The bill requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) to establish and maintain a website containing: Specified information on each criminal forfeiture involving property; and Specified information on how each governmental agency that received proceeds from forfeitures used those proceeds. The bill requires each governmental agency involved in seizing property under forfeiture statutes (seizing agency) to update the information posted on the division's website and establishes consequences if a seizing agency fails to update the website in a timely manner. The executive director of the department of public safety (executive director) is authorized to adopt rules concerning the website. The state auditor is required to annually perform a financial audit of seized property and expenditures of forfeiture proceeds and submit a report on the audit to certain committees of the general assembly and to the executive director. The executive director shall submit an annual report to certain committees and officers summarizing seizure and forfeiture activities in the state. The bill prohibits a seizing agency from transferring or referring seized property to a federal governmental agency for forfeiture litigation unless the property includes currency in excess of $100,000. The bill authorizes the division to charge a seizing agency a fee when the seizing agency updates the website to offset the division's costs of developing and maintaining the website. The bill establishes a cash fund for the fees. The bill clarifies that information and reports developed pursuant to the bill are public records subject to inspection under the 'Colorado Open Records Act'. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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Under current law, the department of education administers state assessments in English language arts and mathematics to students in grades 3 through 9 and administers state assessments in social studies to students once in elementary school, once in middle school, and once in high school. The bill repeals administration of the ninth-grade English language arts and mathematics state assessments and the state social studies assessments to align with changes to federal requirements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill prohibits terminating the life of an unborn child and makes a violation a class 1 felony. The following are exceptions to the prohibition: A licensed physician performs a medical procedure designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother, if the physician makes reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice; and A licensed physician provides medical treatment, including chemotherapy and the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, to the mother that results in the accidental or unintentional injury to or death of the unborn child. The pregnant mother upon whom termination of the life of an unborn child is performed or attempted is not subject to a criminal penalty. The sale and use of contraception is not prohibited by the bill. A conviction related to the prohibition of the termination of the life of an unborn child constitutes unprofessional conduct for purposes of physician licensing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill repeals statutory provisions: Prohibiting the possession of certain ammunition magazines; and Requiring certain ammunition magazines that are manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013, to include a permanent stamp or marking indicating that the magazine was manufactured or assembled after July 1, 2013.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
With certain exceptions, current law limits the authority of a person who holds a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun by prohibiting permit holders from carrying a concealed handgun on public elementary, middle, junior high, or high school grounds. The bill removes this limitation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under current law, if a business has less than $7,300 of personal property that would be listed on a single personal property schedule, then the personal property is exempt from the property tax and the business is not required to submit a schedule to the county assessor. With respect to this exemption, the bill reduces the amount of personal property tax that businesses pay by: Increasing the exemption that applies per schedule from $7,300 to $50,000, adjusted for inflation in the future, which increase will allow more businesses to avoid filing personal property tax schedules; and Allowing businesses whose personal property value exceeds the total exemption amount to claim the exemption. For public utilities that are assessed statewide, the property tax administrator currently considers all of a public utility's tangible property within the state as a factor in determining the value of the public utility as a unit. The bill modifies the valuation process by: Exempting the first $50,000 or an inflation-adjusted amount of personal property from the property tax and excluding it from the administrator's consideration for valuation purposes; and Excluding the exempt personal property from the public utility's statement of property that it files with the administrator.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill: Specifies that no state action may burden a person's exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless it is demonstrated that applying the burden to a person's exercise of religion is essential to further a compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest; Defines 'exercise of religion' as the practice or observance of religion. The bill specifies that exercise of religion includes the ability to act or refuse to act in a manner substantially motivated by a person's sincerely held religious beliefs, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief; except that it does not include the ability to act or refuse to act based on race or ethnicity. Provides a claim or defense to a person whose exercise of religion is burdened by state action; and Specifies that nothing in the bill creates any rights by an employee against an employer unless the employer is a government employer.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)