Rep. Jennifer Bacon

The bill authorizes a fire station, hospital, or community clinic emergency center (authorized facility) to install a newborn safety device on its premises for parents who voluntarily relinquish their child who is 72 hours old or younger. A newborn safety device must be installed in a conspicuous location at the authorized facility and be equipped with a dual alarm system. An authorized facility that installs a newborn safety device is responsible for the cost of the installation and maintenance, shall ensure the dual alarm system is functioning, and shall make information available to the relinquishing parent. The bill makes conforming amendments. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates a task force (task force) to establish shared goals, objectives, and guidelines for entities to utilize in prioritizing new and existing grant money to achieve maximum impact to reduce youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors. The task force shall identify 3 target communities with the highest rates of youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors. Beginning July 1, 2025, the task force shall create shared goals, objectives, and guidelines for governmental and community-based organizations to prioritize the use of new and existing state grant money, as well as help community-based organizations reduce youth violence, suicide, and delinquency risk factors in the target communities by using the shared goals, objectives, and guidelines when working in intervention, prevention, and tracking statistics. Membership in the task force is outlined. The task force shall make a preliminary "SMART Act" report in January 2024 followed by a final report in January 2025. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $92,447 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the prevention services division. The division may use this appropriation for the grant prioritization task force related to administration. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes the office of the judicial discipline ombudsman (office) as an independent office in the judicial department that is operated pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between the office and the judicial department. The judicial discipline ombudsman (ombudsman) is the director of the office. The act establishes the judicial discipline ombudsman selection board (board) to be made up of 5 board members who must be appointed not later than January 1, 2024. The duties and responsibilities of the board include: Overseeing personnel decisions of the ombudsman, which include appointing a person to serve as the ombudsman, filling a vacancy in the ombudsman position, evaluating the ombudsman's performance, and developing a complaint process concerning the ombudsman's performance; Overseeing and advising the ombudsman on the strategic direction of the office and its mission; Working cooperatively with the ombudsman to provide fiscal oversight of the general operating budget of the office; Ensuring compliance with the provisions of the act, the memorandum of understanding, and state and federal laws; Promoting the mission of the office; and Providing assistance to the ombudsman when requested. The powers and duties of the ombudsman include: Creating and maintaining an anonymous reporting system for complainants to submit complaints; Helping complainants understand their rights and options in reporting and filing a complaint with the commission on judicial discipline (commission) and other appropriate authorities; Providing complainants with necessary referrals for additional support services and care if needed or requested; Reporting appropriate cases to the commission, the office of attorney regulation counsel, law enforcement, and the judicial department; Serving in an advisory capacity to the commission and the judicial department on rule-making; Ensuring accountability and consistency in the operating policies and procedures of the office; and Serving as a liaison for communications between a complainant and the commission or the judicial department. The act requires that, to be appointed, the ombudsman must have prior experience serving as an ombudsman; have a deep understanding of and expertise in organizational culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion; have professional experience working with human resources; and possess the ability to act in a nonpartisan manner. The act requires all communications and information disclosed to the ombudsman by a complainant to be kept confidential unless the complainant gives the ombudsman permission to disclose the information. Disclosed information and records are not discoverable if the information and records are received during and within the scope of the ombudsman's duties and responsibilities. The act requires the ombudsman to disclose a complaint that alleges judicial misconduct and to keep the identity of the complainant confidential unless the complainant gives permission to disclose the complainant's identity. The records related to complaints received by the office are not subject to the "Colorado Open Records Act". The ombudsman is exempt from mandatory reporting rules, statutes, and policies, and may only report an incident made known to the ombudsman by a complainant if the complainant consents to the disclosure. The act authorizes the office to promulgate rules necessary to implement the requirements of the act and to ensure confidentiality of disclosures made to the office by complainants. The act appropriates $100,543 from the general fund to the judicial department to purchase legal services from the department of law. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the youth mentorship assistance grant pilot program (program) in the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative within the department of higher education (department). The program provides financial assistance for the cost of attendance at a public higher education institution to students who provide mentorship services to an approved youth mentorship organization. The act requires the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board to select approved youth mentorship organizations to participate in the program and administer the program. The act requires each approved youth mentorship organization to submit an annual report to the department, and the department to submit an annual report to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives, concerning the program. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $100,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 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.)

