Sen. Dylan Roberts

The act creates the Colorado river drought task force (task force). The members of the task force must, to the extent practicable, reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the state and have experience with a wide range of water issues. The act directs the executive committee of the legislative council to hire a facilitator to support the work of the task force. The task force must begin meeting no later than July 31, 2023, and may hold up to 12 meetings in the 2023 legislative interim. The purpose of the task force is to develop recommendations for state legislation that provides additional tools for the Colorado water conservation board to collaborate with the Colorado river water conservation district, the southwestern water conservation district, and other relevant stakeholders in the development of programs that address drought in the Colorado river basin and interstate commitments related to the Colorado river and its tributaries through water conservation (recommendations). The act also requires the task force to establish a sub-task force to study tribal matters (sub-task force) and provide additional recommendations for state legislation. No later than December 15, 2023, the task force and sub-task force must submit a report that includes the recommendations and a summary of the task force's and sub-task force's work to the water resources and agriculture review committee. The act is repealed July 1, 2024. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $200,000 to the legislative department for use by the legislative council to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The public-private collaboration unit (unit) in the department of personnel (department) promotes the use of public-private partnerships between state public entities such as departments, agencies, or subdivisions of the executive branch of state government, and private partners as a tool for time and cost-efficient completion of public projects. The act requires that the unit give preference to proposed or executed public-private partnership agreements that will use state-owned real property for mixed-income development and affordable housing that is proportional to a community's demonstrated affordable housing needs and authorizes the unit to undertake additional functions in connection with public projects that provide affordable housing including: Accepting gifts, grants, and donations, which if monetary, are to be credited to the unused state-owned real property fund (fund); Utilizing proceeds from real estate transactions and revenue from public-private agreements; Acting as an agent on behalf of the department in real estate transactions using real property that upon approval by the governor has been deeded to the department by a state public entity, including for the purchase, transfer, exchange, sale and disposition, and lease of real property; and Establishing a process for using requests for information to solicit public projects. The act also allows the department and the unit to use money from the fund to facilitate these additional functions by the unit in connection with public projects that provide affordable housing and for the standard operating expenses of the unit. The state treasurer is required to transfer $5,000,000 from the general fund to the fund on July 1, 2023. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $47,583 to the department of law from the legal services cash fund from revenue received from the department of personnel that is continuously appropriated to the department of personnel from the unused state-owned real property fund. The department of law may use the appropriation to provide legal services for the department of personnel. APPROVED by Governor May 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the parks and wildlife commission (commission) to promulgate rules authorizing a local government to request that the division of parks and wildlife (division) charge an additional per vehicle fee, not to exceed $2, for each daily vehicle pass issued for a state park or wildlife area in the local government's geographic boundary. Upon the request, the commission must establish the fee, which will be collected on and after January 1, 2025, and transferred, minus an administrative deduction, to the local access route cash fund created by the act and then distributed to local governments to maintain and operate local access routes. The fee will be adjusted every 5 years for inflation or deflation. The division of parks and wildlife is required to collaborate with local governments to identify and study issues surrounding local access route transportation infrastructure and funding deficits and sources of funding for the routes. The division is given factors to consider and must seek input from the department of transportation and the department of local affairs before completing the study. Based on the study, the division must make legislative recommendations to the general assembly by November 1, 2024, regarding sources of funding or partnerships to assist in the maintenance of local access routes and state park services. To implement this act, $411,000 is appropriated to the department of natural resources for use by the division of parks and wildlife from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund. APPROVED by Governor May 19, 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.)

