Current law establishes a schedule of filing fees for litigants in civil actions in county courts. The act eliminates the fee for a defendant filing an answer in an eviction proceeding. Current law permits a party to submit and a county court to grant a motion to waive filing fees in a residential eviction action. The act removes the process for securing a waiver of these filing fees. Current law prohibits a county court from assessing fees when indigent parties e-file motions, answers, or documents in connection with evictions. The act removes the reference to indigent parties and instead prohibits a county court from charging defendants fees for filing motions, answers, or other documents in evictions. If a pro se defendant files an answer or other document physically instead of electronically, the act requires a county court, on a defendant's behalf, to timely serve the document on a plaintiff. The act prohibits the court from charging a fee related to the service. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $122,743 to the judicial department from the general fund. The judicial department may use $3,623 for general courts administration and $119,120 for information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a claimant for workers' compensation benefits to refuse an offer of modified employment if the employment requires the claimant to drive to or from work and the treating physician has restricted the claimant from driving. The act adds the loss of an ear to the list of other body parts for which an injured worker can receive whole person permanent impairment benefits. The act increases the current limitations on the amount of money a claimant may claim based on the claimant's impairment rating as follows: For an impairment rating of 19% or less, from $75,000 to $185,000; and For an impairment rating greater than 19%, from $150,000 to $300,000. The act requires a workers' compensation insurer to pay benefits to a claimant by direct deposit upon request by the claimant. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the employee ownership office (office), which was originally created administratively by the governor in 2020 as a statutory entity within the office of economic development (OED). The act also creates a refundable income tax credit for income tax years 2025 to 2029 for up to 50% of specified costs incurred by new employee-owned businesses, not to exceed $50,000. New employee-owned businesses are defined as businesses that have been employee-owned for 7 or fewer years. The tax credit is administered by the office, which may allocate up to $1.5 million in tax credits per year. The office is required to include information on the effectiveness of the tax credit in OED's annual report to the general assembly. The act also creates the employee ownership cash fund, which is to be used by the office for the administration of the tax credit and consists of fees collected from applications for the tax credit. The tax credit and cash fund are repealed on January 1, 2035. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $145,847 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use for the employee ownership office. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the"Mobile Home Park Act" as follows: Specifies that a home owner of a mobile home (home owner) includes a resident of a mobile home park (park) who is under a current rent-to-own contract; Modifies the definition of "park" to specify that a park does not have to be operated for the pecuniary benefit of the owner of the land on which the park is located and that the management or landlord of the park (landlord) must have a rental agreement with a tenant for a mobile home or lot or must be receiving rent payments for a mobile home or lot from a tenant or third party; Clarifies that beginning June 30, 2024, the landlord may terminate a tenancy for failure of the home owner to comply with all rules and regulations established by management that are enforceable pursuant to the act and that are necessary to prevent damage to real or personal property or to the health or safety of individuals; Specifies that beginning June 30, 2024, if a park is condemned for reasons that are the responsibility of the park owner, the landlord is required to provide the same remedies to any displaced homeowner as when the landlord intends to change the use of the land comprising a park; Beginning June 30, 2024, prohibits a landlord from issuing a notice of a rent increase under the same conditions in which a landlord is prohibited from increasing rent; Beginning June 30, 2024, prohibits a landlord from increasing rent or issuing a notice of a rent increase if the landlord has not fully complied with any government order or has been found by the division of housing in the department of local affairs (division) or by a court to have failed to comply with the act; Beginning June 30, 2024, requires a landlord to provide certain notices to home owners in 12-point font and pursuant to language access requirements specified in the act; If a home owner is a defendant in a forcible entry and detainer complaint and the home owner has submitted a related administrative complaint through the "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program" (dispute resolution program), allows the home owner to take action to stay any hearing on the forcible entry and detainer complaint to allow for review, assessment, and adjudication of the administrative complaint; Beginning June 30, 2024, upon the reasonable request of a home owner, requires a landlord to provide an interpreter for certain meetings and to provide translated copies of meeting materials pursuant to language access requirements specified in the act and requires the landlord to bear the cost of the interpreter and the cost of translating meeting materials; Prohibits a landlord from charging a home owner any fee or penalty for refusing to sign a new lease or for residing under a periodic tenancy; Requires a landlord to provide potable water for all members of the household under certain circumstances, including when a park is subject to a boil water advisory, to maintain existing or constructed