The act creates in the department of agriculture the agricultural drought and climate resilience office (office). The office may provide voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and incentives that increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate, adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to drought or the climate. The commissioner of agriculture shall appoint the head of the office and may adopt rules necessary for the office's administration after convening a stakeholder group.Except for a program or support administered by the office to address immediate needs as a result of disaster, including wildfire and drought, or a program that was in existence on January 1, 2021:A program administered by the office must be designed to benefit bona fide agricultural producers actively engaged in agriculture; Grants awarded by the office must pay for implementation of practices to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change or drought or to provide direct adaptation support for impacted agricultural communities; and Grants must receive final approval by the state agricultural commission before a final award can be issued. The act:Annually transfers $500,000 from the severance tax operational fund to the agriculture value-added cash fund until July 1, 2029; and Appropriates $101,333 from that fund to the department of agriculture to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act updates various provisions of the "Colorado Children's Trust Fund Act", including renaming it the "Colorado Child Abuse Prevention Trust Fund Act" (trust fund act). Changes include:Expanding the membership of the Colorado child abuse prevention board (board) from the current 9 members to 17 members; Expanding the powers and duties of the board to include advising and making recommendations to the governor, state agencies, and other entities regarding child maltreatment prevention; developing strategies to decrease the incidences of child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences; and implementing and monitoring the ongoing development of local child maltreatment prevention plans throughout the state; and Extending the repeal of the trust fund act from 2022 to 2027. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $890 to the legislative department for use by the general assembly. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the general assembly may use this appropriation for legislator per diem.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the financial empowerment office (office) and the director of the office (director) in the department of law to grow the financial resilience and well-being of Coloradans through specified community-derived goals and strategies. The director is appointed by the attorney general and may hire staff as necessary to perform the duties and functions of the office. The office also consists of a manager who is appointed by the director.The office is authorized to partner with governmental bodies, community organizations, financial institutions, local service providers, philanthropic organizations, and other organizations as necessary to achieve the purposes of the office. The office is also authorized to develop or promote new or existing:Methods to increase access to safe and affordable financial products; Tools and resources that advance, increase, and improve Colorado residents' financial management; Community-informed strategies that dismantle systemic barriers to building ownership and wealth for all, especially low-income communities and communities of color; and Tools that promote financial stability such as those that assist with service navigation, eviction avoidance, or connections to income supports. The financial empowerment office is required to:Support the organization of community efforts to define and lead financial resilience strategies; Align, support, and build ties to build financial education and well-being in communities across the state; Establish a council to assist the director; Work with stakeholders to increase access to safe and affordable credit-building loans and financial products and to identify products and practices that may undermine financial stability; Develop technical assistance to launch or expand local financial coaching and counseling efforts; Raise money to support coaching, safe and affordable banking, and potential loan funds; and Track community feedback on consumer financial abuses. The department of law is required to report on affordable banking access in Colorado and other specified information as part of its presentation under the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the department of labor and employment (department) and specifies that it exercises its powers, duties, and functions, including rule-making, regulation, licensing, and registration, the promulgation of rates and standards, and the rendering of findings, orders, and adjudications, independently of the executive director of the department. The executive director of the department is required to appoint the director of the SAA. The purpose of the SAA is to:Serve as the primary point of contact with the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship concerning apprentices and registered apprenticeship programs; Accelerate new apprenticeship program growth and assist in promotion and development; and Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration, required standards for registration, certification, quality assurance, record-keeping, compliance with federal laws and standards, and provision of administrative and technical assistance. The director of the SAA is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the state apprenticeship registration program.The director of the SAA is required to establish the state apprenticeship council (SAC) and an interagency advisory committee (IAC) on apprenticeship. The governor and the director of the SAA appoint the members of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee.The SAC is charged with overseeing registered apprenticeship programs for the building and construction trades in this state and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws and standards. The IAC is charged with the same responsibilities for all other apprenticeships not in the building and construction trades. Both entities are charged with:Registering with