No later than July 1, 2025, the bill requires the office of state public defender to implement workload standards for determining when a deputy public defender's workload is excessive pursuant to the federal and state constitutions and the Colorado rules of professional conduct. The bill requires the office of state public defender to consult with employees of the office of state public defender in creating the standards.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under existing law, the department of military and veterans affairs (department) pays up to the full amount of tuition for members of the Colorado National Guard (members) pursuing a degree or certificate at certain institutions of higher education via a tuition assistance program (program). The tuition is paid from the Colorado National Guard tuition assistance fund (fund). The bill expands the program to include spouses and children (dependents) of members and to pay for fees charged by the institution of higher education. To qualify for tuition assistance, a dependent must be a dependent of a member who has served in the Colorado National Guard for at least 6 years and either is serving during the period of time that the dependent is receiving tuition and fee assistance or previously served in the Colorado National Guard for at least 12 years. The bill creates the National Guard dependents tuition assistance account (account) in the fund. Tuition for dependents is paid from the account. If the balance in the account is more than the amount necessary to pay for dependents' tuition in a fiscal year and the money in the fund is insufficient to satisfy the demand for tuition assistance for members, the adjutant general of the department may notify the state treasurer to transfer excess money from the account to the fund to pay for members' tuition assistance. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the department of education to create, maintain, and manage an online career support and pathways portal (online portal) for educators; staff; school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, boards of cooperative services, or approved facility schools (local education providers); and educator preparation programs (educator programs). The online portal must have: Access to career incentives, stipends, and loan forgiveness; Career pathway information for educators and staff, including, but not limited to, mentoring, induction program coaching, instructional coaching, district curriculum support, special assignments for teachers, and principal leadership; and A job posting and application portal for local education providers to post open employment positions and to search for prospective candidates, and for educators and staff to upload resumes and to apply to open employment positions. Local education providers and educator programs shall post a link to the online portal on their websites to promote the online portal to educators and staff. The bill allows Indian tribes and tribal organizations to access and use the online portal. Pursuant to current law, the educator and retention program (ERR program) provides support to members of the armed forces and nonmilitary-affiliated educator candidates. The bill expands criteria for participation in the ERR program to include applicants who are: Enrolled in a teacher degree apprenticeship program and employed by an Indian tribe or tribal organization or a local education provider; or Enrolled in an educator program to attain a special services provider license with the appropriate endorsement.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates a state sales and use tax exemption commencing on July 1, 2024, for all sales, storage, use, and consumption of college textbooks. The bill allows a county or municipality to choose to adopt the exemption by express inclusion in its sales and use tax ordinance or resolution. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill creates, beginning on January 1, 2025, and continuing indefinitely, a state sales and use tax exemption for baby and toddler products. A "baby and toddler product" is defined to include a baby crib, playpen, or play yard; a baby stroller; a baby safety gate, cabinet lock or latch, or electrical socket cover; a baby monitor; a bicycle child carrier seat, or trailer, including an adaptor or accessory; a baby exerciser, jumper, bouncer seat, or swing; a breast pump, bottle sterilizer, bottle, or nipple, pacifier, or teething ring; baby wipes; a changing table or pad; and baby and toddler clothing. Section 1 also creates a time-limited state sales and use tax exemption, or sales and use tax holiday, for back-to-school items. The tax holiday applies for 14 days beginning on January 1, 2025, and for an additional 14 days beginning on July 24, 2025. A "back-to-school item" is defined to mean an article of clothing, a bag, a school supply, a learning aid, or a personal computer or personal computer-related accessory that is purchased primarily for use by an individual who is a minor. The exemption for each item is limited by cost as follows: $100 for an article of clothing or a bag; $50 for a school supply; $30 for a learning aid; and $1,500 for a personal computer or a personal computer-related accessory. Section 2 permits a town, city, or county to create sales and use tax exemptions that are identical to the state exemptions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the director of the division of employment and training (director) in the department of labor and employment to annually collect, analyze, and make recommendations to the general assembly based on data from workforce centers; the state, in relation to data it has collected concerning workers in specific age categories, beginning at age 50; and individuals with disabilities. The bill also requires the director, every 3 years, to conduct, or contract with an another entity to conduct, a survey to better understand the experiences and needed tools and resources of individuals in Colorado who are 55 years of age or older and are considering entering or reentering the workforce, are unemployed, underemployed, or are looking for a career change. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates the wildfire evacuation modeling grant program (program) within the office of emergency management (office) for the purpose of awarding grants to eligible recipients to perform wildfire evacuation modeling and generate reports that include times, maps showing evacuation routes, and any other relevant metrics for the area for which the modeling is being conducted. The program is initially administered as a pilot program and the office must establish a limited number of eligible recipients to receive grants. On or before December 1, 2025, the office must submit a report to the house of representatives agriculture, water, and natural resources committee and the senate agriculture and natural resources committee, or their successor committees, regarding the pilot program, which may include recommendations for improving the program and recommendations on whether to continue the program. The bill also creates the wildfire evacuation modeling grant program cash fund (fund) for the purposes of awarding grants and covering administrative costs of the office for administering the program. On August 15, 2024, the state treasurer shall transfer $120,000 from the general fund to the fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill requires state agencies to prioritize awarding grants that satisfy a list of criteria described in the bill. Sections 2 and 3 require, beginning January 1, 2025, upon updating a county or municipal master plan, a county or municipality (local government) to include a climate action element in its master plan. A climate action element must include climate-related goals, plans, or strategies and a description of any money from the federal, state, or a local government that a local government has received for the implementation of any of the plans or goals described in the climate action element. The bill requires a local government to provide the Colorado energy office (office) with the climate action element and then requires the office to deliver a copy of any climate element it receives to the department of local affairs, the Colorado department of transportation (CDOT), and any other state agency that the office determines. Section 4 requires CDOT to coordinate with metropolitan planning organizations to establish criteria that define growth corridors and identify these growth corridors. Having identified these growth corridors, the department and metropolitan planning organizations shall coordinate with local governments to develop transportation demand management plans for these growth corridors. Section 5 makes 2 changes related to the statewide transportation plan. First, the bill requires the statewide transportation plan to include: An examination of the impact of transportation decisions on land use patterns; The identification of highway segments where promotion of context-sensitive highway permitting and design can encourage the development of dense, walkable, and mixed-use neighborhoods in transit-oriented centers and neighborhood centers; and An emphasis on integrating planning efforts within CDOT to support multimodal transportation, neighborhood centers, and transit-oriented centers in infill areas as well as growth corridors through the associated transportation demand management corridor planning. Second, the bill requires CDOT to conduct a study in connection with the statewide transportation plan that identifies: Policy barriers and opportunities for the implementation of context-sensitive design, complete streets, and pedestrian-bicycle safety measures in locally-identified urban centers and neighborhood centers; and The portions of state highways that pass through locally identified transit-oriented centers and neighborhood centers that are candidates for context-sensitive design, complete streets, and pedestrian-bicycle safety measures.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires all private insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment of the chronic disease of obesity and the treatment of pre-diabetes, including coverage for intensive behavioral or lifestyle therapy, bariatric surgery, and FDA-approved anti-obesity medication. No later than January 2025 The bill requires the department of health care policy and financing (department) to seek federal authorization to provide treatment for the chronic disease of obesity and the treatment of pre-diabetes. Within existing appropriations and upon receiving federal authorization, the department is required to notify medicaid members in writing about the availability of the treatment. (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.)
This bill eliminates the state severance tax exemption currently granted to stripper wells, which are low-producing oil and gas wells that extract fifteen barrels of oil or ninety thousand cubic feet of gas per day or less. By removing this exemption, the legislation requires operators of these wells to pay the same severance tax rates as higher-producing wells, with the collected revenue distributed between the state and local governments. The measure also adjusts related tax credits to ensure that stripper wells no longer receive preferential treatment under Colorado's existing tax code.
The bill creates a special license plate to honor first responders who have a permanent occupational disability (first responder). A first responder may obtain a special license plate without paying taxes or fees for the plate or the vehicle. For additional vehicles, a first responder must pay the standard motor vehicle fees plus 2 one-time fees of $25. One fee is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other fee is credited to the licensing services cash fund. An individual may obtain the license plate with the identifying figure that allows the use of reserved parking for people with disabilities.(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.)
