The bill creates the tax code legislative task force (task force). The task force consists of both members of the general assembly and individuals who are not members of the general assembly. The purpose of the task force is to make recommendations to restructure the tax burden on the citizens of the state to foster economic growth and to design a new tax code that eliminates all taxes and fees in the state other than the sales and use tax. The task force is required to: Convene no later than June 2, 2025; Meet at least once every 3 months or more often as directed by the chair of the task force; Make findings and determinations regarding specified aspects of state and local government taxes and revenue; and Submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the general assembly within one year of its first meeting. The task force is repealed on June 30, 2027. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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The act expands the types of programs a pathways in technology early college high school (p-tech school) may focus on beyond science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Under current law, the college opportunity fund program provides a stipend for eligible undergraduate students in Colorado. Generally, an eligible undergraduate student is ineligible to receive a stipend for more than 145 credit hours during the student's lifetime. The act makes an exception to this lifetime limitation for college-level credit hours earned while the eligible undergraduate student was enrolled in a concurrent enrollment program, the accelerating students through concurrent enrollment program, the teacher recruitment education and preparation program, or a p-tech school. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds established payments to personal services corporations as a qualified local expenditure (expenditure) for the purpose of qualifying for the film incentive income tax credit (credit), removes a condition that the credit is available only in years that the amount of state revenues are in excess of the limitation of state fiscal year spending by at least $50 million, and extends the deadline from February 4, 2025, to July 1, 2028, for a tax credit effectiveness study to be submitted to the finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate. The act requires a production company to make at least $100,000 in expenditures for the production company to be eligible for the credit. The credit must not exceed 22% of the expenditures of the production company, and $5 million is the maximum aggregate amount of all credits that may be issued in one calendar year. The act establishes a reservation system for a production company to apply for the credit before commencing production activities (activities). If the office of film, television, and media (office) determines that a production company is entitled to a tax credit reservation, the office shall notify the company in writing of the reservation and the amount. Once a production company has completed its activities in the state, the company may be issued a tax credit certificate if the office determines that the production company complied with all the requirements for the issuance of the credit. Activities must be completed on or before December 31, 2031. The office must provide the department of revenue with an electronic report of each production company to which the office issued a tax credit certificate for the preceding income tax year that includes the name of the production company, the amount of the credit awarded, and the production company's social security number or the production company's Colorado account number and federal employer identification number. The act repeals the credit on January 1, 2032. The act appropriates $29,120 from the general fund to the office of the governor for state fiscal year 2024-25. The act also appropriates $400,000 to the office of the governor for state fiscal year 2024-25 from the Colorado office of film, television, and media operational account cash fund. The appropriations may be used by the office to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a corrections officer who works 12 or more hours in a single 24-hour period receives overtime pay for the hours worked in excess of 8.5 hours. The act creates an exception if the time is part of a corrections officer's normal shift that is longer than 8.5 hours and is part of a compressed, flexible, or alternative scheduling system. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates 2 tax incentives to support the development of the quantum technology ecosystem in the state. Neither of the tax credits created in the act are allowed to any qualified applicant unless a Colorado-based entity receives a multi-million dollar federal grant from the economic development administration for the regional technology and innovation program or a comparable federal grant program. Section 2 of the act creates a 100% refundable income tax credit for qualifying investments in fixed capital assets as part of a coordinated plan to create a shared quantum facility (facility credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 2033. The amount of the facility credit is equal to the amount of the qualifying investment made by a qualified applicant for an eligible project; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all facility credits is $44 million. In addition, the maximum aggregate amount of facility credits that may be claimed in the taxable year in which the eligible project is placed in service is $24 million. If qualified applicants are issued more than an aggregate of $24 million in facility credits, the qualified applicants may claim the credits in future taxable years, subject to a specified limit on the amount of the credit that may be claimed in a single taxable year. A qualified applicant may be a consortium of entities that are jointly participating in creating a shared quantum facility. An eligible project is a project to create a shared quantum facility, which is a primary place in the state where an applicant performs activities and provides the economic benefits related to