On the effective date of the act through December 31, 2020, all employers in the state, regardless of size, are required to provide each of their employees paid sick leave for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the amounts and for the purposes specified in the federal "Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act" in the "Families First Coronavirus Response Act". Starting January 1, 2021, for employers with 16 or more employees, and starting January 1, 2022, for all employers, the act requires employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees, accrued at one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours per year. An employee begins accruing paid sick leave when the employee's employment begins, may use paid sick leave as it is accrued, and may carry forward and use in subsequent calendar years up to 48 hours of paid sick leave that is not used in the year in which it is accrued. An employer is not required to allow the employee to use more than 48 hours of paid sick leave in a year. Employees may use accrued paid sick leave to be absent from work for the following purposes: The employee has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care; The employee needs to care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care; The employee or family member has been the victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment and needs to be absent from work for purposes related to such crime; or A public official has ordered the closure of the school or place of care of the employee's child or of the employee's place of business due to a public health emergency, necessitating the employee's absence from work. In addition to the paid sick leave accrued by an employee, the act requires an employer, regardless of size, to provide its employees an additional amount of paid sick leave during a public health emergency in an amount based on the number of hours the employee works. The act prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee who uses the employee's paid sick leave or otherwise exercises the employee's rights under the act. Employers are required to notify employees of their rights under the act by providing employees with a written notice of their rights and displaying a poster, developed by the division of labor standards and statistics (division) in the department of labor and employment (department), detailing employees' rights under the act. The director of the division will implement and enforce the act and adopt rules necessary for such purposes. An employer found in violation of the act is liable to the employee for back pay and other equitable damages. The act treats an employee's information about the employee's or a family member's health condition or domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment case as confidential and prohibits an employer from disclosing such information or requiring the employee to disclose such information as a condition of using paid sick leave. The act specifies the conditions in which collective bargaining agreements result in compliance with, or exemption from, the act. $206,566 is appropriated to the department for use by the division to implement the act, based on the assumption that the division will require an additional 2.7 FTE for such purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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In 2019, the general assembly created the Colorado secure savings board (board) in the office of the state treasurer to study the costs to the state of insufficient retirement savings and 3 approaches to increasing retirement savings in Colorado. The board found that a state-facilitated automatic enrollment individual retirement account program is the best option for Colorado and recommended the establishment of such a program, coupled with the greater use of financial education tools in the state. In furtherance of the board's recommendation, the act directs the board to create and implement the Colorado secure savings program (program). The act specifies the powers and duties of the board in connection with the creation and administration of the program and updates the criteria to which the board is required to adhere in developing the program. The board is required to adopt rules regarding enrollment in the program, contributions to and withdrawals from program accounts, the process for employer exemptions from offering the program, and required disclosures. The act creates the Colorado secure savings program fund in the state treasury to consist of money appropriated by the general assembly, money transferred to the fund by the federal government, money from fees and penalties in connection with the program, any gifts, grants, or donations made to the fund, and any gifts, grants, donations, or investments made to the state treasurer. The state treasurer may solicit gifts, grants, donations, or investments not required to be repaid, from public or private sources to cover the costs associated with the administration of the program. All individual account information for accounts under the program is confidential and may not be disclosed except under specified circumstances. For the 2020-21 state fiscal year, the general fund appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology for applications administration is decreased by $1,197,552. The same amount is appropriated from the general fund to the department of the treasury for the implementation of the act. Any money appropriated that is not expended prior to July 1, 2021, is further appropriated to the department for the 2021-22 state fiscal year for the same purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act specifies that for any act, item, section, or part of an act that is enacted by a bill with an act subject to petition clause during the second regular session of the seventy-second general assembly (2020 legislative session): The act, item, section, or part of the act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the 90-day period after adjournment sine die of the 2020 legislative session (September 14, 2020, because adjournment sine die was on June 15, 2020), unless a later date is otherwise specified in the act; and If a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against an act, item, section, or part of the act within the 90-day period after adjournment sine die of the 2020 legislative session, then the act, item, section, or part of the act will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2022 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2020-21 budget year by $132.08 to account for inflation of 1.9% for a new statewide base per pupil funding