The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/sb21-260-bill-summary(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A working group was convened over the 2019 interim pursuant to House Bill 19-1264 to develop proposed statutes to address certain issues affecting the creation, valuation, tax treatment, and stewardship of conservation easements in the state. The bill implements the recommendations of the working group by creating a new state income tax credit (new credit) for certain taxpayers who were denied state income tax credits for conservation easements donated between 2000 and 2013 (original credit) if the federal internal revenue service allowed a federal income tax deduction for the same donation. The amount of the new credit is based upon the amount of the original credit that could have been claimed at the time of the original donation based upon the value of the donation accepted by the internal revenue service. The amount of the new credit is reduced by any amount that was allowed to be claimed against Colorado income tax or otherwise reinstated to the claimant of the original credit. The new credit is not refundable but may be carried forward or transferred in the same manner as original credits. New credits allowed count against a portion of the existing cap on the total amount of original conservation easement credits that may be claimed each year. The department of revenue is required to make information about the new credit available online. The bill establishes a process for applying to the division of conservation to claim the new credit. If the original credit that was denied was transferred to another taxpayer as transferee, the bill provides a process for all parties to the transaction to submit a mutual application to claim the new credit or, if there is objection, an ombudsman process to resolve disputes about the distribution of the credit. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $1,500,000 from the general fund to the family and medical leave insurance fund for the purpose of defraying expenses incurred by the division of family and medical leave insurance (division) before the division receives premium revenue or revenue bond proceeds. The transfer is a loan from the state treasurer to the division that is required to be repaid and is not a grant for purposes of the state constitution or any other state law.The division is required to repay the loan and accumulated interest by December 31, 2023.Of the $1,500,000 transferred pursuant to the act:$1,162,202 is available for use by the division for program costs, including an additional 6.0 FTE; $231,920 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department of labor and employment; and $105,878 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of labor and employment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $5 million from the general fund to the local government severance tax fund for the purpose of funding grants to local governments for renewable and clean energy infrastructure implementation projects. The grants must be made by August 15, 2021, or as soon as possible thereafter, and the department of local affairs, which makes the grants, is required to report to the general assembly regarding the grants during its 2022 annual "SMART Act" presentation to legislative committees of reference. $5 million is appropriated from the local government severance tax fund to the division of local government of the department of local affairs for state fiscal year 2020-21 so that the division can make the grants, and any of the money not expended before July 1, 2021, is further appropriated to the division for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 state fiscal years for the same purpose.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the state treasurer to make an immediate, one-time transfer of $40 million from the general fund to the energy fund administered by the Colorado energy office (CEO). The CEO may use the money for its ongoing programs plus the following enumerated purposes:Making grants to the Colorado Clean Energy Fund and the Colorado new energy improvement district totaling up to $30 million and $3 million, respectively; Increasing the amounts available through residential energy upgrade loans by up to $2 million; and Providing up to $5 million in additional funding to the charge ahead Colorado program administered by the CEO. The act requires the CEO to devote at least 75% of the transferred money to the specified purposes by July 1, 2022, and at least 85% by July 1, 2023, and to periodically report on its expenditures to the office of state planning and budgeting and the general assembly. Although money in the energy fund is continuously appropriated to the CEO, the money transferred by the act is scheduled to revert to the general fund on June 30, 2025, if not used, expended, or obligated by then.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the bill enacts the "Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act", which: Continues the Colorado civil rights division (division) and the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) indefinitely; Directs the division to include "harassment" as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism; Allows an employment discrimination claim to be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county or district where the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; and allows an individual to file a civil action, without otherwise exhausting administrative proceedings and remedies, as long as the individual either files a charge with the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) or serves a written demand for the relief on the individual's employer and allows the employer 14 days to respond; Directs the division to develop and provide to employers, free of charge, training and education programs regarding the prevention of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, bystander intervention, and workplace civility; Expands the definition of "employee" to include individuals in domestic service individuals who perform a service for a price, including independent contractors, subcontractors, and their employees; and individuals who offer services or labor without pay and specifies that an individual performing services for pay for another is deemed an employee unless, by a preponderance of the evidence, it is proven that the individual satisfies the conditions under the state wage law for a determination that the individual is not an employee; Adds a requirement that a written, electronic, or oral agreement or contract under which a person performs services for another must require that the person for whom the services are performed shall not engage in any discriminatory or unfair employment practice with respect to the individual performing the services ; Adds new definitions of "caregiver", "care recipient", "child", "minor child", and "harass" or "harassment" "hostile work environment", and "independent contractor" and repeals the current definition of "harass" that requires creation of a hostile work environment; Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their "marital status" or "caregiver status"; Specifies that in harassment claims, the alleged conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or unfair employment practice, and an employer has