Tax Expenditure Evaluation Interim Study Committee. Under current law, the sales tax exemption for energy use exempts the sale and purchase of electricity, gas, fuel oil, steam, coal, coke, or nuclear fuel used in processing, manufacturing, mining, refining, irrigation, construction, telegraph, telephone, and radio communication, street and railroad transportation services, and all industrial uses, and newsprint and printer's ink used by newspaper publisher and commercial printers from state sales tax. The bill modifies this sales exemption to only apply when the energy is used by a metered machine.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates a sales tax exemption for fencing material used in a farm operation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law allows the Colorado economic development commission to allow, subject to an annual maximum program amount, certain businesses that make a $100 million strategic capital investment in the state, and subject to the requirements of the specified income tax credits, to treat any of the following income tax credits allowed to the business as either carry forwardable for a 5-year period or transferable: Colorado job growth incentive tax credit; Enterprise zone income tax credit for investment in certain property; Income tax credit for new enterprise zone business employees; and Enterprise zone income tax credit for expenditures for research and experimental activities. This bill extends this program for another 3 years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill creates tax incentives to encourage employers to voluntarily support paid parental and medical leave programs for their eligible employees and to encourage eligible employees to save for time away from work during parental and medical leave. Specifically, section 2 of the bill establishes leave savings accounts. A leave savings account is an account with a financial institution for which the individual uses money to pay for any expense while he or she is on eligible leave, which includes: The birth of a child of the individual and caring for the child; The placement of a child with the individual for adoption or foster care; Caring for a spouse, child, or parent of the individual if the spouse, child, or parent has a serious health condition; A serious health condition that makes the individual unable to perform the functions of the position of the individual; Time for an individual to care for himself or herself or to care for a parent or child after being a victim of domestic abuse; or Any qualifying exigency, as determined by the United States secretary of labor, arising out of the fact that a spouse, child, or parent of the individual is on covered active duty, or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty, in the United States armed forces. An individual may annually contribute up to $5,000 of wages to a leave savings account. An employer may make a contribution to the employee's leave savings account in any amount. The department of health care policy and financing is required to establish a form for an individual to report information regarding leave savings accounts, and the individual must annually file this form with the department of revenue to be eligible for the tax benefit. Section 3 allows an employee to claim a state income tax deduction for amounts they or their employer contribute to a leave savings account. A taxpayer is also allowed to deduct any interest or other income earned during the taxable year on the investment of money in their leave savings account. Section 4 creates an income tax credit for an employer that pays an employee for leave that is between 8 and 12 weeks long. The leave must be for one of the same reasons for which an employee may use money in a leave savings account as specified above. The amount of the credit is equal to 15% of the amount paid, so long as the amount paid is at least 50% of the employee's regular salary for a specified time period. Section 4 also creates an income tax credit for an employer that contributes to an employee's leave savings account. The amount of the credit is equal to 15% of the amount contributed to the account; except that a credit is not allowed for contributions to a leave savings account that exceed $3,000 in a single year. Both credits are not refundable, but they may be carried forward up to 5 years. The bill also specifies that for employers, an amount equal to the amount the taxpayer contributed to an employee's leave savings account and an amount equal to the amount the taxpayer paid in wages for an employee while on family leave, to the extent an income tax credit is claimed, will be added to the taxpayer's federal taxable income. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill extends the tax years that a taxpayer may elect to receive a refund of 80% of the amount of an enterprise zone investment tax credit for renewable energy investments. Under current law, if a taxpayer elects such a refund, the taxpayer forgoes the remaining 20% of the amount of the enterprise zone investment tax credit. The bill also adds investments in energy storage systems as a qualified renewable energy investment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Section 1 of the bill creates the hazard mitigation enterprise (enterprise). The enterprise collects a fee on insurance companies that offer certain insurance policies and use the fee revenue to finance the hazard mitigation grant program, provide public education on the importance of insurance in buying down risk and for the continuity of business operations, and provide local governments technical information and support on natural hazard mitigation through land use and building codes. The enterprise awards hazard mitigation grants to assist entities that apply for federal grants that require matching funds and are dedicated to assisting in the implementation of pre-disaster hazard mitigation measures. Section 2 sets the fee at .05% of the insurance premiums collected by insurance companies that offer certain insurance policies. The enterprise shall submit a report by July 1 of each year to the committees of reference of the general assembly to which the department of public safety is assigned regarding the grant program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under