of $7,083.61. In addition, it sets the minimum statewide district total program funding amount for the 2020-21 budget at $7,230,448,891 and removes the requirement for the dollar amount of the budget stabilization factor to remain the same as during the 2019-20 budget year. Section 3 makes changes to budget procedures for school districts, charter schools, and local college districts for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Under current law, a proposed school district budget must be submitted to the local board of education 30 days prior to July 1, the beginning of the budget year. The act requires the proposed budget to be submitted on or before June 25, 2020. Further, the act requires publication of the notice not later than June 25, 2020. Notice of the budget shall be posted for at least 2 business days. Sections 4 and 5 repeal the required statutory appropriations of $250,000 for the 2020-21 budget year for both the school counselor corps grant program to assist students and families with completing state and federal financial aid forms and the computer science education grant program to increase enrollment or participation of traditionally underrepresented students in computer science education. Sections 6 and 7: Reduce the state fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund (assistance fund) for "Building Excellent Schools Today Act" program cash grants for public school capital construction from $160 million to $60 million; Transfer $100 million from the assistance fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020; and For FY 2020-21, divert revenue above the first $40 million received from the state retail marijuana excise tax from the assistance fund to the state public school fund. Sections 8 through 12 suspend the implementation of the K-5 social and emotional health pilot program and make conforming changes to the dates for selecting pilot program participants, the pilot program coordinator, maintenance of effort requirements for the pilot districts, and the initial and final pilot program evaluations. The department of education (department) shall implement the pilot program subject to available appropriations or gifts, grants, or donations for the 3-year term of the pilot program. Further, the general assembly is not required to appropriate money for the pilot program for the 2020-21 state fiscal year but authorizes the general assembly to appropriate marijuana tax cash fund money for the pilot program in the future. The department may accept and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the pilot program. The repeal date of the program is extended by 10 years to allow for future implementation of the pilot program. Sections 13 through 17 repeal the grow your own educator program. Section 18 repeals the advanced placement incentives pilot program on July 1, 2020, instead of July 1, 2021. Sections 19 and 20 require the state treasurer to transfer to the state education fund on July 1, 2020, $3.5 million from the early literacy fund and $11,831 from the Colorado teacher of the year fund. Sections 21 through 23 repeal the school cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator training fund and the closing the achievement gap cash fund, which are inactive; requires the state treasurer to transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money in each of those funds to the state education fund; and makes conforming amendments. Sections 24 through 27 require the state treasurer to transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money credited to each of the following funds to the state education fund: The great teachers and leaders fund on July 1, 2020; The nonpublic school fingerprint fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2006, on July 1, 2020; The student re-engagement grant program fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2019, on July 1, 2020; The retaining teachers fund on July 1, 2020; and The full-day kindergarten facility capital construction fund on June 30, 2020. Section 28 requires the state treasurer to transfer any unexpended and unencumbered principal of the high-cost special education trust fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020. Section 29 transfers $2.5 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020. Sections 30 through 32 delay certain provisions of the local school food purchasing program by one year, including delaying the start of reimbursements to October 2021; the first report to on or before December 1, 2022; and the repeal of the program to January 1, 2024. Sections 33 through 38 reset the total program mill levy for the 2020 property tax year for each school district as follows: If the school district has obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills necessary to fully fund the school district's total program; or the number of mills the school district would have levied in the preceding property tax year but for unauthorized reductions in the school district's mill levy after the school district received voter approval to retain excess revenue; or If the school district has not obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills levied in the preceding property tax year; or the number of mills that generates an amount of revenue that does not exceed the constitutional limit. For the 2021 property tax year and each property tax year thereafter, each school district must levy the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills levied in the preceding property tax year; the number of mills necessary to fully fund the school district's total program; or if the school district has not obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the number of mills that generates an amount of revenue that does not exceed the constitutional limit. In a property tax year in which a school district is required to levy more mills than it levied for the 2019 property tax year, the school district board of education must approve a tax credit in the amount of the increase in the number of mills. The amount of revenue attributable to the number of mills for which there is a tax credit is not included in calculating the school district's state share. Section 39 increases the maximum total annual amount of lease payments from $110 million to $125 million for FY 2020-21 and for each state fiscal year thereafter for lease-purchase agreements entered into by the state for public school facility capital construction projects under the "Building Excellent Schools Today Act". Section 40 requires the department, for the 2020-21 budget year only, to use student enrollment numbers for the 2018-19 budget year in calculating a local education provider's per-pupil