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House passes bill aligning Colorado law with federal Good Neighbor Authority to expand landscape treatments
Summary
House Bill 12-05 passed on March 4, 2026, to reflect federal Good Neighbor Authority changes; sponsors said the measure enables cross-jurisdictional wildfire treatments and adds recreation and habitat language. The bill passed on a voice vote after committee report adoption.
House Bill 12-05, presented March 4, 2026, updates Colorado law so the state can use federal Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) funding and coordination to expand landscape-scale wildfire treatments and recreation projects. Sponsors said the bill aligns state statutory language with federal statute and explicitly adds wildlife habitat and recreation project authorization.
Representative Velasco, the floor sponsor, described the measure as one of three bills from the interim Wildfire Matters Review Committee and said the state forest service and Department of Natural Resources support the changes. Representative Morrow noted that Colorado’s highest-risk landscapes are a patchwork of federal, state and private lands, requiring seamless tools for coordination.
The committee report — which incorporated a correction to add wildlife habitat and removed a safety clause as noted on the floor — was adopted and the bill passed by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded on the floor transcript.
The bill’s sponsors said the measure is intended to improve interagency coordination and expand the eligible uses of federal funds; the passage places the legislation on the calendar for third reading and final passage processing per House procedure.