sidewalks, and to remove snow on specified sidewalks and roadways; Beginning June 30, 2024, requires a landlord to establish a unique mailing address and mailbox for each park lot; Beginning June 30, 2024, specifies that in an action or administrative proceeding by or against a home owner, the landlord's action is presumed to be retaliatory if, within the 120 days preceding the landlord's action, the home owner requested that the landlord provide communications in a language other than English pursuant to the language access requirements specified in the act; Beginning June 30, 2024, requires a landlord to comply with language access requirements, including providing any communication that the landlord is required to provide pursuant to law in English and Spanish and in one additional language spoken by a resident upon request of the resident, providing written notice verbally in English upon request of a resident, providing notice in plain language, and providing an interpreter in one language in addition to English and Spanish upon request; Beginning June 30, 2024, requires a landlord to adequately disclose the terms and conditions of a tenancy in writing in a rental agreement in English, Spanish, or both English and Spanish to any prospective home owner; Beginning June 30, 2024, requires a landlord to provide a home owner with a written copy of the adopted park rules and regulations in English and Spanish; Clarifies that a mobile home or any accessory building or structure that is owned by a person other than the landlord are each a separate unit of ownership and that the accessory building or structure are each presumed to be owned by the owner of the mobile home unless a written agreement establishes ownership by another person; Specifies that a rule or regulation that requires a home owner to incur a cost or imposes restrictions or requirements on the homeowner's right to control what happens in or to the homeowner's mobile home or any accessory building or structure is presumed unreasonable except under specified circumstances; Requires a notice to quit to include a statement that sets forth the basis for enforceability; The landlord is required to allow a buyer of a mobile home reasonable access to the mobile home during the time the buyer is required to bring the mobile home into compliance with park rules; Specifies the conditions under which the buyer of a mobile home satisfies the financial requirements to buy the mobile home, and under which the landlord is prohibited from interfering with the homeowner's right to sell the mobile home; Specifies that a landlord is not required to provide a new or subsequent notice of intent to sell for certain triggering events if the landlord is only considering an offer from a group or association of homeowners who reside in the park; Authorizes a court to order, after a review of the filings or at any point thereafter, that a landlord cease from increasing rent on a park lot or issuing a notice of a rent increase if the landlord has been named as a defendant in a pending lawsuit or administrative complaint that alleges a violation of specified laws and requires a court to order a landlord to refund any unlawfully retained rent; Beginning June 30,2024, requires a landlord to retain a payment ledger that documents rent or other payments from a home owner and allows a homeowner to request a copy of the payment ledger during the homeowner's tenancy and for 12 months after the tenancy has ended; Beginning June 30,2024, requires a landlord to retain communications provided to a home owner in a language other than English and to retain the homeowner's request to provide the communications in a language other than English; and Specifies prior conditions of a sale or change of control of a park for a landlord if there is a pending complaint filed pursuant to the dispute resolution program before the division or prior to the landlord's compliance with all remedial actions ordered by the division in a complaint that was previously filed pursuant to the dispute resolution program. In addition, the act specifies the duties and rights of the purchaser and the seller of a mobile home in connection with an agreement in which the purchaser agrees to purchase a mobile home over a period of time that is mutually agreed upon by the seller of the mobile home (rent-to-own contract) and specifies the terms and conditions that must be included in a rent-to-own contract. However, these provisions of the act apply only to a rent-to-own contract for a mobile home that is located in a mobile home park and only when the seller of the mobile home is the owner of the mobile home park or owns more than one mobile home within the mobile home park. The provisions regarding rent-to-own contracts take effect June 30, 2024. Specifically, the act: Requires a rent-to-own contract to be in writing, in either English or both English and Spanish as requested by the purchaser, and signed by the purchaser and the seller of the mobile home; Requires the seller to provide proof of ownership of the mobile home and a disclosure that the purchaser has the right to have the mobile home professionally appraised at the buyer's expense before entering into a rent-to-own contract for the mobile home; Requires certain information to be included in a rent-to-own contract; Provides the purchaser of a mobile home in a rent-to-own contract with rights to pay the balance of the contract early without penalty and to terminate the contract after providing written notice to the seller and, in the latter case, requires the seller to return to the purchaser all purchase payments made by the purchaser; Allows the seller of a mobile home to terminate a rent-to-own contract only if the purchaser fails to make a purchase payment under the rent-to-own contract and does not cure the payment deficit or if the purchaser commits an action related to the purchaser's lot lease or mobile home lease that leads to a valid and executed writ of restitution; Specifies actions that the seller of a mobile home is required to take if the seller cannot comply with a rent-to-own contract because the mobile home becomes encumbered due to other legal action or