A qualified intermediary is a charitable organization that collects charitable contributions from donors and forwards the contributions to charitable recipient organizations. The act authorizes a taxpayer to make a charitable contribution for which the taxpayer may claim a state income tax credit to a charitable recipient organization through a qualified intermediary that forwards the contribution to the charitable recipient organization, rather than making the contribution directly to the charitable recipient organization, without losing the right to claim the credit. For the Colorado homeless contribution tax credit, the act requires a tax credit certificate to include a unique certificate identification number and the last 4 digits, rather than all digits, of the taxpayer's social security number or the taxpayer's full federal employer identification number. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $41,769 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue and $5,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of local affairs for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
No later than February 1, 2025, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF), in collaboration with the behavioral health administration in the department of human services (BHA), to: Submit an application to the federal substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA) for a certified community behavioral health clinic demonstration planning grant (grant); and Submit a report to the joint budget committee on the status of the grant application. The act requires HCPF and the BHA to work with the joint budget committee to determine how to proceed with the grant if, during the grant application process, there are substantial changes to federal funding that would negatively affect the state of Colorado. If HCPF is awarded the grant, the act requires HCPF to comply with all necessary guidelines established by SAMHSA for a certified community behavioral health clinic grant awardee. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting in the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act discontinues the allocation of a portion of premium tax revenues to the health insurance affordability cash fund. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law authorizes a public school or public place to refuse a donated automated external defibrillator (AED) if the public school or public place does not want to accept responsibility for AED training, installation, or maintenance unless the donating party agrees to be responsible for the AED training, installation, and maintenance. The act removes this authorization for a public school but allows a public school to decide who will be trained, the frequency of training, and when the AED training will take place. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements recommendations in the 2023 sunset report by the department of regulatory agencies by: Continuing the division of banking and the banking board (board) for 9 years, until 2033; Amending the board composition by repealing the requirement that 2 members represent state banks with less than $150 million in total assets and instead require 2 members to represent state banks in the fortieth percentile based on total asset size; Extending the authority for the board and the state bank commissioner to share information regarding state bank and trust company compliance with money laundering and other financial crime laws with the United States secretary of the treasury and agencies specified; Clarifying that any change of any executive officer, director, or other person who is responsible for the management, control, or operations of a state bank or trust company must be reported to the board within 60 days after the change; Modernizing the penalty for failing to report a change of any executive officer, director, or other person who is responsible for the management, control ,or operations of a state bank or trust company to the board; Modernizing the board's authority to issue civil money penalties; Clarifying that a trust company may discontinue its trust business if it provides evidence of its release and discharge of all trust-related obligations prior to surrendering its trust charter; Codifying requirements related to the review of fiduciary accounts to ensure that the assets are appropriate for the accounts as described in the trust agreement and requiring the board to adopt a rule to clarify what "appropriate" means in this context; and Making technical amendments to the "Colorado Banking Code" to remove gender-specific language; replace the term "data processing center" with the more modern terms "information technology function" and "third-party service provider", as applicable; repeal requirements that certain reports must be mailed; and repeal the requirement that a charter application be filed in triplicate. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires the Colorado prescription drug affordability review board (board) to take certain measures in determining whether to conduct an affordability review for an identified prescription drug. The act requires the board, in making such a determination, to consider whether the drug has an approved orphan drug designation for one or more rare diseases and no other indications and, if so, to consider input from consumers and the Colorado rare disease advisory council (council). Current law requires the board, in performing an affordability review, to consider certain information. The act requires the board to consider input from the council. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In the 2023 legislative session, the general assembly enacted 2 bills related to complaints and findings of discriminatory or unfair practices in the workplace, including complaints and findings of sexual harassment committed by an elected official, and access to records of such complaints and findings. The 2023 enactments resulted in a conflict in the law with regard to public access to records of sexual harassment complaints against an elected official. Specifically, Senate Bill 23-172, concerning protections for Colorado workers against discriminatory employment practices: Requires employers to designate a repository of written and oral complaints of discriminatory or unfair employment practices, including sexual harassment complaints; and Specifies that records in an employer's designated repository are not public records and are not open to public inspection except in very limited circumstances specified in the "Colorado Open Records Act" (CORA). Senate Bill 23-286, concerning improving public access to government records, amended CORA to specifically require the custodian of any record of a sexual harassment complaint against an elected official to make the record available for public inspection, after redacting the identity of or any information that would identify any accuser, accused who is not an elected official, victim, or witness, if the investigation concludes that the elected official is culpable of sexual harassment. The act resolves the conflict between Senate Bill 23-172 and Senate Bill 23-286 by allowing public inspection of records in an employer's designated repository that pertain to a sexual harassment complaint or investigation against an elected official found culpable of sexual harassment. Additionally, the act designates the office of legislative workplace relations as the repository of complaint records for the employers in the legislative department. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2025, the act requires a municipality that prosecutes an act of domestic violence and that contracts directly with one or more defense attorneys to provide counsel to indigent defendants to ensure that the municipality's contract does not use a fixed or flat-fee payment structure for indigent defense services. The act requires the municipal court to instead use the same payment structure and rates that are paid by the state of Colorado to attorneys or other interdisciplinary team members under contract with the office of alternate defense counsel and consistent with chief justice directive 04-04. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The law has allowed, but has not required, a county or a municipality to adopt a resolution or ordinance that either establishes business licensure requirements for massage facilities or regulates and prohibits unlawful activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses. The act: Makes a legislative finding and declaration that it is a matter of mixed statewide and local concern to establish a statewide requirement that a massage facility operator, owner, or employee, including an independent contractor who is involved in the routine operations of a massage facility (employee), submit to a background check, which generally means a fingerprint-based criminal history record check (background check); Requires every county, city and county, and municipality (local government) that has a massage facility within its jurisdictional boundaries to adopt a local process that ensures that the required background checks are conducted; Requires such a local process to also require, as a condition for a person remaining as or becoming a massage facility operator, owner, or employee, that: Every current operator, owner, and employee submit to a background check on or before the earlier of October 1, 2025, or any other date specified in the local process; and Every prospective operator or owner to submit to a background check at least 30 days before being granted a license to operate the massage facility or assuming an ownership interest in a massage facility; Prohibits a person from being a massage facility owner if the person either has not submitted to a required background check or has either: Been convicted of or entered an accepted plea of nolo contendere for a felony or misdemeanor of solicitation of a prostitute, a human trafficking offense, or money laundering; or Is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender; Prohibits a massage facility operator or owner from employing at a massage facility a person who has not submitted to a required background check; Authorizes an operator or owner to employ at a massage facility a person who has been convicted of or entered an accepted plea of nolo contendere for a felony or misdemeanor of solicitation of a prostitute, a human trafficking offense, or money laundering, or who is registered as a sex offender or is required by law to register as a sex offender, if the operator or owner believes that the person does not pose a threat to customers or employees of the massage facility; Authorizes the local licensing authority for a local government that has established massage facility business licensure requirements to suspend or revoke the license of any massage facility that has an owner or an employee who is prohibited from being a massage facility owner or employee; Requires a county and a municipality within the county to consult with each other when developing, as is still authorized but not required, a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements for massage facilities or regulate and prohibit unlawful activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses, and, by mutual agreement between a county and a municipality within the county, allows a municipality to elect to have a county's resolution or ordinance apply to massage facilities operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the municipality in lieu of adopting its own ordinance or resolution; and Because a massage therapist is required by current law to submit to a background check to obtain a license to practice massage therapy, exempts a licensed massage therapist from the act's background check requirement. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of education (department) to create and maintain a resource bank of evidence-based, research-based, scholarly articles and promising program materials and curricula pertaining to the mental and physical health impacts of social media use by youth, internet safety, and cybersecurity. The resource bank will be used in elementary and secondary schools in the state. The department is required to convene a temporary stakeholder group of no more than 15 persons to assist in the creation of the resource bank. The resource materials must be made available free of charge no later than July 1, 2025, to local education providers, professional educators, parents or guardians of youth, students, and community providers. The act strongly encourages the department to expand local student wellness programs to include programs that address the impacts of problematic technology use on the mental and physical well-being of Colorado youth. On or after January 1, 2026, the act requires a social media platform, as defined by the act, to establish a function that provides a user who is under the age of 18 with information about social media that helps the user understand the impact of social media use on the developing brain and the mental and physical health of youth or displays a notification every 30 minutes when the user: Has spent one hour on social media platforms in a 24-hour period; or Is on a social media platform between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The chief information officer in the Colorado office of information technology, in consultation with the director of the center for health and environmental data division of the Colorado department of public health and environment and the temporary stakeholder group shall establish standards for the function. The act appropriates $13,974 from the general fund to the department of education for use by the student learning division to implement the bill. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the bridges wraparound care program (wraparound program) in the office of bridges of Colorado (bridges of Colorado) to increase the success of eligible individuals referred from the criminal justice system by connecting the individuals to necessary wraparound care coordination services, resulting in case dismissal, continuity of care, and increased social stability. The act requires each judicial district to develop a process to identify and refer eligible individuals to the wraparound program as a community-based alternative to competency proceedings. The chief judge of each judicial district is required to enter into a memorandum of understanding with multiple entities within the judicial district to develop and implement a referral process to deflect individuals who are likely to be found incompetent to proceed from competency proceedings and the criminal justice system. The act requires the office of the state court administrator to ensure a court coordinator assists with identifying eligible individuals, collaborates with the entities to develop the memorandum of understanding, manages and collects data and manages reporting requirements, and provides ongoing support to each judicial district in developing and implementing the referral process. A defendant may be referred to the wraparound program with the consent of the district attorney. A defendant who is referred to the wraparound program is eligible to participate in the wraparound program if the district attorney and defense counsel agree that there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant will be found incompetent to proceed; the defendant consents to participate in the wraparound program; and the defendant is not charged with certain felonies, unless the district attorney waives the requirement. If an eligible defendant is referred to the wraparound program and the defendant consents to participate in the wraparound program, the act requires the court to issue an order appointing a bridges wraparound care coordinator (care coordinator). The wraparound program is required to accept an eligible defendant the court refers to the wraparound program unless the care coordinator determines during the initial intake process that the wraparound program is not appropriate for the defendant due to clinical or other reasons. If the care coordinator determines the wraparound program is not appropriate for the defendant, bridges of Colorado is required to immediately notify the court and outline other interventions. An individual who is accepted to participate in the wraparound program is required to enter into a written agreement with bridges of Colorado detailing the individual's participation in the wraparound program and the program expectations, cooperate with the care coordinator in developing the components of the participant's individualized wraparound care plan, and engage with the care coordinator and the services outlined in the individualized wraparound care plan. The act requires the care coordinator to conduct a screening and assessment of the participant. As part of the screening and assessment, the care coordinator is required to create an individualized wraparound care plan for the participant that is designed to reduce barriers and facilitate access to wraparound care resources. The act requires the court to set a review hearing within 182 days after the court issues the order appointing a care coordinator. At the review hearing, the court is required to dismiss the charges against the defendant unless the court finds that the defendant has not satisfactorily complied with the individualized wraparound care plan, at which point the district attorney may file a notice of termination with the court. If the defendant has not satisfactorily complied with the individualized wraparound care plan but remains engaged, the court may continue the defendant's case for up to an additional 91 days and is required to dismiss the charges if the defendant has satisfactorily complied with the individualized wraparound care plan within the additional 91 days. To implement the act, $1,430,325 is appropriated from the general fund to the judicial department and $23,098 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of human services for use by the office of behavioral health. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the waste tire management enterprise (enterprise) in the department of public health and environment (department). Under current law, when a consumer buys new tires, the retailer charges the consumer a waste tire fee that is then collected by the department and distributed into 2 separate cash funds: The waste tire administration, enforcement, market development, and cleanup fund; and The end users fund. The act amends the fee collection and distribution system used under current law by establishing 2 different fees that will be collected and deposited into 3 separate funds. The waste tire enterprise fee (enterprise fee) is collected by the enterprise, and the revenues from that fee are deposited into the waste tire management enterprise fund and the end users fund. The waste tire management enterprise fund is used to cover the costs of operating the enterprise. The end users fund is used to fund the end-user rebate program. The enterprise fee amount is set by the enterprise and capped at $2.50 per tire, adjusted for inflation. The department is responsible for collecting the waste tire administration fee (administration fee), and the revenue from that fee is deposited into the waste tire administration fund. The administration fee amount is set by the department and is at minimum $0.50 cents per tire, but must not exceed half of the amount of the enterprise fee. The waste tire administration fund is used by the department for conducting regulatory and administrative functions of the department, such as: Inspecting new motor vehicle tire and new trailer tire retailers; Coordinating with law enforcement, fire departments, and citizens to ensure the enforcement of rules related to the waste tire management; Reimbursing certain departments that may assist the department; Inspecting waste tire collection facilities, waste tire processors, and waste tire monofills; Training and providing grants to various entities involved in waste tire management; and Registering and regulating waste tire haulers, waste tire generators, used tire managers, waste tire collection facilities, waste tire processors, mobile processors, waste tire monofills, and end users. Both the enterprise fee and the administration fee are charged by retailers of new motor vehicles and new trailer tires at the point of sale. The enterprise's primary powers and duties are: Collecting the enterprise fee; Managing the waste tire management enterprise fund and the end users fund; Issuing rebates to end users; Issuing revenue bonds; Developing waste tire recycling, beneficial reuse, and management strategies and contracting with public or private entities for services related to the waste tire recycling, beneficial reuse, and management strategies; Administering the waste tire management grant program; and Preparing and submitting an annual financial report to the general assembly. The enterprise is operated by a board of directors appointed by the executive director of the department. The act extends the end user rebate program that exists under current law until December 31, 2041. The act extends the operation of a waste tire monofill for 10 years, until July 1, 2034. The enterprise administers the waste tire management grant program that is funded by the enterprise fee to provide economic and technical assistance to eligible entities related to the recycling, beneficial reuse, and management of waste tires. Eligible entities may be awarded grants for the purchase of equipment or infrastructure, staffing at waste tire facilities, marketing and communications, policy and research development, and community engagement projects. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $60,208 to the department from the waste tire administration, enforcement, market development, and cleanup fund. The act appropriates $51,208 to the department of law from the money appropriated to the department. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
