Sen. Jessie Danielson

Current law provides for the issuance of a Colorado professional fire fighters license plate and sets standards for organizations that may qualify applicants to be issued the license plate. One of the qualifications is that the organization has been in existence for at least 20 years. The bill lowers this requirement to at least 15 years. The bill provides an evidentiary standard for an organization to prove that it has met the required minimum of 3,000 members residing in Colorado to qualify applicants to be issued the license plate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

To be eligible for U nonimmigrant status (U visa) from the federal government, a requestor must receive a certification form from a certifying official attesting that the person has been the victim of certain criminal activity and has been, is being, or is likely to be helpful to the detection, investigation, or prosecution of the criminal activity. The bill sets a required time frame for completion or denial of the certification request and sets forth the factors that may and may not be considered in the certification process. If a certifying official denies a certification request, the bill requires the certifying official to give the requestor a written statement containing the reasons for the denial. The bill also prohibits certain disclosures to immigration authorities and requires law enforcement certifying agencies to provide crime victims with information about the U visa. (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 act requires the department of labor and employment to collaborate with the department of education to include in the Colorado state apprenticeship resource directory the name and contact information for at least one designated apprenticeship training program contact for every public high school and school district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Income tax - credit - innovative motor vehicles. The act modifies the amounts of and extends the number of available years of the existing income tax credits for the purchase or lease of an electric motor vehicle, a plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicle, and an original equipment manufacturer electric truck and plug-in hybrid electric truck.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

At-risk persons - unlawful abandonment - false imprisonment - appropriation. The act makes it a crime to unlawfully abandon an at-risk person. The intentional and unreasonable desertion of an at-risk person in a manner that endangers the safety of that person constitutes unlawful abandonment. Unlawful abandonment is a class 1 misdemeanor. The act creates the crime of false imprisonment of an at-risk person if: The person knowingly confines or detains an at-risk person in a locked or barricaded room or other space; and Such confinement or detention was part of a continued pattern of cruel punishment or unreasonable isolation or confinement of the at-risk person; or The person knowingly and unreasonably confines or detains an at-risk person by tying, caging, chaining, or otherwise using similar physical restraints to restrict the at-risk person's freedom of movement; or The person knowingly and unreasonably confines or detains an at-risk person by means of force, threats, or intimidation designed to restrict the at-risk person's freedom of movement. False imprisonment of an at-risk person is a class 6 felony pursuant to the first 2 ways to commit the crime and a class 1 misdemeanor pursuant to the third. To comply with the statutorily-required prison costs of the act, the act appropriates: For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $110,652 from the capital construction fund to the corrections expansion reserve fund; For the 2020-21 state fiscal year,$26,220 to the department of corrections from the general fund; and For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $1,902 to the department of corrections from the general fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Voter registration - transfer of records from department of revenue - transfer of records from department of health care policy and financing - voter registration agency reports - verification of signatures - appropriation. Beginning July 1, 2020, the department of revenue is required to transfer to the secretary of state (secretary) the electronic record of each unregistered elector or person eligible to preregister who applies for the issuance, renewal, or correction of a Colorado driver's license or identification card and who provides documentation of citizenship. The elector's county clerk reviews the record for completeness and sends the elector a notice advising that the elector has been registered to vote. The elector can return the notice to either decline to be registered or affiliate with a party. If the elector does not decline to be registered within 20 days after the notice is mailed and the form is not returned as undeliverable, the elector is registered to vote. The department of health care policy and financing is also required to begin transferring to the secretary the electronic records of electors who apply for medicaid, subject to compliance with all federal laws and regulations. The elector's county clerk reviews the record for completeness and sends the elector a notice advising that the elector has been registered to vote. The elector can return the notice to decline to be registered, affiliate with a party, or provide a signature if necessary for their record. If the elector does not decline to be registered within 20 days after the notice is mailed and the form is not returned as undeliverable, the elector is registered to vote. Agencies that oversee offices designated as voter registration agencies are required to begin reporting information to the secretary related to the number of people who apply for benefits or programs, the number of voter registration choice forms the offices collect, and the number of people who receive voter registration forms. The office of information technology is required to assess and report to the secretary which voter registration agencies collect sufficient