Sen. Rachel Zenzinger

The Colorado housing and finance authority (CHFA), under the Colorado affordable tax credit program, may allocate income tax credits in an annual aggregate amount of up to $10 million for the years beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2024. The bill extends this period to December 31, 2031. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires the department of education to distribute to each administrative unit $1,250 for each child with a disability who receives special education services from the administrative unit. The act increases the amount to $1,750 and requires the amount to increase by the rate of inflation each budget year beginning with the 2024-25 budget year. The act increases the required annual appropriation by an additional $26.8 million to fund children who have one or more disabilities and receive special education services from an administrative unit and requires the amount to increase by the rate of inflation each budget year beginning with the 2024-25 budget year. The act requires the special education fiscal advisory committee to submit a report to the education committees of the general assembly on or before January 1, 2023. The report must include the following information: An analysis of funding for special education services in other states compared to the funding model used in Colorado, with a focus on the proportionate share between federal, state, and local funding and how other states fund different categories of disabilities to target the needs of children with disabilities; An analysis of the actual costs to provide special education services to children with disabilities in Colorado; An analysis of the effectiveness of the current model for funding special education services, including whether the current funding model adequately supports special education services; An examination of the high-cost special education trust fund (fund) that includes how the fund is operated, who receives funding from the fund, and how the fund impacts those who receive funds; An analysis of the current disability categories for children with disabilities and whether the disability categories are sufficient for meeting the needs of children with disabilities; and Recommended changes, if any, to the special education services funding model. The act appropriates $80 million from the state education fund to the department of education for special education programs for children with disabilities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act finds that current economic conditions have increased the amount of revenue available to the state for the 2022-23 budget year, allowing the state to increase the amount of appropriation for the state's share of total program funding for school districts and institute charter schools, thereby mitigating the impact of the budget stabilization factor. Additionally, it finds there is uncertainty concerning the continuity and longevity of these current economic conditions and whether high property values and increased revenue will continue. The act: Increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2022-23 budget year by $252.88, to account for inflation of 3.5%, to a new statewide base per pupil funding amount of $7,478.16; and Sets the total program funding for the 2022-23 budget year for all school districts and institute charter schools after application of the budget stabilization factor to not less than $8,422,216,159. The act permits a public school one year to discontinue the prohibited use of an American Indian mascot if the public school was first notified of the prohibited use on or after May 1, 2022. The act extends by six months the requirement for a board of cooperative services (BOCES) to obtain written permission from the school district in which a school operates or is located if the BOCES intends to authorize the school and the school is physically located within the geographic boundaries of a school district that is not a member of the BOCES. The act extends by one year the ability for local education providers to carry forward more than 15% of per-pupil intervention money received pursuant to the "Colorado READ Act". The act extends by one year the local accountability system grant program and the requirement that the department of education (department) contract with an external evaluator to evaluate the implementation of the local accountability systems. The act makes an appropriation of $100,000 for this evaluation. The act extends by one year the completion of the pilot program to develop and use screening and identification processes and intervention strategies for early identification of and support for students enrolled in kindergarten through third grade who may have dyslexia. The act states that, if a school district permits a student whose parent or guardian is a resident of the state but not a resident of the district to attend school in the district, the school district shall not require the parent, guardian, or student to pay tuition to attend school in the district, regardless of when during the school year, or under what circumstances, the student enrolls in or attends school in the district. The act allows contingency reserve fund payments for rural or small rural school districts for the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 budget years if an unusual financial burden would be caused by the withholding of local property taxes due to a delay in filing a required audit report due to extraordinary problems that could not have been reasonably foreseen or prevented by the district. The act requires the department to issue a separate school code for certain programs. The act act expands authorization for financial assistance through the educator recruitment and retention program to include applicants agreeing to teach for 3 years in educator shortage areas in the state. The act permits a vendor that contracts with the department to develop a quality teacher recruitment program, and commits to satisfying the requirement to match 100% of the money paid by the department for the contract through gifts, grants, or donations from private donors, to also accept gifts, grants, donations, or other pledges of money from school districts or local governments. The act removes the department's authority to