Sen. Byron Pelton

The Colorado veterans' service-to-career program (program) authorizes nonprofit agencies to partner with work force centers selected by the department of labor and employment (department) to provide veterans and other eligible participants with skills training, internships, work placements, mentorship opportunities, career and professional counseling, and support services. Under current law, the general assembly is allowed to annually appropriate money from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department to be used for the program. The act extends the repeal date for the program from July 1, 2024, to September 1, 2027. In addition, the act removes the provision permitting the appropriation of money from the marijuana tax cash fund and instead allows the general assembly to appropriate money from the general fund to be used for the program. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the "Uniform Election Code of 1992", (code) the law regarding initiatives and referendums, the "Fair Campaign Practices Act", the public official disclosure requirements of the "Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972", and other laws regarding elections. The act modifies the code as follows: Regarding elections generally, specifies that the county clerk and recorder, as the chief election official for the county, sets the operational hours of the clerk and recorder's office and specifies that the governing board of a county or city and county is not authorized to supervise the conduct of regular and special elections or to consult with election officials in regard to conducting elections and rendering decisions and interpretations under the code; Regarding the qualification and registration of electors, beginning January 1, 2025, changes the age at which an individual may preregister to vote from 16 to 15 years old; Regarding political party organization, specifies that when a state senatorial district or state representative district is comprised of one or more whole counties or of a part of one county and all or a part of one or more other counties, a state senatorial central committee or a state representative central committee consists of the elected precinct committee persons, as well as the chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, and secretary of the several party county central committees, who reside within the state senatorial district or the state representative district; Regarding access to the ballot by candidates, specifies that the law prohibiting a candidate who was defeated in a primary election from participating in a general election does not apply to a candidate for president of the United States; allows the governor to designate a location other than the office of the governor for the presidential electors to convene if the governor determines that it is not feasible to meet in the office of the governor; makes the deadlines for a candidate to file a petition in a congressional vacancy election consistent with other deadlines; makes the general timeline for circulating petitions to get on the ballot applicable to presidential electors for unaffiliated presidential candidates; beginning January 1, 2025, aligns the minor political party candidate petition calendar with the major political party candidate petition calendar; clarifies that an unaffiliated candidate for president of the United States is exempt from the requirement that a candidate be registered as unaffiliated with a political party in the statewide voter registration system prior to the general election; beginning January 1, 2025, requires a candidate or candidate committee, recall committee, or representative of a minority party petition to submit a paid circulator report, if applicable, to the secretary of state (secretary); and modifies the timing for a candidate to cure a nominating petition signature deficiency; Regarding notice and preparation of elections, requires the secretary to administer a pilot program that allows the county clerk and recorder or designated election official (clerk) of a county with at least 10,000 but fewer than 37,500 active electors and with at least 3 cities or towns where the second and third largest cities or towns that are located entirely within the county both have less than 3% of the active electors in the county, to request a waiver of the requirement to designate 3 voter service and polling centers (VSPC) on election day and instead designate at least 2 VSPCs on election day; repeals an obsolete provision specifying data to be used to determine the number of students enrolled at an institution of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic; specifies that for a general election, a county shall establish a drop box on each campus of an institution of higher education located within the county that has 1,000, rather than 2,000, or more enrolled students; clarifies that each clerk is required to ensure that primary election ballots are printed in accordance with existing law; repeals obsolete language regarding voting equipment; updates several provisions regarding the use of voting systems to align with current practice; requires the secretary to approve or deny an application from a political subdivision to purchase a new electromechanical voting system within 30 days of receiving the application; modifies the standards for accessible voting systems to align with federal standards; and repeals obsolete language regarding direct recording electronic voting systems; Regarding election judges, changes the deadline by which the county chairperson of each major political party in a county is required to certify to the clerk the names and addresses of registered electors recommended to serve as election judges in the county and implements an appeal process for an election judge who is preemptively removed as an election judge by the county chairperson or authorized official; Regarding the conduct of elections, allows a registered elector who will not have been a Colorado resident for at least 22 days immediately before a presidential general election to cast a provisional ballot, which includes only a vote for president and vice president, in that election; extends the deadline for the secretary to adopt rules concerning the tabulation, reporting, and canvassing of results for a coordinated election using instant runoff voting conducted by multiple counties from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026; updates provisions regarding voting machines and the inspection of voting machines by election judges; repeals obsolete provisions regarding sample ballots, the seal on voting machines, the manner of voting by eligible electors, the counting of write-in ballots, and how voting system software is installed; clarifies that