because the park is condemned or changes use; Specifies the duties of the seller of a mobile home in connection with the habitability of the mobile home in a rent-to-own contract; Specifies the conditions under which the seller of a mobile home must immediately return to the purchaser any purchase payments or other money that the seller has received from the purchaser; Requires the seller to offer the purchaser a mobile home lease for a period equivalent to the period in which the purchaser has to complete the purchase of the mobile home; For a rent-to-own contract when the seller is the owner of more than one mobile home within the same park and is not the landlord of the park, prohibits the seller from entering into a rent-to-own contract unless the seller's rental agreement with the landlord specifically permits the seller to sublease and sell the mobile home; Requires the seller of a mobile home to maintain separate financial records for each rent-to-own contract and to provide the purchaser with an annual accounting, or a disclosure that the purchaser is entitled to an annual accounting, related to the rent-to-own contract; Binds a successor owner of a park to the terms of a rent-to-own contract entered into by the prior owner of the park; If the seller of a mobile home that is subject to a rent-to-own contract evicts or attempts to evict a purchaser for any wrongful or retaliatory reason or any reason that is unsupported by specified provisions of law, allows the purchaser to recover treble damages and attorney fees; Specifies the requirements regarding the transfer of the title of the mobile home under a rent-to-own contract and requires the seller of the mobile home to pay any then-owed property taxes assessed on the mobile home or provide a credit to the purchaser prior to transferring the title; and If the seller of a mobile home failed to properly repair or maintain the mobile home at the time the purchaser of a mobile home makes the final payment under the rent-to-own contract, allows the purchaser to exercise the purchaser's right of private action pursuant to current law. Beginning June 30, 2024, the act authorizes the attorney general to independently initiate and bring civil and criminal action to enforce the provisions of the rent-to-own mobile home contract law. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $40,966 to the department of law for the implementation the act. The appropriation is from reappropriated funds received by the department of local affairs from the "Mobile Home Park Act" dispute resolution and enforcement program fund. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 30, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following changes to the state auditor's procedures for evaluating state tax expenditures: Requires the state auditor deliver and post evaluation reports on June 30 instead of September 15; Allows the state auditor to evaluate new tax expenditures in accordance with the state auditor's schedule; Allows the state auditor to use discretion in deciding whether to reevaluate a tax expenditure if there have been substantial changes to the tax expenditure; Eliminates the evaluation requirement for tax expenditures that are on the state auditor's schedule for evaluation but have been repealed or will repeal within one year of the evaluation; Requires the state auditor to make the state auditor's best effort to prepare the evaluation report for tax expenditures that are in effect for 3 years or less using the best available data; Allows the state auditor to modify the schedule for evaluating tax expenditures in consideration of timing for when sufficient data may be available to evaluate the tax expenditure; and Requires the office of the state auditor to present its tax expenditure evaluation reports to the task force concerning tax policy (task force) upon request by the task force. The act also requires that the state auditor annually study and evaluate federal tax law, including changes, that may significantly impact the state's tax base and prepare a report with the state auditor's findings by June 30, 2025, and by June 30 of each year thereafter. The act requires the legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy (committee) to consider the policy considerations set forth in the state auditor's annual report concerning federal tax law in addition to the policy considerations set forth in the state auditor's tax expenditure evaluations. The state auditor is required to present to the task force the annual report concerning federal tax law upon request by the task force. Additionally, the act allows for the committee to request that the state auditor evaluate specific tax expenditures for the next year's evaluation report notwithstanding when the tax expenditure might otherwise be evaluated according to the state auditor's schedule. The committee may additionally request that the state auditor perform specific and discrete research and analysis tasks. The act also extends the committee and the task force until December 31, 2031. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
There is currently a jail standards oversight committee and commission (oversight committee and commission) tasked with developing jail standards in Colorado. The oversight committee and commission are set to repeal on July 1, 2024. The act repeals the commission and extends the oversight committee until September 1, 2033. Each county jail shall comply with the standards adopted by the oversight committee beginning July 1, 2026. The oversight committee shall post the standards on its website. If the oversight committee revises a jail standard, each county jail shall comply with the revised standard no later than one year after the revision is adopted, or earlier if specified by the oversight committee when adopting the revision. The act creates a jail standards advisory committee (advisory committee). The advisory committee consists of: 2 sheriffs appointed by a statewide organization representing the county sheriffs of Colorado; 2 county commissioners appointed by Colorado counties, incorporated; The state public defender or the state public defender's designee; One