Currently, if a local government enacts a local law related to the disposition of abandoned intangible property it holds for an owner and the local law is inconsistent with the requirements of the "Unclaimed Property Act" (act), then the local law controls the disposition of the property. Sections 2 and 4 of the bill eliminate this exception effective September 1, 2019, so that a local government is required to comply with the act like any other holder of abandoned intangible property. Section 3 requires a local government that holds intangible property that was previously exempt from the act to pay or deliver the property to the administrator on or before January 1, 2020. Section 1 specifies that a county's discretionary power to dispose of abandoned personal property acquired by an elected official or county employee only applies to tangible personal property and does not apply to intangible property, which is subject to the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
Current law provides a procedure, in lieu of an eviction, to remove unauthorized persons from residential property. The bill expands the alternative procedure to authorize removal of unauthorized persons from vacant land. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
The bill creates the "Child Safety Account Act", which allows for a student who is directly affected by or involved in a safety incident occurring at a public school, but is not the perpetrator, to qualify for a child safety account. A child safety account is an account that must be used to pay for eligible expenses necessary for the education of the qualified student. The bill requires the department of education (department) to contract with an entity that will administer the child safety account program (administering entity). Upon the creation of a child safety account, the department shall transfer to the administering entity an amount equal to the state share of per pupil revenues of the enrolling school district or institute charter school for the budget year in which the account is created and deduct the amount transferred from that amount that the department distributes to the school district's or institute charter school's budget for the budget year. The general assembly shall annually appropriate to the department the amount required to be transferred from the department to the administering entity for the child safety accounts. In a budget year in which the general assembly does not appropriate a sufficient amount to fully fund the child safety accounts, the department shall reduce the amount transferred to the administering entity for distribution to each child safety account by the same percentage that the deficit bears to the amount required to fully fund the child safety accounts. If a child safety account has been closed, any amount remaining in the account must be transferred to the department, and the department shall transfer the money to the treasurer for deposit into the general fund. In order to qualify for a child safety account, the parent of a student must apply to the administering entity. A child safety account continues to be active without need for renewal, until the qualified student completes twelfth grade or ceases to be enrolled in a participating school or nonpublic home-based educational program. Any unexpended amount left in the child safety account at the end of a school year remains in the account and may be expended on eligible expenses in subsequent school years and used for eligible expenses while the student remains enrolled in an institution of higher education. The administering entity is required to monitor the expenses made from money in child safety accounts. If it appears the money in a child safety account was used for an expense that was not an eligible expense, the administering entity is required to convene a review committee to determine whether the expense was an eligible expense, and if not an eligible expense, whether it was a good-faith mistake. The review committee is required to take appropriate action depending upon the outcome of the review. The administering entity is required to oversee scholarship-granting organizations. A scholarship-granting organization shall accept scholarship applications from qualified students with child safety accounts, who shall use the awarded amounts to pay for eligible expenses above the amount credited to the child safety account. The scholarship-granting organization shall also accept donations from individuals or corporations for scholarship applicants. The bill creates an income tax credit for parents of qualified students with child safety accounts for payments of eligible expenses above the amount provided through a child safety account. The bill creates a tax credit to encourage donations for individuals or corporations that donate to scholarship-granting organizations for scholarships for qualified students with child safety accounts. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
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The bill requires a school district, charter school, or board of cooperative services that operates a secondary school to annually report to the department of education (department) the computer science courses offered in the school and additional information regarding those courses. The department shall also report information concerning the number and percentage of students taking computer science courses, with data disaggregated by student group, as well as information concerning the number and qualifications of computer science instructors. The department shall annually post the information online for public access. The bill prohibits the posting online of any personally identifying information relating to students. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
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A conservation easement is an agreement in which a property owner agrees to limit the use of his or her land in perpetuity in order to protect one or more specified conservation purposes. The instruments creating the conservation easement are recorded in the public records affecting the ownership of the property. The conservation easement is held by a third party, which monitors the use of the land and ensures that the terms of the agreement are upheld. Prior to creating a conservation easement, the bill requires the property owner to sign a disclosure form acknowledging certain specified consequences and risks of creating the easement on his or her land. The bill requires the commissioner of agriculture to work with local government officials to create a database of conservation easements in the state. The database includes specified information about the easements and a corresponding map displaying each easement in the state relative to county boundaries. Local government officials and the commissioner of agriculture are authorized to enter into contracts to assist in gathering information for the database. The bill specifies the sources of information that may be used to create the database. The commissioner of agriculture is required to annually update the information in the database and make the information and corresponding map available to the public at no charge on the department of agriculture's website. When a conservation easement agreement, amendment, or transfer is recorded with a county clerk and recorder, the bill requires a complete copy of the agreement, amendment, or transfer to be submitted to the commissioner of agriculture and the county tax assessor of the county in which the easement is located. The commissioner of agriculture is required to create a tracking form with specified information for each conservation easement agreement, amendment, or transfer submitted. The tracking forms are made available on the department of agriculture's website and can be used by the commissioner of agriculture to create and maintain the database of conservation easements. If a single property owner acquires both a conservation easement and title to the underlying property, current law allows the conservation easement to be released, terminated, extinguished, or abandoned by a process known as "merger". The bill prohibits a conservation easement from being extinguished by taking fee title to the land to which the conservation easement is attached. For any state income tax credit claimed for a donation of a conservation easement that is disallowed, the bill allows a landowner to elect to either extinguish the conservation easement for which the credit was claimed or receive an equitable relief payment from the state. If a landowner elects to extinguish the conservation easement, the bill requires the department of revenue to reimburse the taxpayer for all reasonable costs incurred by the landowner in establishing the conservation easement donation as well any federal or state income tax liability incurred by the taxpayer. The attorney general is required to assist landowners with executing any documents required to seek a court order to extinguish a conservation easement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
Current law allows nonresident pupils from other school districts within the state to enroll in a school district without requiring the nonresident pupils to pay tuition but gives the school district the authority to deny enrollment to nonresident pupils after the pupil enrollment count day. The bill requires a school district to allow enrollment of nonresident pupils after the pupil enrollment count day if the student has been subjected to a school safety incident. Current law allows contributions to a qualified state tuition program, also known as a 529 account, so long as the distributions are used for qualified higher education expenses, with some exceptions, but not for elementary and secondary tuition expenses. The federal "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act", which became law in December 2017, added distributions for tuition expenses in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school as qualified distributions, thereby allowing, on the federal level, income tax-free distributions for certain elementary and secondary education expenses in addition to already authorized income tax-free distributions for higher education expenses. The bill makes similar, but limited, changes to Colorado law to allow a deduction for contributions to qualified state tuition programs for tuition expenses for a student who has been subjected to a school safety incident in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school. The bill designates such expenses for a student who has been subjected to a school safety incident as qualified distributions, which ensures that a taxpayer does not encounter tax recapture of any claimed deductions when such contributions are distributed for tuition expenses for a student who has been subjected to a school safety incident in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
Under current law, education offered by a bona fide trade, business, professional, or fraternal organization that primarily benefits the organization's membership or mission is exempted from regulation by the private occupational school division in the department of higher education. The bill clarifies that the exemption covers educational services approved by the bona fide organization that are offered either by the organization or by an instructor approved by the organization. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
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