Sen. Kevin Van Winkle

Under current law, all managers and employees of a medical marijuana business or a retail marijuana business with day-to-day operational control must be Colorado residents when they apply for licensure. The act repeals this residency requirement. The act clarifies that all employee licenses are valid for a period not to exceed 2 years and all regulated marijuana business licenses and licenses granted to a controlling beneficial owner are valid for one year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act repeals statutory language requiring the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) to provide prevention, intervention, and treatment services for youths since these functions were previously transferred from CDPHE to the department of human services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Effective January 7, 2025, the act: Removes Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties from the eighteenth judicial district; Creates a twenty-third judicial district comprised of those counties; Specifies the number of district court judges for that district; and Reduces the number of district court judges for the eighteenth judicial district. The act specifies that at the election in November of 2024: There will be an election for the district attorney for the eighteenth judicial district from the electors of Arapahoe county; There will be an election for the district attorney for the twenty-third judicial district from the electors of Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties; and Any district court judge of the eighteenth judicial district who is eligible for retention may stand for retention election from the electors of the eighteenth judicial district. The act clarifies that a district judge of the current eighteenth judicial district who is not up for a retention election in 2024 continues to serve as a district court judge for the remainder of the judge's current term, but the judge serves in the judicial district in which the judge resides. For the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearings from 2021 through 2025, the act directs the judicial department to consult with the counties of the eighteenth judicial district and report on its progress in making the system changes necessary to create the twenty-third judicial district, and for the SMART Act hearing in 2026, the act directs the judicial department to prepare a final report on how the creation of the new district went, including recommendations to the general assembly on how future changes to a judicial district might be made. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law exempts from the definition of a "real estate appraisal" certain analyses prepared by an officer, director, or regularly salaried employee of a financial institution or its affiliate when the analyses are used for internal purposes only. Federal law also exempts such analyses when they are prepared by an agent of a financial institution or its affiliate. The act adds these agents to the list of people who can make these exempt analyses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act: Establishes a hold harmless provision for vendors who use the state's geographic information system database (GIS database) to determine the jurisdictions to which sales or use tax is owed and to calculate appropriate sales or use tax rates for individual addresses; Requires the department of revenue to notify vendors when the GIS database is online, tested, and verified by the department of revenue to be operational, supported, and available for use; Specifies that the notification to vendors may be provided in any way that the department of revenue deems appropriate and must be accomplished within existing resources; Requires the department of revenue to ensure that the GIS database data is at least 95% accurate based on a statistically valid sample of addresses from the database, or based on another acceptable method of proving accuracy; Requires the executive director of the department of revenue to promulgate rules for the administration and use of the GIS database; Specifies that the statutory section regarding certified address location databases used for collecting and remitting sales and use tax is repealed 90 days after the date that the revisor of statutes is notified by the department of revenue that a geographic information system that meets the defined scope of work set forth in the request for solicitation is online, tested, and verified by the department of revenue to be operational, supported, and available for use; and Requires the department of revenue to notify the revisor of statutes no later than 15 days after such a system is online, tested, and verified by the department of revenue to be operational, supported, and available for use.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires each entity of the state government; each entity of the government of each city, county, and city and county; and special districts, school districts, and institutions of higher education (governmental entity) that encrypts all of its radio communications to enact an encryption policy. An encryption policy must include access to unencrypted radio communications by members of the media and standards that prevent the governmental entity from imposing unreasonable and burdensome limitations on access to radio communications. When enacting an encryption policy, a governmental entity must consider including in the policy access to unencrypted radio communications for the general public through alternative means, such as delayed online transmission. Prior to enacting an encryption policy, a governmental entity must seek input from members of the Colorado media and the general public.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill defines what a battery-charged fence is and limits the extent to which a local government can impose requirements relating to the installation or use of a battery-charged fence. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Licensed marijuana ownership - allow publicly traded corporations - controlling beneficial owners, indirect financial interest holders, and passive beneficial owners - rule-making authority - suitability finding - notification, disclosure, notice requirements - appropriation. The act repeals the provision that prohibits publicly traded corporations from holding a marijuana license. The act creates new ownership concepts of controlling beneficial owners, indirect financial interest holders, and passive beneficial owners. The act repeals the concept of direct beneficial owner and the associated requirements. The act gives the state licensing authority rule-making authority related to the parameters of, qualifications of, disclosure of, requirements for, and suitability for the new ownership concepts. A "controlling beneficial owner" is limited to a person that satisfies one or more of the following criteria: A natural person, an entity as defined in section 7-90-102 (20) that is organized under the laws of and for which its principal place of business is located in one of the states or District of Columbia, a publicly traded corporation, or a qualified private fund that is not a qualified institutional investor: Acting alone or acting in concert, that owns or acquires beneficial ownership of ten percent or more of the owner's interest of a medical marijuana business; That is an affiliate that controls a medical marijuana business and includes, without limitation, any manager; or That is otherwise in a position to control the medical marijuana business except as authorized in section 44-11-407; or A qualified institutional investor acting alone or acting in concert that owns or acquires beneficial ownership of more than 30 percent of the owner's interest of a medical marijuana business. "Indirect financial interest holder" is a person that is not an affiliate, a controlling beneficial owner, or a passive beneficial owner of a medical marijuana business and that: Holds a commercially reasonable royalty interest in exchange for a medical marijuana business's use of the person's intellectual property; Holds a permitted economic interest that was issued prior to January 1, 2020, and that has not been converted into an ownership interest; Is a contract counterparty with a medical marijuana business, other than a customary employment agreement, that has a direct nexus to the cultivation, manufacture, or sale of medical marijuana, including, but not limited to, a lease of real property on which the medical marijuana business operates, a lease of equipment used in the cultivation of medical marijuana, a secured or unsecured financing agreement with the medical marijuana business, a security contract with the medical marijuana business, or a management agreement with the medical marijuana business, provided that no such contract compensates the contract counterparty with a percentage of revenue for profits of the medical marijuana business; or Is identified by rule by the state licensing authority as an indirect financial interest holder. "Passive beneficial owner" means any person acquiring any interest in a medical marijuana business that is not otherwise a controlling beneficial owner or in control. The act requires a person intending to apply to become a controlling beneficial owner or passive beneficial owner to receive a finding of suitability or an exemption from the state licensing authority prior to submitting a marijuana business application. The act also requires a marijuana business or controlling beneficial owner that is a publicly traded corporation to comply with various notification, disclosure, notice, and suitability requirements. The act limits the types of publicly traded corporations that can be marijuana businesses or controlling beneficial owners. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $2,783,561 was appropriated from the marijuana cash fund to the department of revenue. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More