Sections 1 and 4 of the act clarify that money that was transferred from the general fund or the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund to the Colorado heritage communities fund on June 27, 2021, or as soon as was practicable thereafter, must be expended before July 1, 2025. Section 2 clarifies that money that was transferred from the general fund to the housing development grant fund on June 27, 2021, must be expended before July 1, 2025. Section 3 clarifies that the division of housing may award multiple grants to multiple grant recipients for multiple regional navigation campuses in the Denver metropolitan area to respond to and prevent homelessness. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 17, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits the reintroduction of gray wolves unless the United States secretary of the interior promulgates rules making the gray wolf population a nonessential experimental population, which gives the state greater flexibility to manage the wolves. VETOED by Governor May 16, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends the priority of distribution of insurance claims paid from an insurer's estate in the event of the insurer's liquidation to include in the class 1 distribution priority payments that an impaired or insolvent insurer owes to the risk adjustment program that are necessary to prevent another insurer from becoming impaired or insolvent. This prioritization adjustment repeals on July 1, 2026. The act also amends the "Life and Health Insurance Protection Association Act" as follows: Adds health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as members of the association and subjects HMOs to assessments from the association; Allocates responsibility for long-term care insurance assessments between health insurance and life insurance association members; and Specifies that the "Life and Health Insurance Protection Association Act" does not provide coverage to a person that acquires rights to receive, or to a payee or beneficiary that transfers its rights in, a structured settlement factoring transaction, as defined in federal law, regardless of when the transaction occurred. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 15, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the wildfire resilient homes grant program (program) within the division of fire prevention and control (division). The program allows homeowners to apply to receive a grant for retrofitting or improving a house or other structure on the homeowner's property with strategies and technologies for structure hardening in order to make the house or structure more resilient to the risk of wildfire. The act also creates the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund (fund) for use by the division to award grants and to promote best practices for structure hardening, and on August 15, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $100,000 from the general fund to the fund. The division is required to annually report to the wildfire matters review committee on expenditures made from the fund and grants that are awarded pursuant to the program. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $100,000 is appropriated from the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund to the division of fire prevention and control for the wildfire resilient homes grant program. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 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 the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to prepare an annual report on the cost of reconstructing homes in Colorado. Current law prohibits an insurer from canceling or refusing to renew a policy of homeowner's insurance unless the insurer mails notice to the insured at least 30 days in advance of the effective date of the cancellation of or refusal to renew the policy. The act increases the notice requirement to 60 days in advance of the action. The act specifies the factors an insurer must consider when determining the reconstruction costs of a dwelling and requires insurers to disclose certain information regarding the replacement costs before issuing or renewing a homeowner's insurance policy. Current law requires an insurer to offer an applicant extended replacement cost and law and ordinance coverage before issuing or renewing certain replacement cost homeowner's insurance policies. The act requires the coverage to be: Equal to 20% of the limit of insurance for the dwelling for law and ordinance coverage (changed from 10%); and At least 50% of the limit of the insurance for the dwelling for extended replacement cost coverage (changed from 20%). To implement the act: $109, 955 is appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance; and $38,066 is appropriated to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die; except that, section 10-4-110.8 (8), Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended in section 3 of the act, takes effect January 1, 2025. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates an unincorporated public entity, the fair access to insurance requirements plan association (association), to provide property insurance coverage when such coverage is not available from admitted companies. The association must: Establish, offer, and maintain a property insurance policy and a commercial property insurance policy that satisfy the requirements specified in the act; and Assess and share among member insurers all expenses, income, and losses based on each member insurer's written premium for property and commercial property insurance in the state. The association is managed by a board of directors consisting of 9 members appointed by the governor. The board is required to administer the fair access to insurance requirements plan (FAIR plan). The FAIR plan must include rates that: Are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory; Are actuarially sound so that revenue generated from premiums is adequate to pay for expected losses, expenses, and taxes; Reflect the investment income of the FAIR plan; and Reflect the cost of reinsurance or other capital risk transfer markets. The board must establish a plan of operation for the FAIR plan. The plan of operation must provide for: The lines of insurance coverages to be written; Coverage limits not to exceed $750,000 for property and $5,000,000 for commercial property owners; The policy forms to be used; The perils to be covered; The establishment of reasonable underwriting standards to determine the eligibility of a risk, including mitigation requirements and property inspections; The compensation and commissions to be paid to licensed producers offering the FAIR plan; The time frames for fees to be collected from member insurers; Proportional assessments against member insurers; The administration of the plan of operation by the board; and Any other matter necessary or convenient for the purpose of assuring fair access to a FAIR plan. The FAIR plan association may collect fees from member insurers and the commissioner of insurance may suspend or revoke a member insurer's certificate of authority to transact insurance business in this state or impose against the member insurer a fine in an amount equal to the greater of the fee plus interest or $5,000 for the member insurer's failure to timely pay a fee or to comply with the plan of operation for the FAIR plan. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 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.)