Section 1 of the bill creates the timber industry workforce development program (internship program) in the Colorado state forest service (forest service) to provide incentives to timber businesses to hire interns through partial reimbursement of the costs to such businesses of hiring interns. Not later than January 1, 2023, the forest service is required to promulgate policies, procedures, and guidelines for administering the internship program. The bill specifies minimum components of the policies, procedures, and guidelines. Subject to available appropriations, the forest service may reimburse a qualified timber business an amount not to exceed 50% of the actual cost to the business to employ the intern. The actual cost includes the wages paid to the intern, a reasonable allocation of fixed overhead expenses, and all incidental costs directly related to the internship. Based on the annual appropriation for the internship program, the forest service shall determine how many internships may be approved, the amount of reimbursement per internship, and whether a timber business may be reimbursed for more than one intern in the same fiscal year. However, no timber business may be reimbursed for more than 3 internships in the same fiscal year. Under current law, for fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2008, but prior to the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2020, and for fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2021, but prior to the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2026, all sales, storage, and use of wood from salvaged trees in Colorado that were killed or infested by mountain pine beetles or spruce beetles, including but not limited to products such as lumber, furniture built from the salvaged trees, and wood chips or wood pellets generated from the salvaged trees, are exempt from the state sales and use tax. For fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2022, but prior to the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2026, section 2 extends this exemption to include all sales, storage, and use of wood harvested in Colorado that is sold on a retail basis, including but not limited to products such as lumber, furniture built from such wood, wood chips or wood pellets generated from such wood, and wood from salvaged trees in Colorado that were killed or infested by mountain pine beetles or spruce beetles. For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2021, but prior to January 1, 2027, section 3 allows a timber business doing business in Colorado to claim a credit against the state income tax for 20% of the costs incurred by the taxpayer in purchasing mechanized equipment, certain vehicles, and equipment infrastructure used in the production of wood products, not to exceed $10,000 for the aggregate of all such qualifying items purchased in any one income tax year. The bill specifies additional requirements concerning the administration of the tax credit.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Sponsored bills
In 2021, the general assembly enacted legislation, SB 21-262, concerning transparency for special districts, that, among other things, required the disclosure of property tax information to purchasers of newly constructed residences within the boundaries of metropolitan districts. As part of this required disclosure, SB 21-262 required the owner of the property to provide to the seller a copy of the most current county assessor's property tax certificate. The county assessors do not issue tax certificates. The tax certificate is issued by the county treasurer. The act corrects this incorrect statutory reference by requiring that each owner of real property that sells real property that includes a newly constructed residence, concurrently with or prior to the execution of a contract to sell the property, provide to the purchaser of the property a copy of the most current certificate of taxes due or tax statement issued by the county treasurer that is applicable to the property as an estimate of the sum of additional mill levies levied by other taxing entities that overlap the property in which the newly constructed residence is located. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the municipal bond supervision advisory board. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act strikes references in a common health-care provision in title 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes to "applicable licensing board" and "board" and replaces those references with the term "regulator", which is defined, for purposes of the regulation of professions and occupations under title 12, as the entity with regulatory authority concerning a particular profession or occupation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes the following nonsubstantive changes to title 43: Corrects the citation made in section 43-1-128 (5) from "the national environmental policy act" to "the federal 'National Environmental Policy Act of 1969', 42 U.S.C. sec. 4321 et seq."; Adds the word "vehicle" in section 43-4-605 (1)(i) between the words "motor" and "registration"; and Corrects a reference in section 43-4-1301 (2)(c) stating "subsections (7) and (8) of this section" to say "section 43-4-1303".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill requires future contracts for the seed-to-sale tracking system to be awarded pursuant to a transparent, online, and dynamically competitive process. The bill requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding its enforcement activities. The report must include: The number of underage compliance checks performed in the previous calendar year; The number of underage sale violations in the previous calendar year, including the name of the license violator, how many violations were the result of underage compliance checks or tips, and the sanction or sanctions imposed for each violation; and A description of the black or gray market enforcement activities that the state licensing authority engaged in, including the dates of the activities, any violations found, and the result of those violations if known. The bill requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding licensing violations. The report must be organized by month, include the name of the violator and the violation location, and identify the violation and the sanction or sanctions imposed and if the sanction is a license revocation or voluntary surrender of a license and the reason for the revocation or voluntary surrender. The state licensing authority shall maintain a free searchable database on its website related to compliance check records and minor in possession of marijuana records and an online