reallocate money among participating schools under the school food purchasing program. The act extends by one year the K-5 social and emotional health pilot program and amend the requirements for school mental health professionals participating in the pilot program. The act permits 20% of the money appropriated for the Colorado imagination library program to be used by the contractor for operating costs. The act: Removes the limit on the number of accelerating students through concurrent enrollment (ASCENT) program participants, and allows each qualified student selected to participate in the program; Reduces the number of postsecondary credits a qualified student must have completed to be eligible to participate in the ASCENT program; and Repeals the requirement that a student who fails to complete a concurrent enrollment course must repay the amount of tuition to the local education provider and repeals a provision permitting a local education provider to require a student who receives a failing grade to repay the tuition amount of a concurrent enrollment. The act, as amended by S.B. 22-202, transfers $290 million from the general fund to the state education fund. The act clarifies the state assessments that a local education provider may decide whether students will use pencil and paper rather than a computer. The act makes an appropriation of: $184,125,900 to the department, consisting of $2,101,985 from the general fund and $182,023,915 from the state education fund; $1 million to the department for charter school institute mill levy equalization fund; $127,973 for the dyslexia markers pilot program; $43,113 to the department for college and career readiness; and $25,000 for information technology services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act continues the existing school leadership pilot program (program) by repealing the repeal date for the program and removing the word "pilot" from the name of the program. The act repeals the ability of the department of education (department) to award grants to the employers of school principals who participate in the program and limits the amount that the general assembly may annually appropriate for the program to no more than $250,000. For the 2022-23 budget year, the act appropriates $250,000 to the department to implement the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act appropriates $25 million from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund, which money originates from the general fund, to the department of local affairs (DOLA) for expansion of the middle income access program created and administered by the Colorado housing and finance authority (CHFA). The act requires the division of housing within DOLA to contract with CHFA for administration of the money appropriated. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The workforce diploma pilot program was established in 2019 as a pilot program scheduled to repeal on July 1, 2022. The bill continues the pilot program indefinitely as the workforce diploma program (program). The bill requires the department of education to annually adjust the amounts paid to qualified providers under the program in accordance with the corresponding percentage change in the consumer price index. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the Colorado safe student protection program (program) to provide grants to school districts and charter schools to support student safety, including equipment and training to ensure safe student transportation on school buses, and to facilitate the development of a secure website, online application, and mobile application that provide parental notifications about student safety and age-appropriate health and safety information at no cost to parents (secure digital notification and information tools). The department of education (department) operates the grant program and selects a program facilitator to support schools awarded a program grant. The department allocates a portion of the program money to the program facilitator. Subject to available appropriations, program grants are 3-year grants that cover the 2022-23 through 2024-25 school years. The department annually distributes grant money. A grant recipient may use a grant award to: Provide parents with the secure digital notification and information tools; Increase the safety of students and the security of school buses by equipping school buses with hardware and software that monitor driver behavior and enable the buses to communicate directly with first responders; and Fund relevant school bus safety training, including federal transportation security awareness training. The program facilitator may be a public benefit corporation or a nonprofit organization that operates with a charitable purpose and must have at least 7 years of experience in student safety, including student transportation safety. The department allocates fifty percent of program money to the program facilitator. The program facilitator must use program money to: Support program grant recipients; Develop the secure digital notification and information tools; Recruit school bus drivers and conduct or facilitate federal transportation security awareness training; Develop and make publicly available school bus transportation safety information and age-appropriate student safety educational materials; Conduct a statewide awareness campaign to reduce instances of drivers illegally failing to stop for a school bus; and Seek additional sources of funding on behalf of the program. The program is a 3-year program that repeals in 2025. The bill makes an appropriation. The bill appropriates $3.5 million to the department for the program. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill creates the competitive transportation innovation grant program (grant program) in the department of education (department) to address the public school transportation shortage. The bill allows school districts, charter schools, institute charter schools, the state charter school institute, boards of cooperative services, a consortium of school districts, tribal governments, local governments, and community organizations that partner with school districts (eligible applicants) to apply to the grant program. The state board of education (state board) shall select grantees who develop and implement innovative solutions, strategies, and services to address the public school transportation shortage. Eligible applicants shall serve students of color and students from under-resourced communities who are disproportionately impacted by the transportation shortage and struggle to access school districts of their choice and career pathway programs because of their limited access to transportation. The department operates the grant program. The grant program is a one-time grant program, but grantees have 2 years to spend the grant money. If selected for a grant, a grantee is required to submit a report to the department on or before August 1, 2024, and to submit a second report on or before August 1, 2025. The report must include an explanation of the solutions, strategies, and services developed and implemented with the grant money as described in the grantee's grant application. On or before August 30, 2024, and again on or before August 30, 2025, the department is required to submit a report summarizing information submitted by the grantee. The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate money from the revenue loss restoration cash fund to address the public school transportation shortage resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill repeals the grant program, effective July 1, 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

In 2021, the general assembly enacted legislation, SB 21-262, concerning transparency for special districts, that, among other things, required the disclosure of property tax information to purchasers of newly constructed residences within the boundaries of metropolitan districts. As part of this required disclosure, SB 21-262 required the owner of the property to provide to the seller a copy of the most current county assessor's property tax certificate. The county assessors do not issue tax certificates. The tax certificate is issued by the county treasurer. The act corrects this incorrect statutory reference by requiring that each owner of real property that sells real property that includes a newly constructed residence, concurrently with or prior to the execution of a contract to sell the property, provide to the purchaser of the property a copy of the most current certificate of taxes due or tax statement issued by the county treasurer that is applicable to the property as an estimate of the sum of additional mill levies levied by other taxing entities that overlap the property in which the newly constructed residence is located. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill creates an essential services for youth special district (district) in each judicial district. The boundaries of each district are coterminous with the boundaries of the judicial district in which it is created. The purposes of each district are to: Seek voter approval from registered electors in the district for the levy and collection of a uniform sales and use tax or a property tax, or both, throughout the entire geographical area of the district for the purpose of providing a sustainable funding source for essential services providers to provide services to at-risk youth who reside in the district; Upon the approval of the registered electors in the district, to levy and collect a uniform sales and use tax or a property tax, or both, throughout the entire geographical area of the district; Distribute the district sales and use tax or property tax revenue to essential services providers to provide services to at-risk youth who reside in the district; and Monitor the purposes for which the district tax revenue is used by essential services providers. A district is inactive until: Either the chief judge of the judicial district or the board of directors of the local court-appointed special advocate (CASA) program call a meeting of the appointing authorities of the district board (appointing authorities) to determine whether the district will become active. The appointing authorities include representatives from the judicial district, the local CASA program, the district attorney's office, the child advocacy center in the judicial district, and the counties and municipalities in which the district is located. The appointing authorities meet and adopt a resolution by a majority vote declaring that the district will become active; and The board of directors of the local CASA program files the resolution with specified entities. A district that is activated by a vote of the appointing authorities is governed by a board of directors (board) consisting of 9 members. The bill specifies the eligibility criteria to serve on the board, the process by which board directors are appointed, a rotation of appointing authorities, and the powers and duties of the board. Once appointed, a board is authorized to present to the registered electors of the district a question of whether the district is authorized to levy and collect a sales and use tax, a property tax, or both, in amounts determined by the board. The bill directs the board to distribute the proceeds of any district tax revenue to essential services providers that provide services to at-risk youth. After deductions for administrative expenses, a board is required to distribute 60% of the tax revenue to the local CASA program in the district and to the child advocacy center in the district as determined by the board. The board is required to distribute the remaining 40% of the tax revenue to other essential services providers through a grant program. An essential services provider that receives a distribution of tax revenue is required to use the money for one or more of the following purposes: Programs that address the health, safety, wellness, and mental health of at-risk youth; Programs that provide services for unhoused at-risk youth; Programs that support at-risk youth in the judicial system; Programs that provide forensic support, including the administration costs of providing such support; or The construction of capital facilities for the provision of essential services. An essential services provider that receives a distribution of tax revenue is prohibited from using the revenue for day care, data collection, school-based education, or fitness and recreational programming. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)