In connection with the existing requirement that the county clerk and recorder (clerk) must ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in an election in specified circumstances, the act adds a requirement that the applicant be mailed a ballot. The act specifies the following new procedures governing the administration of ballots mailed to an elector toward the end of the voting period: Commencing the 15th day before an election through the 8th day before an election, the act requires the clerk to process all voter registration applications and updates to a voter registration record that requires a new ballot to be sent to an elector within 2 business days of the receipt of the application or update by the county clerk. The act permits an eligible elector to obtain a replacement ballot if the ballot that was originally mailed to the elector was destroyed, spoiled, lost, or for some other reason not received by the elector. The act specifies the process by which the elector requests a replacement ballot. The act prohibits a clerk from mailing a replacement ballot to the elector making the request if the clerk has already received a ballot for the election from the elector making the request. The act requires the clerk to deliver any ballot that must be sent by mail to the United States postal service (USPS) within 2 business days after processing a registration application or update to a voter registration record that requires a new ballot to be sent to an elector. Commencing on the 8th day before an election, the county clerk and recorder must mail all mail ballots to the elector by first class mail. Commencing on the 8th day before an election, the clerk is required to deliver to the USPS any ballot that must be sent by mail within 2 business days after receiving a registration application or an update to a voter registration record that results in the issuance of an original or a replacement ballot to an elector. Any clerk who receives information from the USPS or any third party indicating that ballots have been lost, stolen, or will, for any reason, not be timely delivered to electors, must report the issue to the secretary of state. The act imposes a duty on any person responsible for preparing, issuing, transporting, or mailing ballots who has personal knowledge that mail ballots under that person's care have been either lost or stolen or will, for any reason, not be timely delivered to electors, to report the issue to the clerk. A violation results in a civil penalty not to exceed $50. The reporting and penalty provisions of the act do not apply to election judges, staff of the clerk, or individual United States postal workers.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Current law requires an electrical or plumbing employer to register an apprentice with the respective governing board within 30 days after beginning employment. When an apprentice is no longer employed as an apprentice, the act requires an employer to remove each apprentice from the apprentice program and annually notify the applicable board of the termination of employment. The act requires an employer, an apprenticeship program registered with the United States department of labor's employment and training administration, and a state apprenticeship council recognized by the United States department of labor that employs an apprentice in Colorado to track the number of practical training hours and, for electrician apprentices, the classroom hours of each apprentice and provide the information to the state electrical board or the state plumbing board, as applicable. The boards are required to keep this information confidential. If existing resources or gifts, grants, or donations are available, the boards must provide the reported information to the department's online apprenticeship directory. Contingent on the availability of existing resources within the department or the receipt of gifts, grants, and donations, the act requires electrician apprentices and plumbing apprentices who have been registered with their respective boards for at least 6 years to take a license examination at least every 3 or 2 years, respectively, based on the registration renewal cycle, until the apprentice passes the examination. If an apprentice fails the examination, the apprentice may apply for an exemption from the examination requirement. The act allows an apprentice to request special accommodations to take the examination if the apprentice has a learning disability. Subject to available funds, the department of regulatory agencies, in collaboration with the electrician and plumbing governing boards, industry stakeholders, examination proctors, national code organizations, apprenticeship training coordinators, and the department of labor and employment, is required to conduct research to determine what barriers exist to preparing for and taking the licensing examinations for apprentices for whom English is a second language and report its findings to the general assembly by January 1, 2021. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The office of economic development (office) currently contracts with a nonprofit entity that was designated by the federal defense logistics agency to provide procurement technical assistance statewide (nonprofit entity). The nonprofit entity helps small businesses in the state obtain and perform government contracts at the local, state, and federal level. This includes small businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans. The current 6-year contract between the office and the nonprofit entity will expire in September 2020. The act authorizes the office to renew the contract for up to 5 years. As part of the state's investment in the procurement technical assistance program (state's investment), current law specifies that the general assembly shall not contribute more than $200,000 from the general fund or any other source annually. The act specifies that for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years, the general assembly shall not provide more than $175,000 from the general fund for the state's investment, and that for the 2020-21 state fiscal year only, the office shall provide, within existing resources, the remaining $25,000 toward the state's investment. In addition, the act allows the general assembly to increase its contribution to the state's investment in any contract year so long as the nonprofit entity contributes a 100% match to the increased amount in the same contract year by soliciting gifts, grants, and donations. In addition, the nonprofit entity is required to obtain $200,000 in gifts, grants, or donations annually for part of the state's investment. In the 3rd through 6th contract year of the original contract, current law requires that at least 25% of the $200,000 be in the form of cash. The act extends this requirement for each year of the renewed contract. Current law also requires the state treasurer to annually transfer $220,000 from the general fund to the procurement technical assistance cash fund through the 2019-20 state fiscal year. The act extends the annual transfer through the 2024-25 fiscal year; except that for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years, the amount of the transfer is $175,000. