The act adds established payments to personal services corporations as a qualified local expenditure (expenditure) for the purpose of qualifying for the film incentive income tax credit (credit), removes a condition that the credit is available only in years that the amount of state revenues are in excess of the limitation of state fiscal year spending by at least $50 million, and extends the deadline from February 4, 2025, to July 1, 2028, for a tax credit effectiveness study to be submitted to the finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate. The act requires a production company to make at least $100,000 in expenditures for the production company to be eligible for the credit. The credit must not exceed 22% of the expenditures of the production company, and $5 million is the maximum aggregate amount of all credits that may be issued in one calendar year. The act establishes a reservation system for a production company to apply for the credit before commencing production activities (activities). If the office of film, television, and media (office) determines that a production company is entitled to a tax credit reservation, the office shall notify the company in writing of the reservation and the amount. Once a production company has completed its activities in the state, the company may be issued a tax credit certificate if the office determines that the production company complied with all the requirements for the issuance of the credit. Activities must be completed on or before December 31, 2031. The office must provide the department of revenue with an electronic report of each production company to which the office issued a tax credit certificate for the preceding income tax year that includes the name of the production company, the amount of the credit awarded, and the production company's social security number or the production company's Colorado account number and federal employer identification number. The act repeals the credit on January 1, 2032. The act appropriates $29,120 from the general fund to the office of the governor for state fiscal year 2024-25. The act also appropriates $400,000 to the office of the governor for state fiscal year 2024-25 from the Colorado office of film, television, and media operational account cash fund. The appropriations may be used by the office to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Before transferring or negotiating to transfer any subdivision or part of a subdivision, a developer is required to apply for registration with the real estate commission (commission). Current law requires that, with permission from the commission, any reservation fees that a developer receives from prospective purchasers while the developer's registration application is pending must be held in trust by a third party and be fully refundable. If the subdivision is a time share estate, the act requires that, after the commission has approved a developer's registration application, any earnest money received by the developer from a prospective purchaser must be held in trust by an independent third party. The act creates an exception to this requirement for earnest money deposits received from an accredited investor. A developer may use funds from an accredited investor's deposit for development purposes only if the purchase contract or other written disclosure clearly sets forth: To whom the funds will be delivered; When the delivery will occur; How the funds will be used; and Any restrictions on the use of the funds. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations in the department of regulatory agencies' 2023 sunset review and report on the Colorado commission for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind (commission) by: Continuing the commission for 7 years, until 2031; Establishing a permanent state auxiliary services program; and Changing the name of the deafblind citizens council to the Colorado deafblind advisory council. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a corrections officer who works 12 or more hours in a single 24-hour period receives overtime pay for the hours worked in excess of 8.5 hours. The act creates an exception if the time is part of a corrections officer's normal shift that is longer than 8.5 hours and is part of a compressed, flexible, or alternative scheduling system. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates 2 tax incentives to support the development of the quantum technology ecosystem in the state. Neither of the tax credits created in the act are allowed to any qualified applicant unless a Colorado-based entity receives a multi-million dollar federal grant from the economic development administration for the regional technology and innovation program or a comparable federal grant program. Section 2 of the act creates a 100% refundable income tax credit for qualifying investments in fixed capital assets as part of a coordinated plan to create a shared quantum facility (facility credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 2033. The amount of the facility credit is equal to the amount of the qualifying investment made by a qualified applicant for an eligible project; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all facility credits is $44 million. In addition, the maximum aggregate amount of facility credits that may be claimed in the taxable year in which the eligible project is placed in service is $24 million. If qualified applicants are issued more than an aggregate of $24 million in facility credits, the qualified applicants may claim the credits in future taxable years, subject to a specified limit on the amount of the credit that may be claimed in a single taxable year. A qualified applicant may be a consortium of entities that are jointly participating in creating a shared quantum facility. An eligible project is a project to create a shared quantum facility, which is a primary place in the state where an applicant performs activities and provides the economic benefits related to quantum business and that is approved as an eligible project by the office of economic development (office). The act details a process for claiming the facility credit that requires: The submission by a qualified applicant to the office of an application for a facility credit reservation; Preliminary and final review of the application and approval of the request for a facility credit reservation by the office; Issuance of a facility credit reservation to the qualified applicant by the office; Completion of the eligible project and certification by the qualified applicant of the qualified applicant's qualifying investments; Review of the eligible project and qualifying investments by the office; Issuance of a tax credit certificate by the office; Filing of the tax credit certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return; and Recapture of the credit if the eligible project is not used for a use that makes it an eligible project during a specified compliance period. Section 3 creates a 100% refundable income tax credit to offset losses incurred by a qualified applicant in connection with a registered loan to a quantum company (loan loss credit) for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, but before January 1, 2046. A qualified applicant is a commercial bank, depository institution, private lending fund, or other entity that makes loans for commercial purposes to a quantum company that satisfies certain income and other criteria (eligible loan). The administrator of the loan loss credit (administrator) may be