Colorado Bills

The bill amends the Colorado "Uniform Consumer Credit Code" (UCCC) to change the terms and interest rates a nondepository institution may charge in a consumer credit transaction. For a consumer credit transaction in which a nondepository institution makes a supervised loan or a consumer credit sale, the bill amends the calculation of the total amount of the finance charge that the nondepository institution may contract for and receive to include the total cost of specific additional charges. The bill amends the additional charges that the nondepository institution may contract for and receive and subjects specified additional charges to rule-making by the administrator of the UCCC (administrator). The bill removes the requirement that the rules issued by the administrator be consistent with the federal "Truth in Lending Act" and the federal "Consumer Leasing Act". (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws. The bill repeals the "Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act" and enacts the "Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act", drafted by the uniform law commission. The bill provides guidance for guardians and conservators and clarifies how appointees must make decisions on behalf of a person under guardianship or conservatorship. The bill encourages the use of protective arrangements and less restrictive alternatives instead of conservatorship or guardianship if a person's needs can be met with support services and technology. The bill expands the procedural rights for respondents to ensure that guardianships and conservatorships are only imposed when necessary. The bill provides for expanded monitoring of guardians and conservators to ensure compliance with fiduciary duties and prevent exploitation. The bill provides for visitation and communication rights for individuals subject to guardianship or conservatorship. This includes a limitation on a guardian's ability to prevent communication, visitation, or interactions between a person subject to guardianship and a third party. The bill provides for protections to prevent exploitation of vulnerable individuals by allowing the court to restrict access to the respondent or the respondent's property by a specified person without imposing a guardianship or conservatorship. The bill prohibits courts from establishing full guardianship or conservatorship if a limited guardianship or conservatorship would meet the respondent's needs, requires a petitioner seeking full guardianship or conservatorship to provide support to justify full guardianship or conservatorship, and requires courts to provide findings to support the imposition of full guardianship or conservatorship. The bill updates provisions concerning minors subject to guardianship and provides for involvement of a minor in decisions that involve the minor. The bill provides guidance for property management for individuals subject to guardianship. The bill contains model forms for petitioners and respondents to use when filing petitions and notice with the court. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill creates the Colorado alcohol impact and recovery enterprise (enterprise) in the department of revenue behavioral health administration in the department of human services to: Collect a fee from manufacturers and wholesalers that distribute alcohol within Colorado; and Use the fee for alcohol and related substance use disorder prevention, early intervention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services and programs in communities throughout the state. The bill exempts small manufacturers and wholesale distributors of alcohol based on production and distribution level amounts for which a manufacturer or distributor may pay reduced tax or claim an exemption under federal law beverages. The bill also: Creates the alcohol impact enterprise board and specifies membership and duties of the board; and Requires the state auditor to conduct an audit of the enterprise in the 2030-31 state fiscal year and every fourth state fiscal year thereafter. The bill also exempts the enterprise from the prohibition on an enterprise receiving more than $100,000,000 in revenue in fees in the enterprise's first 5 fiscal years without first receiving voter approval. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb24-1447-bill-summary (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Under current law, a board of county commissioners is authorized to license an owner or owner's agent who rents or advertises the owner's lodging unit for a short-term stay and to fix the fees, terms, and manner for issuing and revoking such licenses. The bill creates an exception to provides that this authority for the owner or owner's agent of, and with respect to, shall not prohibit or effectively prohibit the short-term rental of any structure located on a parcel in an unincorporated area of a county that does not receive water, heat, electricity, or sanitary sewer services from a public entity and so long as the structure is used primarily for recreational purposes. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill creates a process and establishes a public online forum for members of the general assembly to publish drafts or titles of the bills that they are considering introducing during the next legislative session. The bill allows each member to post multiple bill titles, drafts, or a combination of titles and drafts on the online forum, and establishes a timeline for a member to publish up to 3 versions of each bill title or bill draft. The bill also requires each bill title or bill draft published to include a disclaimer stating that the bill is subject to change and may or may not be introduced based on the discretion of the prime sponsor. The web page on which the bill titles and bill drafts are published must be taken down at midnight on the first day of the legislative session.