Sen. Lisa Cutter

Current law limits, with some exceptions, the amount of nonalcohol products a retail liquor store may sell by limiting the amount of annual gross revenues derived from the sale of nonalcohol products to 20% of the store's total annual gross sales revenues. The bill adds fruit, vegetables, nuts, and meat, if not substantially modified, to the list of items a retail liquor store may sell without including the sales revenues from those products in the calculation of the 20% limit. These food items may be cut, canned, dried, frozen, shelled, or packaged.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates the natural disaster mitigation enterprise (enterprise). The enterprise is governed by a board of directors, imposes a fee on insurance companies that offer certain insurance policies or contracts, and uses the fee revenue to finance the natural disaster mitigation grant program and provide local governments technical assistance on natural disaster mitigation. The enterprise awards natural disaster mitigation grants to assist in the implementation of resilience and natural disaster mitigation measures and to assist entities that apply for federal grants that require matching funds and are dedicated to assisting in the implementation of pre-disaster natural disaster mitigation measures.Beginning July 1, 2023, the enterprise collects the fee annually from insurers that offer certain policies or contracts. For an insurer, the fee is equal to $2 multiplied by the number of certain policies or contracts of insurance held by the insurer that cover property or risks in the state. These policies include:Fire; Allied lines; Private crop; Farmers multiple peril; Homeowners multiple peril; and Commercial multiple peril. Insurers may recoup the cost of the fee from their policy holders, but insurers may not raise their premiums based on the fee.The board of directors of the enterprise shall submit a report by July 1 of each year to the committees of reference of the general assembly to which the department of public safety is assigned regarding the grant program. Both the enterprise and the fee are repealed, effective January 1, 2030.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, local governments are prohibited from requiring or banning the use or sale of specific types of plastic materials or products. The act repeals the prohibition on July 1, 2024.The act prohibits stores and retail food establishments, on and after January 1, 2024, from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers; except that retail food establishments that are restaurants and small stores that operate solely in Colorado and have 3 or fewer locations may provide single-use plastic carryout bags. The prohibition does not apply to inventory purchased before January 1, 2024, and used on or before June 1, 2024, which may be supplied to a customer at the point of sale for a 10-cent or greater fee.Between January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, a store may furnish a recycled paper carryout bag or a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale if the customer pays a fee of 10 cents per bag or a higher fee adopted by the municipality or county in which the store is located.On and after January 1, 2024, a store may furnish only a recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale at a fee of 10 cents per bag or a higher fee imposed by the municipality or county in which the store is located.A store is required to remit, on a quarterly basis beginning April 1, 2024, 60% of the carryout bag fee revenues to the municipality or county within which the store is located and may retain the remaining 40% of the carryout bag fee revenues. A municipality or county may use its portion of the carryout bag fee revenues to pay for its administrative and enforcement costs and any recycling, composting, or other waste diversion programs or related outreach or education activities.The carryout bag fee does not apply to a customer that provides evidence to the store that the customer is a participant in a federal or state food assistance program.The act prohibits a retail food establishment, on and after January 1, 2024, from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for use as a container for ready-to-eat food in this state. Retail food establishments that purchase expanded polystyrene products before January 1, 2024, may continue to use the products until their supply is depleted.The act also authorizes a local government to enforce against a violation of the act and expressly authorizes a county to impose a civil penalty against a store or retail food establishment of up to $500 for a second violation or up to $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation; except that a local government cannot enforce a violation committed by a retail food establishment located within a school.On and after July 1, 2024, a local government may enact, implement, or enforce an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision that is as stringent as or more stringent than the requirements set forth in the act.The act does not apply to materials used in the packaging of pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements or any equipment or materials used to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act declares that, due to recent dramatic increases in both the extraction and transportation of natural gas and the construction of new homes and businesses in close proximity to these activities, as well as the environmental risks posed by methane leakage, it is appropriate to strengthen and streamline Colorado's laws governing gas pipeline safety.In furtherance of strengthening and streamlining those laws, the act updates and clarifies the duty of the public utilities commission (PUC) to collaborate with the United States department of transportation (DOT) on pipeline safety issues by:Formally accepting responsibility to enforce DOT pipeline safety rules; and Adopting rules at the state level as needed to comply with federal requirements. The PUC's rules may be more stringent than required by federal standards in specified areas. In particular, the PUC is directed to assemble maps of all pipelines within its jurisdiction, increase the frequency of inspections, and employ advanced leak detection technology. Additionally, the act amends existing penalty provisions for pipeline safety violations by:Increasing the penalty cap from $100,000 per violation to $200,000, and increasing the maximum aggregate total for a series of violations from $1 million to $2 million; Allowing the PUC to recover court costs if it must sue to recover any penalty assessed against a violator; and Requiring any compromise of a penalty to be based on objective metrics and factors, including the severity of the violation, the extent to which the violator has remedied the conditions that led to the violation, and the amount the violator agrees to spend on approved measures to reduce future risk. Any such compromise may not reduce the amount payable as a penalty below $5,000 per violation. The act appropriates $423,448 from the general fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission to implement the act, with $53,170 reappropriated to the department of law for legal services provided to the commission.