Current law requires every owner, keeper, or proprietor of a junk shop, junk store, salvage yard, or junk cart or other vehicle and every collector of or dealer in junk, salvage, or other secondhand property to keep a book or register detailing all transactions involving commodity metals and to comply with certain other requirements concerning transactions involving commodity metals. Current law also establishes the commodity metals theft task force (task force) and charges the task force with certain duties to address the theft of commodity metals. The act extends the scope of the current laws addressing commodity metal theft to include theft of catalytic converters. The act also expands the scope of the duties of the task force to include consideration of catalytic converter theft. For the purposes of the existing criminal statute prohibiting the operation of motor vehicle chop shops, the act adds catalytic converters to the definition of "major component motor vehicle part". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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In the capital financing context generally and as defined in section 2 of the act: A security token is a digital, liquid contract made verifiable and secure through the use of blockchain technology that establishes its holder's right to a fraction of a financial asset such as a stock, bond, or certificate of participation; and A security token offering is a capital financing method in which security tokens representing fractional interests in a financial asset are sold to investors in lieu of selling the actual financial asset to investors. Section 2 also requires the state treasurer to study the feasibility of using security token offerings for state capital financing and determine the extent to which the use of security token offerings of state capital financing would be in the best interest of the state. The state treasurer is required to complete the study and report the study findings to the finance committees and joint budget committee of the general assembly by March 1, 2023, and to post the study findings on the department of the treasury's website. If the state treasurer determines, after completing the feasibility study, that the use of security token offerings for state capital financing is in the best interest of the state, the state treasurer may recommend as part of the report that the general assembly enact legislation to authorize such use. Section 1 authorizes the state treasurer to spend up to $125,000 from the state public financing cash fund to fund the completion of the feasibility study. Section 3 broadens the definition of "eligible state facility" used for purposes of identifying the types of state-owned assets that may be used as collateral for state capital financing used to finance capital construction and transportation projects to include any financially unencumbered state-owned asset that is not part of the state emergency reserve. Section 4 makes an appropriation of $100,000 to the department of the treasury for implementation of the act, of which $70,000 is for use by the administration division for operating expenses and $30,000 is for the purchase of legal services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act replaces an existing income tax deduction for expenses incurred by employers when providing alternative transportation options to employees with a refundable income tax credit of 50% of such expenses for such employers, including local government employers, subject to the limitations that the maximum amount spent in any income tax year for which an employer may claim a credit is $250,000 and that the maximum amount spent in any income tax year for any one employee for which an employer may claim a credit is $2,000 dollars. For purposes of the act, alternative transportation options means free or partially subsidized, generally accepted transportation demand management strategies, including but not limited to ridesharing arrangements, provision of ridesharing vans or low-speed conveyances such as human-powered or electric bicycles, shared micromobility options such as bikesharing and electric scooter sharing programs, carsharing programs, and guaranteed ride home programs. The credit is allowed for income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2025. $93,758 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends the "Colorado Liquor Code" to eliminate the requirement that a hotel and restaurant, tavern, and lodging and entertainment licensee register a manager with the liquor enforcement division in the department of revenue. The licensees are required to notify and pay a fee to the state and local licensing authority if the licensee changes its manager. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, an affordable housing developer in Colorado can qualify for state property tax exemptions for 15 years and federal income tax credits for 30 years. The act allows affordable housing projects to receive the Colorado state property tax exemptions for an extended period of 15 years to match the period available under federal law. Under current law, the tax credit for environmental remediation of contaminated land (commonly referred to as the Brownfield credit) allows taxpayers to claim income tax credits for voluntary cleanup of contaminated land, known as brownfield, located in Colorado. Taxpayers can claim a transferable credit equivalent to 40% of the first $750,000 spent on remediation and 30% of the next $750,000 spent, for a maximum credit of $525,000 on remediation costs of $1.5 million or more. In addition, a "qualified entity", which is a county, municipality, or private nonprofit entity, is allowed an essentially identical transferable expense amount for expenses incurred in performing approved environmental remediation that can be transferred to a taxpayer as an income tax credit. The Colorado department of public health and environment (CDPHE) is authorized to certify a total of $3 million in both tax credits for each income tax year. The act: Extends the tax credit, which is set to expire on January 1, 2023, to January 1, 2025, for an additional 2 years; Increases the annual total cap on tax credits from $3 million to $5 million for calendar year 2022 and after; Expands the definition of "qualified entity" to include school districts, charter schools, special districts, institutions of higher education, and other quasi-governmental entities; Allows a taxpayer whose credit is tied to remediation of a site in a rural community to claim a credit equivalent to 50% of the first $750,000 spent on remediation and 40% of the next $750,000 spent; Eliminates some restrictions that taxpayers have on the transferability of credits, including a restriction that requires any transfer to occur within the first 2 years of receiving the tax credit and the requirement that the transferee certify that the taxpayer satisfied statutory requirements; and Requires a taxpayer and a transferee of a tax credit or transferable expense amount to jointly file a copy of the transfer agreement with CDPHE, specifies that such filing perfects the transfer, and clarifies that the transferee and the department of revenue can rely upon the certification by CDPHE of the ownership and the amount of the tax credit as being accurate.