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The Colorado broadband office (office) is authorized to seek or apply for, accept, and expend money from the federal government for broadband deployment. The bill requires that for federal money that the office distributes, or for state money that it distributes as matching funding for federal money, it must give substantial weight, but not less than 25% weight, to fair labor practices by establishing evaluation metrics for applicants. Additionally, for projects that receive an award of over $500,000, workers involved in the projects must be paid prevailing wages for the project to receive the award. The bill requires the Colorado broadband office (office), by and through the chief information officer of the office of information and technology, to promulgate rules that establish labor standards for grantees and subgrantees no later than 91 days after the office receives approval of its initial proposal for federal funding under the broadband equity, access, and deployment program authorized by the federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" and before, in connection with receipt of such federal funding, approving grants to internet service providers. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

In the "Construction Defect Action Reform Act" (act), Colorado law establishes procedures for bringing a lawsuit for a construction defect (claim). Section 2 Section 4 of the bill clarifies that a person that has had a claim brought on the person's behalf is also considered a claimant, and therefore, the act applies to the person for whom the claim is brought. Sections 3 and 6 create a right for a construction professional to remedy a claim made against the construction professional by doing remedial work or hiring another construction professional to perform the work. The following applies to the remedy: The construction professional must notify the claimant and diligently make sure the remedial work is performed; and Upon completion, the claimant is deemed to have settled and released the claim, and the claimant is limited to claims regarding improper performance of the remedial work. Currently, a claim may be held in abeyance if the parties have agreed to mediation. Section 3 also adds other forms of alternative dispute resolution for which the claim would be held in abeyance. Alternative dispute resolution is binding. If a settlement offer of a payment is made and accepted in a claim, the payment constitutes a settlement of the claim and the cause of action is deemed to have been released, and an offer of settlement is not admissible in any subsequent action or legal proceeding unless the proceeding is to enforce the settlement. To bring a claim or related action, section 4 section 2 requires a unit owners' association (association) to obtain the written consent of at least two-thirds 60% of the actual owners of the units in the common interest community. The consent must contain the currently required notices must be signed by each consenting owner, and must have certain attestations. Under the act, a claimant is barred from seeking damages for failing to comply with building codes or industry standards unless the failure results in: Actual damage to real or personal property; Actual loss of the use of real or personal property; Bodily injury or wrongful death; or A risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants. Section 5 requires the actual property damage to be the result of a building code violation and requires the risk of injury or death or the threat to life, health, or safety to be imminent and unreasonable. Section 3 changes the standard concerning the risk of bodily injury or death to a verifiable danger to the occupants and adds another option to bring a claim if the defect results in a failure or lack of capacity of a building component to perform the intended purpose of the building component. Under current law, an association may institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or 2 or more unit owners on matters affecting a common interest community. For a construction defect matter to affect a common interest community, section 7 requires that the matter concern real estate that is owned by the association or by all members of the association. Section 7 also establishes that, when an association makes a claim or takes legal action on behalf of unit owners when the matter does not concern real estate owned by the association: The association and each claim are subject to each defense, limitation, claim procedure, and alternative dispute resolution procedure that each unit owner would be subject to if the unit owner had brought the claim; and The association has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of each unit owner. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill defines an electronic extension of a physical driver's license, minor driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card issued by the department of revenue that is approved by the department as an "electronic identification credential". Under existing law, a driver must be in immediate possession of the driver's driver's license or instruction permit while driving. The bill allows a driver who is not in possession of the person's physical driver's license or permit to possess and present a digital an electronic identification credential that is an extension of a license or permit instead. Under existing law, it is a class A traffic infraction for a driver who is in possession of a driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card to refuse to provide that identification, upon request, to a peace officer who reasonably suspects the driver has violated a traffic law. The bill requires a person who has in the person's possession a digital driver's license or identification card (digital identification) an electronic identification credential to provide the digital identification electronic identification credential , upon request, to a peace officer who reasonably suspects the driver has violated a traffic law. The bill makes it a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense to refuse to provide a driver's license, instruction permit, identification card, or digital identification to a peace officer. The bill removes the specified penalty and surcharge for the traffic infraction. The bill permits a driver who does not have the person's driver's or minor driver's license in the person's immediate possession to present to a requesting peace officer a digital driver's license or identification card as a form of personal identification. The bill requires a person who operates a motor vehicle who does not have the person's driver's or minor driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card, or an electronic identification credential that is an extension of the same (identification), or who has identification in the person's possession but refuses to present it to a peace officer, to provide personally identifying information to the peace officer upon request. Failure to provide identifying information to a peace officer by a driver is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense, and a peace officer shall not arrest a person for committing the offense. The bill takes effect March 31, 2025. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill requires that on or before July 1, 2025, a social media company must post published policies for each of its social media platforms. Thereafter, a social media company must post any updates to the policies within 14 days after the implementation of the updated policies. The published policies must include: Contact information that allows a user to ask the social media company questions about the published policies; A description of the process that a user must follow to flag content, groups, or other users that the user believes violate the published policies; A process to which the social media company commits for the purpose of responding to and resolving user questions and flags; A statement that the use of the social media platform for the promotion, sale or advertisement of any illicit substance; for the sale of any firearm in violation of state or federal law; for sex trafficking of a juvenile; or for the possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative material is prohibited; A description of the social media company's process for enforcing its published policies and the potential consequences of violating the published policies; and A statement that violations of the published policies that also violate state or federal law will may be reported to law enforcement for investigation and potential prosecution ; A description of the social media company's policies and practices with respect to personal data and safeguards for juveniles; Information about how to access required safeguards and parental tools, including information for juveniles or their parents about options to opt out of or control personalized recommendation systems and other platform features; Notice about whether the social media platform uses or makes available to juveniles a product, service, or design feature that presents a heightened risk of harm to juveniles; and If the social media platform operates a personalized recommendation system, a description of how the personalized recommendation system is used to provide information to juveniles. A social media company must annually submit to the attorney general a report that includes, for each social media platform owned or operated by the social media company: The current version of the published policies of the social media platform; If the social media company has filed its first report, a complete and detailed description of any changes to the published policies since the previous report; A statement of whether the current version of the published policies contains definitions and or provisions relating to illicit substances, the sale of firearms in violation of state or federal law, sex trafficking of a juvenile, or the possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative material and, if so, the definitions of those categories and a description of those provisions; A detailed description of content moderation practices used by the social media company; Data concerning activities of users based in the United States, including a breakdown of Colorado-based users' activities with regard to certain prohibited categories of content; Data describing actioned items of content and related actions taken by the social media company; Data concerning how juveniles in Colorado use the social media platform; A detailed description of the social media platform's age verification practices, how they are enforced, and how the social media platform responds to user reports of violations; and Data concerning a social media platform's application of its published policies. The bill also requires a social media company to: Use a commercially reasonable process to verify each user's and each potential user's age; Treat a user as a juvenile if the user's device communicates or signals that the user is a juvenile; Allow each user of its social media platforms to select an option to apply the protections available to juveniles; Retain any information obtained for age verification purposes only for the purpose of compliance and for no other purpose and to dispose of such information securely after age verification is complete. Additionally, any agent of a social media company that processes age verification information must have its principal place of business in the United States. Provide readily accessible and easy-to-use tools and settings for parents and guardians to support an individual that a social media platform knows or reasonably should know is a juvenile with respect to the individual's juvenile's use of the social media platform. A social media platform must provide similar tools to an individual that the social media platform knows or reasonably should know is a juvenile. Provide an individual that the platform knows or reasonably should know is a juvenile with clear and conspicuous warnings of certain threats and events regarding content that the individual shares or accesses on a social media platform; Immediately Within 24 hours after determining a violation was made, remove any user of a social media platform who promotes, sells or advertises an illicit substance or engages in the sale of a firearm in violation of state or federal law, the sex trafficking of a juvenile, or the possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative material ; keep the user removed until there is human review of this activity; and permanently remove the user if human review confirms the user engaged in such an