Rep. Hugh McKean

The act requires all public higher education institutions (institutions) in Colorado to provide to Colorado resident students who have been in foster care or, following an adjudication as neglected or dependent, in noncertified kinship care in Colorado at any time on or after reaching the age of 13 (qualifying students), financial assistance for the remaining balance of the student's total cost of attendance in excess of the amount of any private, state, or federal financial assistance received by the student (remaining balance financial assistance). Subject to available appropriations, the act requires the Colorado commission on higher education to provide to an institution money to cover 50 percent of the remaining balance financial assistance provided by the institution to qualifying students. The institutions are required to designate an employee to serve as a liaison to qualifying and prospective qualifying students. The act requires the department of higher education to designate four full-time equivalent employees as foster care student navigators to provide guidance to prospective qualifying students with selecting institutions and programs and to assist students with completing an institution's application for admission, the free application for federal student aid, and, if eligible, the application for a Chafee ETV grant. School district and state charter school institute child welfare education liaisons are required to provide students in out-of-home placement with information and assistance regarding remaining balance financial assistance for qualifying students. The act appropriates $2,610,575 from the general fund to the department of higher education for aid for foster students. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The Colorado housing and finance authority (CHFA), under the Colorado affordable tax credit program, may allocate income tax credits in an annual aggregate amount of up to $10 million for the years beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2024. The bill extends this period to December 31, 2031. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill expands the state sales and use tax exemption for food, which currently exempts most food for domestic home consumption, by also exempting from state sales and use tax most food that is not for domestic home consumption and is instead prepared for on-site consumption at a restaurant, grocery store, or other establishment or to be carried out and consumed without additional cooking or preparation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under existing law, the keeper of a jail is required to submit a quarterly report of inmate information to the division of criminal justice within the department of public safety (division), and the division is required to publish that information in a searchable and sortable format. That requirement is set to repeal on January 31, 2023. The act strikes the repeal. The act requires the inmate information collected to include each inmate's age. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $4,918 from the general fund and authorizes 0.1 FTE to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for administrative services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act allows local education providers, upon entering into an agreement with an individual or entity that offers hunter education courses certified by the division of parks and wildlife (division), to provide a hunter education course (course) to all seventh graders. The act does not preclude a local education provider from offering hunter education courses as an elective course in any other grade. The course must satisfy the requirements of a hunter education course certified by the division; except that hands-on activities are not required. The course must be taught by a division-certified instructor. A parent or legal guardian must provide permission for a student to participate in any hands-on activities that are offered as part of the course. A hunter education course shall only allow the possession of inert firearms and dummy rounds on the grounds of any elementary, middle, junior high, or high school. The act defines local education providers to mean school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services that enroll students in seventh grade. The parks and wildlife commission may accept completion of a course toward meeting the requirements of a hunter education certificate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act changes the deadline to appoint nonlegislative members to the Colorado youth advisory council (council) and removes the requirement that nonlegislative members be selected by a majority vote of the council. The act repeals the requirement to appoint council co-chairs and vice-chairs, requires the council to adopt written bylaws setting forth a leadership structure for the council, and clarifies that the council can elect members to serve in any leadership position described in its bylaws. The act requires that 2 of the council's 4 meetings each year be held in person. The act changes the council's annual reporting requirement so that the council reports to the Colorado youth advisory council review committee (review committee) during the interim. The act requires the chair of the review committee and the chair of the legislative council to sign council contracts and requires the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives to appoint the chair and vice-chair of the review committee on an annually alternating basis. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a neighborhood youth organization (NYO) serves youth as young as 6 years of age and as old as 18 years of age. The act lowers the minimum age of a youth member to 5 years of age if the youth is in kindergarten. The act permits an NYO to create an electronic or written process to record the daily arrival and departure times of youth members in order to track attendance, assess the impact of programs and services on youth members, and ensure an NYO operates in the best interest and safety of youth members. The act requires each NYO to maintain a complete set of records for youth members and personnel. Each neighborhood youth organization is required to maintain the confidentiality of certain records that are not subject to review by the public. Records concerning the licensing of an NYO's facilities and agencies are open to the public and a person who wishes to review a record must submit a written request to the department of human services. The act requires that an NYO's programs and services must occur primarily in a facility the NYO leases or owns or has been granted use of or access to. The act requires an NYO to offer programs and services that are evidence- or research-based, age-appropriate, and foster supportive relationships with peers and adults while offering character and leadership development, academic supports, job skills training, behavioral health supports, health and nutrition services, and other critical resources and services that a community identifies as necessary. An NYO serves all children, youth, and families, but with a focus on programs and services that ensure affordable access for low-income populations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes changes related to the requirements for various boards and commissions (boards). Section 1 of the act includes standard provisions that generally apply to boards for which membership is based in full or in part on representation from the congressional districts of the state. Specifically, unless a statute or constitutional provision creating a board provides otherwise: If a member appointed to represent a district no longer resides in the district due solely to a change in the district's boundaries following redistricting, the member may serve the remainder of their term notwithstanding the nonresidency; If a board increases in size due to the addition of a new congressional district in the state, the appointing authority shall appoint a new member to represent the new district as soon as practicable; and If a board decreases in size due to the loss of a congressional district in the state, the appointing authority shall determine which current member's term should be terminated, or, if the member will be replaced by an at-large or other member, which member should be replaced at the expiration of the member's term. The appointing authority must attempt to ensure that the remaining membership adequately represents the remaining congressional districts. Section 2 establishes standard provisions that apply to all boards unless the statute or constitutional provision creating a board provides otherwise. The standard provisions include: Requiring an appointing authority to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term; Allowing the designee of a state official who is an ex officio member of a board to fulfill the official's duties on the board; Defining the term "minimum majority" to mean the lowest number of members of a board that is more than half; Allowing members to participate in meetings of the board remotely if allowed by a board's policies or bylaws; and Clarifying that only a partial term that is more than half the length of a standard term counts towards any applicable term limit. Sections 33 and 40 update the statutes that establish the membership of the state board of education and the board of regents of the university of Colorado, respectively, both of which are elected boards created in the state constitution. For the state board of education, section 33 provides for the election of one new member to represent the eighth congressional district and one new member from the state at large at the 2022 general election. For the board of regents, section 40 requires the election of a member to represent the eighth congressional district in place of the election of a member representing the state at large at the 2022 general election. Sections 37, 42, 52, 60, 73, 85, 86, 90, 101, and 107 amend statutes governing boards for which membership is based on the number of congressional districts in the state. For each board, the total number of members is no longer specified. Instead, each statute provides for the appointment of members from each congressional district in the state plus, as applicable, additional members as is currently provided for each board. Provisions requiring staggering of terms and limits on the number of board members who may be affiliated with a single political party are amended to refer to a "minimum majority" of the board to accommodate any future changes in board membership resulting from changes in the number of Colorado congressional districts. Section 133 repeals a statute that addressed the impact of redistricting on boards following the 2000 federal decennial census and a statute that adjusted the lengths of terms of members of certain boards in 1987. The remaining sections of the act make changes to statutory provisions governing various boards with appointed members, including: Repealing deadlines for events or actions that have already occurred; Repealing language setting specific expiration dates or requirements for board members' terms in order to create staggering of the board members' terms and replacing it with a general requirement that terms be staggered; Repealing requirements for notice and hearing before a board member can be removed for cause by an appointing authority; Repealing, for certain boards, the requirement that a board member serve until the board member's successor is confirmed by the senate; Updating archaic language to conform to current drafting standards; Reorganizing sections to clarify requirements related to appointments, qualifications for appointees, and terms of office; Clarifying requirements related to the number of board members that may be affiliated with one political party; and Making conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)