physical or behavioral health professional with experience working in a jail, appointed by the oversight committee; and One person representing a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of people experiencing incarceration, appointed by the oversight committee. The advisory committee shall begin meeting in July 2024 and shall plan assessments of jails to begin in January 2025. Additional duties of the advisory committee include, but are not limited to: Utilize peer assessors selected by the advisory committee to perform assessments of a jail's physical facilities and its written policies and procedures to assess compliance with jail standards; Provide the oversight committee with recommendations for revising jail standards and ways to address jail needs necessary to comply with jail standards; and Provide the oversight committee with recommendations to address jail needs necessary to comply with jail standards. The advisory committee may also establish a process to grant variances from the jail standards to local jails. The act creates the jail standards advisory committee cash fund to fund the activities of the advisory committee. The act requires the attorney general to conduct assessments of jails, in conjunction with the advisory committee, for compliance with jail standards. The attorney general may also conduct an independent special assessment of a jail when requested by the governor, the oversight committee, or a sheriff. The attorney general shall prepare a report of each special assessment. The advisory committee shall annually submit a report to the oversight committee. The act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to create a list of funding assistance available to jails to offset the costs of compliance with the jail standards. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $305,000 from the general fund to the jail standards advisory committee cash fund; $41,248 from the general fund to the legislative department; and $12,532 from the general fund to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the concurrent enrollment advisory board (advisory board) on September 1, 2027. Prior to the repeal, the department of regulatory agencies will conduct a sunset review and make recommendations concerning its continuation. The act requires the advisory board to work with the department of education, department of higher education, and the community college system that supports the enrollment of first-generation students, low-income students, and students of color in concurrent enrollment programs. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE September 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a court may appoint a child and family investigator (investigator) to investigate and report to the court relevant factors for determining the best interest of a child or youth in a proceeding involving parental responsibilities allocation. Similarly, under current law, a court may appoint a parental responsibilities evaluator (evaluator) to evaluate and report to the court concerning disputed issues relating to the parental responsibilities allocation. The act: Requires investigators and evaluators to include all information obtained concerning domestic violence and child abuse in a written report; Requires additional training requirements for investigators and evaluators; Requires investigators and evaluators to provide certain written disclosures to each party before performing duties; and Allows the court to implement caps on charges for duties performed by evaluators. The act defines "coercive control" to include a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating actions, including assaults or other abuse, that is used to harm, punish, or frighten an individual. If the court orders unsupervised parenting time for a parent, and there is any information, including an accusation, that the parent has committed domestic violence, child abuse, child emotional abuse, or coercive control, the court is required to make a statement in writing or orally on the proceeding record regarding why unsupervised parenting time was determined to be in the best interests of the child. The act states that the court may interview the child in the judge's chambers regarding the child's wishes for parental responsibilities allocation upon a motion. The court is required to make findings why it grants or denies the request to interview the child in chambers and give paramount consideration in cases involving an allegation by a child regarding domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or child sexual abuse. The act requires that if allegations of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or child sexual abuse have been made, the court is required to give strong consideration to the child's or youth's preference concerning allocation of parental responsibilities, if the preference is consistent with protecting the child's safety and needs. The act clarifies that, pursuant to a chief justice directive, the office of the state court administrator is responsible for accepting complaints regarding investigators and evaluators, and is authorized to administer appropriate sanctions. Furthermore, the act requires the judicial department to include information during its annual "SMART Act" hearing and publish information on its website concerning investigator and evaluators. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a process by which local governments and investor-owned utility companies with more than 250,000 customers may coordinate on utility relocation work that is necessitated by a road improvement project. A road improvement project does not include a project in a roadway under the control of the Colorado department of transportation (CDOT) unless the construction is performed by or under the direction of the local government pursuant to an agreement with CDOT. Under the process established by the act, a local government is required to notify any affected utility company of the details of a road improvement project before beginning the project and in the event of a change in the scope of the proposed project. These details include the proposed design, funding details, the specifics of the utility conflict, and the estimated timeline for the road improvement project and utility relocation. If local governments and utility companies so choose, they may coordinate on road improvement projects necessitating the removal, relocation, or alteration of utility lines in a local government's right-of-way and commit to a schedule for utility relocation by means of a clearance letter. The required components for a clearance letter include the scope of the utility relocation, schedule and coordination requirements for the utility relocation, accountability for traffic management and the discovery of hazardous materials, a dispute resolution mechanism, and requirements for prompt performance, staking, and project approval. A clearance letter must also provide that the utility company pay for actual damages associated with its delay in the performance of the utility relocation, except those caused by a force majeure, the discovery of hazardous materials, or a change in the scope or schedule of the road improvement project. The act also outlines the timeline and process for a local government to accept or reject a completed utility relocation. The utility relocation coordination process outlined by the act does not prevent a local government from pursuing alterative arrangements for road improvement projects, in which case the local government and utility company need not follow the process requirements outlined in the act. The act does not cover a local government that has granted a franchise to a utility company and does not alter the terms of any franchise or license granted pursuant to statute or the state constitution. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies, as specified in the department's sunset review of the regulation of money transmitters, as follows: Sections 1 and 2 of the act continue the regulation of money transmitters until 2030; Section 3 authorizes the banking board to suspend a money transmitter's license; Section 4 expands the requirement to furnish surety bond coverage to include all money transmission, rather than merely exchange; Section 5 increases the maximum penalty for failure to report from $250 to $750 per day and for failure to allow the state bank commissioner to make an examination from $100 to $1,000 per day; Section 6 authorizes the state bank commissioner to submit fingerprints directly to the federal bureau of investigation for a criminal history record check; Section 7 repeals the requirement that license holders annually report the name, address, and telephone number of each owner of at least 10% of the agent of the money transmitter; Section 8 authorizes the state bank commissioner to issue cease-and-desist orders and sets procedural requirements; Section 9 expands the licensing exemption for in-state banks to also cover out-of-state banks and repeals the licensing exemption for telegraph or cable companies; and Sections 10 through 12 replace gendered pronouns with gender-neutral terms. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2020, the general assembly enacted the "CROWN Act of 2020", which specified that, for purposes of anti-discrimination laws in the context of public education, employment and housing practices, public accommodations, and advertising, discrimination on the basis of one's race includes discrimination on the basis of traits commonly or historically associated with race, such as hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles. The act adds hair length that is commonly or historically associated with race to the list of traits associated with one's race. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
With regard to prior authorization requirements imposed by carriers, private utilization review organizations (organizations), and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for certain health-care services and prescription drug benefits covered under a health benefit plan, the act requires carriers, organizations, and PBMs, as applicable, to adopt a program, in consultation with participating providers, to eliminate or substantially modify prior authorization requirements in a manner that removes administrative burdens on qualified providers and their patients with regard to certain health-care services, prescription drugs, or related benefits based on specified criteria. Additionally, a carrier or organization is prohibited from denying a claim for a health-care procedure a provider provides, in addition or related to an approved surgical procedure, under specified circumstances or from denying an initially approved surgical procedure on the basis that the provider provided an additional or a related health-care procedure. Starting January 1, 2027, if a provider submits a prior authorization request through an electronic interface or secure electronic transmission system used by the carrier, organization, or PBM, as applicable, the carrier, organization, or PBM to which the request was submitted is required to accept and respond to the request through its interface or electronic transmission system. A carrier or PBM is prohibited from imposing prior authorization requirements more than once every 3 years for a chronic maintenance drug approved by the federal food and drug administration that the carrier or PBM has previously approved for a person covered under the carrier's or PBM's health benefit plan, except under specified conditions. The act extends the duration of an approved prior authorization for a health-care service or prescription drug benefit from 180 days to a calendar year. Carriers are required to post, on their public-facing websites, specified information regarding: The number of prior authorization requests that are approved, denied, and appealed; The number of prior authorization exemptions from or alternatives to prior authorization requirements provided pursuant to a program developed and offered by the carrier, an organization, or a PBM; and The prior authorization requirements as applied to prescription drug formularies for each health benefit plan the carrier or PBM offers. The act appropriates $36,514 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
