Gaming platforms would charge add-on fees to fund youth services

Certain gaming platforms would collect a fee on game extras and send the full amount to Colorado’s Department of Revenue. The fee would cover purchases that give players an advantage or change or enhance a game, regardless of the buyer’s age. Platforms must do business in Colorado, earn most yearly revenue from online gaming, earn add-on revenue, and collect players’ personal data while deciding how it is processed. Platforms must publish or let users publish games directed to children under the referenced federal children’s privacy rules. Initial game access, game storefronts, and platforms used only for livestreaming or video sharing are excluded. Internet providers that only supply connections and neither process add-on purchases nor control the third-party service’s data processing are also excluded. The state mental health funding body could adjust the fee to cover the listed youth services’ direct and indirect costs. Collection would start on January 1, 2027. Fee adjustments would be allowed on or after October 1, 2027; neither date took effect through this vetoed proposal.

A state-run funding body within Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration would operate youth mental health programs using gaming fees. The programs would support peer help, crisis care for youth and caregivers, and payment for up to six mental health sessions per youth client. After spending no more than 3% of its yearly fee revenue on administration, the body would assign 40% to peer support grants, 35% to crisis teams, and 25% to the youth mental health sessions program. Peer support grants would go to tribes, colleges, government agencies, or nonprofits providing school or community mental health programs. They would recruit and train adults ages 18 through 24. Crisis care would require a serious crisis identified by an emergency department or the crisis response system and the ability to remain safely at home or in the community. Crisis teams would offer care at least three days weekly for four to six weeks, depending on need. Payment for sessions beyond six would depend on available money. The funding body would operate these programs on or after January 1, 2028.

A state-run funding body within Colorado’s Department of Education would fund programs outside school hours and help enforce children’s education rights. Funding would support eligible nonprofit programs outside school hours and enforcement of children’s education rights. The education fund would receive yearly fee collections above the $8 million credited to the mental health fund. Administration could use no more than 3% of its yearly fee revenue. Grant applicants must be tax-exempt nonprofits with at least five years of experience providing affordable, comprehensive academic enrichment and related services to Colorado students. Applicants must also provide services supporting children’s mental health and well-being. A school district partnership would be optional. The Department of Education would take education-rights complaints if it receives enforcement money, but this complaint rule also requires Senate Bill 26-125 to be enacted and signed. Funding duties would start on or after January 1, 2028. The complaint rule would start on the later effective date of this measure or Senate Bill 26-125.

Covered gaming platforms would show purchase prices in U.S. dollars at checkout. The rule would cover online gaming services, products, or features reasonably likely to be accessed by someone under 18, on platforms meeting the bill’s coverage requirements. Failure to show the required dollar price would count as a deceptive trade practice, a violation of consumer protection law. The rule was scheduled to start after the 90-day post-session petition period, with voter approval required if challenged by referendum petition. The veto prevented it from taking effect.

The proposal would set aside money for fee collection and legal help during the 2026–27 state fiscal year. The money would support Colorado’s Department of Revenue and Department of Law in carrying out the proposal. The Department of Revenue could use $294,984 from the general fund for staff, computer systems, and legal help. Of that amount, $26,500 would pass to the Department of Law for legal services; it would not be a second general-fund expense. The Department of Law could also use $145,750 from the mental health fund and $79,500 from the education fund to provide legal help to the two funding bodies. These spending amounts would apply to the 2026–27 state fiscal year.