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.)
For the income tax year commencing on January 1, 2024, the act increases the earned income tax credit that a resident individual can claim on their state income tax return from 25% to 38% of the federal credit claimed on the resident individual's federal income tax return. The amount a taxpayer can claim as an income tax credit for the state child tax credit has been calculated based on a percentage, which varies depending on the taxpayer's income level, of what the taxpayer claimed for a federal child tax credit. For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2024, the act restructures the state child tax credit so that the amount of the credit that a taxpayer can claim is a flat rate instead of a percentage of what the taxpayer claimed for the federal child tax credit as follows: A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income of $35,000 or less can claim $1,200; A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income greater than $25,000 but less than or equal to $50,000 and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income greater than $35,000 but less than or equal to $60,000 can claim $600; and A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income greater than $50,000 but less than or equal to $75,000 and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income greater than $60,000 but less than or equal to $85,000 can claim $200. The act also provides that for income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2025, the department of revenue must adjust the adjusted gross income amounts to reflect inflation if cumulative inflation since the last adjustment, when applied to the current limits, results in an increase of at least $1,000 when the adjusted limits are rounded to the nearest $1,000. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 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 clarifies that the department of corrections (DOC) shall provide voice penal communications services, and may supplement these services with other communication services, including video calls or electronic mail or messaging, (penal communication services) to persons in DOC custody in a correctional facility or private prison in the state. In administering the penal communications services, the DOC is prohibited from receiving any revenue, including commissions or fees, and the penal communications services, excluding video calls or electronic mail or messaging, must be free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the call. DOC shall provide the free penal communication services according to a staggered implementation timeline, as follows: Beginning September 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, DOC shall cover 25% of the total penal communication services costs; Beginning July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, DOC shall cover 35% of the total penal communication services costs; and Beginning July 1, 2025, and thereafter, DOC shall cover 100% of all penal communication services costs. The department of human services, in its role overseeing juvenile detention facilities, shall provide voice communications services, and may supplement these services with other communication services, including video calls or electronic mail or messaging, in those facilities and is prohibited from receiving any revenue from the communications services, including commissions or fees, and the communications services must be free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the call. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $229,783 is appropriated to the department of corrections from the general fund for use by institutions. The department may use this appropriation for inmate telephone calls related to the superintendent's subprogram. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 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.)
Under current law, the borrower in a reverse mortgage transaction is relieved of the obligation to occupy the subject property as a principal residence (principal-residence requirement) if the borrower is temporarily absent for up to 60 days or, if the property is adequately secured, for up to one year. The act adds a third exception to the principal-residence requirement to cover situations in which a natural disaster or other serious incident beyond the borrower's control (force majeure) renders the property uninhabitable, in which case the reverse mortgage does not become due and payable if: The borrower is engaged in repairing the home with the intent of reoccupying the home as a principal residence or selling the home; The borrower stays in communication with the lender while the home is being repaired; The borrower complies with all other terms and conditions of the reverse mortgage; and Repairing or rebuilding of the home does not reduce the lender's security. The act requires that the lender disclose these conditions suspending the repayment requirement on a reverse mortgage due to a force majeure to the borrower in writing at the time of closing. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For a residential eviction action filed in county court, the act: Requires the court to allow either party or any witness to choose to appear in person or remotely at any return, conference, hearing, trial, or other court proceeding and to allow either party to change their designation until up to 48 hours before the proceeding; Authorizes a pro se defendant to file an answer to a summons electronically through an e-filing system; and authorizes either party, if the party is pro se, to file a motion or other documents electronically through an e-filing system; Prohibits the court from assessing an e-filing fee or service fee on a motion to waive filing fees, or from assessing an e-filing fee, service fee, or any other fee associated with the electronic filing or e-mailing of motions, answers, or documents for an indigent party; and Requires the court to comply with federal and state law or regulations, including state supreme court directive or policy, regarding accommodations for people with a disability or for people with limited English proficiency. If a party is appearing remotely and is disconnected, the act requires the court to make all reasonable efforts to contact the party and allow reasonable time for the party to reestablish connection. If the party is unable to reestablish connection, the act requires the court to reschedule the hearing for the first available in-person date after the date of the originally scheduled hearing, but no later than one week after the originally scheduled hearing, to the extent practicable. The act prohibits the court from entering a default judgment if a party is unable to participate remotely due to a technological disconnection or failure. The act requires the complaint to include a designation of whether the plaintiff elects to participate in any hearing in person or remotely and a box indicating if the eviction is for a residential or commercial tenancy. The act requires the summons to include a statement in bold-faced type notifying the defendant that either party has a right to appear in person or remotely, include a place for the defendant to indicate whether the defendant will appear in person or remotely, and provide information for how a pro se party can file documents related to the case. The act appropriates $418,118 from the general fund and the judicial department information technology cash fund to the judicial department for trial court programs, capital outlay, and information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes requirements regarding guaranteed asset protection agreements (GAP agreement). A GAP agreement relieves a consumer of liability for all or part of the deficiency balance remaining after the payment of all insurance proceeds upon the total loss of the consumer's motor vehicle. The act permits a creditor to collect additional charges for a GAP agreement as part of a consumer credit transaction. The act sets forth requirements related to GAP agreements, including: Setting conditions and provisions that must be a part of any GAP agreement in order for it to be valid; Establishing the method by which the deficiency balance is calculated and what the consumer will be owed pursuant to the GAP agreement in the event of a total loss; Detailing procedures for when a consumer files a claim under the consumer's GAP agreement after a total loss; Establishing procedures and methods for the cancellation or assignment of a GAP agreement; Establishing the maximum fee that may be charged for a GAP agreement, which must not exceed 4% of the total amount financed in the consumer credit transaction or $600, whichever amount is greater; and Prohibiting the sale of a GAP agreement in specified circumstances, such as when the loan to value ratio in the GAP agreement exceeds 150%. