On July 1, 2024, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer $3.8 million from the general fund to the regional talent development initiative grant program fund to address workforce shortages in infrastructure and building trades. Of this amount, the office of economic development (office) is authorized to use not more than 7% for the administrative costs incurred to administer the regional talent development initiative grant program. The regional talent summit grant program (grant program) is created and is administered by the office. The grant program, through a selection committee, will award grants to and contract with a program facilitator to convene and facilitate regional summits across the state. The goals of the program facilitator are to understand workforce development needs in identified regions of the state, generate a landscape analysis for each identified region that includes job projections and an overview of educational pathways, gather insight from employers about critical workforce and training needs, create regional goals for addressing talent needs, and develop comprehensive tactical plans. Beginning January 1, 2026, any modified or new local workforce development plan must incorporate the tactical plans. The workforce development plans must be published in the Colorado talent report. The program facilitator must complete all regional talent summits on or before July 1, 2025, and submit workforce plans as a result of the regional talent summits by December 1, 2025. The grant program, through a selection committee, will also award grants to one or more regional hosts to secure facilities to host regional talent summits, determine community partners to attend the summits, and gather insight from regional employers about critical workforce and training needs. The regional talent summit grant program fund (fund) is created in the state treasury. On July 1, 2024, the state treasurer is required to transfer $200,000 from the general fund to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office to be used for purposes of the grant program. The act establishes a state income tax credit (tax credit) for the costs of facility improvement and equipment acquisition associated with training programs designed to alleviate workforce shortages beginning January 1, 2026. A qualified taxpayer in a qualified industry may earn a tax credit equal to up to 50% of the costs incurred by the qualified taxpayer to improve its facilities and acquire equipment. The tax credit is refundable and may not be carried forward. To claim the tax credit, a qualified taxpayer must first reserve the tax credit by applying to be in the evaluation pool established by the office. A selection committee will consider the merits of each application to determine which taxpayers are qualified to reserve the tax credit. If a taxpayer is qualified and approved, the taxpayer is required to incur facility improvements and equipment acquisition costs to claim the tax credit. If the applicant submits evidence that the costs were incurred during the income tax year for which the applicant applied, and those costs are certified by a certified public accountant, the applicant may be awarded a tax credit. The aggregate amount of tax credits reserved in one calendar year cannot exceed $15 million and the amount is decreased to $7.5 million if the September revenue forecasts by legislative council or the office of state planning and budgeting project that state revenues will not increase by at least 4% for that fiscal year. A person or organization not subject to tax or a person or organization exempt from taxes is required to make and file a return containing information prescribed by the executive director to claim the tax credit. The workforce development tax credit program cash fund (fund) is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of gifts, grants, donations, and fee revenue credited to the fund and any money the general assembly may appropriate to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office for the purpose of administering the tax credit. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $109,603 from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs. The appropriation may be used for opportunity now grant administration. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
To improve the clarity and certainty of the statutes, the bill amends, repeals, and reconstructs various statutory provisions of law that are obsolete, imperfect, or inoperative. The specific reasons for each amendment or repeal are set forth in the appendix to the bill. The amendments made by the bill are not intended to change the meaning or intent of the statutes, as amended. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires telecommunications providers that operate in Colorado to remove, discontinue, or replace all critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes equipment from a federally banned entity. The act requires telecommunications providers to register with the division of homeland security and emergency management (division) within the department of public safety on or before January 15, 2025, and annually certify thereafter that the telecommunications provider is: Not operating critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes equipment from a federally banned entity; or Participating in the federal reimbursement program established by the federal "Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019" and is in compliance with the reimbursement program. The act requires a telecommunications provider that operates critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes federally banned equipment to register with the division each year until all of the federally banned equipment has been removed or replaced. The act creates the secure telecommunications cash fund for the collection of registration fees that will be used to implement the program. The act also grants the director of the division rule-making authority to implement the requirements of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law commonly known as the "lemon law" requires a manufacturer, a manufacturer's agent, or a manufacturer's authorized dealer (dealer) to replace or buy back a motor vehicle if the consumer notified the dealer within the earlier of the warranty period or one year after original delivery of the motor vehicle (notification time) of the motor vehicle's nonconformity with the motor vehicle's warranty (nonconformity) and the motor vehicle underwent a reasonable number of attempts to repair. The number of repairs are considered reasonable if: The motor vehicle was out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of 30 or more business days; or The dealer tried unsuccessfully to repair the motor vehicle 4 or more times. The act: Expands the lemon law to cover motor vehicles affected by safety-based nonconformities; Expands the notification time to include the earlier of the motor vehicle's first 24,000 miles or 2 years after original delivery of the motor vehicle; Lowers the number of out-of-service business days from 30 to 24; and Lowers the number of required attempts to repair from 4 to 3 generally and to 2 for a safety-based nonconformity. Current law requires a manufacturer to be notified of a defect and be given an opportunity to cure the defect in order to be subject to the reasonable repairs presumption. The act adds a 10-business-day limit on the opportunity to cure the defect. Current law allows a dealer, when buying back a motor vehicle, to deduct a reasonable allowance for use. The act sets a formula for determining the reasonable allowance for use. Current law exempts from the lemon law motor vehicles that have a problem that does not affect the market value of the motor vehicle. The act provides that the problem must not affect the safety of the motor vehicle to qualify for the exemption. The act