Colorado Bills

For the purposes of determining state taxable income and calculating state income tax for taxpayers who claim the standard deduction allowed under section 63 (c) of the internal revenue code, the bill subtracts an amount from the taxpayer's federal taxable income equal to the standard deduction claimed by the taxpayer not adjusted pursuant to section 63 (c)(4) or (c)(7)(B)(ii) of the internal revenue code multiplied by the combination of: The percentage change in the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by all urban consumers, or its applicable predecessor or successor index, (CPI) in the most recent year compared to 2017; and Twenty thousandths of a percent for every percent that the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics motor fuel index, or its applicable predecessor or successor index, exceeds the increase in CPI since 2017. The subtraction is only allowed for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Water Resources Review Committee. Section 1 of the bill prohibits a purchaser of agricultural water rights that are represented by shares in a mutual ditch company from engaging in investment water speculation. Investment water speculation is the purchase of agricultural water rights that are represented by shares in a mutual ditch company in the state with the intent, at the time of purchase, to profit from an increase in the water's value in a subsequent transaction or by receiving payment from another person for nonuse of all or a portion of the water subject to the water right. On or after January 1, 2023, the state engineer or the state engineer's designee (state engineer) may investigate complaints of investment water speculation. If a purchaser holds, or by virtue of a proposed sale or transfer, will hold at least a minimum percent of the shares in a mutual ditch company, about which minimum percent the mutual ditch company must determine and notify the state engineer on or before December 31, 2022, there is a rebuttable presumption that the purchaser is engaged in investment water speculation. The state engineer may fine a purchaser up to $10,000 for a violation and require, for a period of up to 2 years after a fine has been imposed, that any sale or transfer of shares in a mutual ditch company to the purchaser be subject to approval by the state engineer. If the state engineer believes that a complaint is frivolous or was filed for the purpose of harassing a seller or purchaser, the state engineer may refer the matter to the attorney general's office for the attorney general or the attorney general's designee (attorney general) to investigate and, if the attorney general determines that enforcement is warranted, bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction alleging the complaint is frivolous or was filed for the purpose of harassment. If the attorney general prevails in the civil action, the court may fine a complainant up to $1,000, prohibit the complainant from filing any complaints alleging investment water speculation for up to one year, and grant attorney fees and court costs. Section 3 authorizes the attorney general to bring a civil action against a complainant if the state engineer refers the matter to the attorney general.Section 2 requires the board of directors of a mutual ditch company to determine the minimum percent of agricultural water rights held by all of the shareholders in the mutual ditch company that a purchaser holds or, by virtue of the sale or transfer of shares in the mutual ditch company, will hold that creates a rebuttable presumption that the purchaser is engaging in investment water speculation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law prohibits a racing or simulcast facility licensee for the racing of greyhounds or horses to take more than a certain percentage of the gross receipts of any pari-mutuel wagering on the races or simulcast races. The bill states that, when "gross receipts" is used in reference to money received by a licensee from an out-of-state simulcast facility, the term means money received by the licensee after the out-of-state simulcast facility has deducted the costs, signal fees, and taxes that it is required to pay to its regulatory and taxing authorities.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill establishes the CARE center in the Colorado Springs campus of the university of Colorado (center). The purpose of the center is to provide accessible substance use prevention and treatment services to the community, train competent and culturally responsive substance use counselors, and collect data that will contribute to research regarding the efficacy of substance use interventions. The center shall submit a report on its work and data collected to the health and human services committee of the senate and the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives, or any successor committees, on or before December 30, 2027.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill requires an electric or gas utility to determine if a forecasted severe weather event (event) warrants notification to its customers located in the path of the event. If the utility determines notification is warranted, the utility shall send notification to its customers to inform customers of the event, provide specific suggestions for how to conserve energy, alert customers to the potential electricity or fuel price increase resulting from the event, and provide customer service contact information for the utility. A utility shall send notification to customers by 2 or more types of immediate communication, including text messages or alerts, e-mails, or telephone calls. Additionally, the utility may issue a public service announcement on one or more television or radio stations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill includes green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource that certain retail electric service providers (providers) may use to meet standards requiring that a certain percentage of the provider's electricity sales be from an eligible energy resource. The bill also requires the governor to update the Colorado greenhouse gas pollution reduction roadmap to expressly include green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource that providers may use to meet statewide greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals for the electric utility sector.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The starting point for determining state income tax liability is federal taxable income. Federal taxable income is adjusted for additions and subtractions (deductions) that are used to determine Colorado taxable income, which amount is multiplied by the state's income tax rate of 4.55%. For the next 7 income tax years, the bill allows an individual to claim a deduction for qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses, if the expenses are not: Claimed as a deduction on the taxpayer's federal income tax return; Paid or reimbursed from a medical savings account; or Paid or reimbursed by the taxpayer's insurance company.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an employee or an applicant for employment based on the employee's or applicant's COVID-19 immunization status. The bill allows an aggrieved employee or applicant for employment to file a civil action for injunctive, affirmative, and equitable relief and, if the employer acted with malice or wanton or willful misconduct or has repeatedly violated the law, the court may also award punitive damages and attorney fees and costs. Additionally, the bill specifies that the COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory, that the state cannot require any individual to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine, and that government agencies and private businesses, including health insurers, cannot discriminate against clients, patrons, or customers based on their COVID-19 vaccination status. A person aggrieved by a violation of these prohibitions may file a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate relief and may be awarded punitive damages and attorney fees and costs for wanton, willful, or repeated violations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws. The bill enacts the "Uniform Restrictive Employment Agreement Act" as drafted by the Uniform Law Commission, which regulates agreements between an employer and a worker or employee that prohibit or limit the worker or employee from working after the work relationship with the employer ends. The bill: Regulates all restrictive post-employment agreements, including noncompete agreements, confidentiality agreements, no-business agreements, nonsolicitation agreements, no-recruit agreements, payment-for-competition agreements, and training reimbursements agreements; Prohibits noncompete agreements and all other restrictive agreements, except confidentiality agreements and training-reimbursement agreements, for low-wage workers, defined as those making less than the state's annual mean wage; Requires advance notice and other procedural requirements for an enforceable noncompete agreement or other restrictive agreement; and Creates penalties and enforcement by the state as well as private rights of action.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the plant-based medicine policy review panel (policy review panel). The purpose of the policy review panel is to study the use of plant-based medicines to support mental health. The policy review panel operates for one year. The policy review panel shall submit a report on its findings and policy recommendations to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee and the senate health and human services committee, or any successor committees; the governor; and the department of human services. The bill defines "plant-based medicine" as a naturally occurring hallucinogenic plant-based compound. Forms of plant-based medicine only include psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine, and ibogaine. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The concurrent resolution requires any bill that imposes a new fee, authorizes the imposition of a new fee, increases an existing fee, or authorizes the increase of an existing fee to be approved by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly, taken on 2 separate days in each house, to become law. The concurrent resolution defines a "fee" as a charge that is levied to defray the cost of a particular government service provided to those charged or to mitigate the impact of an activity engaged in by those charged and that is not levied for the purpose of raising any revenue for a general public purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.)