The act appropriates $15,000,000 from the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund and the federal coronavirus recovery fund to the department of higher education for the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative's displaced workers grant.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act requires owners of certain large buildings (covered buildings), on an annual basis, to collect and report to the Colorado energy office (office) the covered building's energy use. The act establishes a process requiring certain electric and gas utilities to provide energy-use data to a covered building owner when requested by the covered building owner.On or before October 1, 2021, the director of the office is required to appoint and convene a task force consisting of various building owners, building professionals, utility representatives, and local government representatives to recommend performance standards for adoption as rules by the air quality control commission (commission). The performance standards set forth in rule would need to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 7% by 2026 compared to 2021 levels as reported in energy benchmarking data and by 20% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. The performance standards adopted must include a provision that an owner of a public building need only comply with the performance standards with regard to certain types of construction or renovation projects and only if the construction or renovation project has an estimated cost of at least $500,000. Covered building owners would then need to demonstrate their compliance with the performance standards set forth in the commission's rules. The commission is also required to adopt rules regarding the issuance of waivers and extensions of time for performance standard compliance. The commission may adopt additional rules, as the commission deems necessary, to modify or continue the performance standards.Section 2 authorizes the office to use the energy fund to help finance its work to administer the benchmarking and performance standard program described in section 1 (program).Section 3 requires the office to administer the program and assist covered building owners with the reporting requirements set forth in section 1 by:Creating a database of covered buildings and owners required to comply with section 1; Tracking compliance with the program and providing a list of noncompliant owners of covered buildings to the division of administration in the department of public health and environment; Developing publicly available, digitally interactive maps and lists showing the energy-use and performance-standard data reported; Coordinating with any local government that implements its own energy benchmarking requirements or energy performance program, including coordination of reporting requirements; and Collecting an annual fee from owners of covered buildings of $100 per covered building; except that owners of public buildings are exempt from paying the fee. The office is required to transfer the fees collected to the state treasurer, who will credit the fees to the climate change mitigation and adaptation fund (fund) created in section 3. Section 4 imposes penalties for violations of the benchmarking requirements in amounts up to $500 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for each subsequent violation. The commission is required to establish by rule civil penalties for a violation of the commission's performance standards in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for a subsequent violation.Section 5 modifies the definition of an "energy performance contract" that a governing body of a municipality, county, special district, or school district (board) enters into for evaluation, recommendations, or implementation of energy saving measures to remove requirements that a board's payment for goods and services pursuant to the contract be made within a certain number of years of the contract's execution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the state board of education (state board) to review, during a recurring interval specified in the act, standards relating to the knowledge and skills that a student should acquire in school to ensure that the financial literacy standards for ninth through twelfth grade include an understanding of the costs associated with obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential and how to budget for and manage the payment for those costs, including managing student loan debt and accessing student aid through completion of the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) and the Colorado application for state financial aid (CASFA); understanding credit cards and credit card debt; understanding homeownership and mortgages; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits.The act adds to the resources contained in the existing financial literacy resource bank created and maintained by the state board specific references relating to assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt; understanding the purpose of and how to access and complete the FAFSA or CASFA; understanding credit cards and credit card debt; understanding the home buying process, including home loans and managing mortgage debt; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits.The act adds assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt to the suggested financial literacy curriculum that a school district is encouraged to adopt. Further, the act requires school districts and charter schools, as part of the process of establishing the individual career and academic plan for a student in grades 9 through 12, to inform the student and the student's parents of the importance of completing the FAFSA and CASFA and to provide help in completing the forms, if requested.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the support pollinators license plate for vehicles. A person qualifies for issuance of the plate if the person makes a donation to a designated nonprofit organization that supports pollinators. The organization must meet specified criteria, including having existed for at least 5 years, and use the donation for pollination programs and education.In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay 2 additional one-time fees for the issuance of the plate. One of these fees is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other fee is credited to the licensing services cash fund.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $22,544 to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires members of a county board of health or a district board of health and members of the state board of health, on and after January 1, 2022, to attend both annual public health training provided by the department of public health and environment and developed by the department of public health and environment along with the Colorado school of public health and annual public health training developed and provided by the department of public health and environment and the director of the office of emergency management concerning the role of a board of health in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from an emergency disaster.The act also requires the department of public health and environment, on and after January 1, 2022, to develop guidance on recruiting persons to serve on county and district boards of health and to provide this guidance to any board of county commissioners, county board of health, or district board of health that requests it.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $30 million from the general fund to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund and appropriates the money for use by the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) to protect watersheds against the impacts of wildfires through the existing watershed restoration grant program and for conducting a statewide watershed analysis to investigate the susceptibility of life, safety, infrastructure, and water supplies to wildfire impacts. The CWCB can use up to 5% of the money to administer the grant program and up to 10% to provide technical engineering services to grantees. The CWCB is directed to:Spend up to $500,000 by December 31, 2022, to conduct the analysis; and Award at least $10 million dollars in grants under the grant program by July 1, 2022, and award the remaining money, less the money the CWCB uses to administer the grant program and provide technical engineering services, in grants by December 31, 2022.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act eliminates the requirement that the department of education and each division, board, or agency of the department of regulatory agencies verify the lawful presence of each applicant before issuing or renewing a license.The act also specifies that lawful presence is not required of any applicant for any state or local license, certificate, or registration. The act is a state law within the meaning of the federal law that gives states authority to provide for eligibility for state and local public benefits to persons who are unlawfully residing in the United States.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the admission standards for first-time admitted freshmen students must use high school academic performance indicators and national assessment test scores. The act removes the requirement for a national assessment test score. The act states that the governing board of a state institution of higher education (institution) may, but is not required to, require a national assessment test score as an eligibility criterion for admission.An applicant may submit a national assessment test score to an institution that does not require a national assessment test score as an eligibility criterion and request that the institution consider the national assessment test score.Starting June 30, 2023, the department of higher education (department) shall publish and submit to the education committees an annual report of various data intended to determine whether requiring or not requiring a national assessment test score as an eligibility criterion for the admissions process provides greater diversity among institutions without causing negative student outcomes that are directly attributable to the change in the admissions process.On or before June 30, 2027, and on or before June 30, 2032, the commission on higher education shall publish and submit to the education committees a report analyzing the annual reports submitted by the department.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
An individual or entity must generally notify the statewide notification association of all owners and operators of underground facilities of its intent to engage in excavation so that any underground facilities that the excavation might affect, such as water and sewer pipes, gas lines, and electric or cable lines, can be located and marked before excavation begins. Underground facilities are often located beneath the right-of-way of county gravel and dirt roads, normally at a depth of at least 18 inches below the road surface. Counties maintain the profile and surface condition of county roads and such county road rights-of-way by engaging in routine and emergency maintenance activities that do not disturb more than 6 inches in depth. Before the passage of the act, these maintenance activities triggered the excavation notification requirement, and the related requirement that the location of underground facilities be marked, even though they occur above the levels where underground facilities are located. The act specifies that excavation that is routine or emergency maintenance of the right-of-way of a county-maintained gravel or dirt road and is performed by county employees does not require notification of the notification association or location marking unless the excavation will:Lower the existing grade or elevation of the road or any adjacent shoulder or the designed and constructed elevation of any adjacent ditch flowline; or Disturb more than 6 inches in depth as it is conducted.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the Colorado special education fiscal advisory committee until 2031.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