and maintaining the standards of the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship and developing standards for registration for their respective apprenticeship programs; Resolving conflicts and complaints that arise between parties to apprenticeship agreements; Reviewing apprenticeship program performance; Making recommendations concerning apprenticeship programs to the director of the state apprenticeship agency; Providing technical and professional guidance and promoting best practices; Developing administrative policies to ensure safety and quality standards; Providing an annual report to the executive director of the department of labor and employment; and Advising the SAA concerning their assigned functions and formulating policies for their respective industries. The act establishes a joint resolution committee of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee to resolve conflicts between the 2 entities and to define their respective jurisdictions.Additionally, the act requires the state apprenticeship agency to accept applications for registration of apprenticeship programs beginning July 1, 2023. The state apprenticeship agency may deregister an apprenticeship program for noncompliance with the requirements in the act. The state apprenticeship agency shall conduct a hearing upon request of the SAC or the IAC regarding issues of noncompliance and deregistration.The apprenticeship program is repealed, effective September 1, 2029, after a review of the director's functions is performed.To implement this act, $485,249 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the SAA. From this amount $85,072 is appropriated to the department of law, and $78,598 is appropriated to the office of the governor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals a moratorium on changing a ratio for valuation for assessment (assessment rate), which is the percentage applied to a property's actual value to determine the taxable amount upon which a mill levy is imposed and classifies agricultural property, lodging property, and renewable energy production property as new subclasses of nonresidential property for purposes of the valuation for assessment. The assessment rate for agricultural property and renewable energy production property is temporarily reduced from 29% to 26.4% for the next 2 property tax years. The law is restructured so that, if an initiated measure to reduce the assessment rate for nonresidential property is approved by voters, then it would only apply to lodging property.Multi-family residential real property is classified as a new subclass of residential real property. The law is restructured so that, if an initiated measure to reduce the residential assessment rate is approved by voters, then it would only apply to multi-family residential real property. If the initiated measure fails or is not on the ballot, then, the assessment rate for multi-family residential real property is temporarily reduced from 7.15% to 6.8% for the next 2 property tax years. The assessment rate for all residential real property other than multi-family residential real property is temporarily reduced from 7.15% to 6.95% for the next 2 property tax years.The property tax deferral program is expanded to allow any person to defer the payment of the portion of real property taxes that exceed the tax-growth cap, which is an amount equal to the average of the person's real property taxes paid for the preceding 2 property tax years for the same homestead, increased by 4%. The minimum amount a taxpayer may defer at one time under this authorization is $100, and the total taxes that a taxpayer may defer is $10,000. The taxpayer is treated like a person called into military service for purposes of surviving-spouse eligibility and the equity the person must have in the homestead to qualify for a deferral.The governor's office, in consultation with the treasurer, is required to commission a study on the property tax deferral program and make recommendations for possible changes to the general assembly by January 1, 2022.Assessors are required to include information about the assessment rates that apply to the various classes of property, which is prepared by the property tax administrator, along with the notices of valuation that are sent in 2022 or make this information available on the assessor's website.Finally, the act makes conforming amendments related to the new classifications or assessment rates.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act defines "cross-pollination", "licensed outdoor marijuana cultivation", "outdoor cultivation", "registered outdoor hemp cultivation", and "volunteer cannabis plant" in connection with the convening of a working group in section 2 to examine measures to minimize cross-pollination between cannabis plants, which working group is required to report its findings and recommendations on or before November 1, 2022, to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over agricultural matters.Section 4 requires the state licensing authority created to regulate and control the licensing of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, and testing of regulated marijuana to convene a working group on or before November 1, 2021, to examine existing rules and tax laws that apply to the wholesale marijuana cultivation market to explore how the rules and laws could be amended to better position Colorado businesses to be competitive if marijuana is legalized federally. The working group is required to report its findings and recommendations to the executive director of the department of revenue and the general assembly on or before June 1, 2022.Section 5 authorizes the state licensing authority to engage in rule-making on:The implementation, including the process, procedures, requirements, and restrictions, of contingency plans for outdoor marijuana cultivation facilities to ameliorate crop loss due to adverse weather; and Procedures for the conditional issuance of an employee license identification card. Sections 6 and 7 authorize medical marijuana cultivation and retail marijuana cultivation facility licensees with outdoor cultivation facilities, starting January 1, 2022, to file with the state licensing authority a contingency plan for when there is a threat to operations due to an adverse weather event and, if approved, to follow the plan if there is an adverse weather event. The state licensing authority is required to notify a local licensing authority of its approval of a contingency plan and the local licensing authority may require that an applicant for a license include with the license application a contingency plan for the local licensing authority's review and approval.Section 3 defines "adverse weather event" to mean damaging weather, such as drought, freeze, hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind, or tornado, an adverse natural occurrence, such as an earthquake, wildfire, or a flood, or any additional adverse weather event or adverse natural occurrence that the state licensing authority defines by rule.