Rep. Monica Duran

The act creates the Colorado startup loan program (program) in the office of economic development (office) as a revolving loan program to provide loans and grants to businesses seeking capital to start, restart, or restructure a business. The office must contract with a business nonprofit organization, bank, nondepository community development financial institution, or other entity to administer the program, and does not have direct lending authority to make loans under the program.The office or an administrator is required to establish policies for the program, including:The process and deadlines for applying to the program; The eligibility criteria for businesses; Maximum assistance levels for loans and grants; Loan terms, program fees, and underwriting and risk management policies; and Reporting requirements for recipients. The policies must be developed with the goal of generating enough return to replenish the Colorado startup loan program fund for further loan allocations.In determining the eligibility of applicants and the size and terms of loans and grants, the office or an administrator must consider:The need of the business to restructure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or the ability of the business to fill gaps left by closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; The financial losses or other impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic that may inhibit an entrepreneur from obtaining capital through traditional sources; Whether the applicant or the applicant's community faces other barriers to accessing capital from traditional sources; and The applicant's financial needs and the likelihood the applicant would need to be supported by a nontraditional lender. If the administrator determines that an applicant would likely be eligible to receive a loan and may obtain more favorable terms from a traditional financial institution, the administrator must notify the applicant in a timely manner.The office is required to work with the minority business office and other stakeholders to promote the program to businesses that are owned by women, minorities, and veterans and to businesses in rural and underserved communities. By September 1, 2021, the office is required to develop and administer a marketing initiative for the program in coordination with the minority business office and other stakeholders.The act creates the Colorado startup loan program fund. The state treasurer is required to transfer $30 million from the general fund to the Colorado startup loan program fund on the effective date of the act. The money is continuously appropriated to the office for the program. In addition, $10 million is appropriated from the economic recovery and relief cash fund to the Colorado startup loan program fund. This money is continuously appropriated to the office to provide loans and grants through the program to respond to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, subject to the requirements in state and federal law.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates personal data privacy rights and:Applies to legal entities that conduct business or produce commercial products or services that are intentionally targeted to Colorado residents and that either: Control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers per calendar year; or Derive revenue from the sale of personal data and control or process the personal data of at least 25,000 consumers; and Does not apply to certain specified entities including state and local governments and state institutions of higher education, personal data governed by listed state and federal laws, listed activities, and employment records. The act defines a "controller" as a person that, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. A "processor" means a person that processes personal data on behalf of a controller. Consumers have the right to opt out of a controller's processing of their personal data; access, correct, or delete the data; or obtain from a controller a portable copy of the data.The act:Specifies how controllers must fulfill duties regarding consumers' assertion of their rights, transparency, purpose specification, data minimization, avoiding secondary use, care, avoiding unlawful discrimination, and sensitive data; Requires controllers to conduct a data protection assessment for each of their processing activities involving personal data that present a heightened risk of harm to consumers, such as processing for purposes of targeted advertising, profiling, selling personal data, or processing sensitive data; and Specifies that a violation of its requirements is a deceptive trade practice for purposes of enforcement, but the act may be enforced only by the attorney general or district attorneys. Local governments are preempted from adopting laws that govern the processing of personal data by controllers or processors. The attorney general may promulgate rules to administer the act and is required to adopt rules detailing technical specifications for a universal opt-out mechanism that controllers must use.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the Colorado health service corps program administered by the primary care office (office) in the department of public health and environment, which program includes a loan repayment program, to allow geriatric advanced practice providers, defined as advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants with geriatric training or experience, to participate in the loan repayment program on the condition of committing to provide geriatric care to older adults in health professional shortage areas for a specified period.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $400,000 from the general fund to the Colorado health service corps fund for use by the office to help repay loans for geriatric advanced practice providers.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Senate Bill 19-196, enacted in 2019, requires that a state agency (agency) specify a general prevailing rate of wages and other payments provided to employees (prevailing rate) in certain contracts for public projects, and it applies to state solicitations issued for projects (solicitations) on or after July 1, 2021.For solicitations issued on July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, only, the act requires that the agency obtain the general prevailing rate directly from the United States department of labor. For solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2022, the agency must obtain the general prevailing rate from the director of the Colorado department of personnel and administration (department).For solicitations issued on July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021, only, the act requires that the agency keep a schedule of the prevailing rate on file for the life of the project. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the executive director of the department is required to keep a schedule of the customary prevailing rate in his or her office.The act also permits the department to include only solicitations issued on or after January 1, 2022, rather than solicitations issued on or after July 1, 2021, in its annual reports detailing the amount of apprenticeship training contributions paid.