The bill creates the college trust scholarship program (scholarship program) in the department of higher education (department) to disburse scholarship awards to institutions of higher education, as defined in the bill, on behalf of eligible graduates who are awarded a high school diploma from a Colorado public high school prior to enrolling in the fourth year of high school. The savings to the state due to the student graduating high school early is used for the scholarship award and to add money to the state education fund to eliminate the budget stabilization factor applied to total program funding under the public school finance formula. The scholarship award is equal to the greater of a portion of the average state share amount of the statewide average per pupil funding for public elementary and secondary schools or $3,000. The scholarship award is disbursed to the postsecondary program on behalf of the eligible graduate and may be used for the eligible graduate's cost of attendance for the postsecondary program, as determined by the department. An eligible graduate must enroll in a postsecondary program by the eligible graduate's twenty-first birthday or the eligible graduate forfeits the award; except that the department has the ability to waive this requirement in exceptional or unforseen circumstances. An eligible graduate may continue to use any unused portion of the scholarship award until the eligible graduate's twenty-sixth birthday, at which time the unused portion of the scholarship award is forfeited. Forfeited scholarship awards are transferred to the state education fund to be used first to eliminate the budget stabilization factor in the public school finance formula. The bill requires the department to report annually to certain committees of the general assembly certain information relating to the scholarship program. The bill creates the college trust scholarship fund and specifies the characteristics of the fund. Interest and income from the fund and any money from forfeited scholarships is transferred to the state education fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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The bill creates the highly effective teacher incentives program (program) to enable school districts, boards of cooperative services that operate public schools, and charter schools (local education providers) to offer salary bonuses to attract highly effective teachers to teach in elementary, middle, or junior high schools that are implementing priority improvement or turnaround plans (low-performing schools). The department of education (department) and the state board of education (state board) will implement the program by distributing grants in 2-year cycles. The amount of a grant is based on the number of highly effective teachers who meet the requirements for receiving salary bonuses and are employed by local education providers in low-performing schools. Each local education provider that applies and meets the requirements for a grant will receive a grant, subject to available appropriations. A local education provider may use the grant only to pay nonbase-building salary bonuses to eligible highly effective teachers. A local education provider that receives a grant and is already paying incentives to highly effective teachers who teach in low-performing schools must pay the bonuses funded by the grant money in addition to the other incentives. A highly effective teacher must meet specified criteria to receive the salary bonus. The amount of the salary bonus depends on whether the teacher was working in a high-performing local education provider and changed employment to work in a low-performing school or is continuing to work in a low-performing school and whether the highly effective teacher works in a low-performing elementary, middle, or junior high school. The bill creates the highly effective teacher incentives fund (fund), which consists of a one-time appropriation of $4 million from the state education fund. The state board will disburse approximately one-half of the money in the fund in the first grant cycle and approximately one-half of the money in a second grant cycle. By December 15, 2025, the department must submit to the education committees of the general assembly a report concerning the implementation and effectiveness of the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Retained excess state revenues - public schools, higher education, and roads, bridges, and transit - further allocation. The act is contingent on voters approving a related referred measure to annually retain and spend state revenues in excess of the constitutional spending limit. The act requires 1/3 of this money in the account to be allocated for each of the following purposes: Public schools; Higher education; and Roads, bridges, and transit. The general assembly is required to appropriate the money for public schools and higher education for the state fiscal year after the state retains the revenue under the authority of the voter-approved revenue change. The money appropriated for public schools must be distributed on a per pupil basis and used by public schools only for nonrecurring expenses for the purpose of improving classrooms, and it may not be used as part of a district reserve. The state treasurer is required to transfer the remaining 1/3 of the money to the highway users tax fund (HUTF), and this money is further allocated 60% to the state highway fund, 22% to counties, and 18% to cities and incorporated towns. No more than 85% of the money allocated to the state highway fund may be expended for highway purposes or highway-related capital improvements and at least 15% must be expended for transit purposes or for transit-related capital improvements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Dedicated electric vehicle charging stations - misuse - penalties. The act authorizes the owner of a plug-in electric motor vehicle charging station to install a sign that identifies the station. If the sign is installed, a person is prohibited from: Parking in the space if the vehicle is not an electric vehicle; and Using a dedicated charging station for parking if the electric vehicle is not charging. An electric vehicle is rebuttably presumed to not be charging if the electric vehicle is parked in a charging station and is not electrically connected to the charger for longer than 30 minutes. A person may park an electric vehicle at a charging station after the electric vehicle is fully charged in a parking lot: That serves a lodging business if the person is a client of the lodging business and has parked the electric vehicle in the lot to charge overnight; That serves an airport if the person is a client of the airport and has parked the electric vehicle in the lot to charge when traveling; or Between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The penalty for a violation is a $150 fine and a $32 surcharge. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Electric utilities - electric vehicles - charging ports and related infrastructure - cost recovery for investments - limitation on rate impact. The act authorizes electric public utilities to provide charging ports as regulated services and allows cost recovery. The retail rate impact from the development of electric vehicle infrastructure must not exceed one-half of one percent of the total annual revenue requirements of the utility. The act requires an electric public utility to apply to the public utilities commission to build facilities to support electric vehicles. Standards are set for approval. When a facility is built, the rates and charges for the services may allow: A return on any investment made by a public utility at the utility's weighted average cost of capital with the most recent rate of return on equity approved by the commission; For rate recovery mechanisms that allow earlier recovery of costs; and For performance-based incentive returns or similar investment incentives.