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates:$104,780 from the industrial hemp registration program cash fund and the marijuana tax cash fund to the department of agriculture for agricultural services for the plant industry division and to purchase legal services, with $21,268 of said amount reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services; and $279,194 from the marijuana cash fund to the department of revenue for use by the specialized business group for marijuana enforcement and for the purchase of legal services, with $31,902 of said amount reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following changes to the administration of the nursing home penalty cash fund (fund) and the nursing home innovations grant board (board):Transitions final authority over the administration of the fund from the Colorado department of health care policy and financing (HCPF) to the Colorado department of public health and environment (CDPHE); Transitions rule-making authority over the fund from HCPF to the state board of health; Transitions the authority to create a minimum reserve amount for the fund from the medical services board to the state board of health; Transitions authority over the board from HCPF to CDPHE effective July 1, 2021; Transitions all appropriations related to the fund to HCPF and CDPHE effective July 1, 2021; Makes a continuous appropriation to HCPF and CDPHE for the purposes of emergency funding needs; Limits the percentage of the amount of the grant appropriation that can be used for administration of the fund to 10% of the disbursed grants; Removes the provision allowing members of the board to be reimbursed for expenses; Adds a requirement that HCPF and CDPHE develop an annual budget to administer the fund and support the board; Adds a requirement that HCPF and CDPHE collaborate annually on any emergency funding needs and specifies that HCPF and CDPHE will administer such funding; Adds projects that compliment statewide quality and safety goals as a consideration in making a distribution from the fund; and Lengthens the period for CDPHE to provide notice of a violation to a nursing facility from 5 days to 10 days after inspection.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a statutory basis to allow a private employer to give preference to a veteran of the armed forces or the National Guard and the spouse of a service member killed in the line of duty when hiring a new employee, as long as the veteran or the spouse is as qualified as other applicants for employment. The act allows a private employer's veterans' preference employment policy to also include the preferential hiring of a veteran who has been discharged from active duty within the last 5 years, a spouse of a veteran killed in the line of duty within 5 years after the death, and a veteran with a disability within 10 after the date of discharge. The act creates a rebuttable presumption that a private employer that adopts a program that gives preferences to veterans or their spouses is not committing a discriminatory or unfair labor practice.The act requires the office of economic development to begin the development of production materials to educate and encourage employers to hire veterans.$25,000 is appropriated to the office of economic development for allocation to the office of film, television, and media for the development of production materials.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund (fund) for the purpose of responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and the negative economic impacts of the pandemic as follows:To provide assistance to unemployed workers, including job training; To provide assistance to households; For programs, services, or other assistance for populations disproportionately impacted by the public health emergency, including programs or services to address or mitigate the effects on education; To provide aid to impacted industries, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations through the provision of related educational and job training services; and For related administrative costs. The act directs the state treasurer to transfer to the fund $200 million of the money the state received pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (ARPA) and $25 million from the general fund. Of this amount, the act appropriates a total of $75 million for use in the 2021-22 state fiscal year, allocated in the following amounts and for the following purposes related to assisting unemployed workers, aiding impacted industries, and addressing or mitigating the impacts of the public health emergency on education:$25 million for the investments in reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling workers program (program), which is an initiative of the state work force development council (state council) to facilitate training for unemployed and underemployed workers in the state during times of substantial unemployment, defined as an unemployment rate that exceeds 4% statewide or within a work force development area. Of this amount, the state council, in collaboration with the department of labor and employment (department), is directed to allocate: $20.75 million to local work force development areas for the program; $3 million for a grant program developed by the state council to award grants to other partners to provide reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling supports to eligible individuals for up to 13 months; and $1.25 million for the department to conduct outreach and recruitment, provide access to digital platforms for career navigation, issue licenses for virtual training classes, and implement, administer, and report on the