The act requires the Colorado state forest service to make certain upgrades and improvements to its seedling tree nursery in order to expand its capacity and its ability to contribute to reforestation efforts in the state. The act extends the applicable repeal date to January 1, 2026. House Bill 22-1323, concerning updates to the Colorado state forest service seedling tree nursery, appropriated $5,000,000 for the 2022-23 state fiscal year to the department of higher education for use by the board of governors of the Colorado state university system, and the act further appropriates the unexpended amount through the 2024-25 state fiscal year. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $5,382,500 from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the board of governors of the Colorado state university system for the Colorado state forest service seedling tree nursery. The act requires that any unexpended money appropriated pursuant to the act remain available for expenditure through the 2024-25 state fiscal year. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 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.)
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The act directs the director of the division of fire prevention and control (division) within the department of public safety to report on the investigation of wildland fires in the state and creates the fire investigation fund to fund fire investigations. The money in the fund is subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, and the division must prioritize money in the fund for wildland fire investigations. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $2,764,021 is appropriated to the fire investigation fund from the general fund and the money is reappropriated to the department of public safety for vehicle lease payments, personal services, operating expenses, and local fire investigation reimbursements. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands conditions covered under the warranty of habitability for residential premises to include damage due to an environmental public health event. The act requires a landlord to have a residential premises remediated to a condition that complies with applicable standards for the remediation and clean up of residential premises after damage due to an environmental public health event. The act also clarifies landlord responsibilities regarding the warranty of habitability and how a tenant must give notice to a landlord if there are habitability issues with the tenant's residence. The act prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant for making a good faith complaint about the conditions of the residential premises and provides conditions by which a tenant may terminate a lease if a habitability issue is not remediated. The act also specifies conditions by which certain vulnerable populations may terminate a lease if the residential premises has been damaged due to an environmental public health event that would be detrimental to the health, safety, or quality of life of those vulnerable populations. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the Colorado state forest service (state forest service) to consult with other entities to develop educational materials relating to career opportunities in forestry and wildfire mitigation for distribution to high school guidance counselors to provide to high school students. The act creates the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program (development program) in the state forest service to provide partial reimbursement to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities for the costs of hiring interns. The act requires the state treasurer, on June 30, 2023, and on June 30 each year thereafter, to transfer $1,000,000 from the general fund to the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund for allowable uses of the fund. The act authorizes the expansion of existing forestry programs, including wildfire mitigation programs, and the creation of new forestry programs at public institutions of higher education (public institutions) to include state institutions of higher education, local district colleges, and area technical colleges. The commission on higher education (commission) shall determine which public institutions receive funding for expanded or new forestry programs, prioritizing public institutions that can provide a trained workforce expeditiously. The act provides for the acquisition of a harvesting simulator to train students, which may be shared among the forestry programs. The act includes funding for the forestry programs. The act directs the state board for community colleges and occupational education (community college board) to administer the recruitment of wildland fire prevention and mitigation educators program (recruiting program) to increase the number of qualified educators at community colleges, area technical colleges, and local district colleges that deliver a wildfire prevention and mitigation program or course. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year: The act appropriates $15,000 to the healthy forests vibrant communities cash fund from the general fund; and The act appropriates $1,545,034 to the department of higher education from the general fund, including: $114,384 for the Colorado state forest service at Colorado state university; $1,180,650 for use by the commission for new and expanded forestry programs; and $250,000 for the college opportunity program to be used for fee-for-service contracts for the community college board state system colleges for the recruiting program. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a wildfire resiliency code board (board) in the division of fire prevention and control (division) within the department of public safety (department) for the purposes of ensuring community safety from and more resiliency to wildfires by reducing the risk of wildfires to people and property through the adoption of statewide codes and standards. The board consists of 21 appointed voting members with specific government or industry qualifications and 3 non-voting members. The board is required to promulgate rules concerning the adoption of codes and standards for the hardening of structures and reducing fire risk in the defensible space surrounding structures in the wildland-urban interface in Colorado, including rules that: Define the wildland-urban interface and identify areas of the state that are within it; Adopt minimum codes and standards based on best practices to reduce the risk to life and property from the effects of wildfires; Identify hazards and types of buildings, entities, and defensible space around structures to which the codes apply; and Establish a process for a governing body to petition the board for a modification to the codes and establish the criteria and process for the board to grant or deny an appeal from a decision of the board on a petition for modification. The act also creates the wildfire resiliency code board cash fund (cash fund) and, subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the department shall use money in the fund to implement the provisions of the act. The state treasurer is required to transfer $250,000 from the general fund to the cash fund on July 1, 2023. The act requires a governing body with jurisdiction in an area within the wildland-urban interface that has the authority to adopt building codes or fire codes to adopt and enforce a code that meets or exceeds the minimum standards of the codes adopted by the board within 3 months of the date the board adopts its codes. Enforcement of the governing body's adopted codes is done in accordance with the rules and regulations for code enforcement adopted by the governing body and the period to comply with a governing body's adopted codes must be in accordance with the governing body's rules and regulations or within 3 months of adoption, whichever is sooner. If the governing body does not have rules and regulations for code enforcement, the governing body may request support from the division to enforce the code. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $9,302 from the general fund to the cash fund and reappropriates the money to the department of public safety for use by the division for the board and for vehicle lease payments. An additional $250,000 is appropriated to the department for use by the division from the cash fund for the board. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb23-1272-bill-summary APPROVED by Governor May 11, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 11, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the 2023-24 state fiscal year through the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $3 million annually money from the general fund to the food pantry assistance grant program. The bill repeals the food pantry assistance grant program, effective July 1, 2028. (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.)
