The act clarifies language and requirements related to the child care license exemption for family child care homes and extends the licensure exemption from September 1, 2020, to September 1, 2026. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires an electrical or plumbing employer to register an apprentice with the respective governing board within 30 days after beginning employment. When an apprentice is no longer employed as an apprentice, the act requires an employer to remove each apprentice from the apprentice program and annually notify the applicable board of the termination of employment. The act requires an employer, an apprenticeship program registered with the United States department of labor's employment and training administration, and a state apprenticeship council recognized by the United States department of labor that employs an apprentice in Colorado to track the number of practical training hours and, for electrician apprentices, the classroom hours of each apprentice and provide the information to the state electrical board or the state plumbing board, as applicable. The boards are required to keep this information confidential. If existing resources or gifts, grants, or donations are available, the boards must provide the reported information to the department's online apprenticeship directory. Contingent on the availability of existing resources within the department or the receipt of gifts, grants, and donations, the act requires electrician apprentices and plumbing apprentices who have been registered with their respective boards for at least 6 years to take a license examination at least every 3 or 2 years, respectively, based on the registration renewal cycle, until the apprentice passes the examination. If an apprentice fails the examination, the apprentice may apply for an exemption from the examination requirement. The act allows an apprentice to request special accommodations to take the examination if the apprentice has a learning disability. Subject to available funds, the department of regulatory agencies, in collaboration with the electrician and plumbing governing boards, industry stakeholders, examination proctors, national code organizations, apprenticeship training coordinators, and the department of labor and employment, is required to conduct research to determine what barriers exist to preparing for and taking the licensing examinations for apprentices for whom English is a second language and report its findings to the general assembly by January 1, 2021. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill expands the grant program administered by the Colorado bureau of investigation (CBI) that assists counties in implementing lifesaver programs. A wanderer recovery program, currently known as a lifesaver program, is a program under which a participant has a device that may be used to assist in attempting to electronically locate the participant. The bill expands the lifesaver grant program to apply to wanderer recovery programs established or maintained by counties, municipalities (local governments), or local government designees. The bill also removes the limitations on both the amount local governments and their designees may be awarded in any single grant issued under the grant program and removes the limit on the amount of funds that the general assembly may annually appropriate to the wanderer recovery program cash fund that is used to fund the grant program. Further, the bill allows the executive director of the department of safety to award grants to assist in the maintenance of wanderer recovery programs in addition to the implementation of wanderer recovery programs. The bill also requires the CBI to establish a website that lists those local governments and local government designees that have a wanderer recovery program, describes how to contact those local governments and local government designees, lists resources for caretakers of persons with medical conditions that cause wandering, provides procedures to follow when a wanderer recovery program participant is determined to be missing, describes how the wanderer recovery program technology used by the various local governments and local government designees works, and provides any other information the CBI may conclude is necessary to better explain and publicize wanderer recovery programs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill assesses an additional $30 fee on a person who commences a forcible entry and detainer action. The full amount of the fee is deposited into the eviction legal defense fund (fund). The bill makes the state court administrator's requirement to award grants from the fund subject to available appropriations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires an individual who owns a firearm to report the loss or theft of that firearm to a law enforcement agency within 48 hours after discovering that the firearm was lost or stolen. A first offense for failure to make such a report is a petty offense punishable by a twenty-five dollar fine and a second or subsequent offense is a class 3 misdemeanor. The 48-hour reporting requirement does not apply to a licensed gun dealer. The bill requires a law enforcement agency that receives a report of a lost or stolen firearm to enter information about the lost or stolen firearm into the national crime information center database. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the educator pay raise program (program) to provide funding to school districts and charter schools to assist them in increasing their minimum teacher salaries to the district required minimum teacher salary amount specified in the bill and the minimum hourly wage paid to other employees to the district required minimum hourly wage amount specified in the bill. A school district or charter school that seeks to participate in the program must submit an application to the department of education (department) that meets the requirements specified in the bill. A school district or charter school may choose to participate to increase minimum teacher salaries or the minimum hourly wage, or both. The department shall review the applications and recommend to the state board of education (state board) those applicants that should be selected to participate in the program. In selecting program participants, the department and the state board must prioritize those applicants that demonstrate the greatest financial need. The bill specifies criteria to apply in determining the prioritization. As a condition of participating in the program, each participant seeking to increase teacher salaries must increase its minimum teacher salary to the district required minimum teacher salary amount and each participant seeking to increase the hourly wage must increase its minimum hourly wage to the district required minimum hourly wage amount. In the first year in which a school district or charter school participates, the amount required for the increases is paid through the program. In the second and subsequent years of participation, each program participant is required to contribute an increasing amount of matching money while the amount that the program participant receives is decreased over time. The department determines the amount of matching money and the amount that a program participant receives based on schedules for increasing teacher salaries and schedules for increasing the hourly wage adopted by rule of the state board. A program participant may continue participating in the program so long as the participant meets the matching money requirement and continues to qualify for the program. A program participant no longer qualifies for the program when the department determines that the participant has sufficient resources to pay the district required minimum teacher salary amount or the district required minimum hourly wage amount or both, as applicable, without assistance. The bill creates the educator pay raise fund (fund), which consists of the greater of 10% or $15 million of the gross income annually earned on the public school lands and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund. Beginning in the 2022 regular legislative session, the department shall include in its annual report to the joint education committee information concerning implementation of the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill modifies the Colorado health service corps program administered by the primary care office (office) in the department of public health and environment, which includes a loan repayment program, as follows: Allows geriatric advanced practice providers, which include advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, to participate in the loan repayment program on the condition of committing to provide geriatric care to older adults in health professional shortage areas for a specified period; and Requires the general assembly to annually and continuously appropriate money from the general fund to the office for the 2020-21 through the 2024-25 fiscal years to help repay loans for geriatric advanced practice providers.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Veterans who have disabilities may obtain a special license plate without paying taxes or fees. For additional vehicles, the veteran pays the normal fees plus 2 one-time fees of $25, one of which goes to the highway users tax fund and the other goes to the licensing services cash fund. The bill creates a license plate that honors United States women veterans who have disabilities. The requirements and benefits are substantially the same as they are for a disabled veteran license plate. To implement the bill, $9,675 is appropriated from the Colorado DRIVES vehicles services account in the highway users tax fund for the division of motor vehicles. (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 requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety (division) and a statewide coalition for sexual assault victims to convene a statewide multidisciplinary committee to research the creation of a existing statewide system systems to track forensic medical evidence related to a sexual assault (medical evidence) whereby victims may access specified information concerning the medical evidence. The division shall report its findings to specified committees of the general assembly. The bill requires the medical professional collecting the medical evidence to inform victims of the contact information for the nearest sexual assault victim's advocate or confidential victim's advocate , the length of time that medical evidence must be preserved, and their right to be notified of the destruction of the medical evidence. If a conviction or plea has not been entered in a case, the bill requires the entity holding the medical evidence to notify the victim: When the evidence is submitted to a laboratory for testing; When the results of the testing are received; and Prior to the medical evidence being destroyed and to maintain the medical evidence for an additional 10 years if the victim objects to the destruction. The bill requires the executive director of the department of public safety to promulgate rules requiring the entity holding medical evidence to maintain the medical evidence until the statute of limitations on commencing a criminal action has passed law enforcement agency to maintain the medical evidence until the statute of limitation has run on the crime and for an additional 10 years if the victim objects to its destruction . (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.)
In honor and memory of Carrie Ann Lucas, the bill names section 24-34-805 of the Colorado Revised Statutes the "Carrie Ann Lucas Parental Rights for People with Disabilities Act". (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
