HB26-1396: Disaster Emergency Fund Reporting Requirements and Balance Limits
Summary
Colorado's HB26-1396 modifies the disaster emergency fund by requiring the Office of State Planning and Budgeting to include closed disaster identification and unencumbered fund transfers in quarterly reports to the Joint Budget Committee. The bill establishes closure timelines of 3 years for federally declared disasters and 8 years for state-only disasters, and caps the fund's annual maximum unencumbered balance at $200,000,000, requiring excess amounts to transfer to the general fund after August 12, 2026.
What changed
HB26-1396 amends Colorado's disaster emergency fund by adding quarterly reporting requirements for the Office of State Planning and Budgeting to identify closed disasters and unencumbered fund transfers back to original sources. The bill establishes mandatory closure timelines: federally declared disasters must close within 3 years, while state-only disasters must close within 8 years. The legislation also imposes a $200,000,000 cap on the fund's annual maximum unencumbered balance, with amounts exceeding this threshold requiring transfer to the general fund.
Affected parties include the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, which must implement quarterly reporting to the Joint Budget Committee, and state agencies managing disaster funds, which must adhere to the prescribed closure timelines. The balance cap requires annual reconciliation procedures with excess transfers to the general fund.
Archived snapshot
Apr 17, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
HB26-1396
Disaster Emergency Fund Changes
| Type | Bill |
|---|---|
| Session | 2026 Regular Session |
| Subjects | Fiscal Policy & Taxes State Government State Revenue & Budget |
Concerning modifications to the disaster emergency fund.
Recent Bill (PDF) Recent Fiscal Note (PDF) Bill 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; and
- Limits 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.)
Prime Sponsors
Kyle Brown
Representative
Rick Taggart
Senator
Judy Amabile
Senator
Barbara Kirkmeyer
Committees
House
Senate
Share:
-
If you require reasonable accessibility accommodation to access this content, please email accessibility@coleg.gov.
Status
Passed
Introduced
Passed
Related Documents & Information
| Date | Version | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 04/16/2026 | Rerevised | |
| 04/15/2026 | Revised | |
| 04/11/2026 | Reengrossed | |
| 04/09/2026 | Engrossed | |
| 04/02/2026 | Introduced |
| Date | Version | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 04/03/2026 | Initial Fiscal Note |
| Activity | Vote | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Refer House Bill 26-1396 to the Committee of the Whole and with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. | The motion passed on a vote of 7-0. | Vote summary |
Committee Report: PDF
| Activity | Vote | Documents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Refer House Bill 26-1396 to the Committee of the Whole. | The motion passed on a vote of 11-0. | Vote summary |
Hearing Summary | Committee Report: PDF
| Date | Calendar | Motion | Vote | Vote Document |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 04/16/2026 | Third Reading | BILL | 30 AYE 5 NO 0 OTHER | Vote record |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 04/11/2026 | Third Reading | BILL | 45 AYE 16 NO 4 OTHER | Vote record |
| Date | Location | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 04/16/2026 | Senate | Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments |
| 04/15/2026 | Senate | Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments |
| 04/14/2026 | Senate | Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole |
| 04/13/2026 | Senate | Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Appropriations |
| 04/11/2026 | House | House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments |
| 04/10/2026 | House | House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments |
| 04/09/2026 | House | House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments |
| 04/08/2026 | House | House Second Reading Special Order - Laid Over Daily - No Amendments |
| 04/07/2026 | House | House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole |
| 04/02/2026 | House | Introduced In House - Assigned to Appropriations |
Prime Sponsor
Rep. K. Brown | Rep. R. Taggart
Sen. J. Amabile | Sen. B. Kirkmeyer
Sponsor
Co-Sponsor
(None)
Quick Links
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for CO Legislature Bill Search
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Source
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from CO Legislature.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when CO Legislature Bill Search publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.