster based on the type of disaster, 3 years for a federally declared disaster or 8 years for a state-only disaster; andLimits the annual maximum unencumbered balance of the disaster emergency fund to $200,000,000 and directs the office to transfer money in excess of that amount to the general fund after August 12, 2026, and on June 30 each year thereafter.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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