Not later than December 31, 2020, the bill requires each state agency, state institution of higher education, and political subdivision of the state to submit to the office of the state architect (office) a list of all usable real property owned by or under the control of the agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state. This list must include, if applicable: The address where the real property is located; The size of the real property; How the real property is zoned; Contact information for the state agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state that owns or controls the real property; The plan, if one is available, for the use, development, or sale of the real property; and A description that includes the condition of the real property and a measurement of total area of the real property that is vacant, unused, or underdeveloped. Not later than December 31 of each subsequent year, each state agency, state institution, and political subdivision of the state must submit to the office any updates to the information the agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state originally submitted to the office about the usable real property the agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state owns or controls. Beginning July 1, 2021, whenever any state agency, state institution of higher education, or political subdivision of the state plans to offer any usable real property for sale, or otherwise plans to solicit any offer to purchase real property, the agency, institution, or political subdivision of the state shall notify the office. Not later than July 1, 2021, the office must establish and maintain a current database that includes the information listed above. This database must be available free of charge to the public on the office's website. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Sponsored bills
The bill adds a requirement, as part of mandatory health insurance coverage of preventive health care services, that health plans cover an annual mental health wellness examination of up to 60 minutes that is performed by a qualified mental health care provider. The coverage must: Be comparable to the coverage of a physical examination; Comply with the requirements of federal mental health parity laws; and Not require any deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for the mental health wellness examination. The bill appropriates $13,347 from the division of insurance cash fund to the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies for personal services to implement the bill. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The property tax administrator is required by law to prepare and publish manuals, appraisal procedures, instructions, and guidelines (property tax materials) concerning the administration of the property tax. Beginning January 1, 2021, section 1 of the bill requires the administrator to conduct a public hearing on a proposed change to the property tax materials prior to submitting the proposed change to the advisory committee to the property tax administrator (advisory committee). The administrator must publish notice of the hearing and mail notice to those people who so request. At the hearing, interested persons may submit information and the administrator is required to consider these submissions. Any interested person may also petition the administrator for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of any property tax material. At least 2 weeks prior to the advisory committee reviewing a proposed change to the property tax materials, section 2 requires the property tax administrator to publish notice about the proposed change.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the creation of independent county commissioner redistricting commissions (commissions) to divide counties that have any number of their county commissioners not elected by the voters of the whole county into county commissioner districts. The bill: Specifies that commissions are appointed both for counties that have any number of their county commissioners not elected by the voters of the whole county after each federal decennial census of the United States and when a county that has all of its commissioners elected by the voters of the whole county elects to have only some of its commissioners elected by the voters of the whole county; Specifies that the commissions consist of 7 members, 2 of whom must be registered with the state's largest political party, 2 of whom must be registered with the state's second largest political party, and 3 of whom must not be registered with any political party; Establishes the qualifications to serve on the commissions and the method by which commissioners are appointed; Authorizes the commissions to adopt rules and specifies how the commissions are staffed, how the commissions are funded, how the commissions are organized, and sets forth the ethical obligations of the commissioners; Requires the commissions to provide the opportunity for public involvement, including multiple hearings, the ability to propose maps, and to testify at commission hearings, and requires hearings to comply with state statutes regarding open meetings; Mandates that paid lobbying of the commissions be disclosed to the secretary of state by the lobbyist within 72 hours of when the lobbying occurred or when the payment for lobbying occurred, whichever is earlier; Establishes prioritized factors for the commissions to use in drawing districts, including federal requirements, the preservation of communities of interest and political subdivisions, and maximizing the number of competitive districts; Prohibits the commissions from approving a map if it has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more members of or candidates for county commissioner or a political party, and codifies current federal law and related existing federal requirements prohibiting maps drawn for the purpose of or that results in the denial or abridgement of a person's right to vote or electoral influence on account of a person's race, ethnic origin, or membership in a protected language group; Requires a majority of commissioners to approve a redistricting map and specifies the date by which a final map must be approved; Specifies that the nonpartisan staff of each commission will draft a preliminary redistricting map and up to 3 additional maps, and, in the event of deadlock by a commission, creates a process by which nonpartisan staff submit a final map to a panel of district court judges for review based on specified criteria; and Requires judicial review of a commission-approved or nonpartisan staff-submitted redistricting map, and limits district court judicial panel review to whether a commission or the staff committed an abuse of discretion. The bill also repeals anachronistic county precinct size rules and allows county clerk and recorders to redraw precincts less often. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law makes it a class 1 traffic misdemeanor when careless driving of a motor vehicle causes serious bodily injury to a vulnerable road user. The bill changes serious bodily injury to a vulnerable road user to serious bodily injury to anyone. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill modifies specific provisions of the Tony Grampsas youth services program statute for general uniformity. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Sections 1 and 2 of the bill establish authority for the board of assessment appeals to refer a matter before it to a hearing officer for an expedited hearing, upon the request of a taxpayer in certain circumstances. There are deadlines for requesting and conducting the hearing and for the hearing officer to make his or her order. The procedure for the hearing is similar to those hearings conducted before the board. If unchanged by the board of assessment appeals, a hearing officer's order is appealable in the same manner as an order issued by the board. Section 3 creates the property tax valuation protest deadline task force. The task force consists of 7 members: The property tax administrator or the administrator's designee and 6 members appointed by the governor. The task force meets over one year and is required to consider and make recommendations to legislative committees to extend the taxpayer's deadline to protest a property tax valuation and to adjust other related deadlines. Under current law, an assessor may, with the permission of the board of county commissioners, include an estimate of property taxes owed in a notice of valuation. Section 4 requires an assessor to include this estimate and allows the assessor to include a range of values. If in the consideration of a protest an assessor finds that he or she made a systematic error and the valuations of other similar properties are incorrect, section 5 requires the assessor to correct the error for the other similar properties.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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, qualified distributions for elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school tuition expenses. On the federal level, this allowed 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 changes to Colorado law to allow a deduction for contributions to qualified state tuition programs for elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school tuition expenses. Designating such expenses as qualified distributions ensures that a taxpayer does not encounter tax recapture of any claimed deductions when such contributions are distributed for elementary or secondary public, private, or religious school tuition expenses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill modifies the "Regional Transportation District Act" (Act) as follows: Provides factors for the regional transportation district (district) to consider in making decisions about services, route planning, and rates; Prohibits the district from discriminating against people with disabilities in the provision of transportation services and prohibits discrimination against an individual on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the provision of transportation services. A person who is the subject of a violation of the prohibition can bring a civil suit in state district court. Authorizes the transportation legislation review committee to review the district's compliance with the Act, requires the district to comply with requests for information, and requires the committee to hear public testimony concerning the district's compliance with the prohibitions on discrimination; Adds 2 additional voting board members to be appointed by the governor for 3-year terms, one to represent constituents with disabilities and one with experience in equitable transportation planning; Adds the state treasurer and the executive director of the department of transportation as nonvoting ex-officio members of the board; Establishes contribution limits in the "Fair Campaign Practices Act" for candidates for the board of directors of the district; Requires the board to meet monthly instead of quarterly and to live broadcast its meetings whenever practicable, requires members to be physically present to vote except in the case of a documented medical condition, allows the board to adopt procedures related to the removal of an elected or appointed member, and requires the board to adopt procedures to reduce the compensation of a member who is absent from the member's official duties; Allows the district to provide commercial and retail services at its facilities; Requires the state auditor to conduct audits of the district's pension plans and unfunded pension liability, the district's organization structure and compensation, and the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of the district's competitive vehicular services policies; Provides whistle-blower protections to employees of the district and of entities contracting with the district, includes the district within the scope of the state auditor's fraud hotline, makes the district's directors and certain employees subject to ethics requirements of the state constitution, and clarifies that the district is subject to existing codes of conduct for public employees; and Amends other provisions related to the administration of the district.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under current law, a secondary school teacher who has sexual contact with a student who is 18 years of age or older may not have committed a crime. The bill provides that a person who subjects a student at the secondary school at which the person is an educator to sexual contact commits the crime of sexual assault on a student by an educator. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)