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law limits the application of architectural and landscaping regulations of common interest communities (also known as HOAs) so as to require that they allow displays of the American flag, service flags such as the "blue star" and "gold star" flags, and political signs, subject to specific statutory criteria. For example, the statute allows political signs to be prohibited outright except during an election season, defined as the period from 45 days before an election to 7 days after the election.The act simplifies and broadens these protections, requiring an HOA to permit the display of any noncommercial flag or sign at any time, subject only to reasonable, content-neutral limitations such as the number, size, or placement of the flags or signs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of education (department) to prepare an annual report on the number of pupils enrolled in public schools in the state and the total number of licensed school psychologists in the state employed by a school district, a board of cooperative services, or the state charter school institute who are reported as full-time equivalent employees. The report must state the number of pupils and licensed and employed school psychologists in total for the state, disaggregated by school district, board of cooperative services, and the state charter school institute.The act requires the department to make the report publicly available on its website no later than 30 days after its completion.The act appropriates $35,000 to the department to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements 988 as the 3-digit number for crisis response services in Colorado by creating the 988 crisis hotline enterprise (enterprise) in the department of human services (department) to fund the 988 crisis hotline and provide crisis outreach, stabilization, and acute care to individuals calling the 988 crisis hotline.Effective January 1, 2022, the enterprise shall impose a 988 surcharge (surcharge) on service users in an amount to be established annually by the enterprise, in collaboration with the public utilities commission (commission) but not to exceed 30 cents per month. The act requires each service supplier to collect the surcharge from its service users and remit the collected surcharges to the commission on a monthly basis. The state treasurer shall credit the surcharge collections to the 988 surcharge cash fund (fund).Effective January 1, 2022, the enterprise shall impose a prepaid wireless 988 charge on each retail transaction in an amount to be established annually by the enterprise, in collaboration with the commission but not to exceed 30 cents per each retail transaction. The act requires each seller to collect the prepaid wireless 988 charge from the consumer on each retail transaction occurring in the state and remit the collected charges to the department of revenue. The state treasurer shall credit the prepaid wireless 988 charge to the fund.On or before July 1, 2022, the enterprise shall fund a nonprofit organization to operate the 988 crisis hotline and provide intervention services and crisis care coordination to individuals calling the 988 crisis hotline.Beginning January 1, 2023, and each January 1 thereafter, the department shall submit information about the usage of the 988 crisis hotline center to the federal substance abuse and mental health services administration and information about the expenditures of the fund to the federal communications commission, and the department shall annually report progress on the implementation of the 988 crisis hotline to the general assembly.The act appropriates $5,687,692 to the department of human services for use by the office of behavioral health, $74,566 to the department of revenue, and $1,966 to the department of personnel to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of public health and environment (department) to implement the community behavioral health disaster preparedness and response program (program) using existing initiatives and activities to ensure that behavioral health is adequately represented within disaster preparedness and response efforts across the state. The program is intended to enhance, support, and formalize behavioral health disaster preparedness and response activities conducted by community behavioral health organizations.The act requires the department to promulgate rules as necessary for the oversight and management of the program; work collaboratively with community behavioral heath organizations; create, define, and publish eligibility criteria for community behavioral health organizations to participate in the program; and provide funding to community behavioral health organizations on an annual or as-needed basis for the activities the organizations conduct.The act appropriates $529,801 and provides an additional 1.8 FTE to the department for use by the office of emergency preparedness response to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Special Olympics Colorado license plate for motor vehicles. A person qualifies for issuance of the plate if the person makes a donation to a designated nonprofit organization. The designated nonprofit organization must:Be headquartered in Colorado; Have existed for at least 40 years; Provide year-round sports training and athletic competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities; Collaborate with schools throughout Colorado to bring students together through shared activities that include sports, leadership opportunities, and health education and fitness; and Ensure that the donation is spent in Colorado to support athletes with intellectual disabilities. 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 $13,460 for use by the division of motor vehicles to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act exempts an employee or person acting on behalf of the office of the child protection ombudsman (ombudsman) from testifying in a civil or criminal proceeding in which the ombudsman is not a legal party. The act prohibits information, documents, and reports requested and reviewed by the ombudsman from being subpoenaed in a civil or criminal proceeding in which the ombudsman is not a legal party.The act authorizes the ombudsman to receive information, records, or documents related to an incident of egregious abuse or neglect, near fatality, or fatality of a child during the course of an investigation of a complaint. The department of public health and environment's child fatality prevention review team shall provide the ombudsman the nonidentifying case review findings and recommendations related to an investigation of a complaint. The department of human services' child fatality review team shall provide the ombudsman the final confidential, case-specific review report related to an investigation of a complaint. If electronic copies are not available, the ombudsman shall access, review, and receive copies of documents without cost to the ombudsman.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)