The act requires the executive director of the department of local affairs (director), no later than December 31, 2024, to develop reasonable methodologies for conducting statewide, regional, and local housing needs assessments and reasonable guidance for a local government to identify areas at elevated risk of displacement. The act requires the director, no later than November 30, 2027, and every 6 years thereafter, to conduct a statewide housing needs assessment that analyzes existing and future statewide housing needs and to publish a report, based on the statewide housing needs assessment and regional and local housing needs assessments accepted by the department, identifying current housing stock and estimating statewide housing needs. The act requires each local government, beginning December 31, 2026, to conduct and publish a local housing needs assessment. The act outlines the process for a local government conducting a local housing needs assessment and for determining when a local government is exempt from conducting a local housing needs assessment. The act requires local governments to submit local housing needs assessments to the department of local affairs (department), which shall publish those assessments on the department's website. Relatedly, the act allows a regional entity to conduct a regional housing needs assessment. If a regional entity conducts a regional housing needs assessment, the act requires the regional entity to submit the assessment both to each local government in the region and to the department, which shall publish those assessments on the department's website. A housing action plan is an advisory document that demonstrates a local government's commitment to address housing needs and that guides a local government in developing legislative actions, promoting regional coordination, and informing the public of the local government's efforts to address housing needs in the local government's jurisdiction. The act requires a local government with a population of either 5,000 or more or 1,000 or more if the local government either participated in a regional housing needs assessment or is a rural resort community to make a housing action plan no later than January 1, 2028, and every 6 years thereafter. The act identifies the specific elements that a housing action plan must include, explains how a local government may update a housing action plan, requires a local government to report its progress in implementing the plan to the department, and requires a local government to submit a housing action plan to the department, which shall publish each accepted housing action plan on the department's website. The act requires the director to develop, by no later than June 30, 2025: A standard affordability strategies directory; A long-term affordability strategies directory; and A displacement risk mitigation strategies directory. The act establishes the minimum required elements for all three directory types. The act also requires the director to submit a statewide strategic growth report to the general assembly no later than October 31, 2025, and develop and publish, in consultation with relevant state agencies, a natural land and agricultural interjurisdictional opportunities report no later than December 31, 2025. The act requires the division of local government (division) to provide technical assistance and guidance through a grant program, the provision of consultant services, or both to aid local governments in: Establishing regional entities; Creating local and regional housing needs assessments; Conducting a displacement risk analysis with a state-created tool; Identifying and implementing strategies included in the standard affordability strategies directory, long-term affordability strategies directory, or displacement risk mitigation strategies directory; Making and adopting a housing action plan; Enacting laws and policies that encourage the development of a range of housing types, including regulated affordable housing, or mitigate the impact of displacement; and Creating strategic growth elements in master plans. The act creates the continuously appropriated housing needs planning technical assistance fund to contain the money necessary for the division to provide this technical assistance and guidance. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $10.5 million from the local government severance tax fund and $4.5 million from the local government mineral impact fund to this fund. Further, the act directs the division to serve as a clearing house for the benefit of local governments and regional entities in accomplishing the goals of the act. The division shall report on the assistance requested and provided under the act. On and after December 1, 2027, for any grant program conducted by the department, the Colorado energy office, the office of economic development, the department of transportation, the department of natural resources, the department of public health and environment, or the department of personnel and administration that awards grants to local governments for the primary purpose of supporting land use planning or housing, the act requires the awarding entity to prioritize awarding grants to a local government that: Has completed and filed a housing needs assessment; Has adopted a housing action plan that has been accepted by the department; Has reported progress to the department regarding the adoption of any strategies or changes to local laws identified in the housing action plan; and Is the subject of a master plan that includes a water supply element and a strategic growth element. In the case of a local government that is not required to do any of the above, the department is required to prioritize that local government in the same way that it prioritizes a local government that has done all of the above. On or before June 30, 2025, the act requires the department to designate criteria for the designation of a neighborhood center by a local government. If a local government designates a neighborhood center, the local government must submit a report to the department describing the neighborhood center. Furthermore, on or after December 31, 2026, the act requires certain