Current law includes a Colorado veterans' service-to-career program (program), which authorizes nonprofit agencies to partner with work force centers selected by the department of labor and employment to provide veterans and other eligible participants with skills training, internships, work placements, mentorship opportunities, career and professional counseling, and support services. The program requires that if a program participant is eligible for federal funding that federal funding must be used first. The act repeals that requirement. The act requires work force center staff to vet potential program participants and leverage additional funding sources to deliver comprehensive services. Obsolete language related to the program is repealed. The act extends the repeal date for the program to July 1, 2024. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2021, Senate Bill 21-271 adjusted misdemeanor penalties for a variety of offenses described in the Colorado Revised Statutes, including the penalty for certain offenses involving the operation of a commercial motor vehicle. This penalty was changed from a misdemeanor to a class A traffic infraction. However, despite making this change, Senate Bill 21-271 retained certain language that describes the punishment for the former misdemeanor offense. The act clarifies that the penalty for the described offenses involving a commercial motor vehicle, including operating a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver's license, is $100, to be accompanied by a $15 surcharge. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2023, the act classifies a wildlife officer and a parks and recreation officer employed by the division of parks and wildlife (division) in the department of natural resources (department) and hired on or after January 1, 2011, as a state trooper for the purpose of determining the officer's public employees' retirement association service retirement eligibility and benefit. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $236,364 is appropriated from the wildlife cash fund to the department for use by the division for wildlife operations and $168,070 is appropriated from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund to the department for use by the division for state park operations. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act replaces the requirement that the executive committee of the legislative council and the joint budget committee (committees) hold a joint meeting in March, August, and December if there has been a declaration of a disaster emergency by the governor since the first day of the month for the last required meeting with a requirement that the committees meet if any committee member submits to the chairs of the committees and the governor a written request for a meeting and there has been a disaster declaration by the governor since the first day of the month of the last meeting. Such a request can be waived so that no meeting is required by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the total membership of the committees. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the requirement that the office of legislative legal services have suitable office space in the capitol building by allowing the office space for the office of legislative legal services to be in the state capitol complex and within one-quarter mile of the state capitol building. The act requires the general assembly to provide funding for annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments for appropriations from the revenue loss restoration cash fund in the capital construction section of the annual general appropriation act. In addition, for the 2023-24 fiscal year through the 2028-29 fiscal year, the state controller is required to transfer the money for all annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments for the applicable fiscal year on July 1 rather than on June 30. On July 1, 2023, and each July 1 thereafter through July 1, 2028, the state treasurer is required to transfer to the capitol complex renovation fund the amount transferred to the capitol complex master plan implementation fund that was not required for the financing of the development of the national western center in the applicable fiscal year. The act repeals the specific designation of 2 floors in the capitol building annex at 1375 Sherman street as legislative space and requires the executive committee of the legislative council, the director of the division of capital assets, the secretary of the senate, the chief clerk of the house of representatives, the director of the office of legislative legal services, the director of research of the legislative council, and the state auditor to determine, prior to the beginning of the 2025 legislative session and with the approval of the executive committee of the legislative council and the governor, which areas in the capitol building annex are legislative space. The general assembly is required to vacate the legislative space at the state office building at 1525 Sherman street within one year after the completion of the renovation of the capitol building annex at 1375 Sherman street and thereafter, such space in the office building at 1525 Sherman street will be executive space. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $20,479,729 to the department of personnel from the capitol complex renovation fund for capital construction related to specific capitol complex renovation projects. