Colorado § 26-21-103.5 - Communication services for people with disabilities enterprise - created - board of directors - membership - fees imposed.

§ 26-21-103.5. Communication services for people with disabilities enterprise - created - board of directors - membership - fees imposed.

(1) (a) Effective June 30, 2025, the communication services for people with disabilities enterprise is created in the state department for the business purposes of:

(I) Coordinating the provision of, and access to, efficient and effective services and resources for individuals who have communication needs related to their disabilities, including funding the division's duties, as described in section 26-21-106;

(II) Imposing a telephone disability access surcharge on service users, as defined in section 40-17-101 (9), in consultation with the public utilities commission, in an amount not to exceed fifteen cents per month per telephone access line, as defined in section 40-17-101 (10). The amount of the surcharge shall be reviewed and may be adjusted once per year. The amount of the surcharge, in combination with the prepaid telephone disability access charge, shall be set at a rate reasonably related to the overall cost of providing the services described in this subsection (1)(a). The amount of the surcharge imposed per telephone access line must be uniform, regardless of the technology used to provide the telephone access line.

(III) Beginning January 1, 2026, imposing a prepaid telephone disability access charge on each retail transaction, as defined in section 40-17-101 (6), in an amount to be established annually by the enterprise, in consultation with the public utilities commission, but not to exceed fifteen cents per each retail transaction in which prepaid wireless service is purchased in Colorado. The amount of the charge shall be reviewed and may be adjusted on July 1, 2026, and on each July 1 thereafter. The enterprise shall notify the department of revenue of any change made to the amount of the charge no later than May 15 of the year preceding the year in which the amount change will become effective. The amount of the charge, in combination with the telephone disability access surcharge, shall be set at a rate reasonably related to the overall cost of providing the services described in this subsection (1)(a).

(IV) In consultation with the public utilities commission and the department of education, once per year, if needed, adjusting the percentage of the telephone disability access surcharge and the prepaid telephone disability access charge to be used for the Colorado division for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind cash fund and the reading services for the blind cash fund created in section 24-90-105.5 and by the state librarian for the talking book library within the department of education.

(b) The enterprise constitutes an enterprise for purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution, so long as the enterprise retains the authority to issue revenue bonds and receives less than ten percent of its total annual revenue in grants from all Colorado state and local governments combined. So long as it constitutes an enterprise pursuant to this subsection (1)(b), the enterprise is not subject to section 20 of article X of the state constitution.

(c) The board shall administer the enterprise in accordance with this section.

(d) The enterprise may issue revenue bonds to pay for the expenses of the enterprise, which bonds are secured by revenue of the enterprise.

(e) The enterprise may engage the services of contractors and consultants for professional and technical assistance and to supply other services related to the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise, without regard to the "Procurement Code", articles 101 to 112 of title 24. The enterprise shall engage the attorney general's office for legal services. The state department may provide office space and staff to the enterprise pursuant to a fair market rate contract entered into pursuant to this subsection (1)(e).

(f) The enterprise shall not increase the amounts of the telephone disability access surcharge or the prepaid telephone disability access charge in an amount that causes the cumulatively collected fees to exceed one hundred million dollars in the first five years of the enterprise's existence.

(2) (a) (I) The enterprise shall be governed by a board of directors appointed by the governor. The board must not exceed seven members and must always consist of an odd number of members.

(II) Members of the board serve three-year terms; except that the terms shall be staggered so that no more than three members' terms expire in the same year. The governor shall not appoint a member for more than two consecutive terms.

(III) Board members do not receive compensation for performing official duties of the board but may receive a per diem or reimbursement for travel and other reasonable and necessary expenses for performing official duties of the board. The per diem or reimbursement is paid from the fund.

(b) and (c) Repealed.

Source: L. 2025: Entire section added, (HB 25-1154), ch. 230, p. 1067, § 4, effective May 22.

Editor's note: Subsections (2)(b)(II) and (2)(c)(II) provided for the repeal of subsections (2)(b) and (2)(c), respectively, effective July 1, 2026. (See L. 2025, p. 1067.)