the office, or the office may contract with a third-party program administrator to administer the credit. The administrator is required to determine the method by which the loan loss credit will be distributed to qualified applicants. The distribution method may be on a first-come, first-served basis or based on a competitive lender selection process where the administrator chooses which lenders are eligible to apply for the loan loss credit. A qualified applicant is required to register any loan that is the basis of a loan loss tax credit with the administrator and is not eligible to claim the loan loss credit until the qualified applicant has incurred a loss in connection with a registered loan. The amount of the loan loss credit is an amount up to 15 cents for every dollar of an eligible loan that the qualified applicant has made or will make; except that the maximum aggregate amount of all loan loss credits is $30 million. In addition, subject to specified requirements and, if the administrator is not the office, the approval of the office, the administrator may establish policies and procedures to set the amount of the loan loss credit below 15 cents for every dollar loaned, change the amount of the loan loss credit from time to time, or cap the total amount of loan loss credits issued to a qualified applicant. Each qualified applicant that is issued more than one loan loss credit certificate is required to hold all the loan loss credit certificates that were issued to the qualified applicant in a pooled loan loss reserve. A qualified applicant may use all or any portion of the loan loss credit certificates issued to that qualified applicant to offset any loss incurred by that qualified applicant in connection with one or more registered loans. The act details a process for claiming the loan loss credit that requires: Submission of an application for a loan loss credit certificate and a request that the administrator register an eligible loan; Preliminary and final review of the application and registration of eligible loans by the administrator; Issuance of a loan loss tax credit certificate to a qualified applicant; Periodic updates to the administrator by a qualified applicant that was issued a loan loss credit certificate regarding the status of each of the qualified applicant's registered loans; Application to the administrator for a registered loan loss certificate after a qualified applicant incurs a loss in connection with a registered loan; Review of information regarding the loan by the administrator and issuance of a registered loan loss certificate to the qualified applicant; and Filing the loan loss credit certificate and the registered loan loss certificate with the department of revenue with the qualified applicant's tax return or informational return. The administrator of the loan loss credit may impose a registration and issuance fee on a qualified applicant or on the borrower to which a qualified applicant made an eligible loan. The administrator is required to credit any fee revenue to the quantum business loan loss reserve cash fund, which is created in the act and is exempted, in section 3, from the restriction on the statutory amount of authorized cash fund reserves. The office and the administrator are required to annually report to the general assembly regarding the facility credit and the loan loss credit and may, after soliciting advice from the department of revenue and quantum industry participants, create and modify policies and procedures as necessary to implement the facility credit or the loan loss credit, as applicable. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $90,255 is appropriated to the office of the governor from the general fund for use by economic development programs for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, it is unlawful for a person to discriminate against a renter in the rental of a dwelling because the renter has a disability. Discrimination includes a refusal to permit reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied or to be occupied by an individual with a disability if the modifications are necessary to afford the individual with full enjoyment of the premises. The act removes the provision that allows a landlord to condition permission for a modification on the renter agreeing to restore the interior of the premises. The act also removes the provision that requires a modification to be at the expense of the individual with a disability. APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies (department), as contained in the department's 2023 sunset review and report concerning the rule-making authority of the executive director of the department of early childhood (executive director). The act continues the executive director's rule-making authority for 7 years, until September 1, 2031. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2025, the act requires a duly sworn employee of the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to be classified as a "state trooper" for purposes of the public employees' retirement association if the employee's duties include structural or wildfire management, wildfire response, live-fire training, or wildfire leadership, as determined by the executive director of the department. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes changes to programs funded with money the state received from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund (ARPA money). Specifically, the act: Transfers $1.1 million of ARPA money from the family and medical leave insurance fund (FAMLI fund) to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund, transfers $400,000 from the general fund to the FAMLI fund as an advance payment of premiums for state employee coverage that the state is required to pay under the family and medical leave insurance program, and clarifies the recipient funds for transfers from the FAMLI fund required by current law; Extends the deadline to spend ARPA money from the judicial department information technology cash fund from the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Extends the deadline for the judicial department to spend ARPA money for pretrial diversion programs from the end of the 2023-24 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Makes changes to the program known as "Finish What You Started" to provide funds in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 state fiscal years to continue to support ongoing program participants, and requires the department to use up to $4.5 million of money appropriated for need-based grants for the program; Transfers $70,581.99 of ARPA money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund to the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" cash fund; Reduces the required appropriation to the department of public health and environment from the economic recovery and relief cash fund for recruitment and re-engagement of workers in the health-care profession from $10 million to $6.12 million; Extends the deadline for the department of public health and environment to spend ARPA money for the practice-based health education grant program from the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year to December 31, 2026; Changes the date that money from the rural provider access and affordability fund, which is used for the rural provider access and affordability stimulus grant program, reverts to the general fund from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024; Transfers $495,000 of ARPA money from the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund to the behavioral and mental health cash fund; and Extends the repeal date of the statute requiring the behavioral health administration to take certain actions related to the behavioral health-care provider workforce from September 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027, and continues required reports through the new repeal date. The act makes changes to appropriations programs funded with ARPA money, including adjusting appropriated amounts and granting roll-forward spending authority. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
