Based on the findings and recommendations of the committee on legal services, the act extends all state agency rules that were adopted or amended on or after November 1, 2018, and before November 1, 2019, with the exception of the rules specifically listed in the act. Those specified rules will expire as scheduled in the "State Administrative Procedure Act" on May 15, 2020, on the grounds that the rules either conflict with statute or lack statutory authority. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act removes the prohibition against an employee of a liquor-licensed drugstore who is under 21 years of age having contact with alcohol beverages at the liquor-licensed drugstore. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act provides a statutory procedure for the ratification or validation of corporate actions that may not have been properly authorized and for shares that may not have been properly issued. The statutory ratification procedure supplements common-law ratification and is available only when the board of directors specifies the nature of the defective authorization. Prompt judicial review and validation of the ratification process is available when a listed person claims to be substantially and adversely affected by the ratification. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an agreement between an assisted living residence referral agency and a prospective resident of an assisted living residence to be in writing and include: The right of the prospective resident or representative of the prospective resident to terminate the referral agency's services for any reason at any time; and A requirement that the referral agency communicate the cancellation of the agreement to all assisted living residences to which the prospective resident has been referred. The act prohibits an assisted living residence from: Paying a referral fee to a referral agency if the agreement between the referral agency and the prospective resident has been terminated; and Selling the prospective resident's or prospective resident's representative's contact information to a third party without written consent. The act expands the definition of "assisted living residence" to include a facility operated for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals a prohibition against the state attorney general challenging a business merger or acquisition when the merger or acquisition has been reviewed and not challenged by a federal department, agency, or commission. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a new traffic offense for failing to yield to a bicyclist or other authorized user in a bicycle lane. The offense is a class A traffic offense unless it is the proximate cause of a crash or if it causes bodily injury, then it is careless driving and is punished under the careless driving offense. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals statutory language requiring the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) to provide prevention, intervention, and treatment services for youths since these functions were previously transferred from CDPHE to the department of human services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Federal law limits the amount of tax-exempt private activity bonds that may issued within each state and allows each state to provide by law a formula for allocating the limited amount of bonding authority among eligible bond issuers. The act eliminates the bond allocation committee that currently reviews and makes recommendations to the executive director of the department of local affairs (DOLA) regarding statewide priorities for the allocation of the limited amount of bonding authority and requires the state housing board to conduct the review and make the recommendations. The act also eliminates a cap on the amount of the direct allocation fee paid to DOLA by bond issuers that use the direct allocation of bonding authority to issue private activity bonds or that make a mortgage credit certificate election and eliminates the executive director's authority to promulgate rules to implement the statutes that govern private activity bond allocation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the sales tax exemption for sales to residents of bordering states without retail sales taxes exempts from state sales tax all retail sales made within 20 miles of the Colorado border to residents of states that border Colorado and do not have a retail sales tax, so long as those residents are in Colorado for the primary purpose of making the purchase. The act repeals this exemption. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state treasurer is required to execute up to $500 million of lease-purchase agreements in each of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years for the purpose of funding transportation projects. A statewide ballot issue will be referred to the voters at the 2020 general election as required by Senate Bill 19-263 (SB 263) and will, if approved, authorize the state to issue up to $1.837 billion of transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) for the purpose of funding transportation projects. When enacting SB 263, the general assembly intended that, upon approval of the ballot issue, the TRANs authorized would replace the lease-purchase agreements as a source of funding for transportation projects. However, due to an error in the effective date clause of SB 263, if the TRANs are approved, the state treasurer will still be required to execute the lease-purchase agreements. The act corrects the error and thereby ensures that approval of the ballot issue stops the issuance of the lease-purchase agreements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the Colorado water conservation board (board), subject to procedural requirements established to prevent injury to water rights and decreed conditional water rights, may use loaned water for instream flows if the loaned water is used for preserving the natural environment of a stream reach that is subject to a decreed instream flow water right held by the board. The act expands the number of years within a 10-year period that a renewable loan may be exercised from 3 years to 5 years, but for no more than 3 consecutive years, and allows a loan to be renewed for up to 2 additional 10-year periods. The act limits the duration that an expedited loan may be exercised for up to one year, and prohibits an applicant from seeking additional expedited loans regarding a water right following an approved expedited loan of that water right. The act also expands the board's ability to use loaned water for instream flows to improve the natural environment to a reasonable degree pursuant to a decreed instream flow water right held by the board. In considering whether to accept a proposed loan, the board must evaluate the proposed loan based on biological and scientific evidence presented, including a biological analysis performed by the division of parks and wildlife. The state engineer will review a proposed loan and must consider any comments filed by parties notified of the application in determining whether the loaned water will not cause injury to other vested or conditionally decreed water rights, decreed exchanges of water, or undecreed existing exchanges of water that were administratively approved before the date that the loan application was filed. The filing fee is increased from $100 to $300. The board is required to promulgate rules regarding the necessary steps for reviewing and accepting a loan for instream flow use to improve the natural environment to a reasonable degree. The state engineer's decision to approve or deny a proposed loan may be appealed to a water judge, who is required to hear and determine the matter on an expedited basis using the procedures and standards established for matters rereferred to the water judge by a water referee. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes a port of entry officer to direct traffic in addition to existing enforcement powers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
