Driver's licenses - foster children - automobile insurance - appropriation. Section 1 of the act clarifies that a minor who is at least 16 years of age can purchase auto insurance. Section 2 exempts a foster child from being required, when being issued a driver's license, to have his or her foster parent or other legal guardian sign an affidavit of liability if the child holds evidence of financial responsibility in his or her own name. Section 2 also: Authorizes counties to provide a service that exempts foster children from needing a foster parent or other legal guardian to sign an affidavit of liability. The county may accept and expend gifts, grants, or donations to implement this program. Lowers to 17 the age at which the county need not obtain permission of a foster parent to obtain an instruction permit without a responsible adult signing an affidavit of liability; and Repeals a provision that authorizes a foster child to obtain an instruction permit if enrolled in a driving school. Section 3 allows any person who is at least 21 years of age and who holds a driver's license to sign a foster child's driving logs if the person provided the instruction. Section 4 authorizes anyone who is at least 21 years of age and who holds a driver's license to instruct a foster child with a driving permit notwithstanding that the person did not sign the affidavit of liability. Section 5 directs the transportation legislation review committee to examine barriers to foster children meeting the 50-hour driving requirement while holding an instruction permit and to foster children obtaining automobile liability insurance. Section 6 appropriates $6,750 to the department of revenue to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Registration - fees and surcharges - appropriation. The act requires the department of revenue to give prorated credit for registration fees and surcharges on a vehicle that is sold before the vehicle's registration year ends. The credit is applied to vehicles subsequently registered. To implement the act, $7,200 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Tenants and landlords - warranty of habitability - breach of warranty - tenants' remedies. Under current law, a warranty of habitability (warranty) is implied in every rental agreement for a residential premises. The act states that, except in cases involving a condition that is based on the presence of mold, a landlord commits a breach of the warranty (breach) if the residential premises is: Uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation or in a condition that materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety; and The landlord has received reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition and failed to commence remedial action by employing reasonable efforts within: 24 hours, where the condition materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety; or 96 hours, where the premises is uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation and the tenant has included with the notice permission for the landlord or the landlord's authorized agent to enter the residential premises. For cases involving a residential premises that has mold that is associated with dampness, or where there is any other condition causing the residential premises to be damp, which condition, if not remedied, would materially interfere with the life, health, or safety of a tenant, a landlord commits a breach if the landlord fails: Within 96 hours after receiving reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition, to mitigate immediate risk of mold by installing a containment, stopping active sources of water to the mold, and installing a high-efficiency particulate air filtration device to reduce tenants' exposure to mold; To maintain the containment until certain acts have been performed; and Within a reasonable amount of time, to execute certain remedial actions to remove the health risk posed by mold. Current law provides a list of conditions that render a residential premises uninhabitable. To this list, the act adds 2 conditions; specifically, a residential premises is uninhabitable if: The premises lacks functioning appliances that conformed to applicable law at the time of installation and that are maintained in good working order; or There is mold that is associated with dampness, or there is any other condition causing the residential premises to be damp, which condition, if not remedied, would materially interfere with the health or safety of the tenant, excluding the presence of mold that is minor and found on surfaces that can accumulate moisture as part of their proper functioning and intended use. The act grants jurisdiction to county courts to provide injunctive relief related to a breach. The act also: States that if a tenant gives a landlord notice of a condition that materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety, the landlord, at the request of the tenant, shall provide the tenant a comparable dwelling unit, as selected by the landlord, at no expense or cost to the tenant, or a hotel room, as selected by the landlord, at no expense or cost to the tenant; Allows a tenant who satisfies certain conditions to deduct from one or more rent payments the cost to repair or remedy a condition causing a breach; Repeals the requirement that a tenant notify a local government before seeking an injunction for a breach; Repeals provisions that allow a rental agreement to require a tenant to assume certain responsibilities concerning conditions and characteristics of a residential premises; Creates an exception for single-family residence premises for which a landlord does not receive a subsidy from any governmental source, by which exception a landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant is to perform specific repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations, and remodeling, subject to certain requirements; Prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant in response to the tenant having made a good-faith complaint to the landlord or to a governmental agency alleging a condition that renders the premises uninhabitable or any condition that materially interferes with the life, health, or