Page 1 February 15, 2024 SB 24-113 Legislative Council Staff Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature Fiscal Note Drafting Number: Prime Sponsors: LLS 24-0491 Sen. Coleman; Exum Date: Bill Status: Fiscal Analyst: February 15, 2024 Senate Education Anna Gerstle | 303-866-4375 anna.gerstle@coleg.gov Bill Topic: SAFER YOUTH SPORTS Summary of Fiscal Impact: ☐ State Revenue ☒ State Expenditure ☐ State Transfer ☐ TABOR Refund ☒ Local Government ☒ School District The bill requires youth sports coaches to complete abuse prevention training and abide by a code of conduct policy, and establishes a process for handling violations of the policy. It increases state and local expenditures on an ongoing basis. Appropriation Summary: For FY 2024-25, the bill requires an appropriation of $301,173 to the Department of Public Safety. Fiscal Note Status: The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill. Table 1 State Fiscal Impacts Under SB 24-113 Budget Year FY 2024-25 Out Year FY 2025-26 Revenue - - Expenditures General Fund $301,173 $206,611 Centrally Appropriated $39,881 $47,521 Total Expenditures $341,054 $254,132 Total FTE 2.1 FTE 2.5 FTE Transfers - - Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $45,176 $30,992 Page 2 February 15, 2024 SB 24-113 Summary of Legislation The bill requires that middle, junior high, and high schools, private clubs, public recreation facilities, or athletic leagues that sponsor youth athletic activities (youth athletics provider) must require youth athletic coaches to complete an abuse prevention training program, and abide by the prohibited conduct policy developed by the Office of School Safety (office) in the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The training program must include information on prohibited conduct, appropriate interactions with players, mandatory reporting requirements, and responding to disclosures of abuse. The youth athletics provider must maintain records of coaches completing the training. The office must: identify specific education courses that can be taken online or free of charge; develop a prohibited conduct policy for youth athletic activities, including conduct by parents, spectators, coaches and athletes and process for handling violations; and create a statewide online reporting portal for violations of the prohibited conduct policy, with any violations forwarded to the school for investigation. If a violation is found to have occurred, youth athletics providers must submit the determination to the office. The office must review the determination to decide whether the violator received adequate due process, and if due process occurred, include the violation on a list posted online. Assumptions The fiscal note assumes that the DPS is not required to provide in-person or online abuse prevention or code of conduct training and will instead identify outside entities that can provide the training online or free of charge. If DPS is required to develop or provide in-person or online training, costs will be higher than estimated. State Expenditures The bill increases state expenditures in DPS by about $341,000 in FY 2024-25 and by about $254,000 in FY 2025-26, paid from the General Fund. Costs are listed in Table 2 and discussed below. Page 3 February 15, 2024 SB 24-113 Table 2 Expenditures Under SB 24-113 FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26 Department of Public Safety Personal Services $128,475 $153,411 Operating Expenses $2,688 $3,200 Capital Outlay Costs $20,010 - Violations Tracking System $150,000 $50,000 Centrally Appropriated Costs 1 $39,881 $47,521 Total Cost $341,054 $254,132 Total FTE 2.1 FTE 2.5 FTE 1 Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation. Department of Public Safety. The Office of School Safety in DPS will incur staff and information technology costs, as described below. Staff. DPS requires 2.5 FTE beginning in FY 2024-25 to develop the code of conduct, identify training providers, adopt rules, handle ongoing questions and outreach, and enforce violations. Standard operating and capital outlay costs are included. Staff costs in the first year are prorated for a September 1 start date. Violations tracking system. DPS requires $150,000 in FY 2024-25 to create an online system for violations to be reported, tracked, and documented. In subsequent years, $50,000 in annual maintenance costs are expected. Costs are based on the existing online threat assessment system. Centrally appropriated costs. Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated with this bill are addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long Bill or supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These costs, which include employee insurance and supplemental employee retirement payments, are shown in Table 2. Other Budget Impacts General Fund reserve. Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve. Based on this fiscal note, the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by the amounts shown in Table 1, decreasing the amount of General Fund available for other purposes. Page 4 February 15, 2024 SB 24-113 Local Government and School District The bill increases costs for school districts and local governments that operate youth recreation and athletic programs to communicate and educate youth coaches about the requirements, identify abuse prevention courses and retain related records, and investigate any violations of the prohibited conduct policy. Costs will vary by entity based on the number of coaches, programs, and the number of violations. Effective Date The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming no referendum petition is filed. State Appropriations For FY 2024-25, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $301,173 to the Department of Public Safety, and 2.1 FTE. Departmental Difference DPS estimates that $1.2 million in FY 2024-25 and $779,000 in subsequent years is required to implement the bill. This estimate assumes that the DPS must develop and provide in-person and online training for coaches, parents, spectators, and athletes, in addition to handling code of conduct violations. Costs include staffing for 5.0 FTE, as well as course development, training platform, data system, and travel costs. The fiscal note assumes that DPS is not required to develop and provide training and instead must identify outside providers of abuse prevention training. As a result, the fiscal note estimates that the bill increases expenditures by $341,000 in FY 2024-25 and $254,000 in subsequent years, which includes only the costs for 2.5 FTE and the data system that are required to handle enforcement of code of conduct violations. State and Local Government Contacts Counties Education Law Municipalities Public Safety The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.