program, with any portion of the $1.25 million that is unencumbered and unexpended as of June 30, 2022, reallocated for the program and the grant program. $35 million for programs and initiatives established under the "Work Force Innovation Act", including $17.5 million for allocation to work force development boards for the work force innovation grant program to promote innovation to improve outcomes for learners and workers by helping prepare Coloradans for well-paying, quality jobs; and $17.5 million for use by the state council for statewide work force innovation initiatives; $10 million to the department of higher education for allocation by the state board for community colleges and occupational education to specified career and technical education providers to expand equipment, facility, and instruction capacity in key career and technical education job demand areas identified in the annual Colorado talent report; and $5 million to the department of education for the adult education and literacy grant program. As required by ARPA, the money appropriated in the act must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026, and recipients of ARPA money must comply with reporting requirements specified in ARPA and by the state controller.The act also authorizes the department to receive and expend money from the general fund or any other state source that is appropriated by the general assembly or passed through another entity for purposes of distributing state funds to work force development areas to implement work force development activities. The act specifies that state money appropriated or passed through to the department is not subject to limits imposed on the use of money received by the department pursuant to specified federal laws.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires a private college or university operating in the state to be institutionally accredited on the basis of an on-site review by a regional or national accrediting body recognized by the United States department of education (DOE). The act allows private colleges and universities and private occupational schools to be accredited by:Institutional or programmatic accrediting bodies recognized by the DOE; or Programmatic accrediting bodies that are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as having the ability to accredit freestanding, single-purpose institutions of construction education. The act states it is a deceptive trade or sales practice for a private occupational school to advertise or otherwise represent that it is accredited unless the school is accredited by an accrediting body that is recognized by the DOE or is accredited by a programmatic accrediting body that is recognized by the CHEA as having the ability to accredit a freestanding, single-purpose institution of construction education.The act allows an educational institution or educational service that is exempt from the requirements of the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981" to waive its exempt status in order to apply for authorization to operate a private occupational school, subject to certain conditions.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $98,796 to the department of higher education from the private occupational schools fund, $45,626 of which is for use by the division of private occupational schools for program costs and $53,170 of which is reappropriated to the department of law to use to provide legal services to the department of higher education.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The 2017 federal "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" placed a cap of $10,000 on the amount of state and local taxes paid that an individual can deduct on their federal taxes. This limitation did not apply to C corporations. Consequently, businesses organized as pass-through entities like S corporations and partnerships pay increased taxes on business profits compared to C corporations because pass-through entities pay taxes on business profits at the individual (partner or shareholder) level.For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, the act allows pass-through entities to elect to pay their state income tax at the entity level so that the pass-through entity can claim an unlimited deduction at the federal level of state and local taxes paid; except that the election is only allowed in an income tax year where there is a limitation on the deductions allowed to individuals under section 164 of the internal revenue code.While this reduces federal taxable income for the pass-through entity, it does not reduce Colorado taxable income because, under current law, the individual and the partnership are required to add back any state and local taxes deducted at the federal level.The act adds an appropriation for the department of revenue to implement the taxpayer's election to pay their state income tax at the entity level.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Senate Bill 19-196, enacted in 2019, requires that a state agency (agency) specify a general prevailing rate of wages and other payments provided to employees (prevailing rate) in certain contracts for public projects, and it applies to state solicitations issued for projects (solicitations) on or after July 1, 2021.For solicitations issued on July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, only, the act requires that the agency obtain the general prevailing rate directly from the United States department of labor. For solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2022, the agency must obtain the general prevailing rate from the director of the Colorado department of personnel and administration (department).For solicitations issued on July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, only, the act requires that the agency keep a schedule of the prevailing rate on file for the life of the project. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the executive director of the department is required to keep a schedule of the customary prevailing rate in his or her office.The act also permits the department to include only solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2022, rather than solicitations issued on or after July 1, 2021, in its annual reports detailing the amount of apprenticeship training contributions paid.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