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends the advanced industry investment tax credit (credit) for an additional 4 years, increases the aggregate annual maximum amount of credits that may be allowed from $750,000 to $4 million, increases the credit from 30% to 35% of the amount of a qualified investment in rural or economically distressed areas, and increases the total amount of the credit for each qualified investment from $50,000 to $100,000. Current law requires that individuals who are co-owners of a business claim only their pro rata share of the credit. The act allows the credit to be allocated among partners, shareholders, members, or other constituent qualified investors in any manner agreed to by such partners, shareholders, members, or other constituent qualified investors. The act appropriates $90,000 to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs for advanced industries. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the CASA special license plate. In addition to the standard motor vehicle fees, the plate requires 2 one-time fees of $25. One of the fees is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other to the licensing services cash fund. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $28,943 is appropriated for use by the division of motor vehicles in the department of revenue (department) to implement the act, of which amount $1,979 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under the law, a business entity submits filing documents that concern the creation, organization, and operations of an entity to the secretary of state through an online filing system. By submitting a document, an individual affirms under penalty of perjury that the individual is authorized to file the document, the facts in the document are true, and the document otherwise complies with the secretary of state's filing requirements. The secretary of state saves the document in an online database as a ministerial act and does not independently verify whether the document is accurate. The act creates a complaint process for a person whose business identity or personal identifying information has been used in the filing of these documents with the secretary of state without authority or for fraudulent activity. If a complaint is submitted with the secretary of state, the secretary must forward the complaint to the attorney general for further investigation. The attorney general may investigate the complaint and refer the complaint to an administrative law judge. If an administrative law judge determines that an entity has been created fraudulently or without authorization, the secretary of state is required to: Mark the business record with a notice that the entity is fraudulent or unauthorized; Redact each address that was used without authorization from the entity's filing and from any other relevant filings; and Disable additional filing functionality on the entity's records. If an administrative law judge determines that an unauthorized filing was made for a legitimate entity, the secretary of state is required to: Mark each unauthorized filing for the entity to notify the public that the filing is unauthorized; Redact from the entity's filing and from the relevant filings each address and name that was used without authorization; and Mark the business record on the entity's filing to notify the public that the entity has been the victim of fraudulent or unauthorized acts. If a person alleged to have committed fraud or unauthorized acts fails to respond to the complaint, the allegations are deemed conceded, and the secretary of state is directed to take the appropriate steps listed above in the same manner as if the finding had been made by an administrative law judge. The act creates a working group to study measures to counteract and prevent fraudulent filings in the online business filing system. The working group has 11 persons who represent the affected state agencies, businesses, and the Colorado bar association. The working group is directed to submit a report to the general assembly by January 31, 2023, containing potential legislative provisions to counteract and prevent fraudulent filings, as well as the costs and benefits associated with each potential legislative provision. The report may include specific recommendations to the general assembly. Fraudulent filings are made an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" and as such are subject to enforcement by the attorney general's office. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to make 2 payments of $6,650,000 to the fire and police pension association for it to deposit in the statewide death and disability trust fund. The first payment on July 1, 2022, is from the general fund, and the second payment on July 1, 2023, is from the newly created death and disability payment cash fund, which consists of money transferred from the general fund on July 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, with certain exceptions, an insurance company that is formed by authority of any other state or government (foreign insurance company) may not transact business in Colorado until it has first appointed, in writing, the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to be the true and lawful attorney of the company in and for Colorado, upon whom all lawful process in any action or proceeding against the company may be served with the same effect as if the company existed in Colorado. However, an insurance company that maintains a home office or regional home office in Colorado is not subject to this requirement but must instead file with the commissioner the name of a person designated to receive service of process. The act removes the requirement that a foreign insurance company appoint the commissioner as its lawful attorney for receipt of service of process and instead requires each insurance company to designate a registered agent for receipt of service of process, regardless of whether the insurance company maintains a home office or regional home office in Colorado. However, service of process may be made on the commissioner if: An insurance company fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent as required; An insurance company's registered agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence; or An insurance company's certificate of authority is revoked. If an individual reasonably relies on the list of registered agents maintained by the commissioner and serves otherwise valid process on the registered agent of an insurance company so designated in the list, and it is later determined that the registered agent listed by the commissioner is not the correct registered agent properly designated by the company, then: The individual may serve process upon the commissioner; and If the individual uses due diligence to serve the commissioner, the applicable statute of limitations is tolled for the period of time beginning when the incorrect registered agent received service of process and ending when the commissioner receives service of process.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)