Sen. Mike Weissman

The act directs the state treasurer to make an immediate, one-time transfer of $3 million from the general fund to the energy fund administered by the Colorado energy office (CEO). The CEO may use the money for making grants for the weatherization assistance program. The act requires the CEO to periodically report on its expenditures to the office of state planning and budgeting and the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill creates the "Guard Training and Standards Act" (Act). The Act requires the following persons to obtain a license to practice their occupation: Armed guards who, for financial compensation, carry a firearm and may use physical force to protect a person or property; Protection guards who, for financial compensation, may use physical force to protect a person or property; and Security guards who, for financial compensation, secure a person or property. The Act also requires a guard employer to be registered with the director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies (director). The licensing is administered by the director, who, subject to the administrative procedures act, has the power and duty to: Promulgate rules; Establish licensure fees; Investigate, hold hearings, and gather evidence; Enter, during business hours, the business premises of a licensee where violations are alleged to have occurred; Take disciplinary action upon proof of a violation of the Act or the rules promulgated to implement the Act; Issue cease-and-desist orders; Apply to a court for an order enjoining any act or practice that violates the Act; Approve training programs that are required to meet the standards for licensure as a protection guard or an armed guard; Implement a requirement that protection guards and armed guards wear body cameras and record interactions with members of the public in a similar manner to the requirements for peace officers; Set marking, design, and equipment standards for motor vehicles used by a guard in the guard's duties; Set standards for uniforms, including external identification, worn by a guard; Set standards for when it is appropriate to wear plain clothes and for the issuance of a plainclothes permit; and Establish a procedure and standards for waiving a portion of the training required for a protection guard or an armed guard to be issued a license. A person may use the titles of "security guard", "protection guard", or "armed guard" only if the person is licensed. A person who engages in the occupation of being a guard without the required license or who employs a guard without a registration commits a class 2 misdemeanor for the first offense and a class 6 felony for the second or subsequent offense. Peace officers are exempt from the licensing requirements. To be issued a license, a person must apply, pay a fee, prove qualifications as required in the Act, and submit to a criminal history background check. Upon being licensed, the person is given a license document that contains the guard's photograph and other relevant information. Security guards are prohibited from carrying a firearm and using physical force to secure or protect people or property. To be qualified for a security guard license, a person must not have a conviction within the last 10 years for certain crimes that relate to violence or unlawful sexual behavior or for attempting or conspiring to commit these types of crimes. Protection guards are prohibited from carrying a firearm. To be qualified for a protection guard license, a person must: Not have a conviction, within the last 10 years, for the same type of crimes described for security guards; and Have successfully completed 80 hours of training that is approved by rule and covers the obligations and restrictions imposed on a protection guard by the Act. To be qualified for an armed guard license, a person must: Have a concealed carry permit for firearms; Not have a conviction, within the last 10 years, for the same type of crimes described for security guards; Have successfully completed 80 hours of training that is approved by rule and covers the obligations and restrictions imposed on an armed guard by the Act; and Have completed firearms training that is substantially equivalent to the training required to be certified as a peace officer. To renew a protection guard license or armed guard license, the license holder must successfully complete 8 hours of training approved by the director by rule. Within 30 days after a felony or misdemeanor conviction for certain listed crimes, which are broader than the crimes that disqualify a person to be a guard because the crimes cover certain property offenses and offenses involving fraud, a guard must report the conviction to the director. Within 30 days after terminating the employment of a guard for misconduct, a guard employer must report the termination and the misconduct that is the basis for the termination to the director. Within 30 days after using physical force to protect a person or property, a guard and the guard's employer must report the use of physical force to the director. The report must include the demographic information, as required by rule, of the guard using physical force and of the individual subjected to the physical force. The director will maintain a database of licensed guards. The database contains the name of each licensee and the following information about each licensee: Each criminal conviction of the type the guard must report; and Each termination of employment for misconduct and the misconduct. The director will make the database available, including online through the director's website, to a registered guard employer. The Act establishes standards of conduct for guards that include obeying the Act and rules promulgated under the Act and the following standards: All guards must: Wear a uniform unless the guard has been issued a plainclothes permit; Carry the guard's license; Use a vehicle that complies with the marking, design, and equipment rules promulgated by the director; and Not use a canine to detect explosive devices unless the canine is certified by a nationally recognized training association or a law enforcement agency, and the guard handling the canine is one of the canine's primary handlers. An armed guard must wear a form of identification on the outermost part of the armed guard's uniform. The director sets standards for issuing a plainclothes permit. The director may discipline each type of guard or a guard employer for: Fraud or intentional