Section 2 of the act creates the legislative interim committee on ozone air quality (committee) to study ozone air quality in the state. The committee consists of 6 members of the senate and 6 members of the house of representatives. The committee may meet up to 6 times during the 2023 interim. With respect to an allegation in a complaint or the belief of the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division) regarding a violation or noncompliance related to air quality laws (violation), section 3 requires the division to: Cause a prompt and diligent investigation into the violation to be made unless the complaint clearly appears to be frivolous, falsified, or trivial or the complainant withdraws the complaint within the investigation time period; Within 30 days after receipt of the complaint, respond to a complainant to outline the steps of the complaint investigation; If the division is acting in response to a complaint, notify the complainant that an investigation has commenced at the time that the division provides notice to the owner or operator of the air pollution source; and Accept and consider all relevant evidence that it receives or acquires when investigating the alleged violation, unless the evidence is, on its face, falsified. If the division determines that a violation has occurred, current law requires the division to issue a compliance order unless the responsible party gives timely notice that the violation occurred during a period of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction. Section 3 removes the exception for periods of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction. Section 3 also prohibits the division from assessing a penalty for a violation that is less than the economic benefit that the owner or operator derived from the violation. Section 3 also requires, if a hearing is requested, the air quality control commission to provide at least 45 days' notice to any complainant that submitted a complaint alleging the applicable violation and allows the complainant to participate as a party to the hearing. Current law provides that any noncompliance that occurs during a period of start-up, shutdown, or malfunction exempts the owner or operator of a source of pollution from the duty to pay penalties related to that noncompliance. Section 3 removes this provision. Current law requires the division to consider certain factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty to assess for a violation. Section 4 requires the division to also consider the severity of the violation. Current law provides that any action related to an alleged violation of air quality laws that is not commenced within 5 years after the occurrence of the alleged violation is time barred. Section 5 excludes actions commenced to address a failure to obtain a permit from this statute of limitation. Section 6 requires the oil and gas conservation commission (COGCC), by April 28, 2024, to promulgate rules that evaluate and address the cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations. The rules must include a definition of cumulative impacts. Section 7 allows any person to submit a complaint to the COGCC. The COGCC or the director of the COGCC is required to promptly commence and complete an investigation into the violation alleged in the complaint, unless the complaint clearly appears on its face to be frivolous, falsified, or trivial or the complainant withdraws the complaint. The COGCC must also accept and consider all relevant evidence it receives or acquires when investigating the violation, unless the evidence is, on its face, falsified. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 appropriates $79,493 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the air pollution control division in the following amounts: $71,473 for personal services related to stationary sources; and $8,020 for operating expenses related to stationary sources. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 also appropriates $820,697 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources in the following amounts: $725,531 for use by the COGCC for program costs; and $95,166 for use by the office of the executive director of the department of natural resources, which is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of natural resources. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, section 8 also appropriates $61,616 from the general fund to the legislative department in the following amounts: $26,180 for use by the legislative council; $18,452 for use by the committee on legal services; and $16,984 for use by the general assembly. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the act enacts the "Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act", which: Directs the Colorado civil rights division (division) to include "harassment" as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism; Repeals the current definition of "harass" that requires creation of a hostile work environment and redefines "harass" or "harassment" as unwelcome conduct directed at an individual or group of individuals in, or perceived to be in, a protected class, which conduct is subjectively offensive to the individual alleging harassment and objectively offensive to members of the same protected class as the individual alleging harassment, and which conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or an unfair employment practice; Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their marital status; For purposes of the exception to otherwise discriminatory practices for an employer that is unable to accommodate an individual with a disability who is otherwise qualified for the job, eliminates the ability for the employer to assert that the individual's disability has a significant impact on the job as a rationale for the employment practice and specifies that the exception is limited to situations in which there is no reasonable accommodation that would allow the individual to satisfy the essential functions of the job; Specifies the requirements for an employer to assert an affirmative defense to an employee's proven claim of unlawful harassment by a supervisor; Specifies the requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and an employee or a prospective employee to be enforceable; and Requires an employer to maintain personnel and employment records for at least 5 years and, with regard to complaints of discriminatory or unfair employment practices, to maintain those records in a designated repository. The act appropriates a total of $1,248,170 from the general fund for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, allocated as follows to the following state departments and offices, to implement the act: $152,866 to the department of corrections; $23,469 to the department of education; $35,415 to the office of the governor; $23,363 to the department of health care policy and financing; $129,081 to the department of human services; $146,894 to the judicial department; $46,833 to the department of labor and employment; $17,708 to the department of law; $76,276 to the department of natural resources; $89,090 to the department of personnel; $52,912 to the department of public health and environment; $52,912 to the department of public safety; $266,298 to the department of regulatory agencies; and $47,045 to the department of revenue. Additionally, $88,008 is appropriated from the state highway fund to the department of transportation to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 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.)