Current law finances the state's water quality program with a mix of general fund money and fees that are paid by sources that discharge pollutants into the state's waters. Section 2 of the bill raises the fees and establishes goals for future adjustments of the ratio of revenue from fees and the general fund as follows: Commerce and industry sector: 50% general fund and 50% cash funds; Construction sector: 20% general fund and 80% cash funds; Municipal separate storm sewer: 50% general fund and 50% cash funds; Pesticides sector: 94% general fund and 6% cash funds; Public and private utilities sector: 50% general fund and 50% cash funds; and Water quality certifications sector: 5% general fund and 95% cash funds. Section 3 adjusts the reporting by the department of public health and environment on the uses of these funds. Section 5 transfers $809,107 from the water quality improvement fund to the general fund and further allocates that money to the commerce and industry, municipal separate storm sewer, and public and private utilities sector funds. Sections 6 through 13 make a variety of appropriations and adjustments to the 2017 long bill. Section 14 makes the fee increases take effect July 1, 2018.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Sponsored bills
Currently, the department of revenue (department) is required to revoke the driver's license of a driver convicted of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death. The bill allows the department to also suspend the license when, based on a preponderance of the evidence, a driver left the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death. If both the suspension and revocation are imposed as a result of the same episode of driving, the bill requires the department to run the suspension and the revocation concurrently. The bill establishes a procedure by which a driver may contest the suspension of his or her license and request the issuance of a probationary license for the purpose of driving for employment, education, health, or other necessities. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Under current, law a driver who fails to exhibit due care and caution when approaching or passing a stationary emergency vehicle or towing carrier vehicle commits careless driving, which is a class A traffic offense. The bill adds stationary public utility service vehicles to the statute. The bill increases the penalty to a class 1 misdemeanor if the driver's actions are the proximate cause of bodily injury to another person and to a class 6 felony if the actions are the proximate cause of the death of another person. The short title of the bill is the 'Move Over for Cody Act'. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the transportation legislation review committee to meet at least once together with the capital development committee in the course of the committees' regular business to discuss a plan to address critical statewide infrastructure needs and how such critical needs should be funded. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Transportation Legislation Review Committee. The bill requires the transportation legislation review committee to meet 5 times before November 15, 2017, once in each geographic quadrant of the state and once in the Denver metropolitan area, to: Make available to meeting attendees the 2016 research study of changes to the state transportation commission districts (districts) since the boundaries of the districts were last redrawn in 1991, prepared by legislative council staff with the cooperation of the department of transportation as required by House Bill 16-1031; and Offer opportunities to members of the public to express their opinions regarding the districts or the research study and offer comments and suggestions regarding whether the districts should be modified. The committee may consider the availability of remote testimony, and a public hearing conducted by remote testimony for the purpose of obtaining testimony from a single geographic quadrant of the state or from the Denver metropolitan area may count toward the requirements of the bill. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Section 17 of the bill requires a ballot question to be submitted to the voters of the state at the November 2017 statewide election that seeks approval for the state to temporarily impose additional state sales and use taxes for 20 years beginning January 1, 2018, and to issue up to a specified amount of transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) for the purpose of funding specified state transportation projects. If the voters approve the temporary additional sales and use taxes and the issuance of TRANs, the new sales and use tax revenue and TRANs proceeds generated are allocated, pursuant to sections 7, 14, 15, 16, and 19, solely for transportation funding purposes as follows: $375 million of the new sales and use tax revenue annually and all TRANs proceeds to the state highway fund for use by the department of transportation (CDOT) to repay the TRANs and to fund qualified federal aid transportation projects, including multimodal capital projects, that are designated for tier 1 funding as ten-year development program projects on CDOT's 2017 development program project list until all of the projects are fully funded, for tier 2 funding for such projects thereafter, and for maintenance, including rapid response maintenance, of state highways; and Of the remaining new sales and use tax revenue: 70% to counties and municipalities in equal total amounts; and 30% to a multimodal transportation options fund created in section 22. If the voters approve the ballot question: Sections 5 and 8 respectively impose additional state sales and use taxes at a rate of 0.62% and exempt the sale, storage, use, and consumption of aviation fuels from the