misrepresentation in obtaining or attempting to obtain, reinstate, or renew a license; Violating a currently valid order of the director; Violating the Act or a rule promulgated under the Act; Being convicted of a felony when acting within the course and scope of the guard's duties; Using false advertising or intentionally misleading advertising; Failing to meet the mentioned standards of practice; Failing to pay a fine assessed by the director; and Using deadly force or authorizing the use of deadly force against any individual unless the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent an immediate risk of serious physical harm to an individual. The director may discipline or require additional training of: A security guard for using unlawful physical force on another person; A protection guard or armed guard for: Failing to use a body camera; Using physical force that is prohibited for peace officers to use; or Being convicted of a crime that would disqualify the protection guard or armed guard from being issued a license; and A guard employer for: Authorizing a guard to take an action that is a ground for discipline; Failing to ensure that protection guards and armed guards use body cameras; or Failing to make a required report. The director may adopt rules establishing fines that the director may impose on a licensee for violating the Act or rules under the Act, with a minimum fine of not less than $50 and a maximum fine of not more than $5,000 per violation. In accordance with the sunset law, the Act will repeal on September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, the Act is scheduled for review by the department of regulatory agencies. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under current law, it is a class 1 felony as it pertains to first degree murder if a person commits or attempts to commit certain specified felonies and the death of a person, other than one of the participants, is caused by anyone during the crime. The act changes the current law by:Moving the crime from first degree murder to second degree murder and changing the penalty from a class 1 felony to a class 2 felony that is subject to crime of violence sentencing; Requiring the death be caused by a participant; and Repealing certain elements of the affirmative defense.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

In 2013, the general assembly enacted SB13-030, which required, in part, that the office of legislative legal services provide written notice of rules adopted as a result of specific legislation enacted on or after January 1, 2013, to:The prime sponsors of the legislation if still serving in the general assembly; The cosponsors of the legislation if still serving in the general assembly; and The applicable committees of reference in the senate and house of representatives for the legislation. The act removes the requirement to notify cosponsors of the legislation and limits the notification period to up to 8 years after the legislation was enacted.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Sections 1 and 3 of the act restore, over time, certain business deductions to federal taxable income that were disallowed in Colorado by operation of a department of revenue rule and by House Bill 20-1420. The specific deductions are related to net operating losses, the application of the federal excess business loss rules, interest expenses, and qualified improvement property.The earned income tax credit is equal to a percentage of the federal earned income tax credit. Section 2 allows taxpayers filing with an individual taxpayer identification number to claim the earned income tax credit for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2020.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Competency to proceed - timing - services - reports - tracking system - placement guidelines - training - immunity - appropriations. When a defendant's competency to proceed is raised, the act: Changes the timing of various matters; Clarifies where restoration services are to be provided; Expands the requirements for a competency evaluation report; and Clarifies when defendants are to be released following an evaluation or restoration services. The act requires the department of human services to: Develop an electronic system to track the status of defendants for whom competency to proceed has been raised; Convene a group of experts to create a placement guideline for use in determining where restoration services should be provided; and Partner with an institution of higher education to develop and provide training in competency evaluations. On and after January 1, 2020, except for certain certified or certification-eligible evaluators, competency evaluators are required to have attended training. District attorneys, public defenders, and alternate defense counsel are also to receive training on competency to proceed. The act also provides that a competency evaluator is not liable for damages in any civil action for failure to warn or protect a specific person or persons against the violent behavior of a defendant being evaluated. The act appropriates $10,983,000 from the general fund to pay for fines, liquidated damages, costs, attorney fees, and special master compensation due to a consent decree agreed to by the state. It also appropriates additional money from the general fund and from reappropriated funds to the department of human services and the judicial department to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Professional review committees - knowledge of reporting data - requirement to update information - rules - original source documents - committee membership - requirement to notify medical and nursing board - continuation under sunset law. The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the functions of professional review committees as follows: Repeals references to the committee on anticompetitive conduct because the committee no longer exists and replaces the term "utilization and quality control peer review organization" with "quality improvement organization" to be consistent with federal law; Clarifies that governing boards reporting data, and the data reported, to the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies or a regulatory board may be known to staff of the division; Requires governing boards to annually update their information with the division; and Requires the division to promulgate rules to determine the information a governing board is required to report and to establish a process to remove governing boards from the registry. The act also: Defines "original source document", exempts such documents from the definition of "records", and specifies when the documents may be subject to subpoena, discovery, or use in a civil action; Encourages each professional review committee of a hospital to appoint a consumer to serve on the committee; and Repeals language requiring, in certain situations, a professional review committee for individuals licensed under the "Colorado Medical Practice Act" or the "Nurse Practice Act" to notify the medical board or nursing board, as applicable. The automatic termination date of the functions of professional review committees is extended until September 1, 2030, pursuant to the provisions of the sunset law. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Professions and occupations - organizational recodification of laws. Title 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes relates primarily to the regulation of professions and occupations. In 2016, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 16-163, which authorized a multi-year project to recodify title 12. In 2017 and 2018, the General Assembly enacted numerous bills to relocate from title 12 to other titles in the Colorado Revised Statutes all laws that do not relate to the regulation of professions and occupations. After the passage of those relocation bills, title 12 generally contains only laws administered by the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) that regulate a profession or occupation. Section 1 of the act recodifies title 12, as contemplated by Senate Bill 16-163, by: Reorganizing and renumbering articles and parts within the title, all of which are administered by the division of real estate, the division of conservation, or the division of professions and occupations (DPO) within DORA; Relocating into title 12 statutes in part 1 of article 34 of title 24 of the Colorado Revised Statutes relating to the creation, powers, and duties of DPO in administering the laws regulating professions and occupations (practice acts); Creating common provisions that are generally applicable to all practice acts administered by DPO, except as otherwise specified, and modifying the various practice acts to eliminate redundancies with the common provisions; and Eliminating provisions in title 12 that are archaic or obsolete. Article 1 of the recodified title 12 contains provisions that apply to the entire title. Article 10 includes the laws governing real estate, including the division of real estate within DORA, while article 15 includes laws governing conservation easements, including the division of conservation within DORA. The remainder of the title relates to professions and occupations regulated by DPO within DORA. Article 20 includes laws relocated from title 24 relating to the creation of DPO and DPO's powers and duties and consolidated common provisions derived from the practice acts that relate to procedures, immunity, disciplinary and enforcement authority, and judicial review of final orders of DPO and the regulatory boards within DPO. Article 30 includes common provisions governing health care professions and occupations regulated by DPO, including the "Michael Skolnik Medical Transparency Act of 2010", health care work force data collection requirements, and opioid prescribing limitations. Articles 100 to 315 contain the practice acts governing individual professions and occupations regulated by DPO. The comparative tables detailing how the act reorganized and renumbered specific provisions in title 12 is located at . Section 2 of the act relocates a law that prohibits the mandatory donation of services from title 12 to the "Administrative Organization Act of 1968" in title 24. Section 3 repeals relocated provisions from titles 24 and 25. To give agencies time to make necessary adjustments to their rules and forms, section 265 delays the effective date of the act until October 1, 2019. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

The state constitution authorizes the general assembly to lower the maximum amount of the actual residential value of residential real property that is subject to the senior property tax exemption (exemption). Section 3 of the bill lowers the maximum amount to $0 for all property tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2020, which has the effect of eliminating the exemption. It does not affect the property tax exemption for disabled veterans. Under section 4 , a county assessor is no longer required to mail notices to seniors about the exemption, and under section 5 , an assessor is not required to accept applications or otherwise administer the exemption unless and until the general assembly enacts legislation to increase the maximum actual value of residential real property that is subject to the exemption. If the exemption is made available in the future, seniors must reapply for it. Section 6 creates an income tax credit that is available for 10 tax years beginning on January 1, 2020, for a qualifying senior. A qualifying senior must be 65 years of age or older at the end of the income tax year for which the credit is claimed and have income that is less than or equal to $65,000, adjusted for inflation, or a surviving spouse who is at least 58 and meets the same income qualification. If the qualifying senior's adjusted gross income for the taxable year is less than or equal to the base income amount, which is $12,000, adjusted for inflation, then the credit is equal to the maximum credit amount, which is $700, adjusted for inflation. The amount of the credit decreases by $50, adjusted for inflation, for each income grouping above the base income amount. The amount of the credit that exceeds the qualifying senior's income taxes due is refunded to the qualifying senior. Section 6 also creates the credit stabilization cash fund. The state treasurer is annually required to transfer money from the cash fund to the general fund, or vice versa, depending on whether the total amount of the credits exceeds an approximation of what the state would have had to pay to backfill the senior homestead exemption. If some or all of the credit is paid to the senior as a state income tax refund, and therefore taxable income, section 7 allows a qualifying senior to deduct an amount equal to the refundable amount of the credit from taxable income for purposes of determining state income taxes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More