Rep. Mike Lynch

Current law repeals the forest health advisory council, which was created within the Colorado state forest service, on September 1, 2021, subject to sunset review. The act repeals the forest health advisory council and creates the Colorado forest health council within the division of forestry within the department of natural resources and specifies the new council's membership and duties. The council is scheduled for sunset review in 2026.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a court must inquire at the defendant's first appearance whether the defendant is a veteran. If the jurisdiction does not have a veterans treatment court, the act requires the court to inform a veteran defendant of the possibility of petitioning to transfer the case to a jurisdiction with a veterans treatment court.The act allows a veteran defendant or defendant who is currently serving in the U.S. armed forces and who is suffering from a diagnosable mental health condition that is related to the veteran's military service to petition the court to transfer the supervision of any post disposition of the case to a jurisdiction with a veterans treatment court if the jurisdiction of trial does not have a veterans treatment court and the district attorney and any victim in a victim's rights case consent to the petition. The petition must include the jurisdiction that the defendant is seeking to have the case transferred to and a description of the services or supports the defendant is seeking to access from the veterans treatment court in that jurisdiction. After receiving a petition, the court must consult with the judge administering the veterans treatment court and the district attorney of the hosting jurisdiction. The court may grant the petition to transfer the supervision of probation in the case if the veterans treatment court and the district attorney in the hosting jurisdiction consent to the transfer and that jurisdiction has the current ability to provide the resources and support necessary to responsibly accept the transfer. If the host jurisdiction files a motion for revocation of the veterans treatment court program probation, the host jurisdiction shall conduct the revocation hearing. If probation is revoked, the host jurisdiction shall refer the matter to the original jurisdiction for resentencing.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes the Space National Guard to be added to provisions in statute that mention the Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The federal government is likely to create the Space National Guard in the "FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act". Implementing the Space National Guard in existing statute now will allow the Air National Guard space units to transition to the Space National Guard once the federal government establishes the Space National Guard.The act also adds "Space Force" to provisions in statute that list the branches of the armed forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the Coast Guard.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of military and veterans affairs (department) to pay, subject to available money, a stipend of up to $75 to a veterans service organization for each time the organization performs a basic military funeral honors ceremony or other funeral-related services for an honorably discharged veteran. The act requires the department to create a process for veteran service organizations to apply for and receive a stipend.The act appropriates $30,930 from the general fund and provides for an additional 0.3 FTE to the department for the western slope veterans cemetery.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a juvenile convicted as an adult following the direct filing of charges in district court is not subject to the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for crimes of violence. However, a juvenile convicted as an adult following the transfer of charges from juvenile court to district court is subject to the mandatory minimum sentencing for crimes of violence. The act adds language to the juvenile transfer statute to mirror the language currently found in the juvenile direct file statutes, so a juvenile transferred to adult court is subject to the same sentencing provisions as a juvenile who is in adult court based on a direct file.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies requirements for an existing loan program (program) created to assist transitions of businesses to employee-owned businesses. The act repeals statutory eligibility requirements and requires the office of economic development (office) to establish eligibility criteria for the program. The criteria must include an annual gross revenues limitation for participation in the program for businesses, which amount may be set at up to or less than $50 million. The criteria must also establish requirements for the number of employees who will be offered the option to participate in the employee-ownership opportunity.A loan under the program may be used toward the purchase of the business by the employees. The act repeals requirements related to the size of the loans and how the loans must be held and requires the office to establish requirements for the terms of the loans pursuant to existing statutory requirements.Under the current statute, the program is repealed effective July 1, 2022. The act extends the program through July 1, 2025.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 39-21-102 accurately specifies the scope and applicability of article 21 of title 39 and establishes all the taxes that the department of revenue is responsible for administering. However, sections 39-21-119 and 39-21-120 attempt to reference similar lists of taxes in order to specify authorized methods of filing and paying the taxes. Unfortunately, some of the tax types are omitted in these sections, making these sections defective. The act removes the references to the tax types in sections 39-21-119 and 39-21-120 so that section 39-21-102 controls instead.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a producer or purchaser is required to withhold an amount from each disbursement made to an interest owner in any oil and gas produced in the state and pay this amount to the department of revenue. The act fixes defects related to this law by:For purposes of electronic payments, replacing a cross-reference to a repealed subsection with a reference to the current statutory requirement; Expanding the defined term "producer" to be "producer or purchaser" to eliminate a redundancy in the law; and Repealing extraneous references to "oil shale" from the definition. The act also repeals obsolete filing requirements that applied prior to July 1, 2007.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)