In 2022, the general assembly created the federal Indian boarding school research program (program) in the state historical society, commonly known as history Colorado to conduct research regarding the physical abuse and deaths that occurred at federal Indian boarding schools in Colorado and required history Colorado, in consultation with the Colorado commission of Indian affairs, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to develop recommendations to better understand the abuse that occurred and to support healing in tribal communities. As initially scheduled, the program was repealed on December 31, 2023. The act recreates and reenacts the program, with modifications, and requires the general assembly to appropriate $1 million from the general fund, divided in equal annual payments for fiscal years 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27, to the state historical society with authority to carry forward any unexpended or unencumbered money at the end of the state fiscal year for which it was appropriated to subsequent fiscal years without further appropriation to implement the recommendations developed. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
The act requires the department of education to develop and offer a free, optional professional development program (program) to enhance pedagogy around research-based Colorado academic standards in science. The program must include opportunities for in-person and virtual instruction on interventions for students who are below grade level or struggling in science, children with disabilities, gifted students, and students who are English language learners. The program must create incentives for teacher participation by offering ongoing professional development credit toward licensure renewal. The program prioritizes professional development for eligible science teachers employed at local education providers in rural school districts and small rural school districts. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $3 million to the department of education from the state education fund for science teacher professional development. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A fire protection district (fire district) has been authorized to receive and spend an impact fee, or other similar development charge, only in connection with a local government's imposition of such fee or charge to fund expenditures by a fire and emergency services provider. The act repeals this limitation and authorizes a fire district to impose its own impact fee on the construction of new buildings, structures, facilities, or improvements on real property within the fire district's jurisdictional boundaries so long as the fee is imposed pursuant to a legislatively adopted schedule that is: Generally applicable to a broad class of property; and Intended to defray the projected impacts on capital facilities caused by the proposed construction. The act imposes the following limitations on a fire district's authority to impose an impact fee: No individual landowner may be required to provide any site-specific dedication or improvement to meet the same need for capital facilities for which an impact fee is imposed; and An impact fee may not be imposed on construction for which an individual or entity has submitted a completed application for a development permit to an approving local government prior to the fire district's adoption of a schedule of impact fees. Additionally, a fire district may waive an impact fee on the development of low- or moderate-income housing or affordable employee housing, as defined by the fire district. The act gives ambulance districts identical authority to that of a fire district to impose an impact fee on the construction of new buildings, structures, facilities, or improvements on real property within the ambulance district's jurisdictional boundaries. The act also gives fire districts and ambulance districts the additional financial power to levy a sales tax within the district's jurisdiction, at a rate determined by the district's board, upon every transaction or other incident with respect to which a sales tax is levied by the state. The tax must be approved by a majority of the eligible electors within the district voting at a regular special district election or at a special election that complies with section 20 of article X of the state constitution and related statutory requirements. Such a sales tax must be collected, administered, and enforced by the executive director of the department of revenue in the same manner as the state sales tax. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Maddy summaryThis bill is a Senate Joint Memorial that honors the life and service of former Representative and Senator Jim Dyer, who passed away in 2023. The document outlines his military career in the Navy and Marines, his long tenure in the Colorado General Assembly, and his dedication to his community and family. It formally recognizes his contributions as a public servant and extends sympathy to his wife and three sons. Copies of the memorial will be sent to his family to acknowledge their loss.