the secretary will conduct a random audit of voting devices only if a risk-limiting audit is not possible after an election; and extends the deadlines for the secretary to promulgate rules necessary to conduct risk limiting audits in an election using instant runoff voting and for a county to audit an election using instant runoff voting conducted as part of a coordinated election from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026; Regarding mail ballot elections, allows a clerk to request a waiver from the secretary of state exempting the county from the remote location drop box ballot collection requirements and specifies alternative collection requirements if a waiver is granted; specifies the conditions under which an elector may request a replacement ballot from the clerk; modifies the time by which an elector must request a replacement ballot from the clerk; and repeals obsolete provisions that direct clerks how to count ballots that are cast on electronic or electromechanical vote tabulating equipment; Regarding recounts, repeals obsolete provisions regarding recounts in nonpartisan local elections and clarifies who has standing to request a recount challenge; Regarding certificates of election and election contests, repeals obsolete language regarding the election of precinct officers and duplicative language regarding the resolution of tie votes and specifies that a contest concerning a presidential elector must be filed with the supreme court no later than 24 days after the general election and specifies the deadline for the supreme court to rule on such a contest; and Regarding recall elections, modifies the deadline for filing a nomination petition for a candidate to succeed an officer who is sought to be recalled. The act further modifies the code to specify that regarding the use of an all-candidate primary election or a ranked voting method in a primary or general election, it is the general assembly's intent that a general statutory provision with a later effective date prevails over a specific statutory provision with an earlier effective date. In addition, the act specifies that before a designated election official may conduct an all-candidate primary election using an all-candidate primary ballot and before a primary or general election can use a ranked voting method for federal or state offices, the secretary must certify that: Multiple municipalities in counties of specified sizes with active electors that satisfy certain demographic criteria have conducted an election with a ranked voting method; Each municipality that has conduced an election with a ranked voting method has completed a risk-limiting audit that demonstrates that the certified outcomes in each race were accurate; and The secretary has submitted a report to the general assembly regarding the impact of ranked choice voting methods as compared to elections conducted through other voting methods. The provisions of the act regarding an all-candidate primary election and the use of ranked voting methods take effect March 1, 2026. The act modifies the law regarding initiatives and referendums by repealing an obsolete provision regarding filing a paid circulator report with the secretary and by repealing obsolete language regarding the effective date of the bills enacted during the 2020 legislative session that included an act subject to petition clause. The act modifies the "Fair Campaign Practices Act" as follows: Prohibits a natural person who is not a citizen of the United States, a foreign government, or a foreign corporation from making a direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure in connection with an election on a ballot issue or ballot question in the state; Specifies that a candidate seeking reelection does not have to file an additional disclosure statement filed pursuant to current law if the incumbent has filed the annual report required by law within the last 30 days from which the incumbent becomes a candidate for reelection; Clarifies that any person may file a complaint with the secretary of state about a candidate not complying with the disclosure statement requirements; and Requires a candidate for specified offices to amend the disclosure statement when there is a substantial change of interests as to which the disclosure is required. The act modifies the public official disclosure requirements specified in the "Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972" as follows: Requires that specified public officials file an annual disclosure statement with the secretary and amend the disclosure statement when there is a substantial change of interests as to which the disclosure is required; Requires specified public officials who are serving in office in the 2024 calendar year, but who have not filed an annual disclosure statement in the 2024 calendar year, to file a disclosure statement within a specified amount of time and requires the disclosure statements to be available on the secretary's website; Repeals a provision that allows a public official to file an income tax return with the secretary in lieu of filing certain information required in the disclosure statement; Allows any person who believes that a member of the general assembly is not complying with the public official's disclosure requirements to file a complaint with specified individuals, requires the secretary to notify the appropriate individuals if a member of the general assembly does not timely file the required annual disclosure statement, and requires an individual who receives a complaint to investigate the complaint using existing procedures. The act amends the "Colorado Open Records Act" to specify that if a clerk receives a request for election-related records that are in active use, in storage, or otherwise not readily available, and the request is made during an election for which the clerk is the designated election official, the clerk may take additional time to fulfill the request under certain circumstances; except that the allowance for additional time does not apply if the requester of the public records is a mass medium organization or a newsperson. The act adds clerk and recorders to the law specifying the office hours and required availability of county officials. The act amends Senate Bill 24-230, concerning support for statewide remediation services that positively impact the environment, to repeal the definition of "fee" applicable to section 20 of article X of the state constitution. These provisions of the act are contingent upon Senate Bill 24-230 being enacted and becoming law. The act modifies the county commissioner redistricting process to specify that staff working with the redistricting commission or the advisory committee assigned to assist the redistricting commission regarding