The act creates the language access advisory board (advisory board). The advisory board consists of 11 voting and 2 nonvoting members. Each voting member of the advisory board is appointed by either the majority leader or minority leader of either the house of representatives or the senate. The voting members of the advisory board are: 3 members of the house of representatives; 2 members of the senate; One member representing the Colorado Language Access Coalition; One member representing a local government that has implemented a language access plan or has a language access advisory entity; One member representing persons with disabilities; One member who works in translation or interpretation services; One member with experience in language access in rural communities; and One member with expertise in language access relating to elections. The nonvoting members of the advisory board are: The director of research of the legislative council or the director's designee; and The director of the office of legislative legal services or the director's designee. The purpose of the advisory board is to assess and develop recommendations for improving meaningful access to the legislative process for populations with limited English proficiency, to include: Identifying current language-related barriers to the legislative process for state residents with limited English proficiency; Examining the success of current language access measures relating to the legislative process; Considering the development of a language access plan covering the general assembly and the legislative process; Evaluating options for oral interpretation and written translation of legislative activities; and Assessing language access concerning the ballot information booklet. In performing this assessment, the advisory board must solicit public comment and input from subject matter experts. The advisory board must submit the report of its findings and recommendations to the executive committee of the legislative council on or before December 15, 2024. The advisory board is repealed on January 1, 2025. The act appropriates $29,741 from the general fund to the legislative department for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act modifies the income tax credit for qualified costs incurred in preservation of historic structures (credit) by: Modifying the requirement that a qualified commercial or residential structure be at least 50 years old to instead require a qualified commercial or residential structure to be at least 30 years old; Extending the period for which a taxpayer may claim the credit through income tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2037; Extending the period for which the Colorado office of economic development may reserve the credit through December 31, 2032; Limiting the credit to apply to past rehabilitation expenditures that occurred 12, rather than 24, months prior to the submission of an application for the credit on or after January 1, 2026; Preventing a person from submitting an application for the credit on or after January 1, 2025, in connection with an already completed rehabilitation project; Increasing the amount of the credit that may be awarded for residential rehabilitation expenditures from $50,000 to $100,000, beginning with credits that are awarded on or after January 1, 2025; Removing the 5% increase in the percentage of applicable rehabilitation expenses incurred in a rehabilitation in a disaster area under the credit for rehabilitations made in connection with an application for the credit submitted on or after January 1, 2025; Creating the commercial historic preservation tax credit program cash fund that consists of gifts, grants, donations, any revenue generated by the issuance fee charged in connection with the issuance of a credit, and any other money that the general assembly credits to the fund; For tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, allowing the credit for qualified residential structures to be refundable rather than able to be carried forward; and For calendar years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 2030, establishing a second income tax credit pool of up to $5 million annually that is reserved for an owner of a qualified commercial structure that is rehabilitated so that at least 50% of the square footage of the qualified commercial structure will be net new housing rental units, and, if the qualified commercial structure is subject to a deed restriction that requires the owner to lease rental housing to individuals with an income below a certain amount, the taxpayer claiming the credit may claim 5% more of the qualified expenditures. To implement the act, for the 2024-25 state fiscal year: $74,244 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs for general incentives and marketing by the economic development commission; and $54,419 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by history Colorado for the office of archeology and historic preservation. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations in the 2023 sunset report by the department of regulatory agencies by: Continuing the regulation of debt-management service providers for 11 years, to 2035; Requiring a debt-management service provider to maintain records of the education provided to an individual; Requiring settlement agreements between a consumer and creditor to be in writing; and Requiring fees paid by debt-management service providers to be set administratively instead of through the rule-making process. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act increases the amount of the fine for a violation of the Colorado anti-discrimination act from not less than $50 or more than $500 to $3,500 and specifies that a nonprofit does not directly or indirectly participate or intervene in a political campaign merely by renting out space for a political event at the nonprofit's customary and usual rates. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the independent ethics commission created in article XXIX of the state constitution does not have jurisdiction over officials or employees of special districts or school districts. The bill gives the independent ethics commission jurisdiction to hear complaints, issue findings, assess penalties, and issue advisory opinions on ethics issues concerning a special district official or employee or school district official or employee. Existing law establishes ethical standards for a special district official or employee or school district official or employee. The bill incorporates those standards under the independent ethics commission's jurisdiction and expands the standards to include those described in article XXIX of the state constitution.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill enacts the "Violence Prevention in Health-care Settings Act", applicable to hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, nursing care facilities, assisted living residences, and federally qualified health centers, and the "Violence Prevention in Behavioral Health Settings Act", applicable to comprehensive community behavioral health providers. Both acts require each of these facility types to: Establish a workplace violence prevention committee to document and review workplace violence incidents at the facility and develop and regularly review a workplace violence prevention plan (plan) for the facility; Adopt, implement, enforce, and update the plan; Provide training on the plan and on workplace violence prevention; Submit biannual workplace violence incident reports to the department of public health and environment or the behavioral health administration, as applicable; and If a workplace violence incident occurs, offer post-incident services to affected staff. The bill specifies the required components of facility plans. Facilities are prohibited from discouraging staff from contacting or filing an incident report with law enforcement. The bill also prohibits retaliation, discipline, or discrimination against a person who reports a workplace violence incident in good faith, who advises a staff member of the right to report an incident, or who chooses not to report an incident. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Based on the findings and recommendations of the committee on legal services, the act extends all state agency rules that were adopted or amended on or after November 1, 2022, and before November 1, 2023, with the exception of certain rules of the following agencies, as specifically listed in the act: The rule of the state board of education concerning rules for the development, expansion, implementation, and management of the regional service areas; The rule of the medical services board concerning inpatient payment rates for opioid antagonist; The rules of the executive director of the department of revenue concerning the wildfire mitigation measures income tax subtraction; and The rules of the executive director of the department of revenue concerning the wildfire mitigation measures income tax credit. Those specified rules will expire as scheduled in the "State Administrative Procedure Act" on May 15, 2024, on the grounds that the rules conflict with statute. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 10, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill defines the term "assault weapon" and prohibits a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon. The bill further prohibits a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator. A person in violation of the prohibitions will be assessed a first-time penalty of $250,000 and $500,000 for each subsequent violation. The bill prohibits the sale or transfer by an individual on or after July 1, 2024, to anyone within the state, except to: An heir by bequest or intestate succession; or A licensed gun or firearms dealer, who shall render the weapon inoperable within ninety days of the transfer. An individual or entity that does not have a permit to sell firearms but sells or attempts to make a private sale of an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator in violation of the requirements of the bill on or after July 1, 2025, shall be assessed a civil penalty in the amount of $750. A licensed gun dealer, licensed firearms dealer, gun show vendor, or other person who has a permit to sell firearms who sells or attempts to sell an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator in violation of the requirements of the bill on or after July 1, 2025, shall be reported to the department of revenue. The department of revenue shall take appropriate actions as required by law. A licensed gun dealer, licensed firearms dealer, gun show vendor, or other person who has a permit to sell firearms who purchases an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator from a manufacturer of assault weapons that operates in Colorado shall be reported to the department of revenue. The department of revenue shall take appropriate actions as required by law. The prohibition does not apply to: A member of the United States armed forces, a peace officer, or other government officer or agent, to the extent that the person is otherwise authorized to acquire or possess an assault weapon and does so while acting within the scope of the person's duties; A person who is an active member of the United States armed forces while on duty and serving in conformance with the policies of the United States armed forces; The manufacture, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activators by a licensed firearms manufacturer to any branch of the United States armed forces, or to an entity that employs peace officers, for use by that entity or its employees a peace officer or to an entity that employs peace officers; The manufacture, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon by a licensed firearms manufacturer to any branch of the Unites States armed forces; The transfer of an assault weapon to a licensed firearms dealer or gunsmith for the purposes of maintenance, repair, or modification, and the subsequent return of the assault weapon to the lawful owner; Any federal, state, or local historical society, museum, or institutional collection that is open to the public, provided that the assault weapon is securely housed and unloaded; A forensic laboratory, or any authorized agent or employee of the laboratory, for use exclusively in the course and scope of authorized activities; An entity that operates an armored vehicle business and an authorized employee of the entity while in the course and scope of employment; A licensed gun dealer who has remaining inventory of assault weapons as of August 1, 2024, and sells or transfers the remaining inventory only to a non-Colorado resident and the sale or transfer takes place out of state; or A peace officer. The prohibition does not apply to the transportation of assault weapons through the state by a person who is not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm. A person is entitled to transport an assault weapon for any lawful purpose from any place where the person may lawfully possess and carry the assault weapon to any other place where the person may lawfully possess and carry the assault weapon, provided the transportation is in accordance with federal law. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill amends the Colorado "Uniform Consumer Credit Code" (UCCC) to change the terms and interest rates a nondepository institution may charge in a consumer credit transaction. For a consumer credit transaction in which a nondepository institution makes a supervised loan or a consumer credit sale, the bill amends the calculation of the total amount of the finance charge that the nondepository institution may contract for and receive to include the total cost of specific additional charges. The bill amends the additional charges that the nondepository institution may contract for and receive and subjects specified additional charges to rule-making by the administrator of the UCCC (administrator). The bill removes the requirement that the rules issued by the administrator be consistent with the federal "Truth in Lending Act" and the federal "Consumer Leasing Act". (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The Colorado broadband office (office) is authorized to seek or apply for, accept, and expend money from the federal government for broadband deployment. The bill requires that for federal money that the office distributes, or for state money that it distributes as matching funding for federal money, it must give substantial weight, but not less than 25% weight, to fair labor practices by establishing evaluation metrics for applicants. Additionally, for projects that receive an award of over $500,000, workers involved in the projects must be paid prevailing wages for the project to receive the award. The bill requires the Colorado broadband office (office), by and through the chief information officer of the office of information and technology, to promulgate rules that establish labor standards for grantees and subgrantees no later than 91 days after the office receives approval of its initial proposal for federal funding under the broadband equity, access, and deployment program authorized by the federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" and before, in connection with receipt of such federal funding, approving grants to internet service providers. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)