method for submitting an anonymous tip related to licensing violations. The bill requires the state licensing authority to conduct at least 2 compliance checks a year at each medical and retail marijuana center. The bill requires regulatory penalties related to underage sales to be based on the number of violations and any injury or death that occurred as a result of the violation. The bill requires the state licensing authority to promulgate rules regarding: Product recalls, including a requirement for the issuance of a health and safety advisory when a product is recalled that includes the name of the product, the timing of when the consumer would receive the advisory, the places where the product was sold, the time period when the product was for sale, the requested actions that the state licensing authority may direct to a seller, cultivator, or manufacturer, and any other additional information that would assist the public; and Timelines and deadlines for notifying a licensee of an alleged violation; a licensee's response to an alleged violation; and a licensee's compliance with any sanction imposed, which must require, in the case of an uncontested violation, that the licensee has 90 days to comply with the sanction. The bill directs that when the state licensing authority convenes a work group, task force, or other group to assist in developing rules or policies that involve public health and consumer safety, the state licensing authority shall make every reasonable attempt to have broad representation from non-marijuana industry parties on the work group, task force, or other group. The bill requires the state licensing authority to provide any written materials received from a member of the group or task force to all members of the group or task force within 7 days after receipt of the material; except that any proprietary information must be redacted from the material. The bill requires that when the state licensing authority reports a voluntary surrender of a license that is the result of a settlement or agreement with the licensing authority, the report shall designate the action as "voluntary surrender - licensing violation settlement". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill makes a legislative declaration. Current law gives the governor extraordinary powers when the governor declares a disaster emergency. Current law specifies that a state of disaster emergency ends after 30 days unless continued by the governor. It also authorizes the general assembly to end the state of disaster emergency by joint resolution. Section 2 limits the ability of the governor to continue a declared disaster emergency by requiring the general assembly to affirmatively act by joint resolution to continue a declared disaster emergency beyond 12 months. Unless the general assembly acts by joint resolution to continue the state of disaster emergency, the state of disaster emergency that the governor has continued for 30-day increments terminates on the three hundred sixty-fifth day after the governor first declared a state of disaster emergency. Thereupon, the governor must issue an executive order or proclamation ending the state of disaster emergency. Current law gives local health departments many powers to address epidemics. Many of these powers impose duties on people. Section 3 requires the governing body of a local government to approve any portion of a local health department's public health order that imposes duties on a class of people. If a duty relates to an emergency (emergency duty), the local health department may impose the emergency duty immediately but must submit the duty to the governing body within 7 days after adoption for the governing body's review and approval. To continue in effect, the governing body must approve the duty within 30 days after the public health order was issued and during each calendar month it continues in effect. A terminated emergency duty may not be reimposed unless a new emergency arises or the governing body approves it being reimposed. Section 3 does not apply to a temporary emergency duty placed only on a single individual so long as the local health department has reasonable evidence to believe the individual is infected with a disease that causes an epidemic or was infected within the last 30 days. Current law gives the department of public health and environment (department) many powers to address epidemics. Many of these powers involve the imposition of duties on people. Section 4 requires that the department submit the imposition of an emergency duty on a class of people to the governor and general assembly for approval. The emergency duty must be submitted to: The governor within 7 days after adoption; and The general assembly: Within 7 days after adoption if the emergency duty is imposed within the first 100 days of a regular session of the general assembly; or Within the first 30 days of the next regular session of the general assembly if the duty is imposed in the last 20 days of a regular session of the general assembly or in between regular sessions of the general assembly. For the emergency duty to continue: The governor must approve the emergency duty within 30 days after the department imposes the emergency duty and each calendar month that the department intends the emergency duty to remain in effect; and The general assembly must approve the emergency duty each year that the department intends the emergency duty to remain in effect. A terminated emergency duty may not be reimposed unless a new emergency arises or the governing body and general assembly approve it being reimposed. Section 4 does not apply to a temporary emergency duty placed only on a single individual so long as the department has reasonable evidence to believe the individual is infected with a disease that causes an epidemic or was infected within the last 30 days.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act eliminates the advisory committee that advised the state department of human services on the licensing of child care facilities prior to the creation of the early childhood leadership commission.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the agricultural events relief program in the department of agriculture to provide COVID-19 relief payments to agricultural events organizations, and appropriates $2 million from the general fund for the program. In addition, the act appropriates:$5 million for the Colorado state fair and industrial exhibition; $25 million for aiding the national western stock show event in constructing the national western stock show's campus; and $3.5 million for the national western stock show.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)