The act directs the Colorado state forest service (state forest service) to consult with other entities to develop educational materials relating to career opportunities in forestry and wildfire mitigation for distribution to high school guidance counselors to provide to high school students. The act creates the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program (development program) in the state forest service to provide partial reimbursement to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities for the costs of hiring interns. The act requires the state treasurer, on June 30, 2023, and on June 30 each year thereafter, to transfer $1,000,000 from the general fund to the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund for allowable uses of the fund. The act authorizes the expansion of existing forestry programs, including wildfire mitigation programs, and the creation of new forestry programs at public institutions of higher education (public institutions) to include state institutions of higher education, local district colleges, and area technical colleges. The commission on higher education (commission) shall determine which public institutions receive funding for expanded or new forestry programs, prioritizing public institutions that can provide a trained workforce expeditiously. The act provides for the acquisition of a harvesting simulator to train students, which may be shared among the forestry programs. The act includes funding for the forestry programs. The act directs the state board for community colleges and occupational education (community college board) to administer the recruitment of wildland fire prevention and mitigation educators program (recruiting program) to increase the number of qualified educators at community colleges, area technical colleges, and local district colleges that deliver a wildfire prevention and mitigation program or course. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year: The act appropriates $15,000 to the healthy forests vibrant communities cash fund from the general fund; and The act appropriates $1,545,034 to the department of higher education from the general fund, including: $114,384 for the Colorado state forest service at Colorado state university; $1,180,650 for use by the commission for new and expanded forestry programs; and $250,000 for the college opportunity program to be used for fee-for-service contracts for the community college board state system colleges for the recruiting program. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill requires the center of excellence for advanced technology aerial firefighting (center of excellence) in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to establish one or more remote camera technology pilot programs. The program may include the use of artificial intelligence technologies. The center of excellence must acquire or contract for a system of remote pan-tilt-zoom cameras and associated tools to provide a live feed of information that can detect, locate, and confirm ignition in the wildland-urban interface. The center of excellence may acquire or contract for artificial intelligence technologies to assist in the detection, containment, and monitoring of wildfires. The center of excellence must report to the wildfire matters review committee on the system's effectiveness and potential for more widespread use in the state. The bill appropriates $2 million $720,368 from the general fund to implement the program. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill creates the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program (program) in the state forest service. The program provides partial reimbursement to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities for the costs of hiring interns. The forest service must adopt rules, policies, and procedures for the program, including criteria for an internship to qualify, best practices for recruiting and selecting interns to increase representation of historically underrrepresented communities in the industries, the criteria to use in selecting qualified interns, the required educational experience for an intern, and administrative requirements for the program. For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2028, a business involved in forestry, logging, the timber trade, the production of wood and secondary products, or forest health and wildfire mitigation activities in Colorado may claim a credit against state income tax for 20% of the cost incurred by the taxpayer in purchasing certain equipment, vehicles, and equipment infrastructure. The total aggregate credit in any one income tax year is limited to $10,000. Any amount of the credit that exceeds the taxpayer's income tax liability is not refundable but may be carried forward for up to 5 years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill makes it a level 1 drug felony if a person sells, dispenses, distributes, or otherwise transfers any quantity of a controlled substance or any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any amount of a schedule I or II controlled substance and the sale, dispensing, distribution, or transfer is the proximate cause of the death of another person who used or consumed the controlled substance material, compound, mixture, or preparation. It is not a violation if the violation involves distribution or transfer of the controlled substance if the distribution or transfer is done without remuneration and is for the purpose of consuming all of the controlled substance with another person or persons at a time substantially contemporaneous with the transfer and the distribution or transfer involves not more than 4 grams of a schedule I or II controlled substance; not more than 2 grams of methamphetamine, heroin, ketamine, or cathinones; or not more than one gram of fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof. For a violation of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale of the material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than 225 grams and contains a schedule I or schedule II controlled substance; more than 112 grams and contains methamphetamine, heroin, ketamine, or cathinones; more than50 milligrams and contains flunitrazepam; or more than 50 grams and contains fentanyl, cargentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof that is not a level 1 drug felony, the bill requires, if the court sentences the defendant to incarceration, a mandatory minimum sentence of at least midpoint but no more than the maximum of the sentencing range. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The act appropriates $67,254,584 to the legislative department for the payment of expenses in the 2023-24 state fiscal year. Of this amount, $65,524,678 is from the general fund, $90,000 is from cash funds, and $1,639,906 is from reappropriated funds. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the knowing possession of any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than one gram and not more than 4 grams and contains any quantity of fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof, is a level 4 drug felony; except that, if a defendant shows supporting evidence to establish that the defendant made a reasonable mistake of fact and did not know that the controlled substance contained fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof, the matter must be submitted to the finder of fact in the form of interrogatory included in the verdict form. If the finder of fact determines the defendant made a reasonable mistake of fact, the defendant commits a level 1 drug misdemeanor. The bill eliminates this provision. Under current law, the knowing possession of any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs not more than one gram and contains any quantity of fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof, is a level 1 drug misdemeanor; except that a fourth or subsequent offense is a level 4 drug felony. The bill eliminates the requirement that the possession must be knowing. The bill creates the opioid antagonist fund in the department of education to bulk purchase and distribute opioid antagonists to eligible schools. