Colorado § 24-33.5-706 - Disaster emergency fund - established - financing - legislative intent.

§ 24-33.5-706. Disaster emergency fund - established - financing - legislative intent.

(1) It is the intent of the general assembly and declared to be the policy of the state that funds to meet disaster emergencies shall always be available.

(2) (a) A disaster emergency fund is hereby established. The fund consists of any money appropriated by the general assembly, money transferred pursuant to subsection (4)(b) of this section, and money to reimburse expenditures from the fund that are transmitted to the state treasurer and credited to the fund. Money in the disaster emergency fund shall remain in the fund until expended or until transferred pursuant to subsection (2)(c), (4.3), (4.5), or (4.7) of this section or section 24-33.5-1228 (3)(c)(III).

(b) Repealed.

(c) The annual unencumbered balance of the disaster emergency fund shall not exceed two hundred million dollars. After August 12, 2026, and on June 30 each year thereafter, the office of state planning and budgeting shall transfer any unencumbered money in the disaster emergency fund in excess of two hundred million dollars to the general fund.

(2.5) and (3) Repealed.

(4) (a) It is the legislative intent that first recourse be to money regularly appropriated to state and local agencies. If the governor finds that the demands placed upon this money in coping with a particular disaster are unreasonably great, the governor may make money available from the disaster emergency fund.

(b) If money available from the disaster emergency fund is insufficient, the governor may transfer to the fund and expend money appropriated for other purposes.

(4.3) If the disaster emergency fund is credited with reimbursements of moneys previously expended to cope with a particular disaster, to the extent that all or a portion of those moneys were transferred and expended by the governor pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of this section, the governor may transfer moneys to the funds as repayment for the amounts the governor originally transferred from said funds to the disaster emergency fund.

(4.5) (a) The governor may, from time to time as the governor deems necessary based on his or her determination that a disaster emergency is imminent, direct the state treasurer to transfer, and the state treasurer shall transfer, moneys from the disaster emergency fund to the resource mobilization fund created in section 24-33.5-705.4 (6).

(b) The governor may, from time to time as the governor deems necessary based on his or her determination that a wildfire-related disaster emergency is imminent, direct the state treasurer to transfer, and the state treasurer shall transfer, moneys from the disaster emergency fund to the wildfire emergency response fund created in section 24-33.5-1226 (1).

(4.7) Three days after May 17, 2022, the state treasurer shall transfer two million seven hundred thousand dollars from the disaster emergency fund to the capital construction fund created in section 24-75-302 for use by the division of fire prevention and control created in section 24-33.5-1201 for capital construction related to aviation resources for wildfire suppression.

(5) The director of the division of homeland security and emergency management is authorized to establish, pursuant to article 4 of this title 24, the rules that govern the reimbursement of funds to state agencies and political subdivisions and to promulgate such rules.

(6) Nothing in this section limits the governor's authority to apply for, administer, and expend grants, gifts, or payments in aid of disaster prevention, preparedness, response, or recovery.

(7) (a) No later than September 20, 2020, the office of state planning and budgeting shall submit a report to the joint budget committee of the expenditures from the fund during the last twelve months. Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a), no later than the twentieth day of every third month thereafter, the office shall submit a report to the joint budget committee of the expenditures from the fund since the last report. The office shall separately identify expenditures by disaster, if there is more than one to be included in the report, and, for each disaster, the office shall identify:

(I) Amounts and sources of any money transferred to the fund related to the disaster;

(II) Total encumbrances for disasters at the time of the disaster emergency declaration;

(III) State agencies that received funds and amounts received;

(IV) Total expenditures by state agency;

(V) A breakdown of expenditures; and

(VI) Disasters that have been closed out and the amount of unencumbered money that the office transferred back to the fund that was the original source of the money.

(b) The office of state planning and budgeting shall post the reports required by subsection (7)(a) of this section on the office's website.

(8) The state auditor shall conduct or cause to be conducted a performance audit of the fund that is completed on December 1, 2022. On or before December 1, 2024, and December 1 of every second year thereafter, the state auditor shall conduct a financial audit of the fund for the two most recently completed fiscal years as of the date of the audit report.

(9) (a) For federally declared disasters, within three years of the last date that revenue into the fund or expenditures from the fund are recorded for a disaster, the department of public safety shall close out the emergency.

(b) For state-only disasters, within eight years of the last date that revenue into the fund or expenditures from the fund are recorded for a disaster, the department of public safety shall close out the emergency.

Source: L. 2012: Entire part RC&RE with relocations, (HB 12-1283), ch. 240, p. 1080, § 10, effective July 1. L. 2013: (2)(a) and (4) amended and (4.3) added, (HB 13-1282), ch. 206, p. 853, § 1, effective May 11; (2)(a) amended, (SB 13-270), ch. 250, p. 1312, § 1, effective May 23; (4.5) added, (HB 13-1031), ch. 369, p. 2158, § 2, effective June 5; (4.5) amended, (SB 13-270), ch. 250, p. 1312, § 2, effective June 5; (2)(b) repealed, (HB 13-1300), ch. 316, p. 1684, § 60, effective August 7. L. 2017: (2)(a) amended and (2.5) added, (SB 17-261), ch. 180, p. 661, § 1, effective April 28. L. 2018: (3) repealed and (4) and (5) amended, (HB 18-1394), ch. 234, p. 1467, § 11, effective August 8. L. 2020: (7) and (8) added, (HB 20-1426), ch. 306, p. 1557, § 2, effective July 14. L. 2022: (2)(a) amended and (4.7) added, (SB 22-206), ch. 173, p. 1158, § 9, effective May 17. L. 2026: (2)(a), (7)(a)(IV), and (7)(a)(V) amended and (2)(c), (7)(a)(VI), and (9) added, (HB 26-1396), ch. 252, p. 1408, § 2, effective August 12.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 24-32-2106 as it existed prior to 2012.

(2) Amendments to subsection (2)(a) by Senate Bill 13-270 and House Bill 13-1282 were harmonized.

(3) Section 10(2)(b) of chapter 250, Session Laws of Colorado 2013, provides that amendments to subsection (4.5) take effect upon passage or the effective date of House Bill 13-1031, whichever is later, only if House Bill 13-1031 becomes law. Senate Bill 13-270 (chapter 250) was signed by the governor on May 23, 2013, and House Bill 13-1031 was signed by the governor on June 5, 2013.

(4) Subsection (2.5)(c) provided for the repeal of subsection (2.5), effective June 30, 2021. (See L. 2017, p. 661.)

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 22-206, see section 1 of chapter 173, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.