additional taxes. Section 9 ensures that revenue generated by the new taxes that is attributable to sales of marijuana and marijuana products is used for transportation purposes by exempting such revenue from the existing requirement that state sales and use tax revenue attributable to such sales by credited to the marijuana tax cash fund. Section 17 requires the transportation commission to covenant that amounts it allocates on an annual basis to pay TRANs shall be paid: First, from $50 million of any legally available money under its control other than the new sales and use tax revenue; next, from the new sales and use tax revenue; and last, if necessary, from any other legally available money under its control any amount needed for payment of the TRANs until the TRANs are fully repaid; The new sales and use tax revenue allocations to counties and municipalities are further allocated, pursuant to sections 15 and 16, to each county and municipality in accordance with certain existing statutory formulas used to allocate highway users tax fund (HUTF) money to each county and municipality; Section 10 repeals an existing late vehicle registration fee. Section 12 requires CDOT to evaluate options for more flexible use of high-occupancy vehicle and high-occupancy toll lanes and to report to the transportation legislation review committee (TLRC) regarding the evaluation no later than August 1, 2018. Section 14 repeals the existing statutory requirement that at least 10% of the sales and use tax net revenue and other general fund revenue that may be transferred or appropriated to the HUTF and subsequently credited to the state highway fund must be expended for transit purposes or transit-related capital improvements and limits the use of new state sales and use tax revenue for toll highways; Section 22 creates a transportation options account and a pedestrian and active transportation account in the fund and requires the transportation commission to designate the percentages of fund revenue to be credited to each account subject to the limitations that for any given fiscal year no more than 75% of the revenue may be credited to the transportation options account and at least 25% of the revenue must be credited to the pedestrian and active transportation account; Section 22 also creates a multimodal transportation options committee of gubernatorial and legislative appointees representing transit agencies, transportation planning organizations, and local governments and the executive director of CDOT or the executive director's designee as a type 1 agency within CDOT for the purpose of allocating the money in the transportation options account of the fund for transportation options projects throughout the state. Under the supervision and guidance of the committee, section 11 requires the transit and rail division of CDOT to solicit, receive, and evaluate proposed transportation options projects and propose funding for interregional transportation options projects. Any transportation options project receiving funding from either account of the fund must also be funded by at least an equal total amount of local government, regional transportation authority, or transit agency funding; except that small local governments and transit agencies may provide 20% matching money. Section 22 also requires CDOT to allocate the money in the pedestrian and active transportation account of the fund for projects for transportation infrastructure that is designed for users of nonmotorized mobility-enhancing equipment and persons with disabilities who use motorized wheelchairs, scooters, or functionally similar assistive technology; Section 3 eliminates transfers of general fund revenue to the HUTF that are scheduled under current law to be made for state fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20; Section 21 reduces the state road safety surcharges imposed on motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less are reduced for the same period during which the rates of the state sales and use taxes are increased. The resulting reduction in state fee revenue is taken entirely from the share of such fee revenue that is kept by the state so that county and municipal allocations of such revenue are not reduced. Section 18 requires CDOT to annually report to the joint budget committee, legislative audit committee, house transportation and energy committee, and senate transportation committee regarding its use of TRANs proceeds and to post the reports and certain user-friendly project-specific information on its website; and Section 20 creates a transportation revenue anticipation notes citizen oversight committee is created to provide oversight of the expenditure by the department of the proceeds of additional TRANs. The committee must annually report to the TLRC regarding its activities and findings.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates a financial relief program, available from July 1, 2017, through December 31, 2018, or until the total amount of money appropriated for the program is distributed, to provide financial assistance to individuals and their families residing in the program area who spend more than 15% of their household income on individual health insurance premiums. The Colorado health benefit exchange (exchange) is to oversee the program, and counties in the program area may elect to administer the program in their counties. For any county that opts not to administer the program, the exchange is to administer the program in that county. Financial relief is available to individuals and families residing in the program area who are determined eligible based on the following: The individual or family enrolled in and paid premiums for a bronze, silver, or gold level individual health benefit plan purchased through the exchange; The individual or family has a