The "National Labor Relations Act" does not apply to federal, state, or local governments and the "Colorado Labor Peace Act" excludes governmental entities, with an exception for mass transportation systems, which means that these labor laws do not cover most public employees. The act grants certain public employees, including individuals employed by counties, municipalities, fire authorities, school districts, charter schools, public colleges and universities, library districts, special districts, public defender's offices, the university of Colorado hospital authority, the Denver health and hospital authority, the general assembly, and a board of cooperative services, the right to: Discuss or express views regarding public employee representation or workplace issues; Engage in protected, concerted activity for the purpose of mutual aid or protection; Fully participate in the political process while off duty and not in uniform, including speaking with members of the public employer's governing body on terms and conditions of employment and any matter of public concern and engaging in other political activities in the same manner as other citizens of Colorado without discrimination, intimidation, or retaliation; and Organize, form, join, or assist an employee organization or refrain from organizing, forming, joining, or assisting an employee organization. However, a public employer that has a nonpartisan role may limit the right of an employee to fully participate in the political process while off duty and not in uniform to the extent necessary to maintain the nonpartisan role of the employer. The act also prohibits certain public employers from discriminating against, coercing, intimidating, interfering with, or imposing reprisals against a public employee for engaging in any of the rights granted. The division of labor standards within the Colorado department of labor and employment (division) is charged with enforcing any alleged violation of these rights and is granted rule-making authority. A party may appeal the department's final decision to the Colorado court of appeals. The act requires the court of appeals to give deference to the final decision of the department. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $151,751 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the division and for the purchase of legal services as needed to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and portions of it take effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Current law prohibits a written rental agreement from including: An unreasonable liquidated damages clause that assigns a cost to a party stemming from an eviction notice or an eviction action for a violation of the rental agreement; or A one-way, fee-shifting clause that awards attorney fees and court costs only to one party. Any fee-shifting clause in a rental agreement must award attorney fees to the prevailing party in a court dispute. The act amends these prohibitions so that: A written rental agreement must not include any clause that assigns a penalty to a party stemming from an eviction notice or an eviction action that results from a violation of the rental agreement; and Any fee-shifting clause in a rental agreement must award attorney fees to the prevailing party only following a determination that the party prevailed and the fee is reasonable. With certain exceptions, the act also prohibits a written rental agreement from including: A waiver of the right to a jury trial; the ability to pursue, bring, join, litigate, or support certain class or collective claims or actions; the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; or the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment; A provision that purports to affix any fee, damages, or penalty for a tenant's failure to provide notice of nonrenewal of a rental agreement prior to the end of the rental agreement; A provision that characterizes any amount or fee set forth in the rental agreement, with the sole exception of the set monthly payment for occupancy of the premises, as "rent" for which all remedies to collect rent, including eviction, are available; A provision that requires a tenant to pay a fee markup or for a service for which the landlord is billed by a third party; or A provision that purports to allow a provider operating under any local, state, or federal voucher or subsidy program to commence or pursue an action for possession based solely on the nonpayment of utilities. The act specifies that some of the new prohibitions do not apply to a rental agreement concerning the occupancy of a mobile home in a mobile home park or to a duplex or triplex or to an accessory dwelling unit of a residential premises if: The owner of the duplex, triplex, or residential premises uses the residential premises or at least one of the units of the duplex or triplex, as applicable, as the owner's primary residence; or The owner's primary residence is on the same lot as the duplex, triplex, or residential premises. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits the state, counties, cities and counties, municipalities, school districts, and any of their departments, institutions, or agencies (public employers) from making it a condition of employment that an applicant for employment or current or past employee (employee) executes a contract or other form of agreement that prohibits, prevents, or otherwise restricts the employee from disclosing factual circumstances concerning the employee's employment with the public employer (nondisclosure agreement) unless the nondisclosure agreement is necessary to prevent disclosure of: The employee's identity, facts that might lead to the discovery of the employee's identity, or factual circumstances relating to the employment that reasonably implicate legitimate privacy interests held by the employee who is a party to the agreement if the employee elects to restrict such disclosure; Data, information, including personal identifying information, or matters that are required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulations, the state constitution, state law, state regulations, state rules, or a court of law or as attorney-client privileged communications, privileged