The act authorizes the reintroduction of the North American wolverine in the state by the division of parks and wildlife (division). As long as the North American wolverine remains on the list of threatened or endangered species pursuant to applicable federal law, the division must not reintroduce the North American wolverine in the state until a final rule designating the North American wolverine in Colorado as a nonessential experimental population pursuant to applicable federal law has taken effect. The act also creates certain requirements for the reintroduction of the North American wolverine. The parks and wildlife commission must adopt rules for the compensation of owners of livestock for losses caused by the North American wolverine. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $102,808 is appropriated from the wildlife cash fund to the department of natural resources for use by the division. To implement the act, the division may use the appropriation for wildlife operations. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a school district board of education (school district) to consider and submit to the eligible electors of the district the question of contracting a bonded indebtedness for capital construction or land and facilities needs of an institute charter school (school) located within the school district. In order for a school district to consider whether to include the capital construction needs of a school located within the school district, the school must submit a capital construction plan to the board of education (board) of the school district. The capital construction plan must include, but is not limited to: Reasons why the school capital construction must be financed by bonded indebtedness; A description of the capital construction that will be financed by bonded indebtedness; A description of the architectural, functional, and construction standards that meet applicable state building code requirements and that will be applied to each facility subject to the capital construction project (project); An estimate of the total costs for completing capital construction that will be financed by the bonded indebtedness; An estimate of the amount of time needed to complete the project; A statement addressing whether the construction or renovation, payment of overrun costs, and other project issues will be managed by the school or the school district and whether costs for project management will be negotiated between the school or the school district; Reasons why revenue sources other than bonded indebtedness are inadequate to fully finance the school capital construction; and The school's proposed method for disbursement of its share of the bonded indebtedness proceeds. When a school district, in its sole discretion, wants to include the capital construction needs of a school in a ballot question, the board must, prior to submitting the ballot question to the voters of the school district, enter into a written agreement with the school that includes: The process by which investment and interest earnings on bonded indebtedness proceeds are distributed and the process by which the investment and interest earnings proceeds and the bonded indebtedness proceeds are released to the school; The allocation of investment and interest earnings on the bonded indebtedness proceeds; Allocation of the costs to submit the ballot question, which must be borne by both the school district and the school in proportion to the respective portions of the total bonded indebtedness proceeds that are to be received; An agreement that if the school's charter is revoked or not renewed, if the school becomes insolvent and can no longer operate as a school, or if the school otherwise ceases to exist, the school district has priority in recovering debt over all other debtors for costs and payments of all other debts secured by the capital construction and that ownership of any capital construction, land, or facilities financed by the bonded indebtedness proceeds automatically reverts to the school district; and An agreement that the school shall not encumber any capital construction financed by bonded indebtedness with any additional debt without the express approval of the school district. If the school district denies approval, the school district shall provide written reasons for the denial. APPROVED by Governor May 18, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the economic development organization (EDO) action grant program (program) within the Colorado office of economic development (office) to provide grants to Colorado-based EDOs to support and increase EDO capacity to implement community-specific economic development programming, as identified in each EDO's program application. The office is required to administer the program in consultation with the Colorado economic development commission and a statewide economic development organization. The economic development organization grant program cash fund (fund) is created in the state treasury, and the office is required to award program grants from the fund. The state treasurer is required to transfer $2 million from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2024.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the department of education to create, maintain, and manage an online career support and pathways portal (online portal) for educators; staff; school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, boards of cooperative services, or approved facility schools (local education providers); and educator preparation programs (educator programs). The online portal must have: Access to career incentives, stipends, and loan forgiveness; Career pathway information for educators and staff, including, but not limited to, mentoring, induction program coaching, instructional coaching, district curriculum support, special assignments for teachers, and principal leadership; and A job posting and application portal for local education providers to post open employment positions and to search for prospective candidates, and for educators and staff to upload resumes and to apply to open employment positions. Local education providers and educator programs shall post a link to the online portal on their websites to promote the online portal to educators and staff. The bill allows Indian tribes and tribal organizations to access and use the online portal. Pursuant to current law, the educator and retention program (ERR program) provides support to members of the armed forces and nonmilitary-affiliated educator candidates. The bill expands criteria for participation in the ERR program to include applicants who are: Enrolled in a teacher degree apprenticeship program and employed by an Indian tribe or tribal organization or a local education provider; or Enrolled in an educator program to attain a special services provider license with the appropriate endorsement.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law uses the terminology "department of human services" and "department of social services" interchangeably when referring to the department of human services. The act updates the terminology to refer only to the "department of human services". Current law uses the terminology "county department of human services or social services", "county department of human services", and "county department of human or social services" interchangeably. The act updates the terminology to refer only to the "county department of human or social services". Current law uses the terminology "state board of social services" and "state board of human services" interchangeably when referring to the state board of human services. The act updates the terminology to refer only to the "state board of human services". APPROVED by Governor May 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Prior to the consolidation of the division of wildlife and the division of parks and recreation and their respective commissions in Senate Bill 11-208, concerning the consolidation of wildlife entities with parks and outdoor recreation entities under the department of natural resources, enacted in 2011, members of the wildlife commission were required to hold at least 2 public meetings per year in their respective geographic districts. The act renews the public engagement requirement for the members of the parks and wildlife commission in the department of natural resources who are appointed by the governor and adds the same public engagement requirement for members of the state agricultural commission and the Colorado water conservation board who are appointed by the governor. Commission and board members subject to the public engagement requirement are entitled to reimbursement for their reasonable costs in participating in public meetings. Status updates on the commission and board members' compliance with the public engagement requirement must be reported to the chair of each member's respective commission or board and included in each member's respective executive department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to the general assembly. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $10,504 is appropriated to the department of natural resources for use by the division of parks and wildlife to implement the act, with $6,828 of the money appropriated from the wildlife cash fund and $3,676 from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)