household income of more than 400%, but not more than 500%, of the federal poverty line; The individual or family does not have access to a government-sponsored program, such as medicaid or medicare, or an affordable employer-sponsored plan; and The individual or family pays more than 15% of the household income on premiums for the plan. The exchange is to certify that an individual or family resides in the program area and has enrolled in one of the specified health benefit plans, the premium amount of the plan, the household income of the individual or family, and that the individual or family does not have access to a government-sponsored program or employer-sponsored plan. The amount of financial relief is calculated based on the cost of the premium for the lowest-cost bronze health benefit plan available to the individual or family through the exchange, minus an amount equal to 15% of the individual's or family's household income. The general assembly is to appropriate not more than $5.7 million from the general fund to the department of health care policy and financing, for allocation to the exchange to provide financial assistance to individuals who qualify under the program. A carrier offering individual health benefit plans on the exchange must permit an individual to purchase an individual health benefit plan on the exchange during a special enrollment period that begins June 1, 2017, and ends August 1, 2017, for plans effective through December 31, 2017. For the 2018 plan year, individuals are subject to the standard open enrollment period specified in law. The program repeals on September 1, 2019, unless congress enacts and the president signs legislation repealing the advance premium tax credit authorized under federal law, in which case the program repeals upon the date of the repeal of said tax credit. The bill appropriates $5.7 million to the department of health care policy and financing for allocation to the exchange to provide financial relief to qualified individuals. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill gives a federal mineral lease district (district) the option, but not the obligation, to invest a portion of the funding it receives from the local government mineral impact fund in a fund. Current law requires the district to distribute the funding to impacted areas in the district, but also allows the district to reserve all or a portion of the funding for use in subsequent years. The bill specifies that the district may appropriate and disburse any part of the invested funding and all sums in excess thereof, including interest, dividends, or similar appreciated values, but specifies that the district shall do so only upon the enactment of a resolution identifying the reason for the appropriation and disbursement. The bill specifies that the district may invest the funding subject to the district's investment policy and in any investment in which the board of trustees of the public employees' retirement association may invest the funds of the association, which are the same investments in which the state treasurer is authorized to invest the local government permanent fund, which is comprised of 50% of the federal mineral lease bonus payments. The bill allows the board of directors to engage the services of investment advisors, but specifies that the selection of investment advisors must be made following an open and competitive process. The bill also requires the district to adopt an investment policy resolution that must be reviewed annually and must include: An acknowledgment of the board of director's fiduciary responsibility with respect to oversight of the district's investment policy; Performance benchmarks for all investments and for all investment advisors who may be hired by the board of directors; A requirement for the preparation and publication of annual financial statements that must include, at a minimum, information regarding starting balances, contributions, investment income, and losses, if any, and any investment fees incurred; Careful consideration of investment fees or other brokerage costs which might reduce investment returns; and A requirement that the board of directors annually review the investments and annually set appropriations to be included in the trust fund.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Transportation Legislation Review Committee. The bill: Amends the definition of 'autocycle' to: -Specify that an autocycle is a three-wheeled motorcycle that does not use handlebars or any other device that is directly connected to a single front wheel to steer and in which the driver and each passenger ride in either a fully or a partly enclosed seating area that is equipped with a safety belt system; and -Eliminate the requirements that an autocycle be equipped with air bags and a hardtop enclosure that protects occupants from the elements and can support the weight of the vehicle without harming occupants when the vehicle is resting on the enclosure; Makes a conforming amendment to the definition of 'motorcycle' to clarify that an autocycle is a motorcycle; Amends the definitions of 'motor vehicle' and 'safety belt system' used in the laws governing mandatory child restraint system and safety belt use, respectively, to clarify that those laws apply to autocycles and that, with respect to the mandatory safety belt use law, every driver and passenger in an autocycle, including a back seat passenger, must wear a fastened safety belt.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the commissioner of agriculture to determine the level of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in industrial hemp by measuring the combined concentration of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and its precursor tetrahydrocannabinolic acid. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)