The act adds that the false reporting of a mass shooting or active shooter in a public or private place or vehicle that transports people or property that causes the occupants of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation to be evacuated or to be issued a shelter-in-place order; causing any disruptions or impacts to regular activities; or resulting in the initiation of a standard response protocol is a class 6 felony. The act specifies that false reporting of an emergency is a class 1 misdemeanor if the threat causes the occupants of a building, place of assembly, or facility to be issued a shelter-in-place order, the threat causes any disruptions or impacts to regular activities, or the threat results in the initiation of a standard response protocol in response to the false report. The act adds to the "Victim Rights Act" that a crime includes the false reporting of an emergency that is bias motivated. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Colorado law requires the manufacturer of cosmetic products, dietary supplements, food products, and food additives, including hemp products, to be registered with the department of public health and environment (department). The act creates a new framework for the department to regulate and register hemp products and certain intoxicating hemp products and for the marijuana enforcement division (division) in the department of revenue to regulate intoxicating products or potentially intoxicating compounds that are or may be cannabinoids. This regulation includes: The power to promulgate rules authorizing or prohibiting chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation to create certain types of intoxicating cannabinoids; Classifying and reclassifying cannabinoids as intoxicating, potentially intoxicating, or nonintoxicating; Labeling and advertising requirements; Production and testing requirements; Inspection, record-keeping, surveillance, and inventory tracking requirements; Prohibiting the export of a safe harbor hemp product that is a synthetic cannabinoid or that is being exported to a state where it is illegal; and Issuing a cease-and-desist order or clean-up order. Hemp- and marijuana-derived compounds and cannabinoids are classified into 3 classifications: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids; Potentially intoxicating cannabinoids; and Intoxicating cannabinoids. Nonintoxicating cannabinoids that are derived from hemp may be produced, distributed, or sold as a hemp product. With the exception of products manufactured or produced for export, which are referred to as "safe harbor hemp products" and with some exceptions for small amounts of THC, products containing potentially intoxicating compounds and intoxicating cannabinoids must only be produced, distributed, or sold by a person licensed by the division to produce, distribute, or sell the compound or cannabinoid as a product. The act clarifies that: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids, potentially intoxicating compounds, and intoxicating cannabinoids are marijuana or marijuana products for the purposes of the retail marijuana sales tax; and A person must be licensed by the division to manufacture potentially intoxicating compounds or intoxicating cannabinoids. The act prohibits the following acts: Manufacturing, selling, or delivering products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids in excess of limits established by rule; Manufacturing a product containing hemp that is not a cosmetic, a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb; Manufacturing, producing, selling, distributing, or holding for sale or distribution a safe harbor hemp product without registering with the department; Selling a hemp product to an individual who is under 21 years of age if the hemp product has a ratio of cannabidiol to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of less than 20:1 and the hemp product contains more than 1.25 milligrams of THC, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 5 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of less than 20:1, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; or Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 30 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of 20:1 or more, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe. The penalty for a violation is up to $10,000 per day per violation. The act specifies factors to consider in determining the amount of the penalty. The act requires the executive director of the department of revenue to analyze the feasibility of establishing a standing committee to evaluate cannabinoids and cannabis-derived products for the purpose of determining and making recommendations regarding their safety profiles and potential for intoxication. The department of revenue may engage experts to inform its analysis. The bill sets standards for marijuana cultivation facilities to buy seeds and clones. To implement this act: $1,574,061 is appropriated to the department. This appropriation consists of $1,168,485 from the general fund and $405,576 from the wholesale food manufacturing and storage protection cash fund; $295,024 is appropriated from the general fund to the marijuana cash fund and reappropriated from the marijuana cash fund to the department of revenue; and Of the amounts appropriated to the departments of public health and environment and revenue, $437,764 is reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services to those departments. The amounts are appropriated to the departments for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, and the departments are authorized to spend any amount not expended in the 2023-34 state fiscal year in the 2024-25 state fiscal year for the same purposes. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The crime prevention through safer streets grant program (safer streets program) exists within the department of public safety (DPS) and repeals on November 1, 2023. The act extends the safer streets program, extends reporting requirements, and extends the DPS's authority to use the appropriation received in the 2022-23 state fiscal year to pay for the safer streets program until the appropriation is fully expended. Two additional grant programs exist within DPS: A law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant program (workforce program) to award grants to law enforcement agencies to address workforce shortages, improve training to P.O.S.T.-certified peace officers, and improve relationships between law enforcement and impacted communities; and A state's mission for assistance in recruitment and training policing grant program (SMART program) to award grants to law enforcement agencies to increase the number of P.O.S.T.-certified and non-certified officers who are representative of the communities they serve and to provide training for those additional law enforcement officers. The act extends the workforce program and the SMART program and their reporting requirements, specifies additional permissible uses for the workforce program and SMART program grant awards, permits DPS to set workforce program and SMART program deadlines, and permits DPS to provide technical support to workforce program and SMART program applicants. The behavioral health information and data-sharing program (information program) exists within the DPS and repeals on June 30, 2024. The act extends the information program and the DPS's authority to use the appropriation until December 30, 2024. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the parks and wildlife commission (commission) to promulgate rules on or before July 1, 2024, establishing: A process by which the Chatfield watershed authority (authority) may request that the commission create by rule a water quality fee (fee) to be collected by the division of parks and wildlife (division) from visitors to Chatfield state park; Criteria for approving a request for such a fee; and Criteria for determining which visitors to Chatfield state park should be required to pay the fee. In promulgating the rules, the commission must ensure that the amount of the fee is rounded to the nearest dollar and does not exceed $2. The commission must review the fee on January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, and after each such review, the commission may either eliminate the fee or adjust the amount of the fee to account for inflation or deflation. On and after July 1, 2024, the commission may establish the fee. If the commission establishes the fee, the division must collect the fee on and after January 1, 2025. The division must transfer the total amount of money collected to the state treasurer, who must credit the money to the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund (fund); except that the division may retain up to 3.33% percent of the amount of money collected as fees to pay its administrative costs. Beginning July 1, 2025, and every 6 months thereafter, the division must pay to the authority from the fund the total amount of money collected as fees during the preceding 6 months. If the commission establishes the fee, the commission: Must require the authority to expend up to 25% of the money received from the division on water quality projects within the boundaries of Chatfield state park; and May include additional requirements and restrictions concerning the expenditure by the authority of money received from the division on water quality projects inside the boundaries of Chatfield state park. The authority is required to expend the money received from the division to support water quality projects, including projects that provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of nonpoint source projects, water quality monitoring, and urban runoff and erosion management and control. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A person applying for a marijuana license is required to pay both an application fee and a licensing fee. The act clarifies that the state licensing authority may issue a refund of a licensing fee if the marijuana license application is denied. Furthermore, the act states that the state licensing authority must retain the applicant's application fee, but a local licensing authority can choose to retain or refund an applicant's application fee. Current law requires a marijuana license applicant to obtain both a state license and local jurisdiction approval, and the state license is conditioned on local jurisdiction approval. The act provides an applicant the opportunity to renew, for up to one year, a state license that would otherwise expire because of failure to receive local jurisdiction approval at the discretion of the state licensing authority. For state fiscal year 2023-24, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer from the general fund an amount equal to the unused general fund appropriation in the department of revenue's IDS print production line item at the end of state fiscal year 2022-23 to the department's marijuana cash fund. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
As part of an effort to simplify the sales and use tax system, the department of revenue (department) created the electronic sales and use tax simplification system (SUTS), which is a one-stop portal designed to facilitate the collection and remittance of sales and use tax. As soon as possible, but no later than January 1, 2025, the act requires the department to modify SUTS: To populate a local account number on all returns and summary reports, if the retailer filing the return has a number and provides the number in SUTS; By developing a simplified user interface for filing returns as an alternative to the current spreadsheet method; To provide retailers with a bulk testing option for address files; and To include additional use taxes, additional information about deductions, filtering options, and certain tabs. With the exception of charges for payments by credit cards, the act prohibits the department from imposing a convenience fee or any other type of charge for a payment through SUTS and from passing those charges on to local taxing jurisdictions. The act also requires the department to: Create a campaign to promote SUTS for the purpose of increasing the awareness, participation, and compliance by retailers and local taxing jurisdictions; and Solicit and consider feedback from interested stakeholders about enhancements to SUTS that lead to greater local taxing jurisdiction participation and greater compliance by retailers. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes several measures that protect the best interests of a child or youth and that will not hinder reunification with the child's or youth's family when the child or youth has been temporarily placed outside the family home with a relative or kin (relative), including: Permitting a relative to appeal when denied placement of the child or youth with the relative; Requiring the department of human services (department), to use reasonable efforts to help a relative whose barrier to caring for the child or youth is a lack of resources; Amending the court's advisement to the parent so it is consistent with changes to statute; Specifying what information should be included in a notice to relatives when the child or youth has been removed from the child's or youth's home; Requiring that courts give preference to a relative unless placement with that relative would negatively affect the child's or youth's mental, physical, or emotional needs, or hinder reunification with the child's or youth's family; Providing options for a relative to be allowed to participate in a child's or youth's care and planning; Creating a rebuttable presumption that placement with a relative is in the child's or youth's best interest. The presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, giving primary consideration to the child's or youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs, including the child's or youth's preference regarding placement. Requiring that caseworkers inform the court of efforts to identify and place a child or youth with a relative. Foster parents who have the child or youth in their care for 12 months or more may intervene, as a matter of right, with or without counsel, following adjudication. The purpose of intervention is to provide knowledge or information concerning the care and protection of the child or youth, including the child's or youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year: $13,879 is appropriated to the department of human services from the general fund for use by the division of child welfare for Colorado TRAILS for the implementation of this act; and The general assembly anticipates that the department of human services will receive $7,473 in federal funds for use by the division of child welfare to assist in the implementation of this act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act changes the minimum amount of items of special mobile machinery required to be located in the state from 1000 items to 250 items in order for the owner of the special mobile machinery to be eligible for a registration exempt certificate issued by the department of revenue (department). An owner of special mobile machinery that is issued a registration exempt certificate shall pay all fees and surcharges that would otherwise be paid at the time of registration and any other fees and surcharges due for each item of special mobile machinery upon application, renewal, or within 20 days of the expiration of a registration exempt certificate. To ensure proper administration of registration exempt certificates and payment of the required fees and surcharges, an owner of special mobile machinery is also required to report information about all its special mobile machinery located in the state to the department when applying for or renewing a registration exempt certificate or within 20 days of the expiration of a registration exempt certificate. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $113,476 is appropriated from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department for use by the division of motor vehicles to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires hospitals to make public and post each hospital's medicare reimbursement rates. The act: Requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to conduct a performance assessment for each hospital to determine the hospital's adherence to federal transparency rules and publish the results on its website; Repeals sections of statute regarding hospital price transparency and debt collection that are currently under the administration and authority of the department of public health and environment and relocates these sections so that hospital price transparency and debt collection provisions are under the administration and authority of the state department; and Makes a violation of the hospital transparency requirements outlined in the act a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act protects an individual applying for licensure, certification, or registration in a profession or occupation in Colorado (applicant), as well as a professional who is currently licensed, certified, or registered in a profession or occupation in Colorado (licensee), from having the license, certification, or registration denied to the applicant, or from discipline being imposed against the licensee, based solely on: A civil or criminal judgment against the applicant or licensee regarding the consumption, possession, cultivation, or processing of marijuana, if the underlying actions were lawful and consistent with professional conduct and standards of care within Colorado and did not otherwise violate Colorado law; or Previous professional disciplinary action concerning an applicant's or a licensee's professional licensure in this or any other state or United States territory, if the professional disciplinary action was based solely on the applicant's or licensee's consumption, possession, cultivation, or processing of marijuana and the applicant or licensee did not otherwise violate Colorado law. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)