Section 1 of the act requires the public utilities commission (commission), if relying on a discount rate when calculating the net present value of future carbon-based fuel costs as part of a utility's electric resource plan, to apply a discount rate that does not exceed the long-term rate of inflation. The commission is required to determine an appropriate rate of inflation specifically for fuel costs. Section 2 requires the commission to establish rules to limit the amount of rate case expenses that an investor-owned electric or gas utility may recover from the utility's customers. In reviewing an investor-owned utility's application to modify base rates, the commission is required to certify that sufficient information is included in the application, including a comprehensive cost and revenue requirement analysis. Section 3 prohibits an investor-owned electric or gas utility from recovering various costs from its customers, including: More than 50% of annual total compensation or of expense reimbursement for a utility's board of directors; Tax penalties or fines issued against the utility; Investor-relation expenses; Certain advertising and public relations expenses; Lobbying and other expenses intended to influence the outcome of local, state, or federal legislation or ballot measures; Charitable giving expenses; Certain organizational and membership dues; Certain political contributions or expenses; Travel, lodging, food, or beverage expenses for the utility's board of directors and officers; Gift or entertainment expenses; Expenses related to aircraft for a utility's board of directors and officers; and Expenses related to unregulated products or services sold or provided by a utility. If an investor-owned utility recovers prohibited costs, the commission may assess a nonrecoverable penalty against the utility and is required to order the utility to refund the amount improperly recovered to its customers, plus interest. An investor-owned utility is required to file an annual report with the commission on the utility's compliance with the cost recovery prohibitions, which report must include the purpose, payee, and amount of any expenses associated with costs and activities not permitted to be recovered from customers. Section 4 requires that, on or before November 1, 2023, an investor-owned gas utility file with the commission for the commission's approval, amendment, or denial a gas price risk management plan that includes proposals for addressing the volatility of fuel costs recovered from the utility's customers pursuant to the utility's gas cost adjustment filings. Section 4 requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before January 1, 2025, to help protect investor-owned electric or gas utility customers from the volatility of gas prices by establishing mechanisms that align an investor-owned utility's financial incentives with the financial interests of its customers regarding incurred fuel costs. In adopting the rules, the commission is required to consider mechanisms to create a financial incentive for an investor-owned utility to improve its electricity production cost efficiency while minimizing its fuel costs. As part of its rules, the commission shall also consider, to the extent such information is relevant, each investor-owned electric or gas utility's financial health and corresponding impacts on customer affordability. Section 4 also requires the commission to open a proceeding to investigate whether and how residential and other development in certain geographic areas drive natural gas infrastructure costs for any natural gas utility that serves more than 500,000 customers in the state. After completing the investigation, the commission shall consider whether alternative infrastructure, service investments, or other actions by the utility could mitigate impacts of such development on nonparticipating or income-qualified utility customers. Section 5 requires: On or before December 31, 2023, each regulated gas utility to remove from the utility's rate tariffs incentives offered to an applicant applying for natural gas service to establish gas service to a property; The Colorado energy office to contract with an independent third party, on or before July 1, 2024, to evaluate the risk that stranded or underutilized natural gas infrastructure investments pose, including the risk posed to utility employees and contractors, and the annual projected rate impact that such stranded assets have on utility customers; The commission to determine whether any changes to rules or depreciation schedules are warranted based on its review of the evaluation contracted by the Colorado energy office; An investor-owned gas utility to provide the commission information, including a map, about the utility's gas distribution system pipes; An investor-owned gas utility to refrain from penalizing or charging a fee to a customer that voluntarily terminates gas service. The commission may adopt rules to establish standards for a customer's voluntary disconnection from an investor-owned gas utility's gas distribution system. On or before January 1, 2024, the commission to examine existing investor-owned electric utility tariffs, policies, and practices to determine if they pose a barrier