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act restricts a landlord, with certain exceptions, from considering or inquiring about certain information relating to a prospective tenant's amount of income and credit history. A landlord may not require a prospective tenant to have an annual income that exceeds 200% of the annual cost of rent. A landlord who violates one of the new prohibitions is subject to an initial penalty of $50, to be paid to the aggrieved party. A landlord who does not cure the violation is also subject to a penalty of $2,500, to be paid to the aggrieved party in addition to the initial penalty and any economic damages, court costs, and attorney fees. A violation is also an unfair housing practice subject to enforcement by private persons, the attorney general, and the Colorado civil rights division. The act prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to submit a security deposit in an amount that exceeds the amount of 2 monthly rent payments. The act allows a tenant who is subject to an eviction action to assert as an affirmative defense that the tenant's landlord has violated or is in violation of certain state laws concerning unfair housing practices. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the fuels impact enterprise (enterprise) in the department of transportation. The enterprise is required to impose a new fuels impact reduction fee on fuel product manufacturers in an amount of up to $.006125 per gallon of fuel products delivered during the previous calendar month for sale or use in Colorado to fund a new fuels impact reduction grant program (program) that the enterprise administers. The fee is collected and deposited in the fuels impact enterprise cash fund until the fund has an available balance of $15 million or more. Under the program, the enterprise provides grants to certain critically impacted communities, governments, and transportation corridors for the improvement of hazardous mitigation corridors and to support local and state government projects related to emergency responses, environmental mitigation, or projects related to the transportation of fuel within the state. The enterprise and the program are repealed, effective January 1, 2030. Beginning October 1, 2023, the act modifies the fee that is currently collected for distribution to the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund by extending the collection of the fee to 2031and by changing the distribution of the fee revenue. Under the new distribution, the state treasurer shall credit: An amount equal to the cost of administering the fee and an existing tax credit to the department of revenue; $2 million of the fee revenue to the department of public safety to support the regulation of hazardous materials on highways in the state, to make employer contributions to a multiple employer health trust in order to participate in the voluntary firefighter cancer benefits program, and to enforce commercial and hazardous materials critical corridors determined by the chief of the Colorado state patrol; 70% of the amount remaining to the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund; and 30% of the amount remaining to the department of transportation to support functions related to the transportation of hazardous materials and the safe and efficient movement of freight as well as to support infrastructure projects that enhance the safety of movement of freight and hazardous materials. The act also increases the amount of fee revenue that can be held annually in the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund from $8 million to $9 million. Additionally, the act: Extends authorization for the division of oil and public safety to use the petroleum storage tank fund for costs related to petroleum storage tank facility inspections and meter calibrations from September 1, 2023, to September 1, 2033; Delays the effective date of the $8 million cap on the petroleum storage tank fund from September 1, 2023, to September 1, 2033; Allows the director of the division of oil and public safety, in consultation with the petroleum storage tank committee, to establish rules that allow an operator of petroleum storage tanks pay less than 100% reimbursement for remediation expenses paid from the petroleum storage tank fund to the fund; Allows the director of the division of oil and public safety to annually transfer up to $500,000 from the petroleum storage tank fund to the petroleum cleanup and redevelopment fund; Makes hazardous materials troopers eligible for the voluntary firefighter cancer benefits program; and Allows the Colorado state patrol to conform hazardous materials routing regulations to transportation commission rules; $36,272 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a landlord and residential tenant to participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives supplemental security income, federal social security disability insurance, or cash assistance through the Colorado works program (collectively, "cash assistance"). The landlord and residential tenant do not have to participate in mediation if the residential tenant did not disclose or declined to disclose in writing to the landlord that the residential tenant receives cash assistance, the complainant is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers opportunities for mediation to residential tenants, or the complainant is a landlord with 5 or fewer single-family rental homes and no more than 5 total rental units. Failure to comply with mandatory mediation is an affirmative defense. The act prohibits a law enforcement officer from executing a writ of restitution against a residential tenant for at least 30 days after the entry of judgment if the residential tenant receives cash assistance, except in the case in which a court has ordered a judgment for possession for a substantial violation or in the case of a landlord with 5 or fewer single-family rental homes and no more than 5 total rental units. The act requires a written demand to include a statement that a residential tenant who receives cash assistance has a right to mediation prior to the landlord filing an eviction complaint with the court. The act requires a written rental agreement to include a statement that current law prohibits source of income discrimination and requires a non-exempt landlord to accept any lawful and verifiable source of money paid directly, indirectly, or on behalf of a person. The act prohibits a written rental agreement from including a waiver of mandatory mediation or a clause that allows a landlord to recoup any costs associated with mandatory mediation. The act appropriates $328,026 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by courts administration. To implement this act, the department may use this appropriation as follows: $246,076 for general courts administration; $75,000 for information technology infrastructure; and $6,950 for capital outlay. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the parks and wildlife commission (commission) to promulgate rules on or before July 1, 2024, establishing: A process by which the Chatfield watershed authority (authority) may request that the commission create by rule a water quality fee (fee) to be collected by the division of parks and wildlife (division) from visitors to Chatfield state park; Criteria for approving a request for such a fee; and Criteria for determining which visitors to Chatfield state park should be required to pay the fee. In promulgating the rules, the commission must ensure that the amount of the fee is rounded to the nearest dollar and does not exceed $2. The commission must review the fee on January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, and after each such review, the commission may either eliminate the fee or adjust the amount of the fee to account for inflation or deflation. On and after July 1, 2024, the commission may establish the fee. If the commission establishes the fee, the division must collect the fee on and after January 1, 2025. The division must transfer the total amount of money collected to the state treasurer, who must credit the money to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund (fund); except that the division may retain up to 3.33% percent of the amount of money collected as fees to pay its administrative costs. Beginning July 1, 2025, and every 6 months thereafter, the division must pay to the authority from the fund the total amount of money collected as fees during the preceding 6 months. If the commission establishes the fee, the commission: Must require the authority to expend up to 25% of the money received from the division on water quality projects within the boundaries of Chatfield state park; and May include additional requirements and restrictions concerning the expenditure by the authority of money received from the division on water quality projects inside the boundaries of Chatfield state park. The authority is required to expend the money received from the division to support water quality projects, including projects that provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of nonpoint source projects, water quality monitoring, and urban runoff and erosion management and control. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act creates the legislative interim committee on ozone air quality (committee) to study ozone air quality in the state. The committee consists of 6 members of the senate and 6 members of the house of representatives. The committee may meet up to 6 times during the 2023 interim. With respect to an allegation in a complaint or the belief of the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) regarding a violation or noncompliance related to air quality laws (violation), section 3 requires the division to: Cause a prompt and diligent investigation into the violation to be made unless the complaint clearly appears to be frivolous, falsified, or trivial or the complainant withdraws the complaint within the investigation time period; Within 30 days after receipt of the complaint, respond to a complainant to outline the steps of the complaint investigation; If the division is acting in response to a complaint, notify the complainant that an investigation has commenced at the time that the division provides notice to the owner or operator of the air pollution source; and Accept and consider all relevant evidence that it receives or acquires when investigating the alleged violation, unless the evidence is, on its face, falsified. If the division determines that a violation has occurred, current law requires the division to issue a compliance order unless the responsible party gives timely notice that the violation occurred during a period of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction. Section 3 removes the exception for periods of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction. Section 3 also prohibits the division from assessing a penalty for a violation that is less than the economic benefit that the owner or operator derived from the violation. Section 3 also requires, if a hearing is requested, the air quality control commission to provide at least 45 days' notice to any complainant that submitted a complaint alleging the applicable violation and allows the complainant to participate as a party to the hearing. Current law provides that any noncompliance that occurs during a period of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction exempts the owner or operator of a source of pollution from the duty to pay penalties related to that noncompliance. Section 3 removes this provision. Current law requires the division to consider certain factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty to assess for a violation. Section 4 requires the division to also consider the severity of the violation. Current law provides that any action related to an alleged violation of air quality laws that is not commenced within 5 years after the occurrence of the alleged violation is time barred. Section 5 excludes actions commenced to address a failure to obtain a permit from this statute of limitation. Section 6 requires the oil and gas conservation commission (COGCC), by April 28, 2024, to promulgate rules that evaluate and address the cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations. The rules must include a definition of cumulative impacts. Section 7 allows any person to submit a complaint to the COGCC. The COGCC or the director of the COGCC is required to promptly commence and complete an investigation into the violation alleged in the complaint, unless the complaint clearly appears on its face to be frivolous, falsified, or trivial or the complainant withdraws the complaint. The COGCC must also accept and consider all relevant evidence it receives or acquires when investigating the violation, unless the evidence is, on its face, falsified. