The sexual misconduct advisory committee (advisory committee) repeals September 1, 2023. The act implements the department of regulatory agencies' recommendation to continue the advisory committee indefinitely. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 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 establishes a waiting period before a firearms seller may deliver a firearm to a purchaser. The waiting period is the later in time of 3 days after the initiation of a required background check of the purchaser or when the purchase is approved following any background check. Delivering a firearm prior to the expiration of the waiting period is a civil infraction, punishable by a $500 fine for a first offense and a $500 to $5,000 fine for a second or subsequent offense. The waiting period does not apply to the sale of an antique firearm or a curio or relic; the sale of a firearm by a person serving in the armed forces who will be deployed outside of the United States within the next 30 days to any family member; or a firearm transfer for which a background check is not required pursuant to state or federal law. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 2023 EFFECTIVE October 1, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On July 1, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $10 million from the severance tax operational fund to the capital construction fund. The money is to be used by state-supported institutions of higher education in energy impacted counties for energy-related programs or projects. For fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $6 million from the capital construction fund and $3,108,609 in cash funds from Colorado Mesa university institutional reserves and donations to expand the university's campus-wide geothermal exchange system. For fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $4 million to Western Colorado university to provide additional teaching and laboratory space for the university's petroleum geology program and to generally allow for the expansion of the natural and environmental sciences department. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 28, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state constitution allows a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim a property tax exemption for a portion of the actual value of the veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The 100% permanent disability requirement can only be changed through a constitutional amendment. If, at the 2024 general election, the voters of the state approve a constitutional amendment to expand eligibility for the exemption by allowing a veteran who has individual unemployability status, as determined by the United States department of veterans affairs, to claim the exemption, the act makes conforming statutory changes to reflect that expansion of the exemption. The act also requires a veteran who has individual unemployability status to be treated equivalently to a veteran who has 100% permanent disability when determining eligibility for any state veterans benefit. Finally, to comply with an existing statutory requirement that "people first language" be used in new or amended statutes that refer to persons with disabilities, the act also changes the existing terms "disabled veteran" and "disabled veterans" to "veteran with a disability" and "veterans with a disability". APPROVED by Governor April 28, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. Section 11 of the act states that the act takes effect only if a constitutional amendment to section 3.5 (1.5) of article X of the state constitution that modifies the definition of "disabled veteran" by changing the term to "veteran with a disability" and including a veteran who has individual unemployability status as determined by the United States department of veterans affairs is approved by the people at the next general election and becomes law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies, as contained in the department's 2022 sunset review of the "Custom Processing of Meat Animals Act", by: Continuing the act for 9 years, to September 2032; Repealing obsolete provisions that concern the use of a stakeholder process to develop poultry labeling requirements; Consolidating statutory provisions imposing civil penalties for a violation into one provision; Standardizing criminal penalties by reducing the penalty for a violation of the act or a rule promulgated under the act from a class 2 misdemeanor with a fine of $750 and up to 364 days imprisonment to a petty offense, which is up to a $300 fine or 10 days in jail; and Directing that civil penalties be credited to the general fund. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 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 repeals and reenacts the statutory article related to extreme risk protection orders. Under current law a family or household member and a law enforcement officer or agency can petition for an extreme risk protection order. The act expands the list of who can petition for an extreme risk protection order to include licensed medical care providers, licensed mental health-care providers, licensed educators, and district attorneys. The act requires the office of gun violence prevention to expend funds annually on a public education campaign regarding the availability of, and the process for requesting, an extreme risk protection order. The act appropriates: $140,462 from the general fund to judicial department to implement the act; and $238,846 from the general fund to the department of public safety. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 28, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act increases the flexibility of the ozone season transit grant program by: Allowing an eligible transit agency that operates in an area in which ozone-causing traffic levels are typically highest during a different period than June 1 to August 31 of a calendar year to identify a different period of the calendar year for its "ozone season" in an application for a grant to offer fare-free service during the identified period; Specifying that if the Colorado energy office (CEO) awards a grant for a year to a transit association or to the regional transportation district in an amount that is less than the applicable maximum amount allowed by law, then the maximum amount of such a grant that the CEO may award for the next year is increased by an amount equal to the amount that could have been but was not awarded for the prior year; Specifying that a grant recipient may use grant money for reasonable marketing expenses incurred to raise awareness of free service and increase ridership and to conduct rider surveys to better measure the impact of the program on ridership and vehicle miles traveled in private motor vehicles; Clarifying that an eligible transit agency may use grant money to expand free services or free routes or increase the frequency of service on routes for which free service is already offered; and Allowing the regional transportation district to use grant money to cover the full costs, rather than up to 80% of the costs, of providing at least 30 days of free transit on all services that it offers. On or before November 30, 2023, section 3 requires the department of transportation to complete a study and study report of the boundaries of the transportation planning regions of the state (TPRs), the membership of the transportation advisory committee and the special interim transit and rail advisory committee, and the consistency and transparency of the transportation planning process across the transportation planning regions. The study must include consideration of specified matters and shall not include any recommendation that, if adopted, would reduce the number of rural TPRs. Before June 1, 2024, the transportation commission, taking into consideration the findings of the study, is required to initiate updates to its rules concerning the statewide transportation planning process and TPRs. On and after September 1, 2023, section 5 requires the governing body of the transportation planning organization for each TPR to include at least one voting representative to represent all transit agencies in the TPR. The representative must be appointed by the transit agency or, if multiple transit agencies provide service in the transportation planning region, by agreement of the transit agencies. Section 4 defines the term "transportation planning organization" as used in section 5. Section 6 increases the maximum rate of sales or use tax, or both, that a regional transportation authority (RTA) may impose, with voter approval, from one percent to 2%. Section 6 also makes permanent the existing power of a RTA to impose, with voter approval, a uniform mill levy of up to 5 mills, which power would otherwise expire at the end of the 2028 property tax year. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 28, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law allows a person who is 18 years of age or older to knowingly possess or purchase a firearm. The act increases the age to legally purchase a firearm to 21 years of age or older. The act makes the unlawful purchase of a firearm by a person who is less than 21 years of age a class 2 misdemeanor and makes it unlawful for a licensed or unlicensed gun dealer to facilitate such a sale. Exceptions include: The person is an active member of the United States armed forces; or The person is a peace officer or certified by the P.O.S.T. board. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 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 implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the veterans one-stop center in Grand Junction (center) by: Continuing the center for 7 years, until September 1, 2030; Codifying that the name of the center is the "western region one source"; and Setting a December 31, 2023, deadline for the division of veterans affairs, in consultation with the center's advisory board, to develop procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of the center. APPROVED by Governor April 28, 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 permits the peace officers standards and training (P.O.S.T.) board to promulgate rules concerning persons who have deferred action status from the federal immigration and naturalization service or who have applied for asylum status (eligible immigrants) to be a certified peace officer or reserve peace officer. The act permits every law enforcement agency to amend its written firearms policy to allow an eligible immigrant to possess a firearm, so long as the firearms policy complies with federal requirements. The act authorizes an eligible immigrant to enroll in a training academy if the immigrant is employed by a law enforcement agency that has a firearms policy that allows an eligible immigrant to possess a firearm. APPROVED by Governor April 27, 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 continues the Colorado student leaders institute program and changes responsibility for the program from the department of higher education to the department of education. This change shifts oversight of the program from a governor-appointed executive board to the state board of education. The act transfers the long bill appropriation for the program from the department of higher education to the department of education. The bill appropriates $8,184 from the general fund to department of education to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor April 27, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 30, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning on or before August 1, 2024, the act requires the department of law to annually convene a training for school resource officers and school officials to discuss best practices in responding to safe2tell reports, including defining roles, communication about a report, outcome reporting, and training resources to improve school resource officers' support of students and school staff. Safe2tell may conduct a survey to collect data and discussions regarding its operations. APPROVED by Governor April 27, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 27, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