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the victim towing and impound fee grant program (program) in the division of criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety. The division shall make a grant to a statewide nonprofit organization that serves victims of crime (nonprofit organization) to reimburse a victim who has paid a towing or impound fee as a result of criminal activity. The nonprofit organization is required to submit annual reports to the division, and the division is required to submit annual reports to specified committees of the general assembly. The program is repealed, effective July 1, 2023.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Making Higher Education Attainable Interim Study Committee. The bill creates the improve student success innovation pilot program (pilot program) in the department of higher education (department) to implement a program designed to incentivize collaboration among multiple institutions of higher education to improve student success and increase the number of students who complete postsecondary education. When selecting a program or programs for the pilot program, the department and commission on higher education (commission) shall prioritize program proposals that address common barriers to student success and the completion of postsecondary education, as well as other factors. The department and commission shall submit an annual report to the joint budget committee of the general assembly and the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate regarding the efficacy of the program. The general assembly shall appropriate $20 million each year for the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 fiscal years, from the general fund to the department to distribute to the state institutions of higher education selected to implement their projects. The pilot program repeals on July 1, 2024. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires an individual who owns a firearm to report the loss or theft of that firearm to a law enforcement agency within 48 hours after discovering that the firearm was lost or stolen. A first offense for failure to make such a report is a petty offense punishable by a twenty-five dollar fine and a second or subsequent offense is a class 3 misdemeanor. The 48-hour reporting requirement does not apply to a licensed gun dealer. The bill requires a law enforcement agency that receives a report of a lost or stolen firearm to enter information about the lost or stolen firearm into the national crime information center database. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act requires the department of labor and employment to collaborate with the department of education to include in the Colorado state apprenticeship resource directory the name and contact information for at least one designated apprenticeship training program contact for every public high school and school district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Workforce diploma pilot program - performance payments to qualified providers for student outcomes - appropriation. The act creates the workforce diploma pilot program (program) in the department of education (department) to award completion payments to qualified providers for the attainment of certain outcomes achieved by eligible students enrolled in the courses or programs, including earning high school diplomas, course credits, or industry-recognized training certificates. The department shall administer the program. The program will operate in any year in which the general assembly appropriates money for the program. Based on criteria listed in the act, the department shall prepare a list of qualified providers. A qualified provider may be a public, nonprofit, or private accredited, degree-granting organization with at least 2 years of experience in providing adult dropout recovery services resulting in an accredited high school diploma, as well as a local education provider, as defined for purposes of existing adult literacy and education programs. The act sets forth the amount of the payments qualified providers receive for each completion or attainment outcome achieved by their eligible students. The act includes performance standards for qualified providers and allows the department to suspend or remove providers from the list of qualified providers for failing to meet those standards. Qualified providers receiving payments must report certain information to the department. The department shall report to certain committees of the general assembly summarizing the information reported by qualified providers. The act repeals the program in 2022. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $1,012,201 and 0.2 FTE from the general fund to the department of education to implement the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
State electrical board - continuation under sunset law - contemporaneous reviews. The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' (department's) sunset review and report on the state electrical board by: Continuing the functions of the board for 13 years, until 2032 (sections 1 and 2 of the act); Repealing the limitations on the permit fees that local jurisdictions may charge (section 7); Clarifying that cables and systems utilized for conveying power are not exempt from regulation when they are hard-wired into a building's electrical system but that power-limited circuits are exempt (section 7); Defining "direct supervision", with regard to the oversight of apprentices, and "supervision" of electrical work (sections 3, 6, and 9); Repealing the requirement that the board notify an applicant that he or she is qualified to take a licensure examination (section 5); Directing the governor to consider that at least one of the 4 members of the board who must be a master or journeyman electrician should be an electrician who works primarily in the residential sector (section 4); Clarifying that traffic signals are exempt from regulation (section 7); Repealing redundant language regarding an inspection exemption and obsolete language regarding providing copies of the electrical code and standards (section 7); and Subjecting to regulation the alteration of existing facilities that are otherwise exempt from regulation (section 7). Section 8 requires state electrical inspectors or inspectors employed by an incorporated town or city, county, city and county, or qualified state institution of higher education (entity) to develop standard procedures to advise inspectors on how to conduct a contemporaneous review to ensure compliance. Each entity must post its standard procedures on its public website and provide the director of the division of professions and occupations within the department with a link to the web page on which the standard procedures have been posted or, if the entity does not have a website, provide its current procedures to the director for posting on the department's website. The board can issue a cease-and-desist order to an entity that is conducting inspections that do not comply with statutory requirements. Sections 10 through 17 are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Victim notification - eliminate opt-in. With certain exceptions, the act eliminates requirements that victims must opt in to effect their rights in criminal proceedings involving their alleged offender or offender. This act appropriates $784,542 to the department for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More