action; Retain for at least one year any data and metadata concerning users' identities and activities on the social media platform; Initially respond to any inquiry from a law enforcement agency within 3 days after receiving the inquiry to confirm receipt and to fulfill the law enforcement request within 30 days after receiving the inquiry. A social media company shall preserve the data needed to respond to an inquiry from a law enforcement agency. The bill prohibits a social media company from: Alerting a user to the fact that a law enforcement agency is investigating the user's activity and or account; or Using dark patterns to lead or encourage juveniles to provide personal information, beyond what is reasonably expected, to disable safeguards or parental controls, or to forgo privacy protections. or to take any action that the social media platform knows is not in the best interest of juveniles reasonably likely to access the social media platform. A violation of the bill's provisions, or an act to aid or abet such a violation, is a deceptive trade practice and punishable pursuant to the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill makes the following changes to the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA): Requires a custodian to evaluate a request for public records promptly and for no longer than 2 days. Within the 2-day period the custodian shall notify the requester whether or not any costs or fees that may apply to the request and if extenuating circumstances exist that allow for an extension of the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request (response period). If there are costs or fees that may apply, the response period does not begin until the custodian receives a response from the requester acknowledging acceptance of the costs or fees. Alternatively, a requester may revise their request and the custodian shall evaluate the revised request within the 2-day evaluation period. Otherwise, the response period begins after the custodian has provided notice to the requester. Changes the reasonable time to respond to a CORA request, except for requests from a mass medium or a newsperson, from 3 working days to 5 working days and changes the extension of time for the response period if extenuating circumstances exist from not exceeding 7 additional days to not exceeding 10 additional days; Adds an extenuating circumstance that allows for an extension of the response period when the custodian is not scheduled to work within the response period; Requires public entities to post any rules or policies adopted pursuant to CORA, including what the public entity's records retention policy, and to post information for members of the public regarding how to make a public records request; If public records are in the sole and exclusive custody and control of someone who is not scheduled to work within the response period, a custodian shall provide all other available responsive public records within the response period and notify the requester of the earliest date on which the person is scheduled to return to work and make best efforts to make responsive records available for inspection within the response period or extended response period, as applicable expected to be available or that the person is not expected to return to work . The requester may make a subsequent request for additional responsive records, if any, on or after the date the person who is authorized to have custody and control of the records is scheduled to return to work custodian provides . Allows a custodian to determine that a requester is a vexatious requester, requires the custodian to make a sworn statement in support of the determination to provide to the requester, allows the custodian a 30-day response period when a requester is a vexatious requester, and permits the requester to appeal the determination that the requester is a vexatious requester to the district court; Excludes a mass medium or newsperson from being a vexatious requester; Allows a custodian , subject to certain exceptions, to determine that a request is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain, requires the custodian to make a sworn statement in support provide written notice of the determination to provide to the requester, allows the custodian a 30-day response period for such a request, permits the requester to submit a signed statement affirming the request is not for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain which the custodian must consider in making their determination, permits the requester to appeal the determination that the request is made for the direct solicitation of business for pecuniary gain to the district court, and allows a custodian to charge the requester for the full cost of responding to the request notwithstanding the allowance for the first hour of research and retrieval to otherwise be free of charge and notwithstanding the statutory cap on fees, which otherwise would apply; Prohibits disclosure of any other contact information of students in any public elementary or secondary school in addition to the prohibition of disclosure of addresses and telephone numbers that is in current law; Allows a custodian to deny the right of inspection of public records that are an employee's calendar, unless the public record is an elected official's calendar or the calendar of an employee who is in a leadership position or the request is made by a mass medium or newsperson; and Clarifies that if a custodian imposes any requirements concerning the pre-payment of fees or the payment of fees in connection with a request for inspection of public records, the requirements must be in accordance with the custodian's adopted rules or written policies and must not be inconsistent with the provisions of CORA; and Allows a custodian to treat a CORA request made within 14 calendar days of another CORA request made by the same person as one request for purposes of calculating the fee that the custodian may charge to the requester for research and retrieval of responsive public records. In addition, the bill requires that members of the general assembly retain public records for a minimum of 60 days. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)