changes the statute of limitations from the earlier of 6 months after the expiration of a warranty or within one year after the original delivery of the motor vehicle to 30 months after the original delivery. The act requires a dealer to allow an agent of a purchaser to inspect a motor vehicle or provide a 7-day free-look period, during which the purchaser may return the motor vehicle and receive a refund of all money paid to purchase the motor vehicle. The dealer must notify purchasers of this inspection right. To make the inspection, an agent may have reasonable access to conduct the inspection, but the agent must be qualified to use or operate any equipment used to inspect the vehicle and must not interfere with normal business operations of the dealer. A dealer is required to give certain notices that a motor vehicle was returned, including notifying the department of revenue (department). The department must put a brand on the title to notify subsequent purchasers. Failing to comply with the act is grounds for discipline for a manufacturer or distributor of motor vehicles. To implement the act, $19,605 is appropriated for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to the department from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado fire commission (commission) was created in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety. The commission is set to be repealed, effective September 1, 2024, and is subject to a sunset review prior to its repeal. The act implements the recommendations in the department of regulatory agencies' 2023 sunset report to extend the commission's repeal date until September 1, 2033, and requires a sunset review prior to its repeal. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, when a person is arrested in a case of mistaken identity, the arresting agency is required to petition the court for an expungement order. The act allows the defendant in a mistaken identity case to petition for an expungement order if the arresting agency does not file a petition within the prescribed timeframe. The defendant is not subject to any fees or costs associated with expunging the record. A court can grant an attorney access to a sealed record if the defendant in the sealed case provides permission and the attorney is accessing the record for the sole purpose of providing legal advice to or representing the defendant. The act clarifies that a deferred judgment is eligible for record sealing if the underlying offense would be eligible for record sealing. The act allows a hearing related to sealing matters to be conducted remotely, clarifies procedures for automatic sealing, and creates a record-sealing procedure for convictions records for when a statutory change legalizes previously prohibited conduct. On or before July 1, 2025, the state court administrator shall compile a list of certain types of non-conviction criminal justice records (non-conviction records) with dispositions prior to August 2022. The state court administrator shall sort the non-conviction records by judicial district and send the final list to the chief judge of each judicial district. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law establishes a schedule of filing fees for litigants in civil actions in county courts. The act eliminates the fee for a defendant filing an answer in an eviction proceeding. Current law permits a party to submit and a county court to grant a motion to waive filing fees in a residential eviction action. The act removes the process for securing a waiver of these filing fees. Current law prohibits a county court from assessing fees when indigent parties e-file motions, answers, or documents in connection with evictions. The act removes the reference to indigent parties and instead prohibits a county court from charging defendants fees for filing motions, answers, or other documents in evictions. If a pro se defendant files an answer or other document physically instead of electronically, the act requires a county court, on a defendant's behalf, to timely serve the document on a plaintiff. The act prohibits the court from charging a fee related to the service. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $122,743 to the judicial department from the general fund. The judicial department may use $3,623 for general courts administration and $119,120 for information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements, with amendments, the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) in its sunset review and report on the division of financial services (division), which is created within DORA. Specifically, the act: Continues the division and the financial services board (board) for 9 years, until 2033; Authorizes a credit union to merge with a credit union that is chartered in another state; Increases the maximum civil penalty for violating a cease-and-desist order or suspension order from $1,000 per day to $5,000 per day; Repeals a provision that prohibits credit unions from having overlapping geographic fields of membership; Repeals a requirement that the board send hearing notices by certified or registered mail; Authorizes a credit union to determine the date upon which its fiscal year ends and the date of the credit union's annual membership meeting; and Replaces gender-specific language with gender-neutral language. Additionally, the act removes obsolete statutory references to the federal office of thrift supervision, which no longer exists. Under Colorado law pertaining to life care institutions, an entrance fee is an initial or deferred transfer to or for the benefit of a provider of a sum of money or other property made or promised to be made as full or partial consideration for the acceptance or maintenance of a specified individual as a resident in a life care facility. The act states that if an entrance fee is in the form of a sum of money, the sum must be greater than 4 times the amount of a regular periodic charge under a life care contract at the life care facility. The act also clarifies that: The term "life care" includes the occupancy of a living unit, nutrition services, and nursing services; A resident's living unit may change based on the appropriate care needs of the resident; and The term "provider" does not include a unit owners' association of a common interest community. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends the human trafficking council for 7 years. Under current law, members of the human trafficking council serve without compensation. The act requires appointed survivor council members receive an hourly rate for time attending council meetings not to exceed 8 hours per meeting at the expert witness rate. The existing address confidentiality program allows victims of domestic violence, sex offenses, and stalking and persons involved in the provision of reproductive health care to use a substitute address for purposes of public records and confidential mail forwarding. The act adds victims of human trafficking as persons who can use the address confidentiality program. The act allows an individual convicted of a crime that is not subject to the "Victim Rights Act" to motion the court to vacate the conviction if the crime was committed as a result of the individual being a victim of human trafficking. A court uses a clear and convincing evidentiary standard to determine whether to order the conviction vacated. For the state fiscal year 2024-25, the act appropriates $266,826 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 31, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds transgender identity to the classes identified in bias-motivated crimes and harassment. The act redefines sexual orientation for purposes of bias-motivated crimes as a person's orientation toward sexual or emotional attraction and the behavior or social affiliation that may result from the attraction. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)