Before transferring or negotiating to transfer any subdivision or part of a subdivision, a developer is required to apply for registration with the real estate commission (commission). Current law requires that, with permission from the commission, any reservation fees that a developer receives from prospective purchasers while the developer's registration application is pending must be held in trust by a third party and be fully refundable. If the subdivision is a time share estate, the act requires that, after the commission has approved a developer's registration application, any earnest money received by the developer from a prospective purchaser must be held in trust by an independent third party. The act creates an exception to this requirement for earnest money deposits received from an accredited investor. A developer may use funds from an accredited investor's deposit for development purposes only if the purchase contract or other written disclosure clearly sets forth: To whom the funds will be delivered; When the delivery will occur; How the funds will be used; and Any restrictions on the use of the funds. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act creates 2 tax incentives to support the development of the quantum technology ecosystem in the state. Neither of the tax credits created in the act are allowed to any qualified applicant unless a Colorado-based entity receives a multi-million dollar federal grant from the economic development administration for the regional technology and innovation program or a comparable federal grant program. Section 2 of the act creates a 100% refundable income tax credit for qualifying investments in fixed capital assets as part of a coordinated plan to create a shared quantum facility (facility credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 2033. The amount of the facility credit is equal to the amount of the qualifying investment made by a qualified applicant for an eligible project; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all facility credits is $44 million. In addition, the maximum aggregate amount of facility credits that may be claimed in the taxable year in which the eligible project is placed in service is $24 million. If qualified applicants are issued more than an aggregate of $24 million in facility credits, the qualified applicants may claim the credits in future taxable years, subject to a specified limit on the amount of the credit that may be claimed in a single taxable year. A qualified applicant may be a consortium of entities that are jointly participating in creating a shared quantum facility. An eligible project is a project to create a shared quantum facility, which is a primary place in the state where an applicant performs activities and provides the economic benefits related to quantum business and that is approved as an eligible project by the office of economic development (office). The act details a process for claiming the facility credit that requires: The submission by a qualified applicant to the office of an application for a facility credit reservation; Preliminary and final review of the application and approval of the request for a facility credit reservation by the office; Issuance of a facility credit reservation to the qualified applicant by the office; Completion of the eligible project and certification by the qualified applicant of the qualified applicant's qualifying investments; Review of the eligible project and qualifying investments by the office; Issuance of a tax credit certificate by the office; Filing of the tax credit certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return; and Recapture of the credit if the eligible project is not used for a use that makes it an eligible project during a specified compliance period. Section 3 creates a 100% refundable income tax credit to offset losses incurred by a qualified applicant in connection with a registered loan to a quantum company (loan loss credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, but before January 1, 2046. A qualified applicant is a commercial bank, depository institution, private lending fund, or other entity that makes loans for commercial purposes to a quantum company that satisfies certain income and other criteria (eligible loan). The administrator of the loan loss credit (administrator) may be the office, or the office may contract with a third-party program administrator to administer the credit. The administrator is required to determine the method by which the loan loss credit will be distributed to qualified applicants. The distribution method may be on a first-come, first-served basis or based on a competitive lender selection process where the administrator chooses which lenders are eligible to apply for the loan loss credit. A qualified applicant is required to register any loan that is the basis of a loan loss tax credit with the administrator and is not eligible to claim the loan loss credit until the qualified applicant has incurred a loss in connection with a registered loan. The amount of the loan loss credit is an amount up to 15 cents for every dollar of an eligible loan that the qualified applicant has made or will make; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all loan loss credits is $30 million. In addition, subject to specified requirements and, if the administrator is not the office, the approval of the office, the administrator may establish policies and procedures to set the amount of the loan loss credit below 15 cents for every dollar loaned, change the amount of the loan loss credit from time to time, or cap the total amount of loan loss credits issued to a qualified applicant. Each qualified applicant that is issued more than one loan loss credit certificate is required to hold all the loan loss credit certificates that were issued to the qualified applicant in a pooled loan loss reserve. A qualified applicant may use all or any portion of the loan loss credit certificates issued to that qualified applicant to offset any loss incurred by that qualified applicant in connection with one or more