In order to allow the department of military and veterans affairs (department) to impose charges for the charging of electric vehicles using electric vehicle services equipment (equipment) provided by the department at Colorado National Guard facilities and to use the revenue to fund the ongoing operation of the equipment, the act: Creates the electric vehicle service equipment fund (fund); Requires all money received by the department from such charges to be credited to the fund; Authorizes the department to accept gifts, grants, and donations to be credited to the fund; Subject to annual appropriation, authorizes the department to expend money from the fund to defray the costs associated with operation of the equipment; and Appropriates $50,000 from the fund to the department for state fiscal year 2023-24. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting April 1, 2024, the act allows the division of labor standards and statistics (division) in the department of labor and employment (department) to use money in the wage theft enforcement fund (fund) to pay employees who are owed money from their employers due to obligations and liabilities related to the payment of wages or other compensation. The division may pay an employee if an employer fails to fulfill an order by the division to pay the employee that results from a wage claim or an investigation: Within 6 months after the division issues a citation and notice of assessment to the employer; or If the employer requests a hearing, within 6 months after the hearing officer issues a decision. The act specifies that after the division pays the employee: The employee cannot recover that payment amount from the employer; The division replaces the employee as creditor and shall continue to pursue the payment from the employer; and Any money recovered from the employer by the division will be credited to the fund. The act requires the division to promulgate rules specifying procedures and criteria for employees to request payments and for the division to make determinations on employee requests. The act continuously appropriates money in the fund to the division for the purpose of making payments to employees for unpaid liabilities, but for purposes of the division's direct and indirect costs implementing wage laws, the money in the fund is subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly. The act excludes the fund from the limit on cash fund reserves. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $12,657 from the fund to the department for use by the department's office of the executive director for personal services. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act enacts the "Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act" (act), drafted by the uniform law commission. The act applies to the parent, guardian, or custodian of a child, or an individual with whom a child has been placed for adoption, who wishes to terminate the parent-child relationship and is not transferring custody to family or friends. The act prohibits soliciting or advertising to transfer custody or transferring custody of a child by means other than a legal adoption or guardianship proceeding, a judicial award of custody, other judicial or tribal action, or Colorado's safe haven law. The act applies to the placement for adoption of a child who has been or is in foster care or institutional care, has previously been adopted, or is in the process of being adopted. The act requires child placement agencies facilitating an adoption to: Provide prospective adoptive parents with general information about adopting children, specific information about the prospective adoptee, and guidance and instruction on meeting the needs of the adoptee; and Upon the request of a child placed for adoption or the child's adoptive parents, provide information on accessing certain post-placement and post-adoption support services to the adoptee and parent to help preserve the adoption. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sections 1 through 5 of the act clarify the procedure for filling a vacancy in a municipal elected office. When a vacancy occurs, the governing body shall appoint an eligible elector or call a special election within 60 days. If the governing body lacks sufficient members to reach a quorum, the clerk of the governing body is authorized to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Sections 6 through 8 modify and clarify the requirements for municipal recall elections, by: Requiring members of the committee designated to represent the signers of a recall petition to be registered electors residing in the municipality; Clarifying the number of signatures required for a recall petition for a person holding an office filled by more than one person; Requiring signers to include their municipality and county with their address when signing a recall petition; Clarifying that disassembly of a recall petition section renders that section invalid; Clarifying that a municipal clerk's written initial determination that a recall petition or a refiled recall petition is sufficient or insufficient is final unless a protest is filed in accordance with statutory requirements; Repealing a requirement that the county clerk and recorder prepare a list of registered electors for the protest; Clarifying deadlines and processes for petitions and protests; Requiring that nomination petitions for successors be filed within 20 calendar days after the date a recall election is set; Providing that if the incumbent is not recalled, the votes for a successor are not recorded and any unofficial results of the vote on a successor shall not be disclosed; and Clarifying ballot requirements and election standards for a recall election and specifying that in cases in which more than one officer is is recalled from an office to which more than one person may be elected, candidates equal in number to the number of persons recalled from office who received the highest number of votes for the office are elected for the remainder of the term of each of the offices vacated with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes being elected for the longest remaining term. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 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 provides juvenile courts jurisdiction to enter permanent allocations of parental responsibilities, without requiring a full court determination of a child as dependent or neglected as to each parent, in certain circumstances. Juvenile courts are granted concurrent jurisdiction to district and county courts to order name changes for children or youth who appear in dependency and neglect and foster youth in transition cases. The requirement to give public notice of name changes through publication for a child or youth determined by the court to be dependent or neglected or subject to a continued dependency or neglect case is eliminated. APPROVED by Governor April 12, 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 the department of corrections (department) to, for an inmate who was sentenced for a nonviolent felony offense, deduct earned time from the inmate's sentence for each accredited degree or other credential awarded by an institution of higher education to the inmate while the inmate is incarcerated or on parole, in the following amounts: 18 months of earned time for a master's degree and 2 years of earned time for a doctoral degree; One year of earned time for receiving an associate or baccalaureate degree; and 6 months of earned time for receiving a certificate or other credential that requires completion of at least 30 credit hours. The act requires the department to designate up to six regionally accredited institutions of higher education that may award a degree or credential to an inmate for which earned time must be deducted. The act requires the general assembly to annually appropriate to the department of higher education the savings incurred during the prior state fiscal year as a result of the release of inmates from correctional facilities because of earned time granted for completion of a higher education degree or credential. The appropriation to the department of higher education is for allocation to institutions of higher education that offer accredited programs in correctional facilities. APPROVED by Governor April 12, 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 person who solicits a fee for filing a document with, or retrieving a public record from, the secretary of state to include specific disclosure language in the solicitation. The person must also include information on where the document can be filed directly with the secretary of state, or where the public record can be retrieved, and the name and physical address of the person who is soliciting. The act also prohibits the use of any form, deadline dates, or other language that makes the document used for solicitation appear to be issued by a state agency or local government or that appears to impose a legal duty on the person being solicited. Violation of these requirements is an unfair or deceptive trade practice. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 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 eliminates the requirement for a person who is lawfully residing in the state, a legal immigrant who is a resident of the state, or a documented individual to refrain from executing an affidavit of support for the purpose of sponsoring a documented individual while the person is receiving public services or medical assistance. County departments responsible for administering benefits programs under the department of health care policy and financing and the department of human services shall identify and review all current county guidance materials that reference a prohibition on sponsorship as a condition of eligibility for benefits and shall remove all such references from verbal and digital communications and from all physical materials currently provided to applicants or beneficiaries. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 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.)
Current law allows insurance policies to be translated to and issued in a language other than English if the insurer certifies that the English-language policy that is translated complies with state insurance laws. Section 1 of the act requires the insurer to also certify that the policy has been correctly translated by a certified translator or, if a certified translator is not available to translate the policy to the particular language, by a qualified translator who certifies that the translation is correct. Section 2 requires insurers that issue commercial or personal automobile, homeowners', or renters' insurance policies to offer, make available, and issue the policy application, the policy, and related documents and forms in the same language that the insurer used in advertisements for the policy and to offer an applicant a form to select the applicant's language of choice for those documents. Section 2 also specifies remedies for an insurer's failure to comply with this requirement. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds information to the department of higher education's current annual reporting requirement as it relates to Colorado scholars. Current law limits the number of Colorado scholars that each institution counts in an academic year to 8% of the total number of in-state students. The act increases that limit to 15%. The act requires a peace corps volunteer to be classified as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student was certified by the director of the peace corps as having served satisfactorily as a peace corps volunteer. A peace corps volunteer who is classified as an in-state student must not be counted as a resident student for any purpose other than tuition classification. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 11, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting December 31, 2023, the act requires each entity described below to label packages of premoistened, nonwoven disposable wipes (covered product) with the phrase "Do Not Flush": A manufacturer of a covered product that is sold or offered for sale in this state; and A wholesaler, supplier, or retailer that is responsible for the labeling or packaging of a covered product. The act outlines the parameters to which the labeling must adhere in order to comply with state and federal requirements, as applicable, and specifies that a violation of the requirements of the act is a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". APPROVED by Governor April 11, 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.)
Current law allows higher education faculty to take a sabbatical if the governing board of the institution where the faculty member works approves the sabbatical. The act extends sabbatical opportunities to staff of an institution of higher education who serve in a management position or similar capacity. APPROVED by Governor April 10, 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.)
