The bill authorizes the state treasurer to invest state money in securities issued by a sovereign, national, or supranational entity that are rated at least investment grade by a nationally recognized rating organization. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
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The bill creates a sales and use tax exemption for aircraft used or purchased for use in interstate or intrastate commerce by an on-demand air carrier. The bill specifies that a statutory town, city, or county may exempt the same items only by express inclusion of the exemption in its initial sales tax ordinance or resolution or by amendment thereto. The bill requires any special district or other limited purpose governmental entity that is authorized by law to levy sales tax upon all transactions or incidents with respect to which the state levies sales tax to levy a tax on the same items. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
Currently and until September 1, 2018, a distributor can claim a credit for taxes paid on tobacco products that are shipped or transported by the distributor to a consumer outside of the state. The bill makes the credit permanent and requires the distributor to maintain certain records related to the out-of-state sales to consumers. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
The bill extends the end date to be eligible for a veteran of the Vietnam war specialty license plate from January 27, 1973, to July 1, 1975. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
The chief information security officer in the governor's office of information technology (OIT), the director of OIT, the department of state, and the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies are required to take certain actions to protect state records containing trusted sensitive and confidential information from criminal, unauthorized, or inadvertent manipulation or theft. The chief information security officer is required to: Identify, assess, and mitigate cyber threats to state government; Annually collect information from all public agencies to assess the nature of threats to data systems and the potential risks and civil liabilities from the theft or inadvertent release of such information; In coordination and partnership with specified agencies, boards, and councils, annually assess the data systems of each public agency for the benefits and costs of adopting and applying distributed ledger technologies such as blockchains; Develop and maintain a series of metrics to identify, assess, and monitor each public agency data system for its platform descriptions, vulnerabilities, risks, liabilities, appropriate employee access control, and the benefits and costs of adopting encryption and distributed ledger technologies. The director of OIT is required to consider the annual metrics from the office of the chief information security officer to recommend programs, contracts, and upgrades of data systems that have good cost-benefit potential or return on investment. In addition, OIT and the office of the chief information security officer are required to consider developing public-private partnerships and contracts to allow capitalization of encryption technologies while protecting intellectual property rights. The department of state is required to consider research, development, and implementation for encryption and data integrity techniques, including distributed ledger technologies such as blockchains. The department of state is required to consider using distributed ledger technologies when accepting business licensing records and when distributing department of state data to other departments and agencies. The executive director of the department of regulatory agencies or the director's designee is required to consider secure encryption methods, including distributed ledger technologies, to protect against falsification, create visibility to identify external hacking threats, and to improve internal data security. In addition, the bill specifies that institutions of higher education may include distributed ledger technologies within their curricula and research and development activities. The bill also specifies that the university of Colorado at Colorado Springs and any nonprofit organization with which the university has a partnership may consider: Encouraging coordination with the United States department of commerce and the national institute of standards and technologies to develop the capability to act as a Colorado in-state center of excellence on cybersecurity advice and national institute of standards and technologies standards; Studying efforts to protect privacy of personal identifying information maintained within distributed ledger programs, ensuring that programs make all attempts to follow best practices for privacy, and providing advice to all program stakeholders on the requirement to maintain privacy in accordance with required regulatory bodies and governing standards; and Encouraging the use of distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchains, within their proposed curricula for public sector education.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
The starting point for determining state income tax liability is federal taxable income. This number is adjusted for additions and subtractions (deductions) that are used to determine Colorado taxable income, which amount is multiplied by the state's 4.63% income tax rate. The bill allows an individual who is under 55 years old and whose military retirement benefits are less than $40,000 to claim a deduction in the following amount: For the 2019 income tax year, 25% of the individual's military retirement benefits; For the 2020 income tax year, 50% of the individual's military retirement benefits or $10,000, whichever is less; and For the 2021 and 2022 income tax years, the individual's military retirement benefits or $10,000, whichever is less. The bill also requires the department of revenue, as part of its tax profile and expenditure report, to estimate the number of individuals who claim the new deduction for the 2019 income tax year, and of those, the number who are first-time filers in the state. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
Under current law, the department of labor and employment (department) administers the skilled worker, outreach, recruitment, and key training (WORK) grant program, which provides matching grants to eligible public or private entities or organizations that provide skilled worker training programs in partnership with industry. The general assembly is directed to appropriate $10 million for the WORK grant program for the 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 fiscal years. The bill: Extends the program for 3 fiscal years; Specifies deadlines for the department to award and issue matching grants to recipients; Requires the department to develop an expedited application process for eligible applicants; Specifies that the state work force development council (council), rather than the governor, is to appoint members to the WORK grant review committee; Authorizes the executive committee of the council to make grant award determinations; Requires the WORK grant review committee to submit its annual report to the general assembly by December 31 instead of by May 1 and to include the report as part of the Colorado talent pipeline report; Requires the general assembly to appropriate an additional $7.6 million for the WORK grant program for the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 fiscal years, with not more than $3.3 million in any fiscal year; specifies how the money available for matching grants must be allocated, to the extent possible; and allows the department to expend in the next fiscal year, without further appropriation, money that was not expended or encumbered in the fiscal year for which it was appropriated. $1,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the WORK fund and is further appropriated to the department for the WORK grant program. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
Section 1 of the bill establishes an office of the ombudsman for behavioral health access to care as an independent office within the office of the executive director of the department of human services to assist Coloradans in accessing behavioral health care. Section 3 requires the commissioner of insurance to report on issues related to mental health parity requirements. $85,695 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of human services to use for the office of the ombudsman for behavioral health access to care, and $8,355 is appropriated from the division of insurance cash fund to the division of insurance to implement the bill. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
The Colorado constitution currently prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime for which an individual has been duly convicted. If approved at the November 6, 2018, general election by a statewide majority vote, the concurrent resolution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude in all circumstances by repealing the existing exception to the prohibition. The resolution also clarifies in a nonconstitutional legislative declaration that the purpose of the proposed constitutional amendment is not to disallow opportunities for persons convicted of crimes to work but instead to merely prohibit compulsory labor from such individuals. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this concurrent resolution as introduced in the second house.) , Read More