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the general assembly to annually appropriate $3,340,119 to the department of human services (department) for services for youth who are detained or can be placed in lieu of detention. Of the money, the department shall: Allocate $200,000 to judicial districts for services for detained youth and supports for youth moving from detention to treatment or other placements; Use $1,780,137 to incentivize and remove barriers for licensed providers to serve youth who may be placed in community residential facilities or family-like settings in lieu of detention; and Use $1,359,982 of the money for temporary emergency detention beds for juveniles. Existing law limits the number of juvenile detention beds available for juveniles statewide, which are allocated to catchment areas. The act establishes 22 temporary emergency detention beds that may be used, pursuant to a court order, when there are no available beds in a judicial district's catchment area. The act establishes the process for a court to order the use of a temporary emergency detention bed. Temporary emergency detention beds do not count toward the statewide juvenile detention bed limit. If a juvenile detention bed within a judicial district's allocation becomes available, the act requires a juvenile utilizing a temporary bed to revert to the nonemergency detention bed. A court is required to appoint, at a juvenile's detention hearing, a guardian ad litem for each detained juvenile. The appointment terminates upon the release of the juvenile from detention unless the court finds a basis for continuing appointment pursuant to other state law. The act requires the working group for criteria for placement of juvenile offenders, known as the CYDC working group, to review data collected by the division of youth services annually rather than every 2 years. The department is required to collect statewide data about: Youth eligible for release from a detention facility without an additional court order if services or placements are available for the youth; The use of temporary emergency detention beds; and Youth released from detention solely because the number of youth detained statewide exceeds the statewide detention bed cap. The act requires the department to annually report the statewide data to the CYDC working group, the house of representatives and senate judiciary committees, the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee, and the senate health and human services committee, or any successor committees. The act requires the CYDC working group to conduct a study to determine the best method to collect and report data and information concerning youth released from detention because a detention bed was unavailable. For fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $3,340,119 from the general fund to the department. The department may use the appropriation as follows: $1,174,816 for use by the division of youth services (DYS) for program administration related to institutional programs; $11,792 for use by DYS for medical services related to institutional programs; $300,816 for use by DYS for certain programs related to community programs; $1,780,137 for use by the division of child welfare for community provider incentives; and $72,558 for use by the division of child welfare for Colorado's statewide automated child welfare information system (TRAILS). The act also appropriates $463,000 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the office of the child's representative for court-appointed counsel. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the task force on corporate housing ownership (task force) in the state demography office in the department of local affairs and directs the task force to: Examine housing ownership by corporate entities and residential real estate transactions by corporate entities in Colorado since January 1, 2008, including purchases resulting from foreclosures; Determine a methodology by which to examine the impacts of corporate acquisition and ownership of residential property, with a focus on single-family homes, condominiums, and townhomes; Gather and analyze data, reports, and public records related to corporate ownership of housing; Make legislative recommendations to mitigate any negative impacts related to corporate ownership of housing that are identified by the task force; and Report to specified legislative committees certain information concerning the impacts of corporate ownership of housing. The task force must report its findings to the transportation, housing, and local government committee of the house of representatives and the local government and housing committee of the senate, or to any successor committees, by October 1, 2025. The task force is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates from the general fund: $122,549 to the department of local affairs for use by the state demography office; and $1,416 to the legislative department for use by the general assembly. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 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 creates a data-sharing task force with 15 members that will meet a minimum of 6 times to evaluate data-sharing practices between state and municipal courts. The act requires the task force to: Investigate current data sharing and access to court data systems; Consider processes for sharing data and providing access to court data systems statewide; and Consider safety measures or integration of systems in order to protect sensitive data in court systems. The task force is required to report its findings and recommendations to the judiciary committees of the house or representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, on or before January 8, 2024. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $115,440 is appropriated from the general fund to the judicial department to implement the act. The department may use this appropriation for information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the office of the judicial discipline ombudsman (office) as an independent office in the judicial department that is operated pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between the office and the judicial department. The judicial discipline ombudsman (ombudsman) is the director of the office. The act establishes the judicial discipline ombudsman selection board (board) to be made up of 5 board members who must be appointed not later than January 1, 2024. The duties and responsibilities of the board include: Overseeing personnel decisions of the ombudsman, which include appointing a person to serve as the ombudsman, filling a vacancy in the ombudsman position, evaluating the ombudsman's performance, and developing a complaint process concerning the ombudsman's performance; Overseeing and advising the ombudsman on the strategic direction of the office and its mission; Working cooperatively with the ombudsman to provide fiscal oversight of the general operating budget of the office; Ensuring compliance with the provisions of the act, the memorandum of understanding, and state and federal laws; Promoting the mission of the office; and Providing assistance to the ombudsman when requested. The powers and duties of the ombudsman include: Creating and maintaining an anonymous reporting system for complainants to submit complaints; Helping complainants understand their rights and options in reporting and filing a complaint with the commission on judicial discipline (commission) and other appropriate authorities; Providing complainants with necessary referrals for additional support services and care if needed or requested; Reporting appropriate cases to the commission, the office of attorney regulation counsel, law enforcement, and the judicial department; Serving in an advisory capacity to the commission and the judicial department on rule-making; Ensuring accountability and consistency in the operating policies and procedures of the office; and Serving as a liaison for communications between a complainant and the commission or the judicial department. The act requires that, to be appointed, the ombudsman must have prior experience serving as an ombudsman; have a deep understanding of and expertise in organizational culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion; have professional experience working with human resources; and possess the ability to act in a nonpartisan manner. The act requires all communications and information disclosed to the ombudsman by a complainant to be kept confidential unless the complainant gives the ombudsman permission to disclose the information. Disclosed information and records are not discoverable if the information and records are received during and within the scope of the ombudsman's duties and responsibilities. The act requires the ombudsman to disclose a complaint that alleges judicial misconduct and to keep the identity of the complainant confidential unless the complainant gives permission to disclose the complainant's identity. The records related to complaints received by the office are not subject to the "Colorado Open Records Act". The ombudsman is exempt from mandatory reporting rules, statutes, and policies, and may only report an incident made known to the ombudsman by a complainant if the complainant consents to the disclosure. The act authorizes the office to promulgate rules necessary to implement the requirements of the act and to ensure confidentiality of disclosures made to the office by complainants. The act appropriates $100,543 from the general fund to the judicial department to purchase legal services from the department of law. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an oil and gas operator in the state (operator), on or before September 1, 2023, on a monthly basis, with respect to each oil and gas well, and on or before January 1, 2024, and quarterly thereafter, with respect to the operator's oil and gas operations generally, to report information to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) regarding the operator's use of water entering, utilized at, or exiting each of the operator's wells or oil and gas locations, including information on the recycling and reuse of produced water. The act also requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before December 31, 2024, requiring a statewide reduction in usage of fresh water and a corresponding increase in usage of recycled or reused water in oil and gas operations. From the information reported to the commission under the act, the commission is required to: Include the information as part of the commission's annual reporting on cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations; and Report to the legislative energy committees a summary of the reported information on or before April 1, 2025. The act creates the Colorado produced water consortium in the department of natural resources (department) to make recommendations to state agencies and the general assembly regarding the recycling and reuse of produced water, develop guidance documents to promote best practices for in-field recycling and reuse of produced water, and analyze and report on: Existing produced water infrastructure, storage, and treatment facilities; The volume of produced water in different oil and gas basins available for recycling and reuse; and Additional infrastructure, storage, and technology needed to achieve different levels of recycling and reuse of produced water throughout the state. Annually starting in 2024, the consortium is required to update the legislative energy committees on the consortium's work, and the executive director of the department is required to report on the consortium's recommendations as part of the department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to a joint committee of the general assembly. The act repeals the consortium on September 1, 2030, subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. The act appropriates: $464,512 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources for use by the commission for program costs; and $30,169 from the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the water quality control division for personal services related to the drinking water program. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a person commits an unfair and unconscionable act or practice if the person engages in price gouging with regard to the sale or provision of certain goods or services during, and for a certain period after, a declared emergency disaster (disaster period). The act extends the disaster period from 180 days after the first declaration of the disaster to 180 days after the final declaration concerning the disaster expires. The act also repeals and reenacts the "Colorado Antitrust Act of 1992" as the "Colorado State Antitrust Act of 2023" (antitrust act) and: Establishes that the facilitation or aiding and abetting of another person's violation of the antitrust act is itself a violation of the antitrust act; Authorizes the attorney general (AG) to request discovery from any person that the AG believes may in the future engage in, or has information related to, a violation of the antitrust act; Authorizes the AG to deem investigatory or intelligence records related to the antitrust act available for public inspection and allows the AG to issue public statements or warnings regarding conduct forming the basis of the investigatory or intelligence records; Authorizes a court, upon request of the AG, to compensate a person that has been injured from a violation of the antitrust act as part of a civil action that the AG brings on behalf of the person; Increases the maximum civil penalty that a court may award for a violation of the antitrust act from $250,000 to $1,000,000 per violation; and With regard to the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action under the antitrust act: Clarifies that a cause of action accrues on the date of the last in a series of acts or practices that, in the aggregate, constitute a violation of the antitrust act; and Tolls the statute of limitations for any civil action pertaining to an alleged violation of the antitrust act during the pendency of a federal proceeding regarding the conduct forming the basis of the alleged violation of the antitrust act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