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 appropriates $79,493 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the air pollution control division in the following amounts: $71,473 for personal services related to stationary sources; and $8,020 for operating expenses related to stationary sources. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 also appropriates $820,697 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources in the following amounts: $725,531 for use by the COGCC for program costs; and $95,166 for use by the office of the executive director of the department of natural resources, which is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of natural resources. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 also appropriates $61,616 from the general fund to the legislative department in the following amounts: $26,180 for use by the legislative council; $18,452 for use by the committee on legal services; and $16,984 for use by the general assembly. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the act enacts the "Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act", which: Directs the Colorado civil rights division (division) to include "harassment" as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism; Repeals the current definition of "harass" that requires creation of a hostile work environment and redefines "harass" or "harassment" as unwelcome conduct directed at an individual or group of individuals in, or perceived to be in, a protected class, which conduct is subjectively offensive to the individual alleging harassment and objectively offensive to members of the same protected class as the individual alleging harassment, and which conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or an unfair employment practice; Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their marital status; For purposes of the exception to otherwise discriminatory practices for an employer that is unable to accommodate an individual with a disability who is otherwise qualified for the job, eliminates the ability for the employer to assert that the individual's disability has a significant impact on the job as a rationale for the employment practice and specifies that the exception is limited to situations in which there is no reasonable accommodation that would allow the individual to satisfy the essential functions of the job; Specifies the requirements for an employer to assert an affirmative defense to an employee's proven claim of unlawful harassment by a supervisor; Specifies the requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and an employee or a prospective employee to be enforceable; and Requires an employer to maintain personnel and employment records for at least 5 years and, with regard to complaints of discriminatory or unfair employment practices, to maintain those records in a designated repository. The act appropriates a total of $1,248,170 from the general fund for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, allocated as follows to the following state departments and offices, to implement the act: $152,866 to the department of corrections; $23,469 to the department of education; $35,415 to the office of the governor; $23,363 to the department of health care policy and financing; $129,081 to the department of human services; $146,894 to the judicial department; $46,833 to the department of labor and employment; $17,708 to the department of law; $76,276 to the department of natural resources; $89,090 to the department of personnel; $52,912 to the department of public health and environment; $52,912 to the department of public safety; $266,298 to the department of regulatory agencies; and $47,045 to the department of revenue. Additionally, $88,008 is appropriated from the state highway fund to the department of transportation to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the "Uniform Election Code of 1992" (code), the law regarding initiatives and referendums, the "Fair Campaign Practices Act", and the law regarding public official disclosures. The act modifies the code as follows: Allows any form of identification currently specified in the code to be presented in digital format; Repeals a criterion for determining a voter's residence; Facilitates voter registration for people who live on Indian reservations; Modifies the self-affirmation that is required when an elector registers or preregisters to vote to conform to the elimination by constitutional amendment of the right of an individual who is 17 years old but will turn 18 before a general election to vote in the primary election that precedes the general election; Modifies the meeting dates on which a judicial district central committee holds its organizational meetings; Eliminates the option for all active electors in a county who have not declared an affiliation to specify a party preference and specifies that all such electors will receive a mailing that contains the ballots of all of the major political parties; Conforms provisions regarding presidential electors to federal law; Clarifies who can challenge a candidate's eligibility for office; Modifies notice requirements for candidates for designation for nomination by assembly; Modifies the standards for a petition entity to operate in the state; Creates a process for a candidate to protest when the secretary of state (secretary) has