Joint Technology Committee. The bill allows the chief information officer of the office of information technology to hire information technology product managers, designers, engineers, and other staff to support the delivery of citizen-facing digital services and other information technology projects across state government.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under current law, manufacturers and distributors of alcohol beverages are allowed to receive a refund or credit for the amount of excise tax on alcohol beverages that they previously paid for alcohol beverages that later became unsalable due to damage or destruction. The bill repeals this refund or credit as of January 1, 2021.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill permits adoptive parents who are parties to an adoption assistance agreement (agreement) to pay for services or items from a provider that is not enrolled in the medical assistance program. These services or items would otherwise be reimbursable under the medical assistance program pursuant to the terms of the agreement. The adoptive parents must determine that the special needs of the child or youth require items or services from the provider and must enter into a documented agreement with the provider in which the adoptive parents agree to bear the cost of the item or service.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill authorizes the management and, if necessary, the reintroduction of the gray wolf in Colorado pursuant to a plan adopted by the parks and wildlife commission (commission). The reintroduction is to begin by December 31, 2025, but the reintroduction is: Postponed until a new source of revenue becomes available to pay for damages caused by gray wolves; and Canceled if the gray wolf already has a self-sustaining population in Colorado. The commission is directed to adopt and periodically update a plan to reintroduce, recover, and manage gray wolves. The plan must: Use the best scientific data available; Be developed after conducting a public process to solicit and consider public comments; and Not impose any land-, water-, or resource-use restrictions on private landowners. Commercial livestock owners will be entitled to the payment of damages caused by gray wolves. The commission shall authorize and finance programs to educate livestock owners regarding the avoidance and mitigation of damages potentially caused by gray wolves. In consultation with the department of agriculture, the commission and division of parks and wildlife shall convene a study group to consider: How to verify and estimate damages caused by gray wolves, specifically considering the maintenance of baseline production records for a period before gray wolf reintroduction and the use of brand inspectors to verify and estimate the damages; and How to finance the payment of damages caused by gray wolves, including specifically one or more new sources of revenue to pay the damages. The commission shall submit a report to the general assembly concerning the results of the study group process by January 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill repeals an existing income tax credit available to taxpayers who make contributions to enterprise zone administrators to promote temporary, emergency, or transitional housing programs for the homeless and replaces that income tax credit with one that is available in the entire state that is modeled after the enterprise zone credit that is being repealed. Instead of having the enterprise zone administrators and the office of economic development manage the credit, the bill places that responsibility on the division of housing in the department of local affairs. The amount of the income tax credit remains the same for each contribution, except the new credit is capped at $750,000 in contributions to each project that the division approves and the new credit's availability is limited to 5 years.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
If there is money in the severance tax operational fund (operational fund) after funding core departmental programs and a reserve requirement, then the state treasurer makes transfers to the natural resources and energy grant programs (grant programs). The agriculture value-added cash fund (cash fund), which was used to promote agricultural energy-related projects, was one of these grant programs in prior fiscal years. The bill recreates the agriculture value-added cash fund as a grant program by requiring the state treasurer to transfer $500,000, or so much as may be available, for the next 9 state fiscal years, from the operational fund to the cash fund to be used to promote agricultural energy-related projects. The transferred money in the cash fund is continuously appropriated to the department of agriculture for allocation to the Colorado agricultural value-added development board for this purpose only. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the film, television, and media tax credit. The credit is available to a production company employing a workforce of at least 50% Colorado residents for production activities in the state. For production activities in a prioritized area, defined to mean a nonmetropolitan county or municipality with a population of 150,000 or less, the credit is up to 22% of the total qualified local expenditures. For production activities not in a prioritized area, the credit is up to 18% of the qualified local expenditures. The credit must be authorized and issued by the Colorado office of film, television, and media. Once issued, the credits may be used in the year issued or carried forward by the production company for up to 5 income tax years. The credits may also be transferred to another taxpayer to be used or carried forward as a credit against that taxpayer's income tax liability. The office of economic development is required to establish a system to track and verify the issuance, transfer, and ownership of the credits.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill amends provisions concerning students in out-of-home placement that mandate cooperation between schools and county departments of human services relating to education. Specifically, the bill: Amends the definition "student in out-of-home placement" to align with those students in custody of county departments of human or social services; Streamlines billing practices for transportation services provided to students in out-of-home placement by requiring the use of invoices and forms approved by both the department of education and the state department of human services; and Authorizes school districts and the state charter school institute establishing transportation plans with county departments of human or social services, as required by law, to establish transportation plans by region or through a board of cooperative services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill directs the Colorado water conservation board, in consultation with the state engineer and the Colorado water institute, to conduct a study to: Evaluate ways to maximize the beneficial