Sen. Faith Winter

Current law requires a county to bury an unclaimed dead body after following certain procedures. The bill authorizes the county to also cremate the body or use any lawful method of final disposition. The bill also harmonizes conflicts in existing law to the standards required by the final disposition statute. Current law gives a coroner or other governmental official who has control over an unclaimed dead body between 24 and 48 hours to find any relatives or friends of the deceased. The bill extends this deadline to 5 days. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

The bill authorizes the board of county commissioners of any county, by duly enacted ordinances, resolutions, or other forms of binding law, to establish and create a program that implements voluntary housing agreements within an unincorporated area of the county. The bill defines "voluntary housing agreement program" to mean a program adopted by a county government that enables agreements between the county and a developer that increase the supply of housing stock within the county that is priced as affordable for low- and moderate-income households. Nothing in the bill is intended to challenge or affect the legal status of any such program implemented and in effect prior to the effective date of the bill. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More

Advanced practice nurses with prescriptive authority - workers' compensation - ability to obtain level I accreditation. The act allows an advanced practice nurse with prescriptive authority to obtain level I accreditation under the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Water conservation - use of xeriscape and other drought-tolerant landscaping - common interest communities - special districts. Section 1 of the act augments an existing law that establishes the right of unit owners in common interest communities to use water-efficient landscaping, subject to reasonable aesthetic standards, by specifically extending the same policy to limited common elements, which are owned by the community and available for use by some but not all of the unit owners. Sections 2 and 3 extend existing water conservation requirements, currently applicable only to certain public entities that supply water at retail and their customers, to property management districts and other special districts that manage areas of parkland and open space. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