registered loans. The act details a process for claiming the loan loss credit that requires: Submission of an application for a loan loss credit certificate and a request that the administrator register an eligible loan; Preliminary and final review of the application and registration of eligible loans by the administrator; Issuance of a loan loss tax credit certificate to a qualified applicant; Periodic updates to the administrator by a qualified applicant that was issued a loan loss credit certificate regarding the status of each of the qualified applicant's registered loans; Application to the administrator for a registered loan loss certificate after a qualified applicant incurs a loss in connection with a registered loan; Review of information regarding the loan by the administrator and issuance of a registered loan loss certificate to the qualified applicant; and Filing the loan loss credit certificate and the registered loan loss certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return. The administrator of the loan loss credit may impose a registration and issuance fee on a qualified applicant or on the borrower to which a qualified applicant made an eligible loan. The administrator is required to credit any fee revenue to the quantum business loan loss reserve cash fund, which is created in the act and is exempted, in section 3, from the restriction on the statutory amount of authorized cash fund reserves. The office and the administrator are required to annually report to the general assembly regarding the facility credit and the loan loss credit and may, after soliciting advice from the department of revenue and quantum industry participants, create and modify policies and procedures as necessary to implement the facility credit or the loan loss credit, as applicable. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $90,255 is appropriated to the office of the governor from the general fund for use by economic development programs for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) concerning the mortuary science code (code), as the recommendations are specified in the department's sunset review of the registration of funeral establishments and crematories, with amendments, as follows: Continues registration of funeral establishments and crematories and the title protection of mortuary science practitioners, funeral directors, embalmers, and cremationists until 2029; Requires the inspection of funeral homes and crematories on a routine basis, for a period of time after the business has ceased operations, and upon applying for a registration for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the code during this time; Repeals the limitation on the authority of the director of the division of professions and occupations (director) to inspect funeral homes and crematories only during business hours; Expands the director's authority to promulgate rules to include any rules necessary to administer the code; Repeals the code's stakeholder engagement provisions for rule-making to allow the "State Administrative Procedure Act" to control stakeholder engagement; Adds the failure to respond to a complaint within the appropriate time to the grounds for discipline; Repeals the requirement that a letter of admonition be sent by certified mail; Authorizes the director to suspend the registration of a person that fails to comply with a condition of a stipulation or order until the person complies with the condition; Replaces the term "applicant" with the term "person" in the title-protection provisions for funeral directors, embalmers, and cremationists; and Removes gendered language from the code. The act authorizes discipline to be imposed on a registration applicant or holder for the acts of a person acting on behalf of the applicant or holder and who is an officer, a director, a member, a partner, or an owner and holds an interest in the applicant or holder. The interest must be at least 10% if the applicant or holder is publicly traded. The act also requires a funeral establishments to: Have a written contract with all subcontractors or agents and update the language required in contracts for funeral services, respectively; Maintain a sanitary preparation room; Refrain from taking custody of more human remains than the funeral establishment has capacity to refrigerate; and Obtain and maintain professional liability insurance with liability limits of at least $1,000,000. The act requires a cremationist to remove all of the recoverable residue of the cremation process from the crematory and place the residue in a separate container so that the residue does not commingle with the cremated remains of other individuals. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $339,196 is appropriated to the department from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an individual to obtain a license to practice as a funeral director, a mortuary science practitioner, an embalmer, a cremationist, or a natural reductionist (mortuary science professional). The director of the division of professions and occupations (director) is required to promulgate rules for such licensing. To be licensed, an individual must submit an application, pay an application fee, obtain a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, not have been subject to discipline in another state or convicted of a disqualifying crime, and meet the following qualifications: For a funeral director, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed the arts section of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; For a mortuary science practitioner, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed both the arts and science sections of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; For an embalmer, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed the science section of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; and For a cremationist or natural reductionist, the applicant must have received official certification as a crematory operator from the Cremation Association of North America, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, the National Funeral Directors Association, or a successor organization. An applicant may file for a waiver of the educational requirements and obtain full licensure upon completion of an examination. A current practitioner may apply for a provisional license if the practitioner does not meet the new requirements. To obtain a provisional license, an applicant must have obtained at least 4,000 hours of work experience, have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer, and pass a fingerprint-based criminal history record check. An individual who holds a provisional license without being subject to discipline may obtain full licensure by satisfying certain criteria. A provisional license expires after 3 years unless the director approves a reinstatement or extension of the provisional license. The act establishes administrative procedures for renewing a license. To renew a license, a license holder must obtain 6 hours of continuing education including: One hour covering the applicable law; One hour covering applicable ethics; and One hour covering public health requirements. The act updates existing law concerning title protection to require a person to hold the appropriate license in order to use the title "funeral director", "mortuary science practitioner", "embalmer", "cremationist", or "natural reductionist". The act establishes grounds for disciplining an applicant or license holder and authorizes the director to take disciplinary actions against an applicant or a license holder. The director may also seek an injunction to enforce the act. An employer of a mortuary science professional must report to the director any termination, disciplinary action, or resignation if any of these actions were taken for conduct that violates the act. The director may bring an action for the enforcement of an order of the director. The act repeals the regulation of the practice of mortuary science professionals, effective September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, the regulation will undergo a sunset review and report. The act appropriates $121,166 to the department of regulatory agencies from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or after January 1, 2026, but before February 1, 2026, an investor-owned electric utility (utility) with more than 500,000 customers must make at least 50 megawatts of inclusive community solar capacity available, and a utility with 500,000 or fewer customers must make at least 3.5 megawatts of inclusive community solar available. Before February 1, 2027, a utility with more than 500,000 customers must make an additional 50 megawatts of inclusive community solar capacity available, plus any unclaimed capacity left over from the previous allocation cycle, and a utility with 500,000 or fewer customers must make an additional 3.5 megawatts of inclusive community solar available. Under current law, a utility customer may subscribe to a portion of a community solar facility. The customer then receives a bill credit on the customer's monthly utility bill in an amount proportional to the customer's share of the community solar facility output. Current law establishes limits on the amount of output from community solar facilities that a utility may purchase. The act requires a utility to acquire the entire output of a community solar facility that is allocated capacity on or after January 1, 2026, (new facility) and apply community solar bill credits to that new facility's subscribers. The act requires a new facility to: Not exceed 5 megawatts of capacity, measured in alternating current; Interconnect with a utility's distribution system; Comply with applicable requirements of the "Colorado Energy Sector Public Works Project Craft Labor Requirements Act"; Reserve at least 51% of its capacity for income-qualified subscribers; Not allocate more than 40% of the new facility's capacity to a single subscriber; and Supply to a subscriber of the new facility no more than 120% of the expected average annual total consumption of electricity by the subscriber; except that no more than 200% of the expected annual total consumption of electricity may be provided to an income-qualified subscriber. The act affords certain protections for subscribers of new facilities. Subscriber organizations and subscription coordinators are prohibited from: Using credit scores, customer scores, or any utility deposit requirements to deny prospective residential subscribers; Charging a sign-up or termination fee to residential subscribers; Engaging in misleading conduct or making false representations toward prospective subscribers; and Preventing a subscriber from transferring a subscription within the utility's service territory if the subscriber moves residences. A subscriber organization shall provide an income-qualified subscriber of a new facility with a subscription discount of at least: 25% of the value of the community solar bill credit; 30% of the value of the community solar bill credit if the new facility receives federal tax credits from the federal "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" for the specific purpose of being located in an energy community; and 50% of the value of the community solar bill credit if the new facility receives federal tax credits from the federal "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" specifically for providing income-qualified households with utility bill assistance. The public utilities commission (commission) must also adopt a standardized form that contains relevant information and disclosures that subscriber organizations and subscription coordinators must provide to prospective subscribers. The act also directs a utility to: File with the commission information that establishes cost-sharing mechanisms for new facilities that are connecting to the utility's distribution system, in which the new facility is required to pay only for its proportional share of system upgrades; and Provide information to the commission related to the utility regarding cost-sharing mechanisms and the cost-effectiveness of the utility's interconnection of new facilities when submitting a distribution system plan. The act authorizes the commission to approve cost recovery for prudently incurred costs, including energy purchases, administrative costs, and information technology expenses, by a utility. The act also requires a utility with more than 500,000 customers to acquire 50 megawatts of distributed generation paired with energy storage by June 1, 2026, and an additional 50 megawatts of distributed generation paired with energy storage between January 1, 2027, and June 1, 2027. The act appropriates $116,505 for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the commission. The appropriation is from the public utilities commission fixed utility fund. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act increases the amount of the fine for a violation of the Colorado anti-discrimination act from not less than $50 or more than $500 to $3,500 and specifies that a nonprofit does not directly or indirectly participate or intervene in a political campaign merely by renting out space for a political event at the nonprofit's customary and usual rates. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, it is a class A traffic infraction to operate a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver's license, to operate a commercial motor vehicle if the operator is under 21 years of age, or to drive a commercial motor vehicle if the person has more than one driver's license. The act makes each a class 1 misdemeanor; except that, if a person presents a valid commercial driver's license to the court within 30 days, the offense is a class A traffic infraction. The act creates the offense of unlawful direction to operate a commercial motor vehicle. An employer who authorizes or permits an employee who the employer knows or reasonably should know does not have a commercial driver's license or is under 21 years of age to operate a commercial motor vehicle commits unlawful direction to operate a commercial motor vehicle, a class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense. The act requires the transportation legislation review committee to study the following issues during the 2024 legislative interim: Enforcement of impaired driving offenses, including situations involving a driver who refuses to take or complete a blood or breath test as required by law; Careless driving that results in accidental death, including whether available civil and criminal charges and penalties for those incidents are appropriate; and The appropriate penalty for failing to maintain motor vehicle or low-powered scooter insurance and failing to present evidence of insurance to a requesting officer. The act appropriates $1,455 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department of revenue to implement the act's provisions. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE May 20, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds rare plants and invertebrates to the species that may be studied and conserved under the current "Nongame, Endangered, or Threatened Species Conservation Act", which is renamed the "Nongame, Endangered, or Threatened Wildlife and Rare Plant Conservation Act". The division of parks and wildlife in the department of natural resources (department) may undertake voluntary programs to conserve, protect, and perpetuate invertebrates. The department is required to include, in the department's SMART Act hearing, information about the investigations conducted under the act. The general assembly is required to make an appropriation from the general fund or the wildlife cash fund to study invertebrates. $774,788 is appropriated to the department for use by the division of parks and wildlife to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law exempts an individual with a remuneration-exempt identifying placard from paying at a parking device. The act defines "parking device" as a single- or multi-space meter, kiosk, pay station, pay-by-space, pay-by-plate, pay-by-card, or other payment system or methodology for the parking of vehicles. The act also: Clarifies that a remuneration-exempt parking placard does not count toward the limits on the number of disability identifying placards and license plates the department of revenue (department) may issue to an individual; Increases the number of remuneration-exempt placards that the department may issue to an individual from one placard to 2 placards; and Specifies that an individual with a placard is exempt from paying at a parking device within a parking lot. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the treatment of cancer or a life-threatening disease or for the treatment of a symptom, complication, or consequence of cancer or a life-threatening disease, the act prohibits a carrier, with respect to a health benefit plan issued on or after January 1, 2025, from: Requiring a provider-administered drug to be dispensed only by specific network pharmacies; If a provider-administered drug is otherwise covered by the carrier for the covered person, limiting or excluding coverage for the drug based on the covered person's choice of participating provider; Requiring a participating provider to bill for or be reimbursed for the delivery and administration of a provider-administered drug under the pharmacy benefit instead of the medical benefit without informed, written consent of the covered person and written attestation by the covered person's participating provider that a delay in the drug's administration will not place the covered person at an increased health risk; or Requiring a covered person to pay additional fees, copayments, or coinsurance based on the covered person's choice of pharmacy. The act also requires the reimbursement rate for covered provider-administered drugs to be at the carrier's in-network negotiated rate for participating providers. The act appropriates $7,333 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance from the division of insurance cash fund to implement the act. VETOED by Governor May 17, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)