use of water within Colorado by recharging aquifers when surplus or excess water is available; Evaluate ways to minimize the amount of water that flows out of Colorado to downstream states, without risking noncompliance with applicable interstate compacts, United States supreme court decrees, and other federal law; Identify: Specific aquifers that are hydrologically and legally available to be used for artificial recharge and conveniently located for both artificial recharge and subsequent releases; Sources of revenue that could be used to pay for the artificial recharge; and Particular potential or existing artificial recharge projects that would meet the objectives identified in the study; Examine the role that various water entities might play in financing and implementing artificial recharge projects; and Recommend legislative or regulatory changes needed to implement the particularly identified artificial recharge projects. The bill directs the Colorado water conservation board to submit a report summarizing the results of the study to the committees of the general assembly with jurisdiction over water resources by January 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
House Bill 19-1263, enacted in 2019, made changes relating to the offense level for possession of certain controlled substances and sentencing therefor and enacted the community substance use and mental health services grant program. The bill repeals provisions enacted by House Bill 19-1263, and reinstates provisions repealed by that act. The bill makes possession of 4 grams or less of a controlled substance listed in schedule I or II a level 4 drug felony, possession of more than 12 ounces of marijuana or more than 3 ounces of marijuana concentrate a level 4 drug felony, and possession of 3 ounces or less of marijuana concentrate a level 1 drug misdemeanor. The bill clarifies that a person may be arrested for the petty offense of possession of not more than 2 ounces of marijuana and that a person may not be sentenced to confinement in jail for a first offense of abusing toxic vapors. The bill prohibits a court from suspending a sentence to complete useful public service pursuant to the "Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 2013" (act) and requires a court to sentence a person to complete useful public service if the person receives diversion or a deferred sentence. Any person convicted of a drug offense must submit to the fingerprinting and photographing requirements of the act. The bill clarifies that persons convicted of level 1 or 2 drug misdemeanors related to unlawful use of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana or marijuana concentrate, unlawful use or possession of certain synthetic controlled substances, or abusing toxic vapors are subject to the same sentencing scheme as a person convicted of other level 1 or 2 drug misdemeanors. The bill repeals the community substance use and mental health services grant program established in the department of local affairs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the department of education (department) to give preference to grant applicants that articulate a strong, comprehensive approach to significantly reduce the use of school policing, school resource officers, and invasive security technologies and practices, and implement evidence-based or promising practices designed to promote school safety and healthy learning environments. The department shall also give preference to grant applicants that demonstrate the applicant's current use of evidence-based or promising practices designed to promote school safety and healthy learning environments. The preference criteria only applies to the student re-engagement grant program, the expelled and at-risk student services grant program, the school bullying prevention and education grant program, and the behavioral health care professional matching grant program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill amends and repeals, in part, the existing grow your own educator program to authorize local education providers, including school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services, to establish local grow your own educator programs that give high school students the opportunity to participate in a teacher preparation pathway in which high school students can receive college credit for course work that leads to an education or related degree or credential at a 2- or 4-year institution of higher education. The department of education, in consultation with the department of higher education, shall create a framework for local grow your own educator programs, including the accumulation of transferable postsecondary credit. As part of the grow your own educator program, the bill creates a grow your own educator scholarship to award $5,000 to students in higher education preparation programs who have completed not less than the final 24 credit hours required for an education or related degree or credential and agree to work as an educator in a Colorado public school upon completion of the degree or credential. In awarding scholarships, the state board shall prioritize students who participated in a local education provider's grow your own educator program while in high school and who complete their final field work in a school of the local education provider. Next, the state board shall prioritize scholarships to students who participated in a local education provider's grow your own educator program while in high school and who commit to teaching in a content shortage area or in a rural area. The bill amends the teacher of record license to apply to students participating in a Colorado-approved program of preparation and who will be employed with a local education provider experiencing a critical teacher shortage, without the need to show that no other licensed applicant has applied. The bill removes references to the grow your own educator program that no longer apply. The bill amends the teacher of record program to remove the requirement that a teacher participating in the program must fill a position for which no other licensed applicant has applied. The bill directs the Colorado commission on higher education, in collaboration with the governing boards and the higher education council, to negotiate statewide degree transfer agreements so that statewide degree transfer agreements are in place no later than 2022 for educator preparation programs, including but not limited to elementary and secondary education; early childhood education; special education; speech and language pathology; occupational therapy; world languages; mathematics; science; and STEM, as defined in statute. Credits accumulated pursuant to a statewide degree transfer agreement apply to the transfer of course work, regardless of whether the course work was successfully completed at a 2-year or 4-year state institution of higher education and regardless of whether the credit is being transferred to a 2-year or 4-year state institution of higher education. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
