Rep. Ron Weinberg

Under current law, the driver of a motorcycle is prohibited from overtaking or passing a motor vehicle by driving in the same lane as the motor vehicle or between rows of motor vehicles, a practice known as "lane splitting". The bill requires the Colorado department of transportation, in collaboration with the Colorado state patrol, to conduct a feasibility study of permitting motorcycle lane splitting and report the results of the study to the transportation committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 31, 2023.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act transfers responsibility for regulating recovery residences from the department of public health and environment to the department of health and human services. Upon admission of a client to a recovery residence, the recovery residence must obtain a signed program agreement from the client regarding the requirements the client must meet to reside at the recovery residence. The residence must also create a relapse plan that must be implemented if the client returns to the use of alcohol or drugs. The act requires a recovery residence to implement a client discharge and transfer policy to discharge or transfer a client from a recovery residence in certain circumstances. The policy must be approved by the recovery residence's certifying body before a discharge or transfer may occur. A recovery residence may discharge or transfer a client with 24-hours' notice in certain circumstances and immediately discharge or transfer a client if the client is found in possession of alcohol or drugs. The act requires that prior to discharging a client from a recovery residence, the recovery residence shall provide the client with referrals to treatment or support services, alternative housing options, and recommendations for follow-up care. A recovery residence shall make its code of conduct, drug screening policy, and discharge and transfer policy accessible in all common areas of the residence and may not discriminate based on age, gender, race, or any other basis prohibited by law when determining whether to discharge or transfer a client. The act requires the certifying body to establish a grievance and appeal process for clients to use when they believe they have been wrongfully discharged or transferred from a recovery residence. The act allows a certified recovery residence or client that is adversely affected or aggrieved by a decision made by the certifying body to appeal the decision to the Colorado department of personnel and administration, office of administrative courts. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act changes the time frame required to file a certificate of death with the state registrar from 5 days after a death occurs to 72 hours after the funeral director assumes custody of a dead body, stillborn fetus, or dead fetus unless the individual responsible for completing the medical certification for the death certificate is unable to complete the medical certification for the death certificate within the required time frame, additional inquiry into the cause and manner of death is required by current law, or a coroner, a medical examiner, a forensic pathologist, or other qualified individual determines that additional time is required to determine the cause and manner of death, in which case the certificate of death must be completed and signed as soon as practicable. Any individual, other than a family member of the decedent or other individual acting in a non-professional capacity as the funeral director for the decedent, who is required to initiate, complete, respond to, or file a death certificate must use the electronic death registration system (EDRS) used by the department of public health and environment (department) and the state registrar; except that, a physician who is not yet registered to use the EDRS is not required to use it until March 1, 2024, or the date the physician is registered, whichever is earlier. The department is required to ensure that all physicians are registered to use the EDRS on or before March 1, 2024. The physician responsible for completing the medical certification for a death certificate must do so within 72 hours after receipt of an EDRS request unless current law requires additional inquiry into the cause and manner of death. If a death is or may be due to unnatural causes, a physician required to complete a medical certification for a death certificate shall notify the coroner or the medical examiner when current law requires an inquiry or an autopsy to be performed. The act requires the state registrar to provide a monthly report to the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) that identifies any death certificates for which a medical certification was not completed in a timely manner, and DORA is required to promptly provide the report to the Colorado medical board. DORA is also required to report annually to its legislative oversight committees regarding the number of complaints that DORA received and the number of disciplinary actions taken against a licensee. On and after March 1, 2024, the act defines as "unprofessional conduct" for purposes of the "Colorado Medical Practices Act" repeated or willful failure without reasonable cause to comply with the requirements of completing a medical certification for a death certificate in accordance with any applicable deadline. The act generally requires a decedent's established primary care physician to complete the medical certification for the decedent's death certificate if the death appears to be due to natural causes and is determined as such with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the decedent received medical care from the primary care physician within a year of the death, the death occurred when the decedent was not under the direct care of another physician charged with the decedent's care during the illness or condition that resulted in death, and an inquiry into the death is not required. However, if within a year of the death, the decedent had been treated by a physician other than the decedent's established primary care physician for a chronic condition or terminal illness related to the decedent's death, the death appears to be due to natural causes and is determined as such with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, and an inquiry into the death is not required, that physician is responsible for completing the medical certification for the death certificate. Any deadline in the act by which an individual is required to complete an action relating to a certificate of death or a medical certification for a certificate of death is extended by one day per day of closure if the business or facility at which the individual is employed is actually closed for an entire calendar day that is a weekend day or a legal holiday. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The majority of state employees who are paid through the state's payroll system (state employees) are paid monthly and some state employees are paid biweekly. In 2015, in anticipation of the implementation of a new payroll system for state employees, the general assembly enacted an act to require that all state employees be paid twice a month for pay periods that began on or after July 1, 2017. Because the payroll system that would have paid state employees twice a month was not implemented, the act: Repeals the requirement that state employees be paid twice a month and restores the monthly and biweekly pay periods; Repeals the one-time loan program that would have allowed any state employee to apply to the department of personnel for a loan to assist the employee in July 2017, when the transition to the twice a month payroll system would have created a 2-week lag in state employees' pay; and Repeals the state personnel director's authority to delay the date by which state employees would be paid twice a month, as the state personnel director no longer intends to implement a twice a month payroll system. In addition, state employee salaries that are paid on a monthly basis are paid on the last working day of the month; except that the salary for the month of June is paid on the first working day of July (pay-day shift). The act codifies current practice by specifying that the pay-day shift does not apply to institutions of higher education. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act: Eliminates the requirement that a local government hold an election before providing or before operating a facility to provide cable television, telecommunications, or broadband internet services to subscribers; Eliminates the requirement that a local government hold an election to enter into a private partnership to allow a private provider to use local government facilities in connection with the private provider offering cable television service, telecommunications service, broadband internet service, or middle mile infrastructure; and Specifies that a local government may provide middle mile infrastructure, which is broadband infrastructure that does not connect directly to an end-user location. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Usually, an owner of agricultural equipment must seek diagnostic, maintenance, or repair services of the equipment from the agricultural equipment manufacturer (manufacturer). Starting January 1, 2024, the act requires a manufacturer to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic, maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information (resources), to independent repair providers and owners of the manufacturer's agricultural equipment to allow an independent repair provider or owner to conduct diagnostic, maintenance, or repair services on the owner's agricultural equipment. A manufacturer's failure to comply with the requirement to provide resources is a deceptive trade practice. The act folds agricultural equipment into the existing consumer right-to-repair statutes and adds data to the list of resources that a manufacturer must provide to independent repair providers or owners. An independent repair provider or owner is not authorized to make any modifications to agricultural equipment that deactivates a safety notification system or brings the equipment out of compliance with safety or emissions laws or to engage in any conduct that would evade emissions, copyright, trademark, or patent laws. If an agricultural equipment manufacturer enters into a nationwide memorandum of understanding regarding right-to-repair agricultural equipment, the manufacturer is still obligated to meet the requirements of this act. If Congress enacts federal legislation regarding the right to repair agricultural equipment, this act will be repealed. APPROVED by Governor April 25, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A license plate expires when the owner transfers or assigns the title or interest in the associated motor vehicle and that the owner cannot transfer such a license plate to another motor vehicle. The act exempts license plates issued to the operator of a motor vehicle fleet (fleet operator) that are easily legible and in good condition from such expiration and allows a fleet operator to transfer license plates from one fleet vehicle to another when the fleet operator transfers or assigns the owner's title or interest in the fleet vehicle from which the number plates are being transferred. For state fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $2,700 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor April 24, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act enacts the "Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act" (act), drafted by the uniform law commission. The act applies to the parent, guardian, or custodian of a child, or an individual with whom a child has been placed for adoption, who wishes to terminate the parent-child relationship and is not transferring custody to family or friends. The act prohibits soliciting or advertising to transfer custody or transferring custody of a child by means other than a legal adoption or guardianship proceeding, a judicial award of custody, other judicial or tribal action, or Colorado's safe haven law. The act applies to the placement for adoption of a child who has been or is in foster care or institutional care, has previously been adopted, or is in the process of being adopted. The act requires child placement agencies facilitating an adoption to: Provide prospective adoptive parents with general information about adopting children, specific information about the prospective adoptee, and guidance and instruction on meeting the needs of the adoptee; and Upon the request of a child placed for adoption or the child's adoptive parents, provide information on accessing certain post-placement and post-adoption support services to the adoptee and parent to help preserve the adoption. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes the executive director of the department of revenue (state licensing authority), pursuant to standards and processes that the state licensing authority establishes by rule, to: Issue an administrative hold on the movement of medical or retail marijuana pending an investigation; Embargo medical or retail marijuana when the state licensing authority finds objective and reasonable grounds to believe that the health, safety, or welfare of the public imperatively requires emergency action; and Order the destruction of embargoed medical or retail marijuana after notice and opportunity for a hearing. APPROVED by Governor March 23, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)