The act creates specific elements for public benefits theft in the theft statute. A person commits public benefits theft when a person intentionally misrepresents or withholds a material fact for determining eligibility, and does so for the purpose of obtaining or retaining public benefits for which the person is not eligible. A person's conduct that is limited to the elements of public benefits theft is not subject to prosecution pursuant to any other provision of the theft statute. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning in 2024, the act requires the department of higher education (department) to submit, as a part of its annual "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearing, data related to postsecondary outcomes for students with a disability. The department shall gather the data in collaboration with institutions of higher education (institutions). The act creates the postsecondary services advisory committee (committee) in the department for the purpose of making recommendations to institutions and the general assembly concerning necessary services and best practices to improve successful outcomes for students with disabilities at institutions. The committee is required to complete and submit a report to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate by June 15, 2023, and June 14, 2024. The committee is repealed on June 30, 2024. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes a postsecondary institution to refuse to provide a transcript or diploma to a current or former student on the grounds that the student owes a debt for tuition, room and board fees, or financial aid funds, unless the student owes a debt other than a debt for tuition, room and board fees, or financial aid funds, or if the student can demonstrate that the transcript or diploma is needed for certain purposes. If a postsecondary institution provides a transcript or diploma to a current or former student, the act prohibits the postsecondary institution from: Conditioning the provision of a transcript or diploma on the payment of a debt, other than a fee charged to provide the transcript or diploma; Charging a higher fee to obtain a transcript or diploma or providing less favorable treatment in response to a transcript or diploma request because a current or former student owes a debt; or Using transcript or diploma issuance as a tool for debt collection. The act requires each postsecondary institution to adopt a policy that outlines the process by which a student may obtain a transcript or diploma and the circumstances under which a transcript or diploma may be withheld from a current or former student. Beginning July 1, 2024, the act requires each postsecondary institution to annually report certain information to the department of higher education concerning transcript, diploma, and registration holds. The act authorizes the student loan ombudsperson (ombudsperson) to provide information to the public regarding the limits on withholding a transcript or diploma and authorizes the ombudsperson and the administrator of the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code" (administrator) to receive complaints from a current or former student who has had a transcript or diploma withheld. Beginning January 2025, the act requires the attorney general's office to compile data on the complaints received by the ombudsperson and the administrator concerning transcript and diploma holds and report the data through the annual SMART act hearing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act changes the term "name-based criminal history record check" to "name-based judicial record check" throughout the Colorado Revised Statutes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The habitat partnership program (program) assists the division of parks and wildlife (division) with reducing wildlife conflicts and meeting game management objectives. The act: Authorizes the director of the division (director) to independently appoint members of the habitat partnership council (council) that, in part, advises local habitat partnership committees (committees) that help implement program objectives; Expands the scope of the program to assist the division with private land conservation and wildlife migration corridor efforts; With respect to reducing wildlife conflicts, prioritizes conflicts that arise from forage and fence issues related to big game ungulate species, which are big game species that are hooved mammals; Authorizes the council to allocate an annual budget to each committee, subject to final approval by the director, and expend funds in areas of the state that are not covered by a committee; Requires the director to set terms for committee members; and Identifies the council and each committee as an independent organizational unit for purposes of purchasing, accounting, and procurement-related issues. The act clarifies that any balance of unexpended and unencumbered money in the habitat partnership cash fund (fund) at the end of a fiscal year that exceeds the amount transferred to the fund at the beginning of the fiscal year from the wildlife cash fund reverts to the wildlife cash fund and continues the fund indefinitely. The act also exempts the program from the "Procurement Code". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Feeding Colorado fund (fund) in the state treasury. A voluntary contribution designation line for the fund will appear on the state individual income tax return form (form) for the 5 income tax years following the year that the executive director of the department of revenue (department) certifies to the revisor of statutes that there is space available on the form and that the fund is next in the queue. Once the fund is placed on the form, the department is directed to determine annually the total amount contributed to the fund and report that amount to the state treasurer and the general assembly. The state treasurer is required to credit that amount to the fund, and the general assembly appropriates from the fund to the department the costs of administering money designated for the fund. After that amount is deducted, the money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year is transferred to Feeding Colorado. Following the statutory 2-year grace period for new tax check-offs, the fund is required to achieve the minimum contribution amount of $50,000 per year to remain on the form. The fund is repealed on the sixth income tax year following the year in which the director files the certification, unless it is continued by the general assembly before then. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a licensed medical or retail marijuana business may receive a responsible vendor designation (designation) if all of its employees successfully complete an approved course. If the business is subject to a licensing action, the designation can be considered a mitigating factor in the licensing action. The act allows an individual to receive a designation and provides the same licensing mitigation protection to that individual in a licensing action. The act clarifies how a business receives and maintains a designation and allows a person with a designation to take that designation with them to a new employer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In order to enable the streamlining of the imposition, collection, and administration of sales and use taxes imposed by local taxing jurisdictions on retail sales made by retailers that have a state standard retail license and either do not have physical presence within a local taxing jurisdiction or have only incidental physical presence within a local taxing jurisdiction through the streamlining of application requirements for and elimination of fees for local general business licenses, the act requires the department of revenue (department) to require sufficient information to be collected from such a retailer, when the retailer applies for or renews a state standard retail business license through the state's electronic sales and use tax simplification system (SUTS) or by other means or at any other time to the extent necessary, and made available to local taxing jurisdictions to ensure that concerns of local taxing jurisdictions, including but not limited to concerns relating to administrative efficiency, retailer compliance, and collection of sales and use tax revenue, are addressed. The department is required to consult with local taxing jurisdictions when determining what information to collect and how to make the information collected available to local taxing jurisdictions. The department is also required to consult with retailers and to address any reasonable concerns that they may have. The department is required to accomplish these tasks expeditiously so that no later than July 1, 2023, and sooner if feasible, a retailer that has a state standard retail license and either does not have physical presence within a local taxing jurisdiction or has only incidental physical presence can make retail sales within the local taxing jurisdiction without having to obtain a general business license from the local taxing jurisdiction. On and after July 1, 2022, a local taxing jurisdiction is prohibited from charging a fee for a local general business license to a retailer that has a state standard retail license, makes retail sales within the local taxing jurisdiction, and either does not have physical presence within the local taxing jurisdiction or has only incidental physical presence within the local taxing jurisdiction. On and after July 1, 2023, a local taxing jurisdiction is prohibited from requiring such a retailer to apply separately to the local taxing jurisdiction for a general business license. A local taxing jurisdiction must automatically issue a general business license to such a retailer unless the local taxing jurisdiction has previously revoked a general business license held by the retailer for a violation of its local code. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $2,100 is appropriated to the department for use by the taxation services division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act changes the date on which Energy Outreach Colorado disburses to the department of human services (department) a portion of the energy assistance system benefit charges that investor-owned electric and gas utilities collect from January 1, 2022, to March 1, 2023. Section 2 requires the public utilities commission (commission) to adopt rules prohibiting electric and gas utilities from disconnecting a customer's service: On Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays; On state or federal holidays; To the greatest extent practicable, after 11:59 a.m. on a Monday through Thursday that is not a holiday; During an emergency or safety event or circumstance, which includes a manmade or natural emergency or a severe weather event that is likely to affect travel, staffing, or work conditions. Additionally, the commission's rules must require that, under certain circumstances in which a customer makes a request for reconnection of service on a Monday through Friday that is not a holiday, the utility is required to reconnect the customer's service that same day. Section 3 establishes 3 income standards for determining a household's eligibility for utility assistance as follows: A household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line; A household income at or below 80% of the area median income; or A household income that meets the income eligibility criteria that the department sets by rule. Section 3 also clarifies that the commission may approve a year-round utility preference or advantage given to income-eligible customers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under the act, if a purchaser files a sales and use tax refund claim between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2026, interest will accrue on the refund from the date that the purchaser files the claim, so long as the refund is paid more than 180 days from the date that the purchaser files the claim. If a purchaser files a claim for a sales and use tax refund that is incomplete, duplicative of another claim, or lacks a reasonable basis in law or fact, the act requires the executive director of the department of revenue (executive director) to assess and collect, in addition to other penalties provided by law, a civil penalty. The civil penalty is equal to 5% of the total refund claimed if the claim is materially incomplete and is equal to 10% of the total refund claimed if the claim is duplicative or lacking a reasonable basis in law or in fact. Prior to assessing a civil penalty for a claim that the executive director deems materially incomplete, the executive director is required to provide notice to the purchaser or the preparer of the claim, specify what is missing, and state the conditions that will lead to the executive director assessing the civil penalty. If a sales and use tax refund claim on which the executive director assesses a civil penalty is prepared, in whole or in part, by a person other than the purchaser, the penalty is imposed on that other person. The executive director shall give the person against whom the civil penalty is assessed written notice, and that person may petition for a hearing and appeal the civil penalty. The executive director may waive the penalty if the person against whom the penalty is assessed establishes that a duplicate claim was not intentional and was either minimal or immaterial or demonstrates other good cause for waiver. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act finds that some criminal defendants were not effectively advised of immigration consequences to a guilty plea, and therefore, these defendants did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily enter a guilty plea. The act authorizes these persons to petition the court for an order vacating the guilty plea. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state revenue and expenditure web-based system (web-based system), which is a free, searchable, web-based system that provides public access to information about state and county revenue and expenditures, to include, without redaction, the name of the vendor paid in connection with each expenditure included in the system; except that the web-based system is not required to include the legal name of the vendor if the state agency has determined that the public interest is best served by excluding the legal name of the vendor or that including the legal name of the vendor is otherwise prohibited by law. In addition, the act changes the responsibility for managing the web-based system from the chief information officer in the office of information technology to the department of personnel. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