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the general assembly appropriates $2 million to the fund from the general fund. The bill extends civil and criminal immunity to the department of education, or a person acting on behalf of the department, for acting in good faith to furnish an opioid antagonist to an eligible school. The bill requires every agency that employs a peace officer to submit an annual report to the department of public health and environment (department) concerning every incident in which a peace officer administered an opioid antagonist to an individual. Using that information the department creates a consolidated report and provides it to the house of representatives judiciary and public and behavioral health and human services committees and the senate judiciary and health and human services committees. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Before passage of the act, Colorado law required a motor vehicle or a powersports vehicle manufacturer (manufacturer) to timely compensate a motor vehicle or a powersports vehicle dealer (dealer) for warranty repairs based on the dealer's typical charges for parts and labor if these charges were reasonably consistent with the law governing the setting of these charges. The act repeals the condition that the charges must be reasonably consistent with this law, requiring the manufacturer to pay the charges even if there is a dispute as to the charges. The law governing the setting of these charges is not repealed, so the charges must continue to comply with the law. Before passage of the act, Colorado law governing these charges allowed a manufacturer to challenge the setting of a labor rate or part markup if either was inaccurate or if either was substantially different than the charges of other similarly situated line-make dealers. The act repeals the manufacturer's ability to challenge these charges when the rates are substantially different than the charges of other similarly situated line-make dealers. In order to challenge the setting of a labor rate or part markup as allowed before the passage of the act, the manufacturer was required to provide the dealer a notice that explains why the calculation was subject to contest. The act changes this requirement, requiring instead that the notice must explain why the calculation is materially inaccurate. APPROVED by Governor April 3, 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 bill amends the Colorado recreational use statute (CRUS). Section 1 of the bill amends the stated purposes of the CRUS. Section 2 amends definitions of terms and adds a definition of the term "inherent dangers or risks". Section 3 changes the conditions under which the CRUS limits a landowner's (owner's) liability for damages that occur as a result of other persons' use of the owner's land for recreational purposes. Section 3 also repeals limitations on the total amount of damages that may be recovered from a private landowner that leases land to a public entity for recreational purposes or that grants an easement or other right to use land to a public entity for recreational purposes. In place of these limitations, the bill substitutes language stating that, except as otherwise agreed by a public entity and an owner, an owner is not liable for losses resulting from a public entity's management, or failure to provide adequate management, of land that is used for recreational purposes. Section 3 also removes unused and redundant definitions of terms. Section 4 amends several exceptions that describe circumstances under which the CRUS does not limit an owner's liability. Specifically: The CRUS allows an owner to be found liable for "willful or malicious" failure to guard or warn against a known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity likely to cause "harm". Section 4 limits this exception to apply only to malicious failures and amends the exception to apply to a known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity likely to cause "harm or death". The CRUS includes an exception in cases in which an owner imposes a charge upon a person who goes on the land for recreational purposes. Section 4 removes certain language from this exception that is redundant with language that appears elsewhere in the CRUS. The CRUS includes an exception concerning attractive nuisances. Section 4 provides that if a property used for public recreational purposes contains active or inactive agricultural operations; active or inactive mining operations, gravel operations, or other mineral and energy development; or certain water structures, neither the property nor the agricultural operations, nor the mining or gravel operations or other development, nor the water or water structures constitute an attractive nuisance. The CRUS allows an owner to be held liable for injury received on land incidental to the use of land on which a commercial or business enterprise of any description is being carried on. However, when land is leased to a public entity for recreational purposes or a public entity has been granted an easement or other right to use land for recreational purposes, the land is not considered to be land upon which a business or commercial enterprise is being carried on. Section 4 removes this qualification from the exception. Section 5 relocates language stating that the CRUS does not limit the protections afforded to an owner under Colorado's premises liability statute. Section 5 also states that nothing in the CRUS creates a prescriptive easement on private land where an owner has acquiesced to public use of existing trails that have historically been used by the public for recreational purposes. Current law allows the prevailing party in any civil action brought by a recreational user for damages against a landowner who allows the use of the landowner's property for public recreational purposes to recover the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney fees as determined by the court. Section 6 states that in the event that an action is commenced by any party, the prevailing party is entitled to recover all fees, costs, and expenses, including fees and expenses of attorneys and experts and fees and expenses associated with appeals of the court's decision. Section 7 states that nothing in the CRUS may be construed to limit the authority of an owner to: Determine any or all of the recreational purposes that are allowed on the owner's land; Identify areas of the land where recreational purposes are allowed or not allowed; or Restrict persons from engaging in recreational purposes on the owner's land. Section 7 also describes means by which an owner who elects to take any of these actions may provide notice to the public of such actions. Section 7 also states that except as otherwise provided in the CRUS: An owner owes no duty of care to keep the owner's premises safe for entry by other persons for recreational purposes or to give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity on the premises to persons entering the land for such purposes; and Neither the installation of a sign or other form of warning of a dangerous condition, nor the failure to maintain or keep in place any sign or other warning, nor the failure to make any modification to improve safety creates any liability on the part of an owner when there is no other basis for liability.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)