grant programs to prioritize projects supporting or concerning neighborhood centers. The act modifies the requirements of both county and municipal master plans so that those master plans must include: A narrative description of the procedure used for the development and adoption of the master plan; No later than December 31, 2026, a water supply element; and No later than December 31, 2026, a strategic growth element. The water supply element in a county or municipal master plan must identify the general location and extent of an adequate and suitable supply of water, identify supplies and facilities sufficient to meet the needs of local infrastructure, and include water conservation policies. The strategic growth element in a master plan must include: A description of existing and potential policies and tools to promote strategic growth and prevent sprawl; An analysis of vacant and underutilized sites and the use of those sites for the development of housing; and An analysis of underdeveloped sites that are not adjacent to developed land for the use of those sites for residential use. The act requires both counties and municipalities to submit their master plan and any separately approved water or strategic growth element to the division for the division's review. The act prohibits a unit owners' association of a common interest community from, through any declaration or bylaw, rules, or regulation adopted or amended by an association on or after July 1, 2024, prohibiting or restricting the construction of accessory dwelling units or middle housing if the zoning laws of the association's local jurisdiction would otherwise allow such construction. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $583,864 is appropriated, from reappropriated funds received from the department of local affairs from the housing needs planning technical assistance fund, to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department of local affairs for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 30, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act makes changes to programs funded with money the state received from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund (ARPA money). Specifically, the act: Transfers $1.1 million of ARPA money from the family and medical leave insurance fund (FAMLI fund) to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund, transfers $400,000 from the general fund to the FAMLI fund as an advance payment of premiums for state employee coverage that the state is required to pay under the family and medical leave insurance program, and clarifies the recipient funds for transfers from the FAMLI fund required by current law; Extends the deadline to spend ARPA money from the judicial department information technology cash fund from the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Extends the deadline for the judicial department to spend ARPA money for pretrial diversion programs from the end of the 2023-24 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Makes changes to the program known as "Finish What You Started" to provide funds in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 state fiscal years to continue to support ongoing program participants, and requires the department to use up to $4.5 million of money appropriated for need-based grants for the program; Transfers $70,581.99 of ARPA money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund; Reduces the required appropriation to the department of public health and environment from the economic recovery and relief cash fund for recruitment and re-engagement of workers in the health-care profession from $10 million to $6.12 million; Extends the deadline for the department of public health and environment to spend ARPA money for the practice-based health education grant program from the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Changes the date that money from the rural provider access and affordability fund, which is used for the rural provider access and affordability stimulus grant program, reverts to the general fund from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024; Transfers $495,000 of ARPA money from the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund to the behavioral and mental health cash fund; and Extends the repeal date of the statute requiring the behavioral health administration to take certain actions related to the behavioral health-care provider workforce from September 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027, and continues required reports through the new repeal date. The act makes changes to appropriations programs funded with ARPA money, including adjusting appropriated amounts and granting roll-forward spending authority. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act: Increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2024-25 budget year by $419.97 to account for inflation and sets the new statewide base per pupil funding amount of $8,496.38 for the 2024-25 budget year; and Sets the total program funding for the 2024-25 budget year for all school districts and institute charter schools to not less than $9,735,767,429. The act repeals the total program reserve fund (fund) on July 1, 2025. The act clarifies that for the 2025-26 budget year, and each budget year thereafter, revenue collected from mills that had previously been deposited in the fund by a school district are available to the school district to fund the costs of providing public education. The money is budgeted and expended in the school district's discretion. The act adds rural funding to the district's total program formula to provide additional funding to small rural districts or large rural districts, as defined in the act. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $15,715,539 from the state education fund to the mill levy override match fund. Current law requires a new at-risk measure in the public school funding formula to be implemented in the 2024-25 budget year. The act extends the implementation of this requirement to the 2025-26 budget year. For the 2024-25 budget year, a school district's at-risk funding is the greater of the school district's at-risk funding amount for the 2023-24 budget year or the 2024-25 budget year. Current law requires a qualified third-party evaluator (evaluator) who facilitates a facility school work group (work group) to submit a report to the work group and the office of facility schools by September 1, 2025. The department of education (department) is required to submit the evaluator's report to the joint budget committee by October 1, 2025. The act extends the report deadlines to September 1, 2026, and October 1, 2026, respectively. To be considered for a special education high-cost grant, current law requires the consideration of an administrative unit's annual audited operating expenses for the preceding budget year. The act allows an administrative unit's annual audited operating expenses for one year prior to the preceding budget year to be considered if the annual audited operating expenses for the most recent preceding budget year are not available. Current law requires a school district to receive the daily rate for education services provided by approved facility schools for a juvenile who is held in a jail or facility and receives at least 4 hours of educational services per week from the school district. The act changes the daily rate to the rate for educational services provided by the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind or the education program operated by the Colorado mental health institute at Pueblo or Fort Logan. The act increases the cap on how much can be spent on administration for the ninth-grade success grant program from 5% to 8%. The act clarifies that a student with disabilities (student) who receives transition services and has postsecondary goals outlined in the student's individualized education program is eligible for concurrent enrollment courses. The act allows the educator licensure cash fund to be exempt from the limitations on the amount of uncommited reserves that may be maintained in a cash fund. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $32,878,255 is appropriated to the department from the state education fund to implement the act. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $15,715,539 is appropriated to the department from the mill levy override match fund for mill levy override matching. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 23, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, the general assembly may annually appropriate up to $450,000 from the severance tax operational fund to the conservation district grant fund. The act increases the maximum amount to $700,000. The act makes the following one-time transfers: $18,259,805 from the severance tax operational fund to the general fund on June 30, 2025; $26,086,559 from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the general fund on July 1, 2024; and $25 million from the local government severance tax fund to the general fund on July 1, 2024. The act appropriates $250,000 from the severance tax operational fund to the department of agriculture. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act creates a state income tax credit for owners of aircraft that incur qualifying expenses to enable an aircraft that is powered by leaded aviation gasoline to be certified to instead be powered by unleaded aviation gasoline. Sections 3 and 6 provide explicit authority in the existing state aviation grant program for aviation fund grants: To general aviation airports and commercial airports at which there is significant general aviation activity to fund the design, engineering, construction, installation, acquisition, and inspection of infrastructure, including equipment, that allows the sale of unleaded aviation gasoline at such airports and to subsidize purchases of unleaded aviation gasoline at such airports; For airport noise monitoring devices; For evaluation, provision of education and technical assistance to airports about, prevention, or mitigation of adverse impacts to the health, safety, and welfare of individuals who reside or work near an airport; and At a time that electric aircraft technology has been appropriately certified by the federal aviation administration, for on-airport electric aircraft charging infrastructure. Section 6 also: Requires the lesser of 10% of the amount awarded in grants per year or $1,500,000 per year in grants to be designated for the aviation purposes of aiding and accelerating the transition from leaded aviation gasoline to unleaded aviation gasoline with priority given to airports with significant general aviation traffic in urban and suburban areas where surrounding communities may be disproportionately impacted by such traffic; and Subject to specified exceptions, prohibits grants from being awarded to an airport that is located in a densely populated residential area or has a significant number of flights over a densely populated residential area unless the airport or entity operating the airport demonstrates to the satisfaction of the aeronautics division of the department of transportation (division) that: By January 1, 2026, it has adopted a plan, in accordance with applicable federal requirements and guidance, for phasing out sales of leaded aviation gasoline at the airport by January 1, 2030; It has established, in consultation with flight schools and pilots that regularly use the airport, a voluntary noise abatement plan that meets specified requirements; and It complies with the requirements of any avigation easements or contracts that it has entered into. Section 4 adds to the division's duties: Working with the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) as it continues to provide data and information about the effects of leaded aviation fuel on human health to the department of transportation and airports; and Educating airports with significant general aviation activity, as determined by the division, regarding: The need to expedite the transition from leaded aviation gasoline to unleaded aviation gasoline; and Specified funding opportunities for projects and unleaded aviation gasoline subsidies, if offered by the division, that support the transition from leaded aviation gasoline to unleaded aviation gasoline and impose requirements for accessing that