The act authorizes a district attorney or a deputy or assistant district attorney (district attorney), in investigating a complaint alleging a violation of consumer protection laws, to request records from a state or local licensing authority (licensing authority) regarding a person that the licensing authority regulates (regulated person) and that is the subject of the complaint if the complaint alleges: The complainant suffered damages in an amount of at least $20,000 and the district attorney determines the amount alleged appears to be reasonable in relation to the alleged conduct forming the basis of the complaint; or 2 or more regulated persons jointly engaged in conduct that forms the basis of the complaint. The act only applies to those state licensing authorities that authorize a licensee to perform activities at specific premises. A district attorney's authority to request records from a licensing authority does not apply with respect to a complaint alleged against a person regulated by a board or commission. The licensing authority shall share with, and allow inspection of its records by, the district attorney upon receipt of such request if the licensing authority has already determined not to take action against the regulated person or persons. Additionally, the act authorizes a state licensing authority, subject to approval by the head of the executive department in which the state licensing authority is located, to enter into an interagency agreement with the attorney general or the attorney general's designee for the referral of complaints alleging violations of consumer protection laws. A regulated person is entitled to costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred and actual damages sustained in relation to the district attorney's or attorney general's investigation and in relation to a licensing authority's investigation in a related matter if a court determines that the complaint that led to the district attorney's or attorney' general's investigation is frivolous, groundless, and was filed in bad faith or if the regulated person prevails or substantially prevails in the matter. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits a common interest community's unit owners' association from regulating the use of a public right-of-way. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act identifies a new at-risk measure to identify students who are at risk of below-average academic outcomes because of socioeconomic disadvantage or poverty in order to allocate resources through the state's public school funding formula to serve those students. The new at-risk measure includes: The percentage of students certified as eligible for the school lunch program based on documentation of benefit receipt or categorical eligibility, supplemented by the expansion of direct certification to participants in the medical assistance program and the children's basic health plan; and A neighborhood socioeconomic-status index that weights student needs based on socioeconomic-status index neighborhood factors linked to each student's census block group. The commissioner of education (commissioner) shall convene a working group to prepare for the implementation of the new at-risk measure in the 2023-24 budget year. The act specifies the membership of the working group. The act includes issues that the working group may consider in constructing and implementing the new at-risk measure, including collecting necessary data, constructing a neighborhood socioeconomic-status index linked to students' addresses, and testing the at-risk measure with actual student data, if available. Not later than January 31, 2023, the commissioner shall report findings and recommendations for the construction and implementation of the new at-risk measure to the education committees of the general assembly and the joint budget committee. The act requires the department of education to apply to the United States department of agriculture to obtain authorization for direct certification of students participating in the medical assistance program and the children's basic health plan. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, to implement the act, the act appropriates $34,997 to the department of education from the general fund and provides an additional .01 FTE for administration related to public school finance; and appropriates $128,341 from the general fund to the department and provides 0.4 FTE for federal nutrition programs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates certain rights for foster parents. The rights do not apply to a foster parent who jeopardizes the safety of a child or youth or a foster parent against whom criminal charges have been filed for child abuse, a sexual offense, or any felony. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act grants immunity from the charge of prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, or prostitute making display or an equivalent municipal offense (prostitution offense) to a person who seeks assistance from a law enforcement officer, the 911 system, or a medical provider for a victim or as a victim of a violent crime or offense (crime) if the evidence for the charge of a prostitution offense was obtained as a result of the person seeking assistance or as a result of the need for assistance. A person who receives immunity for a prostitution offense is not immune from prosecution for other offenses, and a district attorney or law enforcement officer may obtain or use evidence obtained from a report, recording, or other statement provided as a result of the initial prostitution offense to prosecute any other offense. For the purposes of the act, "person" is defined as the victim of a crime, a person who is a victim of human trafficking for sexual servitude, or a witness to a crime. The act sets forth the applicable violent crimes or offenses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act removes the exemption for greyhound breeders from the "Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act". By removing this language, greyhounds are elevated to a class of pet that is intended to be a companion pet. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands the existing pretrial diversion program to include diversion programs that are intended to identify eligible individuals with behavioral health disorders and divert such individuals out of the criminal justice system and into community treatment programs. This expansion replaces the alternative pilot programs to divert individuals with mental health conditions that are set to repeal July 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes Juneteenth, which is the nineteenth day of June, as a state legal holiday. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the domestic violence fatality review board (review board) to: Provide technical assistance and training to local governments to help establish and maintain a review team and provide technical assistance and training to existing review teams; Pursue and implement any recommendations pertaining to improving communication and information-sharing between public and private organizations and agencies as to domestic violence incidents and risk, reducing the incidence of domestic violence and domestic violence fatalities in the state, and improving responses to domestic violence incidents; Provide any necessary coordination between local governments and organizations to assist with domestic violence prevention and responses to fatalities; Make a recommendation in its 2022 annual written report whether and how diversity, equity, and inclusion training could be provided for individuals who provide initial call response functions and could be provided for local boards that may conduct a fatality review to create greater trust between local agencies and victims of domestic violence; Coordinate with stakeholders to develop best practices for collecting data on domestic violence-related fatalities; Coordinate to implement effective information-sharing related to identified domestic violence fatalities; Perform outreach to local governments and organizations to promote the development of local review teams; and Prioritize development and support of local review teams in underserved and rural communities. The review board is set to repeal on September 1, 2022. The act extends the repeal to September 1, 2027, and requires a sunset review prior to the repeal. The act also repeals the review board's associated cash fund. The act appropriates $43,350 to the department of law from the general fund to implement the act. The act decreases the cash fund appropriation from the Colorado domestic violence review board cash fund in the 2022 general appropriations act to the department of law for use by the office of community engagement by $2,500. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law authorizes a regulator of a profession or occupation to approve an application for licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment by endorsement, reciprocity, or transfer through the occupational credential portability program (program). The act amends the program by: Adding licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment in good standing through the federal government to the types of occupational credentials that qualify a person for a credential through the program; Adding a military occupational specialty to the types of occupational credentials that qualify a person for a credential through the program; If submitting proof of a credential from another jurisdiction as the basis for application under the program, requiring the applicant to have held the license, certification, registration, or enrollment, for at least one year, under a jurisdiction with a scope of practice that is substantially similar to the scope of practice of the profession or occupation required by Colorado law; Removing the prohibition on approving licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment if such approval would violate an existing compact or reciprocity agreement; Adding a requirement that an applicant for licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment have substantially equivalent education as required by Colorado law; and Exempting engineers, surveyors, and architects from the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the following tax expenditures: The exemption from the insurance premium tax for educational and scientific institution life insurance; The alternative minimum income tax based on annual gross receipts from sales in or into the state; The income tax credit for investment in technologies for recycling plastics; The income tax credit for crop or livestock contributions to a charitable organization; The income tax deduction for income or gain for a C corporation that was taxed prior to 1965, to the extent it is included in current taxable income; Income tax credits for qualifying investments; and The sales and use tax exemption for the transfer of complimentary promotional materials to an out-of-state vendee. The act also repeals the requirement that a specific amount of a state-employed chaplain's salary must be designated as a rental allowance, thereby making it exempt from federal income tax. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires crisis system facilities and programs, including crisis walk-in centers, respite services, and mobile crisis programs, to meet minimum standards to provide mental health and substance use disorder services. The act clarifies that crisis system facilities and programs shall provide behavioral health services to individuals experiencing a substance use disorder crisis. Mobile crisis programs and crisis walk-in centers shall provide crisis response screening services to any individual, including youth of any age and individuals with a disability. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
