Various deadlines related to ballot access requirements for candidates are extended in 2020 due to public health concerns. Parties may amend their bylaws as needed during 2020 to allow remote participation in assemblies and conventions and to fill vacancies. Delegates to assemblies may participate remotely if allowed by the party, and parties may reduce or waive any quorum requirements to allow assemblies to proceed. Members of vacancy committees may participate in meetings remotely if allowed by the party, and parties may determine whether to allow proxies at vacancy committee meetings. The ability of the state chair to fill a vacancy is extended to situations in which the vacancy occurs because the designation was not filled by the assembly or the vacancy committee. If a party has restrictions in its rules or bylaws concerning the timing of notice requirements for meetings of the state central committee or other meetings, the timing requirements may be waived so long as at least 3 days notice is given. If a designated election official is not able to receive candidate petitions due to public health concerns, the official may extend the deadline to file the petitions or designate an alternate filing location, or both. Signatures gathered after the original deadline are not valid. The modifications are repealed effective December 31, 2020. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The bill prohibits an employer from requiring union membership or payment of union dues as a condition of employment. The bill creates civil and criminal penalties for employer violations regarding union membership and authorizes the attorney general and the district attorney in each judicial district to investigate alleged violations and take action against a person believed to be in violation. The bill states that all-union agreements are unfair labor practices.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the "Child Safety Account Act", which allows for a student who is directly affected by or involved in a safety incident occurring at a public school, but is not the perpetrator, to qualify for a child safety account. A child safety account is an account that must be used to pay for eligible expenses necessary for the education of the qualified student. The bill requires the department of education (department) to contract with an entity that will administer the child safety account program (administering entity). Upon the creation of a child safety account, the department shall transfer to the administering entity an amount equal to the state share of per pupil revenues of the enrolling school district or institute charter school for the budget year in which the account is created and deduct the amount transferred from that amount that the department distributes to the school district's or institute charter school's budget for the budget year. The general assembly shall annually appropriate to the department the amount required to be transferred from the department to the administering entity for the child safety accounts. In a budget year in which the general assembly does not appropriate a sufficient amount to fully fund the child safety accounts, the department shall reduce the amount transferred to the administering entity for distribution to each child safety account by the same percentage that the deficit bears to the amount required to fully fund the child safety accounts. If a child safety account has been closed, any amount remaining in the account must be transferred to the department, and the department shall transfer the money to the treasurer for deposit into the general fund. In order to qualify for a child safety account, the parent of a student must apply to the administering entity. A child safety account continues to be active, without need for renewal, until the qualified student completes twelfth grade or ceases to be enrolled in a participating school or nonpublic home-based educational program. Any unexpended amount left in the child safety account at the end of a school year remains in the account and may be expended on eligible expenses in subsequent school years and used for eligible expenses while the student remains enrolled in an institution of higher education. The administering entity is required to monitor the expenses made from money in child safety accounts. If it appears the money in a child safety account was used for an expense that was not an eligible expense, the administering entity is required to convene a review committee to determine whether the expense was an eligible expense, and if not an eligible expense, whether it was a good-faith mistake. The review committee is required to take appropriate action depending upon the outcome of the review. The administering entity is required to oversee scholarship-granting organizations. A scholarship-granting organization shall accept scholarship applications from qualified students with child safety accounts, who shall use the awarded amounts to pay for eligible expenses above the amount credited to the child safety account. The scholarship-granting organization shall also accept donations from individuals or corporations for scholarship applicants. The bill creates an income tax credit for parents of qualified students with child safety accounts for payments of eligible expenses above the amount provided through a child safety account. The bill creates a tax credit to encourage donations for individuals or corporations that donate to scholarship-granting organizations for scholarships for qualified students with child safety accounts. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
A conservation easement is an agreement in which a property owner agrees to limit the use of his or her land in perpetuity in order to protect one or more specified conservation purposes. The instruments creating the conservation easement are recorded in the public records affecting the ownership of the property. The conservation easement is held by a third party, which monitors the use of the land and ensures that the terms of the agreement are upheld. Prior to creating a conservation easement, section 1 of the bill requires the property owner to sign a disclosure form acknowledging certain specified consequences and risks of creating the easement on his or her land. Section 3 requires the commissioner of agriculture to work with local government officials to create a database of conservation easements in the state. The database includes specified information about the easements and a corresponding map displaying each easement in the state relative to county boundaries. Local government officials and the commissioner of agriculture are authorized to enter into contracts to assist in gathering information for the database. The bill specifies the sources of information that may be used to create the database. The commissioner of agriculture is required to annually update the information in the database and make the information and corresponding map available to the public at no charge on the department of agriculture's website. When a conservation easement agreement, amendment, or transfer is recorded with a county clerk and recorder, section 2 requires a complete copy of the agreement, amendment, or transfer to be submitted to the commissioner of agriculture and the county tax assessor of the county in which the easement is located. The commissioner of agriculture is required to create a tracking form with specified information for each conservation easement agreement, amendment, or transfer submitted. The tracking forms are made available on the department of agriculture's website and can be used by the commissioner of agriculture to create and maintain the database of conservation easements. For any state income tax credit claimed for a donation of a conservation easement that is disallowed, section 3 also allows a landowner to elect to either extinguish the conservation easement for which the credit was claimed or receive an equitable relief payment from the state. If a landowner elects to extinguish the conservation easement, the bill requires the department of revenue to reimburse the taxpayer for all reasonable costs incurred by the landowner in establishing the conservation easement donation as well any federal or state income tax liability incurred by the taxpayer. The attorney general is required to assist landowners with executing any documents required to seek a court order to extinguish a conservation easement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
With certain exceptions, current law limits the authority of a person who holds a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun by prohibiting a permit holder from carrying a concealed handgun on public elementary, middle, junior high, or high school grounds. The bill removes this limitation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Gambling - betting on sports events - legalization - creation of division of sports betting - rule-making authority - taxation - submission of ballot issue under Taxpayers' Bill of Rights - allocation of tax revenues - appropriation. In 2018, the United States supreme court held in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association , 138 S. Ct. 1461, that a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting violated the tenth amendment of the United States constitution. States may now authorize sports betting. The act decriminalizes sports betting in Colorado, effective May 1, 2020, under the following conditions: The collection of a tax on the net proceeds of sports betting must be approved by the registered electors of Colorado at the November 2019 general election; Sports betting will be regulated by the department of revenue, subject to supervision by the existing limited gaming control commission; A limited number of licenses will be issued. Persons or entities currently licensed to conduct limited gaming (i.e., the owners of casinos in Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek) are the only persons or entities eligible to hold a "master license" to conduct sports betting upon paying a license fee and submitting to background checks. A master license entitles the licensee to contract with a licensed "sports betting operator" or a licensed "internet sports betting operator", or both, for the operation of sports betting. The conduct of sports betting in Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek is further conditioned on approval by the voters of the respective city in a local election to be held concurrently with the statewide election in November 2019; and The state will collect a tax of 10% on the net proceeds of sports betting activity to fund implementation of the state water plan and other public purposes. Of the total amount of tax collected, after first repaying the general fund appropriation for startup and initial operating costs, 6% is set aside annually to compensate the beneficiaries of revenues generated by limited gaming and other wagering activities for any losses attributable to competition from sports betting. $1,739,015 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for startup and initial operating costs in the 2019-20 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
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