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.)
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The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/sb21-260-bill-summary(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $1,500,000 from the general fund to the family and medical leave insurance fund for the purpose of defraying expenses incurred by the division of family and medical leave insurance (division) before the division receives premium revenue or revenue bond proceeds. The transfer is a loan from the state treasurer to the division that is required to be repaid and is not a grant for purposes of the state constitution or any other state law.The division is required to repay the loan and accumulated interest by December 31, 2023.Of the $1,500,000 transferred pursuant to the act:$1,162,202 is available for use by the division for program costs, including an additional 6.0 FTE; $231,920 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department of labor and employment; and $105,878 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of labor and employment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $5 million from the general fund to the local government severance tax fund for the purpose of funding grants to local governments for renewable and clean energy infrastructure implementation projects. The grants must be made by August 15, 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter, and the department of local affairs, which makes the grants, is required to report to the general assembly regarding the grants during its 2022 annual "SMART Act" presentation to legislative committees of reference. $5 million is appropriated from the local government severance tax fund to the division of local government of the department of local affairs for state fiscal year 2020-21 so that the division can make the grants, and any of the money not expended before July 1, 2021, is further appropriated to the division for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 state fiscal years for the same purpose.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the bill enacts the "Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act", which: Continues the Colorado civil rights division (division) and the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) indefinitely; Directs the division to include "harassment" as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism; Allows an employment discrimination claim to be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county or district where the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; and allows an individual to file a civil action, without otherwise exhausting administrative proceedings and remedies, as long as the individual either files a charge with the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) or serves a written demand for the relief on the individual's employer and allows the employer 14 days to respond; Directs the division to develop and provide to employers, free of charge, training and education programs regarding the prevention of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, bystander intervention, and workplace civility; Expands the definition of "employee" to include individuals in domestic service individuals who perform a service for a price, including independent contractors, subcontractors, and their employees; and individuals who offer services or labor without pay and specifies that an individual performing services for pay for another is deemed an employee unless, by a preponderance of the evidence, it is proven that the individual satisfies the conditions under the state wage law for a determination that the individual is not an employee; Adds a requirement that a written, electronic, or oral agreement or contract under which a person performs services for another must require that the person for whom the services are performed shall not engage in any discriminatory or unfair employment practice with respect to the individual performing the services ; Adds new definitions of "caregiver", "care recipient", "child", "minor child", and "harass" or "harassment" "hostile work environment", and "independent contractor" and repeals the current definition of "harass" that requires creation of a hostile work environment; Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their "marital status" or "caregiver status"; Specifies that in harassment claims, the alleged conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or unfair employment practice, and an employer has an affirmative defense to the claim if the employer demonstrates that, when the employer knew or should have known of the harassment, the employer took prompt, reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action to end the harassment, deter future harassers, and protect employees; Specifies that it is a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to fail to initiate an investigation of a complaint or fail to take prompt , reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action; if appropriate; Specifies the requirements for an employer to avoid liability when an employee proves that a supervisor unlawfully harassed that employee;Prohibits certain preemployment medical examinations, imposes limitations on inquiries and examinations about an employee's disability during employment, and specifies that violations of these prohibitions and limitations constitute discriminatory or unfair employment practices; Expands the time limit to file a charge with the commission from 6 months to 300 days after the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; Repeals the limits on remedies in cases involving age discrimination; Limits the ability of an employer to require confidentiality of claims once a charge is filed with the commission Specifies requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and employee to be enforceable; voids a nondisclosure provision if a party makes a material misrepresentation; and requires the division to provide to a charging party other charges filed with the division against the same respondent; and Requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide and maintain records of training and education to all employees regarding harassment and discrimination prevention, bystander intervention, and workplace civility, encourages other employers to provide the training and education, and authorizes the division director to impose penalties on employers that fail to comply with the training and recordkeeping requirements. The bill appropriates the following amounts to the following departments to implement the bill: $539,292 and 6.0 FTE to the department of corrections; $71,905 and 0.8 FTE to the department of education; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the office of the governor; $22,471 and 0.5 FTE to the department of health care policy and financing; $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the department of human services; $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the judicial department; $107,858 and 1.2 FTE to the department of labor and employment; $401,180 and 2.5 FTE to the department of law; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of natural resources; $630,465 and 1.5 FTE to the department of personnel; $125,835 and 1.4 FTE to the department of public health and environment; $161,788 and 1.8 FTE to the department of public safety; $652,879 and 9.7 FTE to the department of regulatory agencies; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of revenue; and $269,646 and 3.0 FTE to the department of transportation. (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.)
Current law does not prevent a higher education institution (institution) from considering legacy preferences and familial relationships to alumni of the institution as eligible criteria for admissions standards. The act prohibits a governing board of a state-supported higher education institution (governing board) from considering legacy preferences and familial relationships to alumni of the institution in the admissions process. The act allows a governing board to ask questions regarding familial relationships to alumni of the institution in order to collect data.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends provisions related to the operation of the regional transportation district (district), including:Amending a cap on the amount of all vehicular service the district can allow to be provided by third parties under competitive contracts to be measured by platform time or its equivalent; Expanding the types of entities the district can contract with to include nonprofit organizations and local government; Repealing farebox recovery ratio requirements and requiring the district to include in its annual financial reports information on annual operating costs, ridership numbers, and operating costs divided by ridership as a measure of the cost efficiency of its services; Repealing a limitation on developments that would reduce parking at a facility or result in a competitive disadvantage to private businesses near the facility; and Repealing limitations on the district's authority to charge fees and manage parking at district parking facilities.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a physician is required to conduct an in-person physical examination of a person prior to certifying that the person would benefit from medical marijuana. The bill permits a physician to treat, counsel, and conduct appropriate personal physical examinations, in person or remotely via telephone or video conference, to establish a bona fide physician-patient relationship with a patient seeking a medical marijuana card. Under current law, retail marijuana stores are prohibited from selling retail marijuana and retail marijuana products online and to a person not physically present in the retail marijuana store's licensed premises. The bill repeals this prohibition. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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, 2022, 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. 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 3 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 4 requires the assessor to correct the error for the other similar properties.Sections 4 through 9 extend all deadlines related to protests of the valuation of real or personal property and for appeals to the county board of equalization to the same day of the following month. The deadline for a county assessor to report the total valuation for assessment of land and improvements within a county is likewise delayed.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act makes it a deceptive trade practice for a person to knowingly or intentionally manufacture, import, distribute, sell, offer for sale, install, or reinstall a device intended to replace a supplemental restraint system component if the device is:A counterfeit supplemental restraint system component; A nonfunctional airbag; or Any object in lieu of a supplemental restraint system component that was not designed in accordance with federal safety regulations for the make, model, and year of the motor vehicle in which it is or will be installed. The act also prohibits a motor vehicle repair facility or any employee or contract laborer of the facility from installing or reinstalling any device that causes the motor vehicle's diagnostic systems to fail to warn that:The motor vehicle is equipped with a counterfeit supplemental restraint system component; The motor vehicle is equipped with a nonfunctional airbag; or No airbag is installed.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)