determined that a petition is insufficient; Requires voter service and polling centers (VSPC) and drop boxes to be located on campuses of private institutions of higher education and increases the number of VSPCs and drop boxes on campuses of private and state institutions of higher education; Clarifies the number of in-person voting days at a VSPC on an Indian reservation; Allows drop boxes to be located at places of worship; Allows a VSPC to be located in a multi-use building where alcohol is served so long as the VSPC is in a separate part of the building; Increases the state's reimbursement to counties for the cost of conducting elections beginning in July of 2024; Clarifies the secretary's authority to determine conditions of use for voting systems; Updates provisions regarding the use of voting systems to align with current practice; Clarifies that a clerk and recorder or designated election official (clerk) is required to submit a plan regarding voting to the secretary before every election; Allows counties with fewer than 15,000 active voters to have 2, rather than 3, election judges at each VSPC; Eliminates references to precincts; Clarifies the number of watchers allowed in certain locations for primary, general, and congressional vacancy elections; Modifies who may appoint an election watcher; Specifies the circumstances under which a clerk is required to revoke the certificate of a watcher for the use of a mobile phone in a polling location; Specifies that an election watcher may use a phone to send or receive text messages while watching election activities so long as the watcher is not in view of personally identifiable information; Specifies the conditions under which an elector may take a mobile phone into a VSPC; Clarifies the duty of election judges to inspect voting machines; Requires that a bipartisan team of election judges make a duplicate copy of a ballot that is damaged or defective; Specifies that the secretary is required to retain election setup records as election records; Allows a voting system provider under contract to provide a voting system to a political subdivision in the state to place any changes to election software in escrow with either the secretary or an independent escrow agent; Specifies when a clerk must update the voter registration system after an eligible elector (elector) has cured deficient identification or a missing or deficient signature; Specifies how often a clerk must collect ballots from each drop box; Specifies when a clerk must begin counting ballots in counties with over 10,000 electors; In counties that have issued electronic tablets to or made electronic tablets available to confined eligible electors, directs the clerk and the sheriff to determine and include in the mail ballot election plan the process by which they will facilitate voter registration, ballot delivery, and ballot return using electronic tablets issued to confined eligible electors; Modifies deadlines and the process for testing voting systems in connection with a mandatory recount of votes cast; Modifies recount timelines and payment requirements; Updates requirements regarding lists of presidential electors to conform with federal law; Clarifies how the date of a recall election is determined; Repeals an obsolete provision regarding voting in an incorrect polling location; and Specifies that it is not electioneering for a person to incidentally display apparel that supports political issues on the campus of any institution of higher education, rather than just a state institution of higher education, where a VSPC is located. The act modifies the law regarding initiative and referendum by prohibiting allowing the secretary of state to prohibit a petition entity from circulating ballot petitions if the entity or a principal of the entity has been convicted of certain crimes and by increasing penalties for petition entities that violate state law regarding petition circulation. The act modifies the "Fair Campaign Practices Act" as follows: Clarifies the definition of "independent expenditure committee"; Prohibits a candidate committee from knowingly accepting contributions from certain entities and making contributions to certain entities; Specifies time frames for the termination of candidate committee accounts; Limits the amount of unexpended campaign contributions that may be transferred from one candidate committee to another for a different office sought by the same candidate; Clarifies that an elected official may use unexpended campaign contributions for child care costs; Clarifies when a referred measure is submitted to the voters by the general assembly; Requires the electronic filing of candidate disclosure statements; and States that a candidate may be disqualified if the secretary finds that the candidate willfully filed a false or incomplete disclosure statement. The act modifies the law regarding public official disclosure by specifying that the information included in the public disclosures filed by certain public officials must include information for the previous calendar year under certain circumstances and by requiring the person making the disclosure to include certain information about the sources of compensation the person received. The act prohibits a clerk who is administering an election and the department of state from using an appropriation of state or federal money to pay for advertising expenses that feature a person who is a declared candidate for a federal, state, or local office. The act extends the department of state's spending authority by 2 fiscal years for an appropriation that was originally made for the 2021-22 state fiscal year and available for expenditure through the 2022-23 state fiscal year for the implementation of a law that the general assembly enacted in 2019 to facilitate automatic voter registration. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $469,201 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