work product, communications related to a threatened or pending legal or administrative action, or materials related to personnel or regulatory investigations by the employer; Information bearing on the specialized details of security arrangements or investigations, including security arrangements for or investigations into elected officials or other individuals, physical infrastructure, or cybersecurity; Information derived from communications of the employer related to threatened or pending legal or administrative action; Discussions that occur in an executive session authorized by the "Colorado Open Meetings Law"; Trade secrets or other confidential or sensitive information provided to or made accessible to the employee by a current or prospective contractor, vendor, or grantee or as part of a public-private partnership or entity working with the state as part of an economic development activity; Trade secrets or information derived from trade secrets or proprietary information of the employer; Information and records not subject to disclosure under the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA); or Trade secrets owned by the employer. For a public employer that is the state or a department, institution, or agency of the state, a nondisclosure agreement is also allowed if it is necessary to prevent disclosure of: Nonpublic and confidential labor relations positions and strategies; Attorney work product; Vendor lists and vendor preferences; State business-related information received from a third party that the third party has designated confidential; or Information and matters related to state active duty orders of national guard soldiers and airmen and personnel disputes subject to the jurisdiction of the United States department of defense; For a public employer that is a county, a city and county, a municipality, or a department, institution, or agency of a county, a city and county, or a municipality, a nondisclosure agreement is also allowed if it is necessary to prevent disclosure of: Trade secrets or other confidential or sensitive information provided to or made accessible to the employee by an employer's current or prospective customer, contractor, lessee, lessor, business partner, or affiliate; or Trade secrets or other confidential or sensitive information provided to or made accessible to the employee by a purchaser or seller of property that is engaged in negotiations or under contract with the employer. The act specifies that any provision in any contract or agreement that amounts to a nondisclosure agreement is deemed to be against public policy and unenforceable against an employee of a public employer who is a party to the contract or agreement unless the provision is intended to prevent disclosure of any information or matters for which an exception to the general prohibition against nondisclosure agreements for the public employer applies. The act prohibits a public employer from taking any materially adverse employment-related action, including withdrawal of an offer of employment, discharge, suspension, demotion, or discrimination in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, against an employee on the grounds that the employee does not enter into a contract or agreement deemed to be against public policy and unenforceable under the act. The act also states that the taking of a materially adverse employment-related action after an employee has refused to enter into such a contract or agreement is prima facie evidence of retaliation and that any public employer that enforces or attempts to enforce a contract or agreement provision deemed by a court to be against public policy and unenforceable under the act is liable for the employee's reasonable attorney fees and costs in defending against the action. The act requires an action to enforce a provision of the act to be brought in the district court for the district in which the employee is primarily employed. A settlement agreement between an employer that is subject to the act and an employee of the employer must be signed by both the employer and the employee. A nondisclosure agreement must not prohibit the release of information required to be released under CORA. In addition, a nondisclosure agreement executed by a public employer that is the state or a department, institution, or agency of the state and an employee must state that state employees are protected from retaliation for disclosure of information about state agencies that are working outside the public interest. A public employer may require an employee to enter into a nondisclosure agreement with a third party in the employee's official capacity and on behalf of the employer. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the administrator of the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code" to adopt rules regarding deferral charges for certain consumer credit transactions that are secured by the consumer's potential proceeds from a settlement or judgment obtained in the consumer's associated legal claim. APPROVED by Governor June 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires an individual who is in jail to be brought before a judge for a bond hearing within 48 hours of arriving at the jail. The act clarifies the circumstances when the 48-hour requirement does not apply when the individual is unable to attend court. When an arrestee is unable to attend court within the 48-hour requirement, the sheriff shall create a list of those individuals, the date of the individual's arrest, and the location where the individual is in custody. The sheriff shall document the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, and the efforts to abate a delay caused by an emergency. As soon as an emergency has sufficiently abated, the act requires the sheriff to make the in-custody arrestee available to appear. The act also clarifies that the 48-hour requirement applies regardless of whether: The individual is held in custody in a jurisdiction other than the one that issues the arrest warrant; Money bond was previously set ex parte; or The in-custody arrestee did not appear for a first appearance. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE October 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sections 1 through 5 of the act clarify the procedure for filling a vacancy in a municipal elected office. When a vacancy occurs, the governing body shall appoint an eligible elector or call a special election within 60 days. If the governing body lacks sufficient members to reach a quorum, the clerk of the governing body is authorized to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Sections 6 through 8 modify and clarify the requirements for municipal recall elections, by: Requiring members of the committee designated to represent the signers of a recall petition to be registered electors residing in the municipality; Clarifying the number of signatures required for a recall petition for a person holding an office filled by more than one person; Requiring signers to include their municipality and county with their address when signing a recall petition; Clarifying that disassembly of a recall petition section renders that section invalid; Clarifying that a municipal clerk's written initial determination that a recall petition or a refiled recall petition is sufficient or insufficient is final unless a protest is filed in accordance with statutory requirements; Repealing a requirement that the county clerk and recorder prepare a list of registered electors for the protest; Clarifying deadlines and processes for petitions and protests; Requiring that nomination petitions for successors be filed within 20 calendar days after the date a recall election is set; Providing that if the incumbent is not recalled, the votes for a successor are not recorded and any unofficial results of the vote on a successor shall not be disclosed; and Clarifying ballot requirements and election standards for a recall election and specifying that in cases in which more than one officer is is recalled from an office to which more than one person may be elected, candidates equal in number to the number of persons recalled from office who received the highest number of votes for the office are elected for the remainder of the term of each of the offices vacated with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes being elected for the longest remaining term. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In addition to the protection and security services currently provided to members of the general assembly by the Colorado state patrol, the Colorado state patrol is authorized to provide other protection and security services to a member of the general assembly as requested by the executive committee of the legislative council and as deemed necessary by the chief of the Colorado state patrol. The executive committee of the legislative council is required to establish a process by which a member of the general assembly may request other protection and security services from the Colorado state patrol. The Colorado state patrol is required to ensure that members of the general assembly are aware of the protection and security services that may be requested from the Colorado state patrol. The Colorado state patrol is required to provide protection and security services to the secretary of state, attorney general, and state treasurer (statewide constitutional officers) upon request of the statewide constitutional officer. The Colorado state patrol is required to designate state patrol officers to be available to provide protection services to statewide constitutional officers and the chief of the Colorado state patrol is required to determine the priority in assigning state patrol officers among each statewide constitutional officer. The act specifies that it is not intended to provide around-the-clock protection for a statewide constitutional officer unless there is a credible threat as determined in the discretion of the chief of the Colorado state patrol. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $1,115,090 is appropriated to the department of public safety from the general fund to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modernizes and simplifies the terminology used in creating and transferring state government entities among principal departments under the "Administrative Organization Act of 1968" (AOA) and throughout the Colorado Revised Statutes while preserving the status and the powers assigned in current law to entities in the AOA. The act defines " type 1 entity" and " type 2 entity" and states that when a new entity is created as a type 1 entity or a type 2 entity and allocated to a principal department under the AOA, or when an existing entity is transferred from one principal department to another, the entity has all of the powers, duties, and functions of a type 1 or type 2 entity, as applicable. The act eliminates language regarding type 1 and type 2 transfers and specifies that when an existing entity is transferred from one principal department to another, the transferred entity exercises its powers and performs its duties and functions in the principal department to which it was transferred as a type 1 or type 2 entity, as specified in law. The act amends organic statutes for the principal departments to specify the type 1 or type 2 status of the entities within those principal departments where the type 1 or type 2 status is not stated. The act also amends the AOA to specify the type 1 or type 2 status of the entities where the type 1 or type 2 status is found in the organic statute but is missing in the AOA. The act eliminates references to type 3 transfers, which were previously used when an original entity and its powers, duties, and functions were transferred to another principal department and the original entity was abolished. For entities that are being abolished, the act specifies that the powers, duties, and functions of the abolished entity are included in powers, duties, and functions of the entity to which it was transferred. The act also corrects errors in the names of entities to make references consistent throughout the statutes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act corrects defects in the definitions of "bulk transfer and terminal system" and "gasoline", which defects resulted from legislation enacted in 2021. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)