HB26-1202 · Bill · 2026 Regular Session · Colorado

Strategy to Reduce & Prevent Homelessness

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Concerning strategies to mitigate homelessness, and, in connection therewith, requiring the department of local affairs to present a proposal for a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution, allowing local governments to create multijurisdictional homelessness authorities, and allowing real estate documentary fees to be used for affordable housing.

Official status: Became Law

8 proposed amendments

Prime sponsors

• Manny Rutinel (House) — Prime Sponsor
• Emily Sirota (House) — Prime Sponsor
• Judy Amabile (Senate) — Prime Sponsor
• Janice Marchman (Senate) — Prime Sponsor

Progress (from the official record)

Official summary

Official text — shown in English exactly as published by the official source. The official text controls.

The act requires the department of local affairs, as part of its SMART Act hearing in January of 2027, to submit and present a proposal for the development of a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution. The proposal must include a plan that sets forth a timeline, an estimated budget, and a process for developing and implementing a statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution. The proposal must set forth the following components that must be included in the statewide strategy on homelessness prevention and resolution: Identification of gaps and barriers that impede access to operational services for individuals experiencing homelessness; Identification of state agency-provided housing resources, including utilization rates; Recommendations for collaboration between state and local partners to facilitate homelessness response; Recommendations for funding and policies that could be implemented at the state level to support homelessness prevention and resolution; Recommendations proposed in coordination with continuum of care organizations to improve the implementation of the homeless management information system, data reporting, and coordinated entry systems; and Updates on regional navigation campuses. When developing the proposal, the department shall seek and incorporate feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders. The act creates a new type of special district, a multijurisdictional homelessness response authority (authority), which may be created when any combination of local governments enter into an intergovernmental agreement with one another to establish an authority. An authority must: Be used by the contracting local governments to reduce and prevent homelessness; and Have boundaries that contain the entirety of all the contracting local governments, but nothing more. An authority has several discretionary powers that relate to its ability to coordinate and plan with departments and organizations to reduce and prevent homelessness, including the power to provide for the levy of sales or sales and use taxes by the contracting local governments. If the intergovernmental agreement that creates an authority provides for the levy of a sales or sales and use tax by the contracting local governments within the boundaries of the authority: Each contracting local government shall submit to its registered electors a ballot question that relates to the tax and that requires any new tax revenue approved through the ballot question to be used solely for the planning, coordination, and implementation of regional strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness; The intergovernmental agreement must provide for a case in which the electors in some but not all of the contracting local governments approve the collection of the sales or sales and use tax at the general election; and The intergovernmental agreement must provide that all or part of the taxes levied are distributed to the authority. An authority may seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of planning, coordinating, and implementing regional strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness, may issue revenue or general obligation bonds, and may pledge its revenue and revenue-raising powers for the payment of such bonds. The act allows a county to designate a portion of documentary filing fees, which are collected for filing documents associated with the grant or conveyance of real property, to be transferred to the county government or a housing authority for the purpose of developing, preserving, or acquiring affordable housing that: Is within the jurisdiction of the county government or housing authority; Is aligned with demonstrated community needs; and Will be available to individuals experiencing homelessness. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Status timeline

Recorded votes

• 04/07/2026 — Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs: “Refer House Bill 26-1202 to the Committee of the Whole.” — the motion passed on a vote of 3–2.
• 03/03/2026 — House Transportation, Housing & Local Government: “Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment A)” — the motion failed on a vote of 4–9.
• 03/03/2026 — House Transportation, Housing & Local Government: “Refer House Bill 26-1202 to the Committee of the Whole.” — the motion passed on a vote of 9–4.

Proposed amendments (8 proposed amendments)

Source: Colorado General Assembly (leg.colorado.gov) · Data as of 2026-11-05

Full text

• Signed Act version (official PDF), 06/03/2026
• Final Act version (official PDF), 05/19/2026
• Rerevised version (official PDF), 04/17/2026
• Revised version (official PDF), 04/16/2026
• Reengrossed version (official PDF), 03/09/2026
• Engrossed version (official PDF), 03/06/2026
• Introduced version (official PDF), 02/11/2026

Official record

View HB26-1202 on leg.colorado.gov

Source: Colorado General Assembly (leg.colorado.gov) · Data as of 2026-11-05