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Drivers' licenses - renting or loaning a motor vehicle - use of electronic device for verification of driver's license. Current law prohibits a person from renting a motor vehicle to another person until the prospective lessor of the vehicle has inspected the prospective lessee's driver's license and compared and verified the signature on the license with the prospective lessee's signature in his or her presence. The act removes the requirement that the inspection be performed in the prospective lessee's presence and provides that the inspection may be performed through the use of an electronic device and must verify only that the license is unexpired. Current law requires a person who rents a motor vehicle to another person to keep a record of the registration number of the motor vehicle, the name and address of the other person, the number of the license of the other person, and the date and place when and where the license was issued. The act removes the requirement that the record include the date that the license was issued and permits the person who rents the motor vehicle to maintain the record in an electronic format. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Colorado food systems advisory council - relocation to Colorado state university - repeal of interagency farm-to-school coordination task force - duties - appropriation. The act relocates the Colorado food systems advisory council (council) from the department of agriculture to Colorado state university and repeals the interagency farm-to-school coordination task force. The act ends the terms of current members of the council and provides for the appointment of new members. As updated in the act, the council's duties are to: Grow local, regional, and statewide food economies within which producers have access to new markets and low-income populations have access to fresh, affordable, and healthy foods. The council will collaborate and coordinate with producers, relevant state and federal educational institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and consumers to connect state and federal agencies and to provide Colorado producers, including fruit and vegetable producers, with viable market opportunities. Support the implementation of the recommendations in the Colorado blueprint of food and agriculture project, ensure that the blueprint, or its successor project, is updated as needed, and ensure alignment with other state or local food plans if relevant; Conduct research regarding national best practices regarding food and nutrition assistance, direct and intermediated market development, institutional procurement, and farm-to-school programs as well as other priorities determined by the council; Collaborate with, serve as a resource to, and receive input from local and regional food policy councils in the state; and Explore methods of collecting and assessing statewide data relating to council activities and report the relevant information and data regarding council activities as required by current law. $100,317 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
School leadership pilot program - appropriation. The act creates the school leadership pilot program (program) to provide professional development for public elementary, middle, and high school principals. During the 2019-20 budget year, the department of education (department) is directed to design and implement the program or contract with a nonprofit entity or institution of higher education (contracted entity) to design and implement the program. The program must include identification of high-quality school principals who will interact with the school principals selected to receive professional development through the program. The program must also include professional development in distributive and collaborative leadership skills with the goal of improving educator retention, school climate and culture, and student outcomes. School principals may apply to receive professional development through the program during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 budget years. The department or the contracted entity must review the applications and select the participants. Subject to available appropriations, the department must provide grants to the employers of the school principals who participate in the program either as high-quality school principals or to receive professional development. By March 15, 2020, the department must report to the education committees of the general assembly concerning the design of the program. By January 15, 2022, the department must report to the education committees concerning implementation of the program, including recommendations for whether the program should be continued. The program is repealed, effective July 1, 2022. For the 2019-20 fiscal year, the act appropriates $272,929 from the general fund to the department to implement the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Appliances and plumbing fixtures - water and energy efficiency standards for new products sold in Colorado - phase-in of requirements - list of products covered - rule-making authority - enforcement. The act updates and adopts standards for water efficiency and energy efficiency that apply to a list of consumer and commercial appliances and other products. The standards are based on state standards, federal Energy Star and WaterSense specifications, and industry standards in most cases or, where a standard is not incorporated by reference, the standard is specified by statute. The standards apply to new products sold in Colorado and are phased in over a period of 3 years, with general service lamps covered beginning in 2020, air compressors and portable air conditioners covered beginning in 2022, and all other listed products covered beginning in 2021. The act also keeps in place the water efficiency standards on certain products that were added to the Colorado statutes in 2014. The sale of a noncomplying product after the effective date of the applicable standard is punishable through a civil enforcement action by the attorney general, with penalties of up to $2,000 per violation or, in the case of the sale of a noncomplying product to an elderly person, $10,000 per violation. The executive director of the department of public health and environment is directed to collect and publish the standards that are incorporated by reference. The executive director is also authorized, but not required, to adopt rules incorporating more recent versions of standards or test methods in order to maintain or improve consistency with other state or federal agency standards, subject to a one-year grace period between adoption and enforcement of any new or amended standards. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Waste diversion - front range waste diversion enterprise created - increased waste diversion goals established - new tipping fee - grant program. Section 1 of the act creates the front range waste diversion enterprise. The enterprise will collect a user fee on each load of waste disposed of at a landfill in the front range and credit the fee to the new front range waste diversion cash fund to finance the front range waste diversion grant program. Section 2 sets the user fee at 15 cents per cubic yard per load from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The fee increases 15 cents per year so that on and after January 1, 2023, the fee is 60 cents per cubic yard per load; except that this amount is adjusted annually by inflation after January 1, 2024. Section 3 adjusts the fine amount for littering on public or private property annually, commencing on January 1, 2020, by inflation and credits the increased amount of the fine to the fund. The front range is defined as the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo, Teller, and Weld and the cities and counties of Broomfield and Denver. The following entities that are located or provide services in the front range are eligible to apply for grants: Municipalities, counties, and cities and counties; nonprofit and for-profit businesses involved in waste disposal or diversion; and institutions of higher education and public or private schools. The enterprise shall administer the grant program and provide technical assistance to eligible entities to achieve the following municipal waste diversion goals within the front range: 32% diversion by 2021; 39% diversion by 2026; and 51% diversion by 2036. The board of directors of the enterprise shall submit a report by July 1 of each year to the committees of reference of the general assembly with jurisdiction over the environment regarding the grant program. The enterprise, increased user fee, and increased amount of the littering fine are repealed, effective September 1, 2029. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More