safety of the tenant; Repeals certain presumptions that favor landlords; and Specifies monetary damages that may be available to a tenant against whom a landlord retaliates. The act states that if the same condition that substantially caused a breach recurs within 6 months after the condition is repaired or remedied, other than a condition that merely involves a nonfunctioning appliance, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement 14 days after providing the landlord written or electronic notice of the tenant's intent to do so. In a case concerning a condition that merely involves a nonfunctioning appliance, if the landlord remedies the condition within 14 days after receiving the notice, the tenant may not terminate the rental agreement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Colorado human trafficking council - continuation under the sunset law. The act continues the Colorado human trafficking council (council) until September 1, 2024. The act amends the composition of the council as follows: Adds one more person who is a former victim of human trafficking for involuntary servitude and one more person who is a former victim of human trafficking for sexual servitude; Adds a new position for one person who is a representative of a statewide coalition for victims of domestic violence; and Adds a new position for one person who is a representative of an organization for victims of labor trafficking or an individual who has extensive professional experience in advocating for victims of labor trafficking. The act amends the council's requirements to make recommendations to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Office of legislative workplace relations - creation - duties - confidentiality - workplace harassment - executive sessions - exceptions to CORA - appropriation. The act creates the office of legislative workplace relations (office) within the office of legislative legal services and makes the records of that office exempt from public inspection. The office is charged with handling employee relations, including the handling of complaints under the workplace expectations and workplace harassment policies. Records of the office related to complaints, investigations, and other inquiries are exempted from the definition of public records and are not subject to public inspection; except that the office is required to release an annual statistical report of the numbers of complaints received and their resolution. In addition, if a workplace harassment committee finds that it is more likely than not that a legislator violated the policy, the committee must release the report unless it decides by a two-thirds vote not to do so. The act allows a state public body to meet in executive session to consider a matter related to the workplace harassment or workplace expectations policies of the general assembly. The act clarifies that all Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) custodians are required to deny a request to inspect records that are created or provided by the office and that relate to complaints, investigations, inquiries, or requests related to workplace harassment or conduct under the general assembly's policies. A disclosure of an intimate relationship filed in accordance with a policy of the general assembly is part of an individual's personnel file, and therefore not subject to public inspection under CORA. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $221,925 from the general fund to the legislative department for the new office. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Regulation of food trucks - study. The act recognizes that food trucks are a fast-growing part of the Colorado economy, and that because food trucks are inherently mobile and operate in multiple locations, the regulation of food trucks at the local level creates unique issues requiring further study. State and regional organizations representing local government may study the regulation of food trucks to identify areas of duplicate or conflicting regulation. The organizations may report to the business affairs and labor committee of the house and the business, labor, and technology committee of the senate on any findings or recommendations, including recommendations for future legislative solutions, by November 1, 2019.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Wage garnishment - disposable earnings - hardship exemption - notice - applicability. Under current law, the amount of an individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment is either 25% of the individual's disposable weekly earnings or the amount by which an individual's disposable earnings for a week exceed 30 times the state or federal minimum wage, whichever is less. The act changes the amount subject to garnishment to 20% of the individual's disposable weekly earnings 40 times the amount by which an individual's disposable earnings for a week exceed the state or federal minimum wage. Currently, the cost of court-ordered health insurance for a child provided by an individual is deducted from the individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment. The act also deducts from an individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment the cost of any health insurance that is provided by the individual's employer and voluntarily withheld from the individual's earnings. The act creates an exemption that would permit individuals to prove that the amount of their pay subject to garnishment should be further reduced or eliminated altogether if the individual can establish that such reductions are necessary to support the individual or the individual's family. The act also requires clearer and more timely notice to an individual whose wages are being garnished and gives the individual more time after receiving the notice before garnishment starts. The act applies to all writs of garnishment issued on or after October 1, 2020, regardless of the date of the judgment that is basis of the writ of garnishment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Youth services - pilot program - second location - appropriation. There is currently a pilot program to aid in the establishment of a division-wide therapeutic and rehabilitative culture (pilot program) in the division of youth services that operates in one location. The act expands the pilot program to a second location and requires a second evaluation and report on the pilot program. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $529,562 from the general fund to operate and evaluate the second location. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Lottery winnings offsets - court fines, fees, costs, or surcharges. The act allows lottery winnings to be intercepted for the payment of outstanding court fines, fees, costs, or surcharges.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Property tax and rent assistance grant - heat assistance grant - expansion - increase. A low-income senior or individual with a disability is currently eligible for 2 types of annual state assistance grants administered by the department of revenue related to his or her property: A grant for their property taxes or rent paid, with the latter being deemed a tax-equivalent payment (property tax and rent assistance grant), and a grant for heat or fuel expenses (heat assistance grant). Together these are commonly known as the "PTC" rebate. The act expands the property tax and rent assistance grant by repealing the requirement that rent must be paid to a landlord that pays property tax. For both types of grants allowed under the PTC rebate program, the act increases the: Maximum grant amounts; Phase-out amounts, which are the income levels at which a person's maximum grant begins to decrease; and Flat grant amounts, which are the minimum grant amounts assuming that the actual expenses exceed them. All of these amounts will also continue to be adjusted for inflation in the future. Obsolete provisions relating to grants claimed for past years are repealed and other provisions relating to grants prior to 2019 are repealed after they become obsolete in the future. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Peace officers - peace officers mental health support grant program - eligible applicants - use of grant money - reports required. Under current law, only county sheriffs' offices and municipal police departments may apply for a grant from the peace officers mental health support grant program (program). The act opens the program to additional "eligible applicants", which include other types of law enforcement agencies, a statewide association of police officers and former police officers, and organizations that provide services and programs that promote the mental health wellness of peace officers. The act also specifies new permissible uses of grant money and requires grant recipients to report to the department of local affairs concerning their use of grant money.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Concurrent enrollment - transfer of credits - website - concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program - appropriations. The act clarifies the differences between concurrent enrollment, dual enrollment, and other programs that enable a student to earn postsecondary credits while the student is enrolled in high school. Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, each school district, charter school, and public school operated by a board of cooperative services (local education provider) that enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 is required to provide the opportunity for concurrent enrollment. A local education provider cannot unreasonably deny approval for concurrent enrollment or limit the number of postsecondary courses in which a qualified student may enroll unless the local education provider is unable to provide access due to technological capacity. A local education provider may determine the manner in which it provides opportunities for concurrent enrollment. The act clarifies the information that a local education provider must provide to qualified students and their parents concerning concurrent enrollment, the transferability of postsecondary course credits, and the costs that a qualified student or the student's parent may incur by enrolling in a postsecondary course through concurrent enrollment. The act clarifies that a qualified student and the student's parent are not required to pay tuition for concurrent enrollment. The act requires the department of education and the department of higher education to create a concurrent enrollment website to provide information to the public concerning the various types of programs available to enable students to earn postsecondary credits while enrolled in high school. The act creates the concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program (grant program) to provide grants to local education providers to use in starting to offer concurrent enrollment or expanding the availability of concurrent enrollment. The department of education shall administer the grant program, including providing an annual report that explains how the grant money is used, who is enrolling in concurrent enrollment and the types of courses they are enrolling in, and the number and transferability of postsecondary credits earned through concurrent enrollment. The department shall submit the report to the state board of education, the department of higher education, the Colorado commission on higher education, and the education committees of the general assembly. The department shall also post the report to the concurrent enrollment website. The act directs the state board for community colleges and occupational education to provide management and coordination of efforts to implement efforts to maximize participation in concurrent enrollment through the community college system. For the 2019-20 fiscal year, the act appropriates $44,916 from the general fund to the department of education for college and career readiness, $1,500,000 from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department of education for the concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program, and $105,000 from the general fund to the department of higher education for a limited purpose fee-for-service contract with the state board of community colleges and occupational education. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