quantum business and that is approved as an eligible project by the office of economic development (office). The act details a process for claiming the facility credit that requires: The submission by a qualified applicant to the office of an application for a facility credit reservation; Preliminary and final review of the application and approval of the request for a facility credit reservation by the office; Issuance of a facility credit reservation to the qualified applicant by the office; Completion of the eligible project and certification by the qualified applicant of the qualified applicant's qualifying investments; Review of the eligible project and qualifying investments by the office; Issuance of a tax credit certificate by the office; Filing of the tax credit certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return; and Recapture of the credit if the eligible project is not used for a use that makes it an eligible project during a specified compliance period. Section 3 creates a 100% refundable income tax credit to offset losses incurred by a qualified applicant in connection with a registered loan to a quantum company (loan loss credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, but before January 1, 2046. A qualified applicant is a commercial bank, depository institution, private lending fund, or other entity that makes loans for commercial purposes to a quantum company that satisfies certain income and other criteria (eligible loan). The administrator of the loan loss credit (administrator) may be the office, or the office may contract with a third-party program administrator to administer the credit. The administrator is required to determine the method by which the loan loss credit will be distributed to qualified applicants. The distribution method may be on a first-come, first-served basis or based on a competitive lender selection process where the administrator chooses which lenders are eligible to apply for the loan loss credit. A qualified applicant is required to register any loan that is the basis of a loan loss tax credit with the administrator and is not eligible to claim the loan loss credit until the qualified applicant has incurred a loss in connection with a registered loan. The amount of the loan loss credit is an amount up to 15 cents for every dollar of an eligible loan that the qualified applicant has made or will make; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all loan loss credits is $30 million. In addition, subject to specified requirements and, if the administrator is not the office, the approval of the office, the administrator may establish policies and procedures to set the amount of the loan loss credit below 15 cents for every dollar loaned, change the amount of the loan loss credit from time to time, or cap the total amount of loan loss credits issued to a qualified applicant. Each qualified applicant that is issued more than one loan loss credit certificate is required to hold all the loan loss credit certificates that were issued to the qualified applicant in a pooled loan loss reserve. A qualified applicant may use all or any portion of the loan loss credit certificates issued to that qualified applicant to offset any loss incurred by that qualified applicant in connection with one or more registered loans. The act details a process for claiming the loan loss credit that requires: Submission of an application for a loan loss credit certificate and a request that the administrator register an eligible loan; Preliminary and final review of the application and registration of eligible loans by the administrator; Issuance of a loan loss tax credit certificate to a qualified applicant; Periodic updates to the administrator by a qualified applicant that was issued a loan loss credit certificate regarding the status of each of the qualified applicant's registered loans; Application to the administrator for a registered loan loss certificate after a qualified applicant incurs a loss in connection with a registered loan; Review of information regarding the loan by the administrator and issuance of a registered loan loss certificate to the qualified applicant; and Filing the loan loss credit certificate and the registered loan loss certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return. The administrator of the loan loss credit may impose a registration and issuance fee on a qualified applicant or on the borrower to which a qualified applicant made an eligible loan. The administrator is required to credit any fee revenue to the quantum business loan loss reserve cash fund, which is created in the act and is exempted, in section 3, from the restriction on the statutory amount of authorized cash fund reserves. The office and the administrator are required to annually report to the general assembly regarding the facility credit and the loan loss credit and may, after soliciting advice from the department of revenue and quantum industry participants, create and modify policies and procedures as necessary to implement the facility credit or the loan loss credit, as applicable. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $90,255 is appropriated to the office of the governor from the general fund for use by economic development programs for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates a legislative interim committee (committee) to study cell phone connectivity in the state and make legislative recommendations concerning how to improve cell phone connectivity. The committee consists of 6 voting members of the general assembly and 6 nonvoting members, including 4 members of the cell phone industry, a representative of the department of transportation, and a representative of the department of public safety. The committee must begin meeting no later than September 30, 2024, and may hold up to 6 meetings in the 2024 legislative interim and up to 6 meetings in the 2025 legislative interim. During each legislative interim, the committee may recommend up to 3 bills. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 2035, section 1 of the act creates a refundable state income tax credit (tax credit) that an employer may claim if the employer employs an apprentice for at least 6 months during an income tax year and either has a registered apprenticeship program or is an employer-partner of a registered apprenticeship program. The amount of the tax credit is up to $6,300 for 6 months of employment plus up to $1,050 for each additional month of employment, for a maximum of up to $12,600 per apprentice per income tax year. An employer may not claim a credit for: More than 10 apprentices per income tax year; The same apprentice for more than 24 consecutive months; and An apprentice for months when the apprentice did not receive wages from the employer. To claim a tax credit, an employer must submit an application for the reservation of the tax credit and an application to receive an income tax credit certificate to the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the department of labor and employment (department). The SAA shall review the applications for specified criteria to determine whether the employer qualifies for the tax credit and tax credit certificate. An employer issued a tax credit certificate must file the certificate with the employer's state income tax return. The SAA is required to submit certain information and reports, as applicable, regarding the tax credit to the state auditor and the department of revenue. The SAA must also conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to small businesses concerning awareness of and application for the tax credit. Section 2 ends the state income tax credit for qualified investments made in a qualified school-to-career program for income tax years after December 31, 2024. Section 4 creates the scale-up grant program in the department to start new registered apprenticeship programs or expand existing programs in Colorado. The scale-up grant program awards grants from the money in the scale-up grant fund, which is created in the act. Eligible grant recipients include employers or entities that operate an apprenticeship program and that: Plan to develop and register a new registered apprenticeship program; or Currently offer a registered apprenticeship program and plan to expand it. The act requires the department to collect specified data regarding the scale-up grant program and submit a report to specified committees of the general assembly. Section 4 also creates the qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant program in the department to support entities that demonstrate expertise in connecting employers or apprenticeship program participants to registered apprenticeship programs or in convening stakeholders to develop registered apprenticeship programs. The SAA must post a list of the types of entities eligible to apply to the grant program on the SAA's website. The qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant program awards grants from the money in the qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant fund, which is created in the act. An eligible grant recipient must be a qualified apprenticeship intermediary. The act requires the department to collect specified data regarding the qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant program and submit a report to specified committees of the general assembly. On July 1, 2024, the state treasurer shall transfer from the general fund $2 million to the scale-up grant fund and $2 million to the qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant fund. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the following amounts are appropriated to the department for use by the office of future of work to implement the act: $103,515 from the general fund; $666,666 from the scale-up grant fund; and $666,667 from the qualified apprenticeship intermediary grant fund. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 10, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits a person from knowingly affiliating with a public safety radio network without authorization from the network's authorizing entity. Unlawful affiliation with a public safety radio network is a class 2 misdemeanor. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Joint Technology Committee. The bill adds a provision to the procurement code that authorizes an applicable procurement official to select the most appropriate source selection method for a state procurement, even if a different source selection method is specified in statute. The new provision specifies that the procurement official has the discretion, if that official determines that the source selection method specified in statute is not the most appropriate source selection method for the procurement, to determine and use a different source selection method in the best interest of the state, given time requirements, financial considerations, and market conditions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
In 2021, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 21-190, concerning additional protection of data relating to personal privacy, which established the "Colorado Privacy Act" (privacy act) as part of the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". The privacy act protects the privacy of individuals' personal data by establishing certain requirements for entities that process personal data. The privacy act also describes certain rights that consumers may exercise regarding the processing of their personal data. The privacy act includes additional protections for sensitive data. For the purposes of the privacy act, the act expands the definition of "sensitive data" to include biological data, which is data generated by the technological processing, measurement, or analysis of an individual's biological, genetic, biochemical, physiological, or neural properties, compositions, or activities or of an individual's body or bodily functions, which data is used or intended to be used, singly or in combination with other personal data, for identification purposes. Biological data includes neural data, which is information that is generated by the measurement of the activity of an individual's central or peripheral nervous systems and that can be processed by or with the assistance of a device. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)