the mapping of county commissioner districts may make a completed proposed redistricting plan that staff has prepared as a result of a request made in a public hearing available to the public on the commission's website. In addition, the act specifies that such staff may communicate with a member of the commission or advisory committee to clarify directions that were given to staff during a public meeting regarding the creation of a proposed plan, so long as staff makes a record of the communication available on the commission's website. The act makes the following appropriations for the 2024-25 state fiscal year: $10,444 to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to implement the act; $1,888 to the office of the governor from reappropriated funds for use by the office of information technology to provide services to the department of revenue to implement the act; and $3,654 to the department of state from the department of state cash fund for use by the elections division to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE March 1, 2026(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act designates women veterans appreciation day as an observed, but not a legal, state holiday on June 12 of each year, and provides that appropriate observance may be held in tribute to the service and sacrifice of women veterans. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the fees collected by county clerk and recorders to be a flat $40 fee instead of a fee per page, unless otherwise specified. No fee is allowed for the filing or recording of a certificate of death, a verification of death document, or a certified copy thereof, which are public records if recorded into the real estate records of a county clerk and recorder. The act also extends filing surcharge fees collected by county clerk and recorders by 3 years to 2029. The act modifies existing practice regarding the redaction of the first 5 digits of an individual's social security number on a public document recorded with a county clerk and recorder. Previously, redaction occurred upon request of the individual or the individual's representative. The act changes this practice so that redaction is automatic unless the individual or individual's representative requests that the social security number remain unredacted. The act also delays the repeal and sunset review of the electronic recording technology board (board) by 3 years to 2029, so that the board's sunset review will take place 13 years after the board's creation in 2016. The deadlines for the board's annual and final reports are modified accordingly. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $10,444 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund, of which $1,188 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adopts the cosmetology licensure compact (compact) to facilitate the interstate practice and regulation of cosmetology. With the adoption of the compact, a cosmetologist who holds an active, unencumbered license to practice in the cosmetologist's home state may apply to the cosmetologist's home state for a multistate license. If a cosmetologist is granted a multistate license under the compact, the cosmetologist is authorized to practice cosmetology in the applicant's home state, as well as in each state that is a member of the compact. The cosmetologist must comply with the rules of the licensing authority and the scope of practice laws of the state in which the cosmetologist provides services. If the cosmetologist moves to a new home state, the cosmetologist must apply to the new home state for reissuance of a multistate license. Under the compact, active military members and their spouses may designate a home state where the individual is currently licensed in good standing to practice cosmetology and may retain their home state designation for purposes of the multistate license during any period when that individual or the individual's spouse is on active duty assignment. The compact requires a state that is a member of the compact (member state) to report adverse actions taken by a member state's licensing authority or other regulatory body, including actions taken against a cosmetologist's individual license or authorization to practice, such as revocation, suspension, or any other encumbrance on a license affecting the cosmetologist's ability to practice. The compact authorizes the cosmetology licensure compact commission (commission) to develop and maintain a coordinated database and reporting system to include information relating to a cosmetologist's multistate license and any adverse actions reported against a cosmetologist. The compact specifies the authority of the home state to act with respect to the multistate license issued by the home state, as well as the authority of a remote state to act with respect to the licensee. The compact creates the administrative structure for the compact, including granting the powers necessary to establish and operate the commission, which includes one delegate from each member state that is the administrator of the state licensing authority in the member state or the administrator's designee. Among other powers, the commission may adopt rules and bylaws, establish an executive committee, hire employees, and establish an office. The compact includes provisions relating to the conduct of the commission's meetings and its rule-making authority. The compact authorizes the commission to levy and collect an annual assessment from each member state and to impose fees on licensees of a member state for granting and renewing a multistate license. The compact includes provisions governing disputes among member states and between the commission and a member state, enforcement provisions, and withdrawal of member states from the compact. The compact is effective for member states once the seventh state has adopted the compact. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $104,620 is appropriated from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of professions and occupations to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the veterans assistance grant program (program) by continuing the program for 7 years, until September 1, 2031. The act requires the adjutant general to promulgate rules that set forth criteria and procedures for identifying underserved veteran populations, with the intent to prioritize allocating program money to improve access to services for underserved veterans. The act requires the department of military and veterans affairs to annually report to the general assembly the criteria used to identify underserved veteran populations and how program money was allocated to meet the needs of underserved veterans. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law establishes a schedule of filing fees for litigants in civil actions in county courts. The act eliminates the fee for a defendant filing an answer in an eviction proceeding. Current law permits a party to submit and a county court to grant a motion to waive filing fees in a residential eviction action. The act removes the process for securing a waiver of these filing fees. Current law prohibits a county court from assessing fees when indigent parties e-file motions, answers, or documents in connection with evictions. The act removes the reference to indigent parties and instead prohibits a county court from charging defendants fees for filing motions, answers, or other documents in evictions. If a pro se defendant files an answer or other document physically instead of electronically, the act requires a county court, on a defendant's behalf, to timely serve the document on a plaintiff. The act prohibits the court from charging a fee related to the service. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $122,743 to the judicial department from the general fund. The judicial department may use $3,623 for general courts administration and $119,120 for information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) in its 2023 sunset review of the state plumbing board (board). The act: Continues the board for 8 years to September 1, 2032; Authorizes the board to discipline plumbers who aid or abet a person in violating the plumbing practice act or other statutes that apply to plumbers; Removes the political affiliation requirement for the board, which requires that a major political party not have more than one member more than the other major political party; Clarifies that the licensed categories of plumbers, plumbing apprentices, and registered plumbing contractors can work on water conditioning systems without being required to register with the board as a water conditioning contractor, principal, or installer; Modernizes the term "journeyman" by changing it to "journeyworker" throughout the plumbing practice act, effective July 1, 2025; Modifies the license period for licenses issued or renewed on or after March 1, 2027, to be 3 years or as otherwise determined by the director of the division of professions and occupations in DORA (director); Modifies the grounds for discipline of a licensee regarding habitual or excessive use or abuse of controlled substances or alcohol and removes "substance use disorder" as a ground for discipline; Requires a plumbing contractor to display the plumbing contractor's and attached master plumber's registration information on the plumbing contractor's vehicle or in other locations and makes a plumbing contractor's failure to display the required information grounds for discipline; Repeals the requirement that the board send a letter of admonition by certified mail; Requires persons who are engaged in the business of installing, removing, inspecting, testing, and repairing backflow prevention devices to be licensed, except when installing or testing a stand-alone fire suppression sprinkler system; and Makes technical changes, including to replace the word "administrator" with the word "director" where appropriate and to replace references to "he or she" with gender-neutral terms. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Colorado agriculture license plate. In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay an additional one-time fee in the amount of $25, which money is credited to the highway users tax fund. To implement the act, $15,775 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund and $17,431 is appropriated from the license plate cash fund to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes 2 principal changes to current firefighter benefit programs. First, the act expands state funding for the firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits program to include part-time and volunteer firefighters. Second, the act provides state funding for the firefighter cancer benefits program for eligible firefighters. The act requires an employer of a covered individual to provide access to specified heart and circulatory malfunction benefits to part-time and volunteer firefighters in addition to full-time firefighters and the employer is reimbursed by the state for providing the benefits. The requirement that an employer provide these benefits becomes voluntary if funding is insufficient. The act requires an employer of an eligible firefighter to participate in a cancer trust for firefighter benefits, but specifies that if funding to reimburse the employer is insufficient, participation in the trust becomes optional. The act also requires an employer to participate in a funded trust to provide cardiovascular screenings, at a minimum, and other health screenings and prevention, as practicable, to peace officers. The trust is reimbursed by the state for providing the benefits, and if funding to reimburse the trust is insufficient, then the requirement for employers to provide the specified program is optional. The general assembly is required to appropriate money from the general fund to the department of local affairs to reduce employer contributions for volunteer and part-time firefighters in the following amounts: $300,000 for state fiscal year 2024-25; 500,000 for state fiscal year 2025-26; 650,000 for state fiscal year 2026-27; and $1,000,000 for state fiscal year 2027-28. In addition, on July 1, 2028, the state treasurer is required to transfer $2,500,000 from the general fund to the firefighter benefits cash fund and to transfer sufficient funds, subject to annual appropriation, on each July 1 thereafter, to reimburse employers for the direct costs of providing the benefits for volunteer and part-time firefighters under the firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits program. The general assembly is required to appropriate money from the general fund to the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety for reimbursing a multiple employer health trust for providing cardiovascular screenings for peace officers in the following amounts: $200,000 for state fiscal year 2024-25; 250,000 for state fiscal year 2025-26; 350,000 for state fiscal year 2026-27; $500,000 for state fiscal year 2027-28; and $1,000,000 for state fiscal year 2028-29. For state fiscal year 2024-25, the act appropriates $300,000 from the general fund to the department of local affairs for use by the division of local government for firefighter heart and circulatory malfunction benefits and $200,000 from the general fund to the department of public safety for use by the division of criminal justice for cardiovascular screenings for peace officers. APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 29, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)