an affirmative defense to the claim if the employer demonstrates that, when the employer knew or should have known of the harassment, the employer took prompt, reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action to end the harassment, deter future harassers, and protect employees; Specifies that it is a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to fail to initiate an investigation of a complaint or fail to take prompt , reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action; if appropriate; Specifies the requirements for an employer to avoid liability when an employee proves that a supervisor unlawfully harassed that employee;Prohibits certain preemployment medical examinations, imposes limitations on inquiries and examinations about an employee's disability during employment, and specifies that violations of these prohibitions and limitations constitute discriminatory or unfair employment practices; Expands the time limit to file a charge with the commission from 6 months to 300 days after the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; Repeals the limits on remedies in cases involving age discrimination; Limits the ability of an employer to require confidentiality of claims once a charge is filed with the commission Specifies requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and employee to be enforceable; voids a nondisclosure provision if a party makes a material misrepresentation; and requires the division to provide to a charging party other charges filed with the division against the same respondent; and Requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide and maintain records of training and education to all employees regarding harassment and discrimination prevention, bystander intervention, and workplace civility, encourages other employers to provide the training and education, and authorizes the division director to impose penalties on employers that fail to comply with the training and recordkeeping requirements. The bill appropriates the following amounts to the following departments to implement the bill: $539,292 and 6.0 FTE to the department of corrections; $71,905 and 0.8 FTE to the department of education; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the office of the governor; $22,471 and 0.5 FTE to the department of health care policy and financing; $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the department of human services; $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the judicial department; $107,858 and 1.2 FTE to the department of labor and employment; $401,180 and 2.5 FTE to the department of law; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of natural resources; $630,465 and 1.5 FTE to the department of personnel; $125,835 and 1.4 FTE to the department of public health and environment; $161,788 and 1.8 FTE to the department of public safety; $652,879 and 9.7 FTE to the department of regulatory agencies; $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of revenue; and $269,646 and 3.0 FTE to the department of transportation. (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.)
Current law requires the air quality control commission (AQCC) to adopt rules that will result in the statewide reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, as compared to 2005 emissions. Section 2 of the bill supplements these requirements by: Directing the AQCC to: Consider the social cost of GHG emissions; Require GHG reductions on a linear or more stringent path; and Finalize its implementing rules by March 1, 2022, including specific net emission weight limits for various emission sectors, subject to modification by the AQCC, including through the use of a multi-sector program; Directing each wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative to file with the public utilities commission a responsible energy plan that will achieve at least an 80% GHG reduction by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels and specifying that if a plan is not filed, the cooperative must achieve at least a 90% GHG reduction by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels; and Directing each retail, wholesale, and municipal electric utility and cooperative electric association to reduce its GHG emissions by at least 95% between 2035 and 2040 and by 100% by 2040. Section 3 adds GHG to the definition of "regulated pollutant", prohibits the AQCC from excluding GHG emissions from the requirement to pay annual emission fees that are based on emissions of regulated pollutants, gives the AQCC rule-making authority to set the GHG annual emission fee, and authorizes the use of these fees for outreach to and engagement of disproportionately impacted communities. Section 4 requires the AQCC's GHG reporting rules to establish an assumed emission rate representing the average regional fossil fuel generation emission rate for electricity generated by a renewable energy resource for which the associated renewable energy credit is not retired in the year generated.Section 5 creates an environmental justice ombudsperson position and an environmental justice advisory board in the department of public health and environment. The ombudsperson and the advisory board will work collaboratively to promote environmental justice in Colorado. Sections 2 and 5 specify processes for soliciting and facilitating input from disproportionately impacted communities regarding proposed AQCC rule changes and departmental decision-making.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act requires that family child care homes be classified as residences for purposes of licensure and local regulations, including zoning, land use development, fire and life safety, and building codes. The act also adds a provision stating that whenever the state department of human services reviews and rewrites its rules concerning child care agencies or facilities, it shall seek advice from the department of public safety when such rules relate to specific types of child care agencies or facilities.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, when real property is sold in a foreclosure sale for an amount above the value of the lien on the property, any excess amount (overbid), after paying all junior lienors, is paid to the owner of the property as of the recording of the election to foreclose. The act requires that any overbid is instead paid to the person liable under the related evidence of debt constituting a mortgage loan or deed of trust.The act also adds to the definition of "qualified holder" a private company that originates, insures, guaranties, or purchases loans on behalf of a holder of evidence of debt that is secured by a deed of trust encumbering a time share estate with a minimum of $5 million in assets or not less than 1,000 loans.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law states that in-person contact between a health-care provider or mental health-care provider and a patient is not required under the state's medicaid program for services delivered through telemedicine that are otherwise eligible for reimbursement under medicaid. The act requires the department of health care policy and financing to promulgate rules specifically relating to entities that deliver health-care or mental health-care services exclusively or predominately through telemedicine.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