intervention money under the READ Act. Section 41 clarifies that students enrolled part-time in a kindergarten program are counted for school formula funding as 0.58 of a full-day pupil. Section 42 authorizes 5-year-old first graders to receive full school finance formula funding. Section 43 requires the commissioner of education (commissioner) to convene education stakeholders to review the impact of the cancellation of assessments, accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluations for the 2019-20 school year and whether future modifications are needed for the accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluation systems as a result of, and in response to, the COVID-19 pandemic and possible further disruptions. Section 44 authorizes the commissioner to expend appropriations to correct the underpayment of state funding to a school district, board of cooperative services, the state charter school institute, or to a group care facility or home due to errors in information certified to the department of education for the determination of state funding. Sections 45 through 47 remove the requirement that the department determine the level of attainment on performance indicators achieved by each public school, each school district, the state charter school institute, and the state as a whole for the 2019-20 school year. In addition, the department shall not assign accreditation ratings for school districts or the state charter school institute, and shall not recommend improvement plans for public schools, for the 2020-21 school year. A school district, the state charter school institute, and schools shall continue to implement the plan type that was assigned for the 2019-20 school year. Section 48 extends the June 1 deadline for written notice of contract nonrenewal to June 26, 2020, for probationary teachers employed by a school district on a full-time basis during the 2019-20 school year, so long as the recommendation for contract nonrenewal is for reasons relating to budgetary shortfalls. Section 49 sweeps the revenue received by the state for the 2020-21 state fiscal year for natural resources purchased or extracted from state lands and the use of state lands that would otherwise go into the permanent school fund and instead places the revenue in the state public school fund for use for school finance. The act includes the following in reductions in appropriations to the department of education (department) in the 2020-21 long bill: $15,000,000 decrease in the appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund to provide additional spending authority for lease payments (section 50); Decreases in general fund appropriations by (section 51): $675,255 and 0.4 FTE for local school food purchasing programs; $250,000 for the counselor corps grant program; $250,000 for computer science education grants; $22,933 and 0.3 FTE for the grow your own education program; $100,000,000 decrease in the appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund for cash grants (section 51); $2,500,000 decrease in the appropriation from the marijuana tax cash fund, and 1.0 FTE, for the K-5 social and emotional health program (section 51); $2,500,000 decrease in the appropriation from the retaining teachers fund, and 1.0 FTE, for the retaining teachers grant program (section 50); $262,763 decrease in the appropriation from the state education fund, and 0.3 FTE, for the advanced placement incentives pilot program (section 51); and $721,579,451 decrease in the appropriation from the general fund (section 52) for the state share of districts' total program funding. Section 53 authorizes the use of up to $3,655,000 of appropriations to the department for ASCENT program funding for an estimated 500 pupils at a cost of $7,330 per pupil. Section 54 appropriates $2,200,000 from the state public school fund to the department for audit recoveries and payments relating to school finance. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The state received $1.67 billion from the federal coronavirus relief fund created in the federal "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020" (CARES Act), and the governor allocated $70 million of these federal funds to the general fund for further allocation by the general assembly for any permissible uses under the CARES Act. The state controller set aside this money in a special account, known as the care subfund. The act codifies the care subfund (subfund) in the general fund and reiterates the requirement that the money in the subfund can only be used as permitted under the CARES Act. Any state department that receives an appropriation from the subfund is required to comply with any reporting and record-keeping requirements established by the state controller or the office of state planning and budgeting. Any money transferred from the care subfund to another cash fund is subject to the same reporting and record-keeping requirements. Any appropriations from the subfund are excluded from the base for purposes of calculating the state reserve for fiscal year 2020-21. The act requires any unexpended amounts before the close of business on December 30, 2020, to revert to the subfund and the state treasurer is directed to transfer such amount to the unemployment compensation fund, which is a permissible use of the federal funds. If as of that date, there is any unexpended money that originated from the care subfund in another cash fund, then the state treasurer shall transfer the unexpended amount from the cash fund to the subfund prior to the transfer to the unemployment compensation fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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.)
The bill specifies that housing authorities are exempt from tap fees and development impact fees imposed by a water conservancy district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Preexisting law prohibits, with certain exceptions, a motor vehicle manufacturer from owning, operating, or controlling any motor vehicle dealer or used motor vehicle dealer in Colorado. The act creates a new exception that allows a manufacturer to own, operate, or control a motor vehicle dealer if the manufacturer makes only electric motor vehicles and has no franchised dealers of the same line-make. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a new traffic offense for failing to yield to a bicyclist or other authorized user in a bicycle lane. The offense is a class A traffic offense unless it is the proximate cause of a crash or if it causes bodily injury, then it is careless driving and is punished under the careless driving offense. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)