The bill eliminates the requirement that the department of education administer a state assessment in social studies to elementary and secondary students. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Currently, the state and several state enterprises impose fees on retail sales of taxable tangible personal property delivered by motor vehicle to a location in the state. These fees are collectively known as the retail delivery fee (RDF), and a retailer who makes a retail delivery is required to add the RDF to the price of the retail delivery, collect it from the purchaser, and pay the RDF revenue to the department of revenue (department), which distributes the revenue to the appropriate cash funds. The department generally administers the RDF in the same manner as the state sales and use tax. The act modifies this administration by permitting a retailer to pay the RDF on behalf of the purchaser. If the retailer elects to pay the RDF, then the retailer is: Not required to add the RDF to the price of the retail delivery, separately itemize the RDF, or collect the RDF from the purchaser, who is not liable or the amount nor eligible for a refund of an erroneously paid RDF; and Required to remit the RDF on the date that would be required if the RDF had been received from the purchaser on the date of the retail delivery. The department is required to waive any processing costs for a retailer's electronic payment by automated clearing house (ACH) debit of the RDF if the charges would exceed the amount of the RDF revenue being remitted. The act creates an exemption from the RDF for a retail delivery by a qualified business, which is a business that has $500,000 or less of retail sales in the prior year or is new, that applies retroactively to when RDFs were first imposed. A purchaser is not eligible for a refund of any RDF that is collected and remitted to the department by a qualified business prior to the effective date of the act. The act also creates a primary definition for "retail delivery" that is cross-referenced in other RDF provisions, and related to this change, a definition of "retail sale" is repealed where the cross reference makes it unnecessary. APPROVED by Governor May 4, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 4, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill adds a public utility to the definition of "person" in the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" (Act). In doing so, the bill affords consumers protections against any public utility that violates the Act and subjects a public utility to enforcement actions instituted by the attorney general or district attorneys as authorized by the Act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act permits the peace officers standards and training (P.O.S.T.) board to promulgate rules concerning persons who have deferred action status from the federal immigration and naturalization service or who have applied for asylum status (eligible immigrants) to be a certified peace officer or reserve peace officer. The act permits every law enforcement agency to amend its written firearms policy to allow an eligible immigrant to possess a firearm, so long as the firearms policy complies with federal requirements. The act authorizes an eligible immigrant to enroll in a training academy if the immigrant is employed by a law enforcement agency that has a firearms policy that allows an eligible immigrant to possess a firearm. APPROVED by Governor April 27, 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.)
The act expands student eligibility for the educator preparation stipend programs by increasing students' expected family contribution from no more than 200% to no more than 250% of the maximum federal Pell-eligible expected family contribution. For the 2022-23 and 2023-24 state fiscal years, expected family contribution is temporarily expanded to no more than 300% of the maximum federal Pell-eligible expected family contribution. The act allows a student who is eligible for the student educator stipend program to be placed as a student educator in a school- or community-based setting in Colorado or within 100 miles of the Colorado state border. The act modifies the Colorado commission on higher education considerations of student eligibility for the educator preparation stipend programs specific to funds appropriated for the programs from the economic recovery and relief cash fund. The act broadens the temporary educator loan forgiveness program (forgiveness program) requirements to allow applicants to be principals or special service providers in addition to teachers. The act extends the forgiveness program through July 2023, removes requirements that a school's at-risk student population must exceed 60% in order for an educator to be eligible for the forgiveness program, and expands qualified positions to include positions in any public school, board of cooperative services, or facility school in Colorado. The act also changes how the program prioritizes applicants for the program. The act directs a portion of the appropriation for the 2022-23 state fiscal year to the department of education for a portfolio management system to facilitate the multiple measures approach to the assessment professional competencies. APPROVED by Governor April 10, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 10, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For a proposed metropolitan district that submits a service plan to one or more boards of county commissioners or one or more governing bodies of a municipality on or after January 1, 2024, the service plan is required to include: The maximum mill levy that may be imposed for the payment of general obligation indebtedness, as determined by the board of county commissioners of each county that is approving the service plan or the governing body of each municipality that is approving the service plan, as applicable; and The maximum debt that may be issued by the metropolitan district, as determined by the board of county commissioners of each county that is approving the service plan or the governing body of each municipality that is approving the service plan, as applicable. In addition to any other meetings held by the board of directors of a metropolitan district (board), beginning in the 2023 calendar year, the board is required to hold an annual meeting if the metropolitan district was organized after January 1, 2000, has residential units within its boundaries, and is not in inactive status. The board is prohibited from taking any official action at the annual meeting and shall ensure that the annual meeting includes a presentation from the metropolitan district regarding the status of public infrastructure projects within the metropolitan district and outstanding bonds, if any, a review of unaudited financial statements showing the year-to-date revenue and expenditures of the metropolitan district in relation to its adopted budget for that calendar year, and an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions about the metropolitan district. In addition, the board is required to provide a public comment period during the separate meeting at which the board adopts the annual budget for the metropolitan district. Prior to issuing debt to a director of a metropolitan district or to an entity with respect to which a director of a metropolitan district must make a disclosure pursuant to current law, the board is required to receive a statement of a registered municipal advisor certifying that specified limits on the maximum interest rate of the debt have been met. On and after January 1, 2024, the seller of residential real property that is located within a metropolitan district is required to provide the purchaser of the property with the official website established by the metropolitan district. The seller is required to provide the information on the Colorado real estate commission approved seller's property disclosure. APPROVED by Governor April 3, 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.)