current provisions of the Open Meetings Law (OML), if elected officials use electronic mail to discuss pending legislation or other public business among themselves, the electronic mail constitutes a meeting that is subject to the OML's requirements. The bill substitutes the word "exchange" for the word "use" in describing the type of electronic mail communication that triggers the application of the OML. The bill clarifies existing statutory provisions to specify that electronic mail communication between elected officials that does not relate to the merits or substance of pending legislation or other public business is not a meeting for OML purposes. Under the bill, the type of electronic communication that also does not constitute a meeting for OML purposes includes electronic communication regarding scheduling and availability as well as electronic communication that is sent by an elected official for the purpose of forwarding information, responding to an inquiry from an individual who is not a member of the state or local public body, or posing a question for later discussion by the public body. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The complementary or alternative medicine pilot program (pilot program) currently applies to any person with a spinal cord injury. The bill expands the pilot program to include persons with a primary condition of multiple sclerosis, a brain injury, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy and a secondary condition of paralysis. Additionally, an eligible person must reside in either Adams county, Arapahoe county, Boulder county, the city and county of Broomfield, the city and county of Denver, Douglas county, El Paso county, Jefferson county, Larimer county, Pueblo county, or Weld county.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires the state department of human services (department) to conduct a statewide needs assessment of the services provided by veterans community living centers, including changes to services necessitated by changing demographics of the veteran population, the advantages and limitations of providing services through existing veterans community living centers, and alternative models of care for providing services to veterans. The department is required to submit the final assessment to the state, veterans, and military affairs committees of the house of representatives and the senate on or before December 1, 2020. The department may enter into an agreement with a third party to conduct the assessment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
On and after September 1, 2020, the bill prohibits the sale of flavored cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products, including flavored electronic cigarettes, and products intended to be added to cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to produce a flavor other than tobacco. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Tax Expenditure Evaluation Interim Study Committee. The bill creates the legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy (committee), and the associated task force (task force). The committee is required to consider the policy considerations contained in the tax expenditure evaluations prepared by the state auditor and is responsible for the oversight of the task force. The committee may recommend legislative changes that are treated as bills recommended by an interim legislative committee. The task force is required to study tax policy and develop and propose for committee consideration any modifications to the current system of state and local taxation. The task force is also authorized, upon request by a committee member, to provide evidence-based feedback on the potential benefits or consequences of a legislative or other policy proposal not directly affiliated with or generated by the task force, including any bill or resolution introduced by the general assembly that affects tax policy. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The department of personnel (department) is required to establish a maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials used in a public project. The bill specifies which building materials are eligible materials. The department is required to set the maximum acceptable global warming potential at the industry average of facility-specific global warming potential emissions for that material and to express it as a number that states the maximum acceptable facility-specific global warming potential for each category of eligible materials. The department is required to submit a report to the general assembly regarding the method it used to develop the maximum global warming potential for each category of eligible materials and may make periodic downward adjustments to the number to reflect industry improvements. For invitations for bid for public projects issued after a certain date, the contractor that is awarded the contract is required to submit to the contracting agency of government a current facility-specific environmental product declaration for each eligible material proposed to be used in the public project. A contracting agency of government is required to include in a specification for bids for a public project that the facility-specific global warming potential for any eligible material that will be used in the project shall not exceed the maximum acceptable global warming potential for that material determined by the department. A contractor that is awarded a contract for a public project is prohibited from installing any eligible material on the project until the contractor submits a facility-specific environmental product declaration for that material. The bill specifies that in administering the requirements of the bill, an agency of government is required to strive to achieve a continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over time. The department is required to submit a report to the general assembly regarding the implementation of the bill. The bill includes the facility-specific global warming potential for each eligible material that will be used in the project and the cost of avoided emissions for the project in the factors to be considered when making an award determination for a competitive sealed best value bid. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