No later than August 2024, and each August every 3 years thereafter, the act requires the department of human services (department), the office of state planning and budgeting, and representatives from area agencies on aging to review the adequacy of the appropriation for senior services for the prior 3 fiscal years to address the needs of senior citizens who request services pursuant to the "Older Coloradans' Act". The department is required to report the findings of the adequacy review during its "SMART Act" hearing. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) concerning the mortuary science code (code), as the recommendations are specified in the department's sunset review of the registration of funeral establishments and crematories, with amendments, as follows: Continues registration of funeral establishments and crematories and the title protection of mortuary science practitioners, funeral directors, embalmers, and cremationists until 2029; Requires the inspection of funeral homes and crematories on a routine basis, for a period of time after the business has ceased operations, and upon applying for a registration for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the code during this time; Repeals the limitation on the authority of the director of the division of professions and occupations (director) to inspect funeral homes and crematories only during business hours; Expands the director's authority to promulgate rules to include any rules necessary to administer the code; Repeals the code's stakeholder engagement provisions for rule-making to allow the "State Administrative Procedure Act" to control stakeholder engagement; Adds the failure to respond to a complaint within the appropriate time to the grounds for discipline; Repeals the requirement that a letter of admonition be sent by certified mail; Authorizes the director to suspend the registration of a person that fails to comply with a condition of a stipulation or order until the person complies with the condition; Replaces the term "applicant" with the term "person" in the title-protection provisions for funeral directors, embalmers, and cremationists; and Removes gendered language from the code. The act authorizes discipline to be imposed on a registration applicant or holder for the acts of a person acting on behalf of the applicant or holder and who is an officer, a director, a member, a partner, or an owner and holds an interest in the applicant or holder. The interest must be at least 10% if the applicant or holder is publicly traded. The act also requires a funeral establishments to: Have a written contract with all subcontractors or agents and update the language required in contracts for funeral services, respectively; Maintain a sanitary preparation room; Refrain from taking custody of more human remains than the funeral establishment has capacity to refrigerate; and Obtain and maintain professional liability insurance with liability limits of at least $1,000,000. The act requires a cremationist to remove all of the recoverable residue of the cremation process from the crematory and place the residue in a separate container so that the residue does not commingle with the cremated remains of other individuals. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $339,196 is appropriated to the department from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires an individual to obtain a license to practice as a funeral director, a mortuary science practitioner, an embalmer, a cremationist, or a natural reductionist (mortuary science professional). The director of the division of professions and occupations (director) is required to promulgate rules for such licensing. To be licensed, an individual must submit an application, pay an application fee, obtain a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, not have been subject to discipline in another state or convicted of a disqualifying crime, and meet the following qualifications: For a funeral director, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed the arts section of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; For a mortuary science practitioner, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed both the arts and science sections of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; For an embalmer, the applicant must have graduated from an accredited mortuary science school, have successfully passed the science section of a national board examination, and have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer; and For a cremationist or natural reductionist, the applicant must have received official certification as a crematory operator from the Cremation Association of North America, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, the National Funeral Directors Association, or a successor organization. An applicant may file for a waiver of the educational requirements and obtain full licensure upon completion of an examination. A current practitioner may apply for a provisional license if the practitioner does not meet the new requirements. To obtain a provisional license, an applicant must have obtained at least 4,000 hours of work experience, have received workplace learning experience of one year or longer, and pass a fingerprint-based criminal history record check. An individual who holds a provisional license without being subject to discipline may obtain full licensure by satisfying certain criteria. A provisional license expires after 3 years unless the director approves a reinstatement or extension of the provisional license. The act establishes administrative procedures for renewing a license. To renew a license, a license holder must obtain 6 hours of continuing education including: One hour covering the applicable law; One hour covering applicable ethics; and One hour covering public health requirements. The act updates existing law concerning title protection to require a person to hold the appropriate license in order to use the title "funeral director", "mortuary science practitioner", "embalmer", "cremationist", or "natural reductionist". The act establishes grounds for disciplining an applicant or license holder and authorizes the director to take disciplinary actions against an applicant or a license holder. The director may also seek an injunction to enforce the act. An employer of a mortuary science professional must report to the director any termination, disciplinary action, or resignation if any of these actions were taken for conduct that violates the act. The director may bring an action for the enforcement of an order of the director. The act repeals the regulation of the practice of mortuary science professionals, effective September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, the regulation will undergo a sunset review and report. The act appropriates $121,166 to the department of regulatory agencies from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