funding and, if offered, those subsidies. Section 5 increases the Colorado aeronautical board (board) from 7 to 9 voting members by requiring the appointment of 2 members who are residents of communities that are affected by general aviation airport traffic or traffic at a commercial airport at which there is significant general aviation activity and makes the executive director of CDPHE, or the executive director's designee, an ex officio nonvoting member of the board. In appointing the 2 new voting members, the governor is required to give priority to individuals who are not trained pilots, are familiar with airport infrastructure, aviation, and the mission of the board, and reside in a community that is significantly impacted by noise or lead emissions by a high-traffic airport with significant general aviation activity. The governor is also required to make appointments to the board so as to ensure a balance broadly representative of the activity level of airports throughout the state and further ensure that the racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of the board is representative of communities that are disproportionately impacted by general aviation airport traffic or traffic at a commercial airport at which there is significant general aviation activity. Section 7 requires the division to evaluate, educate, and provide technical assistance to airports about the adverse impacts of aircraft noise on health, safety, and welfare and requires the division to prioritize these activities at airports with significant general aviation activity that are located in densely populated residential areas or have a significant number of flights over such areas. Section 8 appropriates $44,609 from the general fund to the department of revenue and reappropriates $2,591 of the appropriation to the department of personnel for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 17, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following updates to the "Crime Victim Compensation Act" (act): Changes terminology concerning an award of compensation to approval of compensation for consistency with how crime victim compensation programs operate; Revises language to be gender neutral; Changes the terminology for court administrator to court executive to reflect the accurate position title as changed by the state court administrator's office; Includes state offenses specified in the "Victim Rights Act" under the definition of compensable crime; Includes as property damage expenses incurred for a motor vehicle determined by law enforcement to be where a compensable crime was committed; Modifies the requirement to notify appropriate law enforcement officials to be eligible to receive compensation under the act by removing the 72-hour requirement. The requirement is met if the victim or applicant provides documentation that a forensic examination was conducted by a licensed or registered nurse or medical providers. Modifies the requirement to fully cooperate with law enforcement officials to be eligible to receive compensation under the act to requiring the applicant to have reasonably cooperated with law enforcement officials; Removes the requirement that an application be submitted within one year of the date of injury to the victim; Removes outpatient care and homemaker and home health services and adds replacement services losses, which is defined in the act, funeral expenses, certain travel expenses, dependent care services, and certain relocation services as losses compensable under the act; Adds as compensable losses towing or impound fees for a motor vehicle that is determined to be where a compensable crime was committed and prosthetic or medically necessary devices were damaged or stolen as a result of a compensable crime; Excludes property damage expenses and motor vehicle expenses as losses compensable under the act except as otherwise provided under the act; Allows for emergency approvals to be made in a maximum amount according to a judicial district's crime victim compensation board's policies instead of $2,000; Increases the amount that district attorneys may retain from money deposited in the judicial district's crime victim compensation fund for administrative costs from 12.5% to 22.5%; and Levies a cost of $33 on each criminal action that results with placement in an alternative sentencing program to be credited to the crime victim compensation fund established in the judicial district where the offense occurred. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 15, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the economic development organization (EDO) action grant program (program) within the Colorado office of economic development (office) to provide grants to Colorado-based EDOs to support and increase EDO capacity to implement community-specific economic development programming, as identified in each EDO's program application. The office is required to administer the program in consultation with the Colorado economic development commission and a statewide economic development organization. The economic development organization grant program cash fund (fund) is created in the state treasury, and the office is required to award program grants from the fund. The state treasurer is required to transfer $2 million from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2024.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The General Assembly enacted House Bill 24-1421, a state fiscal year 2024-25 budget package bill that modified funding for certain grant programs administered by the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety, with a safety clause but without a specified effective date, making the bill take effect before the end of state fiscal year 2023-24. However, to avoid a temporary lapse in spending authority from multiple cash funds during state fiscal year 2023-24 while preserving its own timely implementation, House Bill 24-1421 needed to instead take effect on July 1, 2024, the first day of state fiscal year 2024-25. The act amends the Session Laws of Colorado to add a July 1, 2024, effective date clause to House Bill 24-1421 and thereby mitigate this problem. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 10, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In the "Construction Defect Action Reform Act" (act), Colorado law establishes procedures for bringing a lawsuit for a construction defect (claim). Section 2 Section 4 of the bill clarifies that a person that has had a claim brought on the person's behalf is also considered a claimant, and therefore, the act applies to the person for whom the claim is brought. Sections 3 and 6 create a right for a construction professional to remedy a claim made against the construction professional by doing remedial work or hiring another construction professional to perform the work. The following applies to the remedy: The construction professional must notify the claimant and diligently make sure the remedial work is performed; and Upon completion, the claimant is deemed to have settled and released the claim, and the claimant is limited to claims regarding improper performance of the remedial work. Currently, a claim may be held in abeyance if the parties have agreed to mediation. Section 3 also adds other forms of alternative dispute resolution for which the claim would be held in abeyance. Alternative dispute resolution is binding. If a settlement offer of a payment is made and accepted in a claim, the payment constitutes a settlement of the claim and the cause of action is deemed to have been released, and an offer of settlement is not admissible in any subsequent action or legal proceeding unless the proceeding is to enforce the settlement. To bring a claim or related action, section 4 section 2 requires a unit owners' association (association) to obtain the written consent of at least two-thirds 60% of the actual owners of the units in the common interest community. The consent must contain the currently required notices must be signed by each consenting owner, and must have certain attestations. Under the act, a claimant is barred from seeking damages for failing to comply with building codes or industry standards unless the failure results in: Actual damage to real or personal property; Actual loss of the use of real or personal property; Bodily injury or wrongful death; or A risk of bodily injury or death to, or a threat to the life, health, or safety of, the occupants. Section 5 requires the actual property damage to be the result of a building code violation and requires the risk of injury or death or the threat to life, health, or safety to be imminent and unreasonable. Section 3 changes the standard concerning the risk of bodily injury or death to a verifiable danger to the occupants and adds another option to bring a claim if the defect results in a failure or lack of capacity of a building component to perform the intended purpose of the building component. Under current law, an association may institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or 2 or more unit owners on matters affecting a common interest community. For a construction defect matter to affect a common interest community, section 7 requires that the matter concern real estate that is owned by the association or by all members of the association. Section 7 also establishes that, when an association makes a claim or takes legal action on behalf of unit owners when the matter does not concern real estate owned by the association: The association and each claim are subject to each defense, limitation, claim procedure, and alternative dispute resolution procedure that each unit owner would be subject to if the unit owner had brought the claim; and The association has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of each unit owner. (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 bill defines an electronic extension of a physical driver's license, minor driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card issued by the department of revenue that is approved by the department as an "electronic identification credential". Under existing law, a driver must be in immediate possession of the driver's driver's license or instruction permit while driving. The bill allows a driver who is not in possession of the person's physical driver's license or permit to possess and present a digital an electronic identification credential that is an extension of a license or permit instead. Under existing law, it is a class A traffic infraction for a driver who is in possession of a driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card to refuse to provide that identification, upon request, to a peace officer who reasonably suspects the driver has violated a traffic law. The bill requires a person who has in the person's possession a digital driver's license or identification card (digital identification) an electronic identification credential to provide the digital identification electronic identification credential , upon request, to a peace officer who reasonably suspects the driver has violated a traffic law. The bill makes it a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense to refuse to provide a driver's license, instruction permit, identification card, or digital identification to a peace officer. The bill removes the specified penalty and surcharge for the traffic infraction. The bill permits a driver who does not have the person's driver's or minor driver's license in the person's immediate possession to present to a requesting peace officer a digital driver's license or identification card as a form of personal identification. The bill requires a person who operates a motor vehicle who does not have the person's driver's or minor driver's license, instruction permit, or identification card, or an electronic identification credential that is an extension of the same (identification), or who has identification in the person's possession but refuses to present it to a peace officer, to provide personally identifying information to the peace officer upon request. Failure to provide identifying information to a peace officer by a driver is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense, and a peace officer shall not arrest a person for committing the offense. The bill takes effect March 31, 2025. (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.)