to the beneficial electrification of transportation and buildings and determine whether requiring a customer that seeks to interconnect distributed energy resources or beneficial electrification resources to bear the full incremental cost of transformer or service upgrades needed for such interconnection imposes an undue burden on the customer. Section 6 requires the commission to allow a wholesale customer of an investor-owned utility to intervene in a proceeding regarding the commission's consideration of the investor-owned utility's application for cost recovery from customers if the wholesale customer has a demonstrated interest in the proceeding. Section 7 appropriates for the 2023-24 state fiscal year: $1,347,554 from the public utilities commission fixed utility fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the commission, with $713,745 reappropriated to the department of law; and $142,749 to the department of law from the legal services cash fund from revenue received from the Colorado energy office that originates as custodial federal funds that the office has authority to expend. APPROVED by Governor May 11, 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: Caps the rate of interest on medical debt at 3% per annum; Defines "medical debt", for purposes of a statutory cap on interest rates and fair debt collection practices, to include medical debt arising from the receipt of health-care services or medical products or devices, excluding debt charged to a credit card; Upon the consumer's written request, requires a debt collector or collection agency collecting on medical debt to cease collection on the medical debt until the debt collector or collection agency provides to the consumer an itemized statement concerning the medical debt and allows the consumer to dispute the validity of the medical debt; Establishes requirements relating to payment plans for medical debt, including written documentation of the payment plan between the consumer and the debt collector or debt collection agency; notice to the consumer if the payment plan will be accelerated or declared in default or inoperative due to nonpayment; and the opportunity to renegotiate the payment plan; Prohibits a debt collector or collection agency, during an internal or external review or other appeal of a health insurance decision, from collecting on the medical debt, reporting the medical debt to a consumer reporting agency, or selling the medical debt to a debt buyer; Requires a creditor, debt collector, or collection agency that files a legal action to collect medical debt to include the identity of the original creditor, an itemization of the charges and, prior to the entry of a default judgment against the creditor, provide evidence of the medical debt; Makes it a deceptive trade practice to violate provisions relating to billing practices, surprise billing, and balance billing laws; and Requires a health-care provider or health-care facility to provide, upon request of a prospective patient, an estimate of the total cost of a health-care service (service) to a person who intends to self-pay for the service (self-pay estimate). The act includes requirements for the self-pay estimate and caps the amount by which the final, total cost of the service may exceed the self-pay estimate to the lesser of 15% of the self-pay estimate or $400, with exceptions for emergency or unforeseen, medically necessary services required during the service. The act makes it a deceptive trade practice to violate provisions relating to the self-pay estimate. APPROVED by Governor May 4, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 4, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The majority of state employees who are paid through the state's payroll system (state employees) are paid monthly and some state employees are paid biweekly. In 2015, in anticipation of the implementation of a new payroll system for state employees, the general assembly enacted an act to require that all state employees be paid twice a month for pay periods that began on or after July 1, 2017. Because the payroll system that would have paid state employees twice a month was not implemented, the act: Repeals the requirement that state employees be paid twice a month and restores the monthly and biweekly pay periods; Repeals the one-time loan program that would have allowed any state employee to apply to the department of personnel for a loan to assist the employee in July 2017, when the transition to the twice a month payroll system would have created a 2-week lag in state employees' pay; and Repeals the state personnel director's authority to delay the date by which state employees would be paid twice a month, as the state personnel director no longer intends to implement a twice a month payroll system. In addition, state employee salaries that are paid on a monthly basis are paid on the last working day of the month; except that the salary for the month of June is paid on the first working day of July (pay-day shift). The act codifies current practice by specifying that the pay-day shift does not apply to institutions of higher education. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 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.)