information for voter registration purposes. When the office of information technology and the secretary determine that an agency collects sufficient information, the agency is required to begin transferring records to the secretary for voter registration purposes. Unless a person who knows they are ineligible to vote intentionally takes voluntary action to become registered, the transfer of the person's record by a voter registration agency does not constitute completion of a voter registration form by that person. Beginning July 1, 2020, the act creates a process for electors who are registered through a voter registration agency to provide a signature for verification if they return a ballot in an election but a copy of their signature is not found in the statewide voter registration system. For the implementation of the act, $67,840 is appropriated to the department of state, $136,240 is appropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology, $18,000 is appropriated to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles, and $90,287 is appropriated to the department of human services. It is anticipated that the department of human services will receive an additional $45,413 in federal funds for the office of information technology services to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Notice and preparation for elections - accessibility for voters with disabilities - independent and private marking of ballot - electronic voting device - appropriation. The secretary of state is required to establish procedures to enable a voter with a disability to independently and privately mark a ballot or use an electronic voting device that produces a paper record using nonvisual access, low vision access, or other assistive technology in order for the voter to vote in a mail ballot election. The secretary of state is required to include in the procedures a method by which a voter with a disability may request such a ballot. A voter with a disability who requests that a ballot and balloting materials be sent by electronic transmission may choose electronic mail delivery or, if offered by the voter's jurisdiction, other electronic means. The designated election official in each jurisdiction charged with distributing a ballot and balloting materials is required to transmit the ballot and balloting materials to the voter using the means of transmission chosen by the voter. A voter with a disability who receives a ballot via electronic means must print the ballot and such ballot must be received by the election official in the applicable jurisdiction before the close of polls on the day of the election. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $50,000 is appropriated from the department of state cash fund to the department of state for use by the information technology division. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer - new offense - sex offender registration required - appropriation - applicability. The act creates the offense of unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer. A peace officer commits the offense when he or she knowingly engages in sexual contact, sexual intrusion, or sexual penetration under any of the following circumstances: When the peace officer encounters the victim for the purpose of law enforcement or in the performance of the officer's duties; When the peace officer knows that the victim is, or causes the victim to believe that he or she is, the subject of an active investigation, and the peace officer uses that knowledge to further the sexual contact, intrusion, or penetration; or In furtherance of sexual contact, intrusion, or penetration, the peace officer makes any show of real or apparent authority. Unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer is a class 4 felony when the offense is committed by sexual contact and is a class 3 felony when the offense is committed by sexual intrusion or sexual penetration. An offender convicted of unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer is required to register as a sex offender. An offender convicted of class 3 felony unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer is subject to lifetime supervision. To comply with the statutorily required 5-year prison appropriation, the act appropriates: For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $178,471 from the capital construction fund to the corrections expansion reserve fund; For the 2020-21 state fiscal year, $39,701 to the department of corrections from the general fund; For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $43,916 to the department of corrections from the general fund; For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $43,311 to the department of corrections from the general fund; For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $41,491 to the department of corrections from the general fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Procurement - construction bidding for public projects - apprenticeship utilization requirements - prevailing wage requirements. The general contractor for a public project that does not receive federal money, including an integrated project delivery contract, in the amount of $1 million or more, is required to submit, at the time the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing subcontractor is put under contract, documentation to the contracting agency that: Identifies the contractors or subcontractors that will be used for specified aspects of the public project; and Certifies that all firms identified participate in apprenticeship programs registered with the United states department of labor's employment and training administration or state apprenticeship councils recognized by the United States department of labor and have a proven record of graduating apprentices at specified rates. The contracting agency is required to make the documentation available to the public on its website. After evaluating submitted bids, a contracting agency may waive the apprenticeship utilization requirements if there is substantial evidence that there were no responsive, eligible subcontractors available to fulfil the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing portions of the contract. A contracting agency is required make public all waivers and the specific rationale for granting the waiver. An apprenticeship program that does not satisfy the specified apprenticeship program requirements may petition the department of labor and employment for conditional approval under specified circumstances. The apprenticeship utilization requirements do not apply to the department of transportation. Any contractor who is awarded a contract for a public project, including an integrated project delivery contract, by an agency of government for $500,000 or more, and any subcontractors working on the public project, are required to pay their employees a prevailing wage at weekly intervals and are required to comply with prevailing wage enforcement provisions. This requirement does not apply to contracts that include federal money and does not apply to the department of transportation; except that the department of transportation is required to pay employees performing work on public projects, regardless of the amount of funding source of the project, in accordance with the federal "Davis-Bacon Act". Before awarding a contract for a public project, an agency of government is required to obtain the general prevailing rate of the regular, holiday, and overtime wages paid and the general prevailing payments on behalf of employees to lawful welfare, pension, vacation, apprentice training, and education funds in the state (wages) for each employee needed to execute the contract for the public project. An agency of government is required to specify in the competitive solicitation for a public project and in the contract for such public project the general prevailing rate of the wages paid in the geographic locality for each employee needed to execute the contract. The contract is also required to include other specified information regarding the payment of wages. If the contractor or subcontractor fails to pay wages as are required by the contract, the contracting agency of government is not allowed to approve a warrant or demand for payment to the contractor until the contractor provides evidence that the wages have been paid. The executive director of the department of personnel is required to determine the applicable prevailing wage for public projects and is required to use appropriate wage determinations issued by the United States department of labor in accordance with the federal "Davis-Bacon Act" to establish the prevailing wage rates for the applicable trades or occupation for the geographic locality of the public project. Each contractor awarded a contract for a public project and each subcontractor who performs work on the public project is required to post in conspicuous places on the job site posters that contain the current prevailing rate of wages to execute the contract and the rights and remedies of any employee for nonpayment of any wages earned. The executive director of the department of personnel is required to provide the posters to contractors and subcontractors. The executive director of the department of personnel is required to establish a separate apprenticeship contribution rate under the prevailing wage requirements. Enforcement provisions, overseen by the department of labor and employment, are implemented for violations of the prevailing wage requirements. An employee or former employee of a contractor or subcontractor is allowed to bring a civil action for a violation of the prevailing wage requirements. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Minimum wage - local government to establish - limitations - enforcement - reports - eligible nursing facility provider reimbursement. The act allows a unit of local government to establish a minimum wage for individuals performing, or expected to perform, 4 or more hours of work for an employer in the local government's jurisdiction. A minimum wage established by a local government is subject to the following limitations: Prior to enacting a minimum wage law, the local government is required to consult with surrounding local governments and various stakeholders; A minimum wage established by a local government must provide a tip offset equal to the tip offset provided in the state constitution; The minimum wage law must not apply to time spent in a local government's jurisdiction solely for the purpose of traveling through the jurisdiction to a destination outside of the local government's boundaries; All employed adult employees and emancipated minors shall be paid not less than the enacted minimum wage; A local minimum wage increase must take effect on the same date as a scheduled increase to the statewide minimum wage; and If a local minimum wage exceeds the statewide minimum wage, the local government may only increase the local minimum wage each year by up to $1.75 or 15%, whichever is higher. A local government that enacts a minimum wage law may adopt provisions for the local enforcement of the law. By July 1, 2021, the executive director of the department of labor and employment is required to issue a written report regarding local minimum wage laws in the state. If notified by the executive director of the department of labor and employment that a local government has enacted a minimum wage that exceeds the statewide minimum wage, the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing is required to submit a report to the joint budget committee with certain recommendations related to provider rates. If 10% of local governments enact local minimum wage laws, a local government that has not enacted a local minimum wage law is prohibited from enacting a local minimum wage law until the general assembly has given authorization for additional local minimum wage laws by amending this act. The executive director of the department of health care policy and financing is required to establish a process for eligible nursing facility providers to apply for a local minimum wage enhancement payment to be used to increase the compensation of its employees whenever a local government increases its minimum wage above the statewide minimum wage. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More