The act requires every home warranty service contract issued or renewed in Colorado on or after July 1, 2024, that provides coverage for the replacement of any of certain gas-fueled appliances to include terms: Allowing the homeowner the option to replace the gas-fueled appliance with a similar device of the homeowner's choosing that operates on electricity rather than gas; and Providing that the home warranty service company is required to provide a replacement appliance that satisfies statutory efficiency requirements. A home warranty service contract may require a homeowner to pay any additional cost to replace a gas-fueled appliance with an appliance that has a cost that exceeds the cost of replacing the gas-fueled appliance with another gas-fueled appliance under the terms of the home warranty service contract, but any additional cost to the homeowner, excluding any installation or other associated costs, must not exceed the retail cost of the replacement electric appliance minus the retail cost of a replacement gas-fueled appliance. In the case of replacement of a gas-fueled furnace, HVAC system, boiler, or water heater, a home warranty service contract must include terms that allow the homeowner to replace the furnace, HVAC system, boiler, or water heater with a heat pump-based system. In the case of replacement of a gas-fueled stove, a home warranty service contract must include terms that allow the homeowner to replace the gas-fueled stove with either an electric stove or an induction stove, at the homeowner's discretion. APPROVED by Governor March 31, 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.)
The act: Clarifies that every prescriber must query the prescription drug monitoring program (program) prior to filling a prescription for an opioid or benzodiazepine; Requires each prescriber and pharmacist to attest that they have registered and are maintaining a user account with the program and that they are aware of the penalties for noncompliance; Allows a practitioner or pharmacist who is registered with the program to authorize an unlimited number of designees to access the program on the practitioner's or pharmacist's behalf if the designees meet the eligibility criteria and to register those designees in a group designee user account. The practitioner or pharmacist is required to approve, maintain, and track the identifying information of each authorized designee in the group designee user account. Requires the division of professions and occupations (division) to solicit applications from public and private integration organizations and, on or before January 1, 2023, approve qualified integration organizations that practitioners and pharmacists may use to integrate the program with patient electronic medical records; and Subject to available funding, requires the division to implement a process whereby practitioners and pharmacists may apply for and receive reimbursement from the division for all or a portion of the costs of integrating the program with electronic medical records. $2,016,475 is appropriated from the prescription drug monitoring fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of professions and occupations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado constitution allows a qualifying senior or a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim a property tax exemption for 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value of the qualifying senior's or veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The concurrent resolution extends eligibility for the exemption to the surviving spouse of a United States armed forces service member who died in the line of duty or veteran whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease as determined by the United States department of veterans affairs, if the surviving spouse is a recipient of dependency indemnity compensation awarded by the United States department of veterans affairs pursuant to applicable federal law. (Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as adopted.)
The act allows the department of human services (department) to spend money appropriated to the department from the general fund in House Bill 22-1329 to expand career and technical education and vocational training programs in designated youth facilities for juveniles in the custody of the department. The act prevents an employer from requiring an applicant for employment of any age to disclose information related to an arrest, detention, processing, diversion, supervision, adjudication, or court disposition that occurred while the applicant was subject to the process and jurisdiction of the juvenile court, and an applicant of any age is not required to disclose such information in response to an employer inquiry. The act does not apply to the screening of applicants who have direct contact with vulnerable persons or the screening of applicants required by licensed child care, nor does it apply to any law enforcement agency or to any political subdivision. The act prohibits state or local agencies from denying or taking adverse action against an applicant who has been adjudicated for a delinquent act in a juvenile proceeding, but who is otherwise qualified for a license, certification, permit, or registration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