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the required procedures relating to a person's firearms or ammunition following the issuance of a protection order that includes an act of domestic violence when it involved the threat, use, or attempted use of physical force.The act requires a person to complete an affidavit, which must be filed in the court record within 7 business days after a protection order is issued against the person, stating the number of firearms, the make and model of each firearm, any reason the person is still in immediate possession or control of such firearm, and the location of all firearms in the person's immediate possession or control. If the person does not possess a firearm at the time the order is issued, the person shall indicate such nonpossession in the affidavit.The act requires the court to conduct a compliance hearing not less than 8 but not more than 12 business days after the issuance of a protection order to ensure the person has completed the affidavit. For criminal cases, the court may consider the issue in other proceedings before the court and the hearing is considered a court action involving a bond reduction or modification. Information compelled or any information directly or indirectly derived from testimony, the affidavit, or other information shall not be used against a defendant in any criminal case, except for prosecution of perjury.The act excludes legal holidays and weekends from the current time frame a person has to relinquish a firearm. The act allows a court to grant a person an additional 24 hours to relinquish a firearm if the person is unable to comply with the required time frame of relinquishment.The act requires a federally licensed firearms dealer, law enforcement agency, or private party to issue a signed declaration memorializing the sale or transfer of the firearm.The act allows a law enforcement agency to enter into an agreement with any other law enforcement agency or storage facility for the storage of transferred firearms or ammunition. The act requires a law enforcement agency that elects to store a firearm or ammunition to obtain a search warrant to examine or test the firearm or ammunition or facilitate any criminal investigation if the law enforcement agency has probable cause to believe the firearm or ammunition has been used in the commission of a crime, is stolen, or is contraband.The act prohibits the person from transferring the firearm to a private party living in the same residence as the person at the time of transfer. The act prohibits a private party from returning a firearm to the person until the private party receives a written statement of the results of the background check conducted by the Colorado bureau of investigation authorizing the return of the firearm to the person.Current law requires a copy of the written receipt and the written statement of the criminal background check to be filed with the court as proof of relinquishment at the same time the person files the signed affidavit. The act requires the signed declaration to be filed with the court instead of the receipt. Both the signed declaration and written statement are only available for inspection by the court and the parties to the proceeding.A federally licensed firearms dealer, law enforcement agency, storage facility, or private party that elects to store a firearm is not civilly liable for any resulting damages to the firearm, as long as such damage did not result from the willful and wrongful act or gross negligence of the person or agency storing the firearm.The act appropriates $101,050 to the judicial department to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The federal government enacted the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (federal act) to provide support to state, local, and tribal governments in responding to the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency and to assist them in their efforts to contain the effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency on their communities, residents, and businesses.As part of the federal act, the state will receive $3,828,761,790 from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund to be used for specific purposes identified in the federal act. This act allocates a total of $15 million to be appropriated for victim's services programs and purposes related to populations that have been disproportionately negatively affected by the COVID-19 public health emergency, including those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, and violence generally. The money will be appropriated from the economic recovery and relief cash fund using money from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund. All money appropriated through this act must conform with the eligible uses set forth in the federal act.This act appropriates money to the following entities:The forensic nurse examiner telehealth program; The state and local victims and witnesses assistance and law enforcement funds; The state crime victims compensation program; The address confidentiality program fund; and The Colorado domestic abuse program fund for the funding of domestic violence programs. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates from the economic recovery and relief cash fund and of money the state receives from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund:$3,000,000 to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice. for the forensic nurse examiners telehealth program; $1,500,000 to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for the state victim compensation program; $3,000,000 to the victims and witnesses assistance and law enforcement fund. The judicial department is responsible for the accounting related to this appropriation; $1,500,000 to the victims assistance and law enforcement fund. The department of public safety is responsible for the accounting related to this appropriation. $500,000 to the address confidentiality program fund. The department of personnel is responsible for the accounting related to this appropriation. $4,750,000 to the Colorado domestic abuse program fund. The department of human services is responsible for the accounting related to this appropriation. $750,000 to the judicial department for use by courts administration for family violence justice grants. The act also appropriates, from reappropriated funds in the victims assistance and law enforcement fund, $1,500,000 to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for the state victims assistance and law enforcement program. The act also appropriates, from reappropriated funds in the Colorado domestic abuse program fund, $4,750,000 to the department of human services for use by the office of self sufficiency for the domestic abuse program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires each animal shelter and pet animal rescue to:Provide each dog and cat held in its custody with timely veterinary care to address and prevent unnecessary or unjustifiable pain and suffering; and Address the behavioral needs of each dog and cat held in its custody to ensure that the dog or cat is not housed or kept in a manner that fosters stereotypic or self-mutilating behavior. The act also makes it unlawful for a person to import or cause to be imported any dog or cat for the purpose of sale by a pet animal facility, unless the dog or cat has a certificate of veterinary health and, if the dog or cat is over 6 months old, proof of a rabies vaccination.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law allows a voter with a disability to use an electronic voting device that produces a paper record to vote in a mail ballot election. If a voter receives a ballot through an electronic voting device, the voter is required to print the ballot to return it to the applicable election official. The act allows a voter to either print and return the ballot or to return the ballot by electronic transmission if the voter affirms the voter is an "eligible person" as defined in the act. Regardless of the method of return, the act specifies that to be valid, a ballot must include a signed affidavit or a copy of an acceptable form of identification and must be received by the election official in the applicable jurisdiction before the close of polls on the day of the election.The act also requires the secretary of state to establish an electronic transmission system through which a voter with a disability may request and return a ballot.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits a property owner from withholding from a contractor more than 5% of the price of completed work to ensure the work is satisfactorily completed. The contractor and subcontractors are also prohibited from withholding more than 5% from subcontractors and suppliers. The act also clarifies that these prohibitions do not apply to other types of contractual conditions made before payment is due.The contract may require lien waivers to be executed before payment is made.The act applies to:A contract between a property owner and a contractor that has a price of at least $150,000; and A subcontract or supply agreement to such a contract. The act does not apply to a single contract that governs:The building of: A single-family dwelling; A multifamily dwelling with 4 or fewer family dwelling units; or A contract with a public entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)