The bill creates the office of public guardianship (office) within the judicial department to provide legal guardianship services to indigent and incapacitated adults who: Have no responsible family members or friends who are available and appropriate to serve as a guardian; Lack adequate resources to compensate a private guardian and pay the costs and fees associated with an appointment proceeding; and Are not subject to a petition for appointment of guardian filed by a county adult protective services unit or otherwise authorized by law. The office is established as a pilot program, to be evaluated and then continued, discontinued, or expanded at the discretion of the general assembly in 2021. On or before January 1, 2021, the director of the office shall submit a report to the judiciary committees of the senate and the house of representatives. The report, at a minimum, must: Quantify, to the extent possible, Colorado's unmet need for public guardianship services for indigent and incapacitated adults; Quantify, to the extent possible, the average annual cost of providing guardianship services to indigent and incapacitated adults; Quantify, to the extent possible, the net cost or benefit, if any, to the state that may result from the provision of guardianship services to each indigent and incapacitated adult in each judicial district of the state; Assess whether an independent statewide office of public guardianship is preferable and feasible; Analyze costs and off-setting savings to the state from the delivery of public guardianship services; and Provide uniform and consistent data elements regarding service delivery in an aggregate format that does not include any personal identifying information of any person. The bill creates the public guardianship commission (commission) within the judicial department and charges the commission with appointing a director of the office. The director serves at the pleasure of the commission. The bill creates the office of public guardianship cash fund (fund) in the state treasury. The fund consists of any money that the office receives from gifts, grants, or donations as well as any other money appropriated to the fund by the general assembly. The bill requires the director of the office to develop rules to implement the pilot program. The bill delays the creation of the pilot program and the appointment of the director of the pilot program until the fund receives at least $1,700,000 in gifts, grants, and donations. The office and the fund are repealed, effective June 30, 2021. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the center of excellence (center) within the division of fire prevention and control within the department of public safety (department), upon receiving sufficient money in the form of gifts, grants, and donations, to conduct a study concerning the integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) within state and local government operations that relate to certain public-safety functions (study). At a minimum, the study must: Identify the most feasible and readily available ways to integrate UAS technology within local and state government functions relating to firefighting, search and rescue, accident reconstruction, and emergency management; and Include consideration of privacy concerns, costs, and timeliness of deployment. The bill also creates, upon receipt of sufficient money in the form of gifts, grants, and donations, a UAS pilot program (pilot program) to integrate UAS within state and local government operations that relate to certain public-safety functions. The bill requires the center to operate the pilot program. Not later than one month after completing the study, the center shall submit a report to the wildfire matters review committee and to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and senate, or to any successor committees. The report must address each item of the center's study, as well as the results of the pilot program. The bill adds the study and the pilot program as permissible uses of money from the existing Colorado firefighting air corps fund. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the state veterinary education loan repayment council (council), which consists of 5 directors appointed by the governor. The council administers the veterinary education loan repayment program (program) by use of funds from the veterinary education loan repayment fund (fund), which program and fund are also created in the bill. Through the program, the council provides veterinary education loan repayments from the fund to eligible veterinarians who: Have graduated from an accredited doctor of veterinary medicine school; Currently live in Colorado or, at some point, have lived in Colorado for at least 3 years; and Agree to practice veterinary medicine for up to 4 years in a rural area of the state that is experiencing a shortage of veterinarians that the council designates for participation in the program. To implement the program, the council enters into a contract with an eligible veterinarian and the rural area of the state in which the veterinarian will practice veterinary medicine. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the family caregiver support 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 a space available on the form; and 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 moneys designated for the fund. After that amount is deducted, the moneys remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year are transferred to Easter Seals Colorado, a nonprofit organization. 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. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill directs the division of housing in the department of local affairs to establish a program to provide vouchers and supportive services to persons with a behavioral or mental health disorder who are being released from the department of corrections (DOC), the division of youth corrections in the department of human services (DYC), or jails. The program is funded by an appropriation from the marijuana tax cash fund and from money unspent by the division of criminal justice (CDPS) for community corrections programs in the previous fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Current law states that it is a discriminatory and unfair labor practice for an employer to discharge, discipline, discriminate against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any employee or other person because the employee inquired about, disclosed, compared, or otherwise discussed the employee's wages, unless otherwise permitted by federal law. Federal law exempts certain limited classes of employers from labor laws. The bill strikes the reference to that exemption and extends the current law to those classes of employers, thereby providing wage transparency protections to all employees.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current statutory law provides the state board of education (board) with the discretion to exempt some positions in the department of education (department) from the state personnel system if the positions are determined by the board to be director, consultant, supervisor, or instructor positions. The bill authorizes the board to delegate the authority to make these determinations to the commissioner of education. The bill specifies that any employee holding a position determined by the board or by the commissioner of education, as the board's designee, to be a director, a consultant, a supervisor, or an instructor position on or before September 1, 2017, remains exempt from the state personnel system so long as the employee continues to hold that position. The board or the commissioner of education, as the board's designee, is required to determine which positions in the department meet the criteria to be exempt from the state personnel system; except that the board may not determine that a position is exempt while it is held by an employee in the state personnel system. On or before December 31 of each year, the commissioner of education is required to submit a report to the state personnel director listing all positions in the department that are exempt, pursuant to the board's statutory authority, from the state personnel system. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the public utilities commission (commission) to open a nonadjudicatory proceeding to evaluate investor-owned gas or electric utilities' policies and procedures for load extension of service,including allocation of costs and identification of variables that affect construction and implementation time lines for extension of service. Gas-only investor-owned utilities are not subject to the commission's nonadjudicatory proceeding. Upon completion of its evaluation, the commission shall issue a decision containing recommendations for investor-owned utilities' implementation of service extension. Within 90 days after the conclusion of the commission's nonadjudicatory proceeding, the commission may promulgate rules consistent with its findings. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Beginning in the 2019-20 budget year, the bill requires school districts that collect revenue from mill levies in addition to the total program mill levy and that authorize an innovation school or a charter school to: adopt a plan for distributing the revenue to the schools of the school district for the benefit of the students enrolled in the school district; or distribute 95% of the per pupil amount of the revenue to the innovation schools and charter schools of the school district (per pupil distribution). The bill specifies the requirements for the plan and requirements that apply if the school district makes a per pupil distribution. In adopting a plan or making a per pupil distribution, the school district may distribute a portion of the revenue specifically for specified underserved populations. If a school district is distributing a portion of the mill levy revenue to the charter schools or innovation schools of the school district during the 2016-17 budget year, it must maintain the same distribution amount for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 budget years. By July 1, 2018, each school district that chooses to adopt a plan must post the plan on the school district's website. If the school district chooses to distribute 95% of the per pupil amount, the school district must post a notice of such intent by July 1, 2018, and, starting July 1, 2019, must post the amount received in revenue, the amount distributed for underserved populations, and the amount distributed to each charter school and each innovation school. Commencing July 1, 2018, the charter school institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school must post on its website a link to certain federal tax forms and schedules filed by the institute, school district, board of cooperative services, or charter school. Commencing July 1, 2017, each school district and each charter school must post a list of the waivers of state statute that it has received and, for each nonautomatic waiver, the plan for meeting the intent of the statute. The department of education, the state charter school institute, and a statewide association of charter schools must create a standardized description of each of the statutes for which the state board of education grants an automatic waiver and the rationale for granting the automatic waiver. Starting July 1, 2018, each charter school must post the description and rationale for each of the automatic waivers it is invoking. The bill creates the mill levy equalization fund, consisting of such money as the general assembly may appropriate to it, to provide additional funding for institute charter schools. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Committee on Cost-benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado. The bill directs the department of education (department): By July 1, 2017, to create and maintain a resource bank, to be known as the 'Jack Splitt Memorial Resource Bank' (resource bank), for public schools to use without charge, that consists of materials and curricula pertaining to marijuana use; and Upon request of a public school, to provide technical assistance in designing age-appropriate curricula on marijuana use. The bill authorizes the department to contract for the maintenance of the resource bank and the development of the curricula and directs the department to solicit input from persons within and outside of the marijuana industry. After the resource bank and curricula are available, school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services are encouraged to report to the department the effectiveness of them and recommendations for changes. The bill authorizes resource bank expenses to be paid from the marijuana tax cash fund. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the reserve academy grant program to provide a one-time grant to a political subdivision of the state that is comprised of multiple participating jurisdictions and that is formed for the purpose of funding a reserve peace officer academy that will train and certify a shared reserve peace officer auxiliary group. The division of homeland security and emergency management (division) will administer the grant program. The division may accept gifts, grants, and donations to use towards the grant program. The division shall consider the following criteria in awarding the grant: Existing access to start-up capital; The capacity to serve communities statewide; and The ability to assist law enforcement agencies in times of need. The bill appropriates $814,834 to the department of public safety from the marijuana tax cash fund to implement the bill. $800,000 is for the grant award and $14,834 is for personal services to administer the grant program. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires that if certain licensed securities professionals (qualified individuals), while acting within the scope of their employment, reasonably suspect that an elderly or at-risk person is the subject of financial exploitation, the broker-dealer or investment adviser shall report the suspected financial exploitation to the commissioner of securities (commissioner). The commissioner is required to forward the report to local law enforcement and to the county department of human or social services. The commissioner has access to records to conduct an investigation, but the records are not subject to an open records request. The bill also authorizes the qualified individual to notify any third party designated by or associated with the elderly or at-risk person of any suspected financial exploitation. It also authorizes the broker-dealer or investment adviser to delay disbursement of a transaction that might result in financial exploitation. The bill provides immunity to qualified individuals, broker-dealers, and investment advisers making reports, disclosures, or delaying disbursements under the bill. For qualified individuals who are also required to report mistreatment of an elderly or at-risk person pursuant to the 'Colorado Criminal Code' (code), the bill clarifies that, if the individual makes a report pursuant to the code, the individual does not have to submit a report with the commissioner, and that filing a report with the commissioner does not satisfy the individual's obligation pursuant to the code. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