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In 1999, the voters of the state authorized the executive director of the department of transportation (executive director) to issue transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) in a maximum principal amount of $1.7 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $2.3 billion in order to provide financing to accelerate the construction of qualified federal aid transportation projects. The executive director issued the TRANs as authorized, and the TRANs have been fully repaid. In 2017, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 17-267 (SB 267), which requires the state to enter into a total of $1.88 billion of lease-purchase agreements and to use the proceeds of the lease-purchase agreements to fund transportation projects and specifically requires the state to enter into $380 million of the lease-purchase agreements in the 2018-19 state fiscal year and $500 million of such agreements in each of the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 state fiscal years. Section 3 of the bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $500 million from the general fund to the state highway fund on June 30, 2019, and to transfer $250 million from the general fund to the state highway fund annually on June 30 of state fiscal years 2019-20 though 2038-39. Section 4 repeals the requirement that the state enter into $500 million of lease-purchase agreements in each of the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 state fiscal years but takes effect only if, as specified in section 12 , the voters of the state approve a ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANS and that is either initiated and voted on at the 2018 general election or referred to the voters as specified in section 10 at the 2019 statewide election. Section 5 restricts the authority of the department of transportation (CDOT) and any enterprise of CDOT, such as the high-performance transportation enterprise, to construct or designate or enter into a public-private partnership to construct or designate a managed lane, which is defined as a toll lane, high-occupancy tool lane, or high-occupancy vehicle lane on any state highway. Section 6 requires CDOT to expend the $500 million transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 only for new highway construction projects and further specifies that: If the voters of the state approve an initiated ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs at the November 2018 general election, CDOT shall expend the $250 million annually transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 first, to the extent needed, for maintenance of the transportation infrastructure projects financed by the TRANs and thereafter exclusively for maintenance of the state highway system; and If the voters of the state approve a ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs that is referred pursuant to section 10 at the November 2019 general election, CDOT shall expend the $250 million annually transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 first, to the extent needed, to make the full amount of payments due on the TRANs and thereafter exclusively for maintenance of the state highway system. Section 7 expresses the intent of the general assembly that CDOT strongly consider, when choosing between a standard low bid process or a design-build process for the procurement of a project contract, whether the use of the design-build process is likely to reduce competition and increase project costs. Section 8 requires CDOT to include specified information about the general fund money transferred to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 and the proceeds of SB 267 lease-purchase agreements in its annual report to the transportation committee of the senate and the transportation and energy committee of the house of representatives. Section 9 is nonsubstantive and changes the previously defined term 'revenue anticipation notes' to 'transportation revenue anticipation notes' to reflect the use of the latter term throughout the bill. If no citizen-initiated ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs is approved by the voters of the state at the November 2018 general election, section 10 requires the submission of a ballot measure seeking voter approval for the state to issue TRANs in an amount of $3.5 billion with a maximum repayment cost of $5 billion at the November 2019 statewide election. Any TRANs issued following approval of the ballot measure must have a maximum repayment term of 20 years, the certificate, trust indenture, or other instrument authorizing their issuance must provide that the state may pay the TRANs in full before the end of the specified payment term without penalty, and the transportation commission must pledge to annually allocate from legally available money under its control any money needed for payment of the notes until the notes are fully repaid. Section 11 requires TRANs proceeds not otherwise pledged for TRANs payments to be credited to the state highway fund and expended by CDOT only for qualified federal aid transportation projects that are included in CDOT's strategic transportation project investment program and designated for tier 1 funding as 10-year development program projects on CDOT's development program project list. At least 25% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for projects in counties with populations of 50,000 or less and at least 10% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for transit purposes or transit-related capital improvements.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Sunset Process - House Transportation and Energy Committee. The bill implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review of the conservation easement oversight commission by extending the repeal date of the commission for 7 years until 2025 (Recommendation 2). The bill modifies the composition of the commission. The bill creates the division of conservation as a type 2 entity in the department of regulatory agencies and moves the existing conservation easement oversight commission, the program to certify conservation easement holders, and the program to certify conservation easement tax credit certificates to the new division.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Current law requires a person, before conducting an excavation, to contact a nonprofit notification association (comprised of all owners and operators of underground facilities) by dialing '811' to learn the location of underground facilities in the excavation project area. The owners and operators must then accurately mark the location of their facilities. Violations of the excavation damage prevention law are enforced exclusively through civil actions initiated by damaged parties to collect specified civil penalties and damages. In 2016, the United States department of transportation's pipeline and hazardous materials safety administration (PHMSA) conducted an adequacy evaluation of Colorado's enforcement of its excavation damage prevention law and determined that the enforcement is inadequate, which may eventually result in the withholding of federal funds from Colorado. The bill creates the underground damage prevention safety commission (commission) as an independent agency within the department of labor and employment. The commission has rule-making and enforcement authority regarding specified portions of the excavation damage prevention law and is required to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the notification association to facilitate implementation and administration of the law. The notification association is required to provide administrative support to the commission in performing its duties. A review committee of the commission initially determines whether a violation of the law has occurred and, if appropriate, recommends remedial action, potentially including a fine. Fines range from $250 for a single minor violation within the previous 12 months to $75,000 for a fourth major violation within the previous 12 months. The full commission is bound by the review committee's determination of facts but determines the final agency action regarding alleged violations. Fines are credited to the damage prevention fund, which the commission will use to develop educational programming, including by making grants, that is designed to improve worker and public safety relating to excavation and underground facilities. Current law allows only an excavator to submit a location request to the notification association. The bill authorizes a licensed professional engineer designing excavation to submit a location request. The engineer is required to ensure that the engineering plans meet certain standards established by the American Society of Civil Engineers for defining the accuracy of an underground facility location. Current law creates 2 tiers of membership in the notification association. Tier 2 members are limited members with limited benefits and include certain special districts, local governments, cable television providers, and small telecommunications providers; tier 1 members are full members with full benefits, and tier 1 consists of all other owners and operators. If, after receiving a location request, the notification association determines that a tier 1 member owns or operates the underground facilities, the notification association contacts the tier 1 member to arrange for the marking of the underground facilities. If a tier 2 member owns or operates the underground facilities, the excavator must contact the tier 2 member to arrange for the marking of the underground facilities. Effective January 1, 2021, all underground facility owners and operators are full members of the notification association with full benefits, and excavators will no longer need to contact the owners or operators to arrange for the marking. All new underground facilities installed on or after January 1, 2020, must be electronically locatable when installed. Home rule local governments and power authorities are not subject to the commission's enforcement authority, but the governing body of a home rule local government or power authority is required to either adopt a similar enforceable damage prevention safety program or waive its exemption and delegate its damage prevention enforcement authority to the commission. Information regarding the location of underground facilities is exempt from the 'Colorado Open Records Act', pursuant to the existing exemption for specialized details of critical infrastructure. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Currently, a resident individual with a federal adjusted gross income of $60,000 or less is allowed a state income tax credit (state credit) for child care expenses that is a percentage of a similar federal income tax credit claimed (federal credit). The amount of the state credit depends on the individual's adjusted gross income (AGI). If the individual's AGI is: $25,000 or less, then the state credit is 50% of the federal credit; $25,001 to $35,000, then the state credit is 30% of the federal credit; and $35,001 to $60,000, then the state credit is 10% of the federal credit. The bill expands the state credit by allowing a resident individual with an AGI that is less than or equal to $150,000 to claim a credit that is equal to 80% of the individual's federal credit. For a taxpayer who is eligible for the credit due to the increased income threshold, the state credit is not refundable but may be carried forward up to 5 income tax years. The bill makes an appropriation. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More