Rep. Alec Garnett

Current law provides that, for bills introduced pursuant to the sunset review process: The speaker of the house of representatives shall assign the proposed bill to a representative for sponsorship in the house of representatives in odd-numbered years; and The president of the senate shall assign the proposed bill to a senator for sponsorship in the senate in even-numbered years. The act requires that before assigning bill sponsors, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate must consult with their respective minority leaders and receive permission from the sponsor to be named to the sunset bill. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the responsible gaming grant program (grant program) in the department of revenue to promote responsible gaming and address problem gaming in the state. The Colorado limited gaming control commission (gaming commission), in collaboration with the behavioral health administration, is required to administer the grant program and award grants to eligible applicants from money in the responsible gaming grant program cash fund (cash fund), which is also created in the act. An "eligible applicant" means an agency of the state government, a local government, or, with certain exceptions, a nonprofit organization. To receive a grant, an eligible applicant must submit an application that includes the following information: The amount of grant money requested by the eligible applicant; How the eligible applicant will spend the grant money to address problem gaming or increase awareness of responsible gaming; Information concerning any current or past projects in which the eligible applicant has participated and that addressed responsible gaming or problem gaming; and Any other information required by rules promulgated by the gaming commission. Grantees may use grant money only for the purposes for which the grant money is awarded. On or before September 1, 2023, and on or before September 1 each year thereafter, each grantee must submit a report to the gaming commission concerning the use of grant money. On or before December 1, 2023, and on or before December 1 each year thereafter, the gaming commission must submit a summarized report to the legislative committees of reference and to the behavioral health administration. The gaming commission, in collaboration with the behavioral health administration, is required to promulgate rules to implement the grant program. The grant program is repealed, effective September 1, 2032. Before the repeal, the grant program is scheduled for a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. The act also requires the division of gaming (gaming division), on and after January 1, 2023, to operate a program to exclude certain individuals from all or certain gaming activities in the state. The gaming division must operate the exclusion program in accordance with rules promulgated by the gaming commission. The act also requires retail gaming licensees, sports betting operators, and internet sports betting operators (licensees) to annually submit a report to the director of the gaming division, which report describes the efforts of the licensee in the preceding state fiscal year to promote responsible gaming via advertising and other promotional methods and the licensee's plans concerning such promotional efforts in the current state fiscal year. The act also requires that on December 31, 2023, and on December 31 each year thereafter, any money credited to the wagering revenue recipients hold-harmless fund and not distributed within 2 years after being credited to the hold-harmless fund be transferred, as authorized by the gaming commission, to the cash fund. The act also requires that, for the 2022-23 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter, $2.5 million be transferred from the state share of the limited gaming fund to the cash fund. The act also requires the general assembly, for the 2022-23 state fiscal year, and for each state fiscal year thereafter, to appropriate $200,000 from the lottery fund to the state lottery division (division) to be expended by the division to pay for efforts to promote responsible gaming in the state. The act also limits the total amount of free bets that may be deducted on and after January 1, 2023, for the purpose of calculating the net sports betting proceeds of a sports betting operator or internet sports betting operator. Under current law, the Colorado lottery commission is required to promulgate rules that include the method for selling tickets or shares and the method to be used for selling instant scratch game tickets. The act removes a requirement that such rules must require all such sales to be on a cash-only basis. The act also removes existing language concerning individuals who are required by the gaming commission to be excluded or ejected from any licensed gaming establishment, which language is rendered redundant by the act's new exclusion language. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $200,000 from the lottery fund to the department of revenue for use by the lottery division; and $2,500,000 from the cash fund to the department of revenue for use by the specialized business group.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the division of gaming (division) in the department of revenue. Specifically, the act: Continues the division for 11 years, until 2033; Allows the Colorado limited gaming control commission (commission) to delegate licensing duties to the division; Lowers the minimum age for a casino employee from 21 years of age to 18 years of age; Designates the department of revenue's hearings division to conduct hearings under the "Fantasy Contests Act"; Repeals the requirement that internationally based internet sports betting personnel submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history record check; and Subjects payments of sports bet winnings to the "Gambling Payment Intercept Act" on and after July 1, 2023. The act also empowers the commission to determine whether persons that are not licensed by the commission to conduct sports betting or limited gaming operations are offering to one or more members of the public, in any city, town, city and county, or county: Unlicensed sports betting operations; Unlicensed internet sports betting operations; or Unlicensed establishments that allow the use of equipment or devices that qualify as slot machines or are used to play roulette or craps. The act also prohibits a person from offering sports betting or one or more games, authorized as "limited gaming", to the public without possessing the required license from the commission to conduct: Sports betting operations; Internet sports betting operations; or Operations using equipment or devices that qualify as slot machines or are used to play roulette or craps. The act also adjusts the elements of the existing offense of underage gaming and resets the penalties for the offense as follows: For a first offense, a civil penalty of $500; For a second offense, a civil penalty of $1,000; and For a third or subsequent offense, a class 2 misdemeanor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill authorizes the attorney general to require a cable provider and regional sports network to submit to nonbinding arbitration when negotiation for the renewal of a contract to broadcast professional sporting events continues for at least 6 weeks after the contract has expired. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb22-1295-bill-summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act appropriates $61,419,806 to the legislative department for the payment of expenses in the 2022-23 state fiscal year. Additionally, the act appropriates $50,000 to the youth advisory council cash fund within the legislative department and further appropriates to the legislative council, for use in the 2022-23 state fiscal year for new member orientation, $17,500 that was appropriated to but not expended by the legislative council in the 2021-22 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes changes related to the requirements for various boards and commissions (boards). Section 1 of the act includes standard provisions that generally apply to boards for which membership is based in full or in part on representation from the congressional districts of the state. Specifically, unless a statute or constitutional provision creating a board provides otherwise: If a member appointed to represent a district no longer resides in the district due solely to a change in the district's boundaries following redistricting, the member may serve the remainder of their term notwithstanding the nonresidency; If a board increases in size due to the addition of a new congressional district in the state, the appointing authority shall appoint a new member to represent the new district as soon as practicable; and If a board decreases in size due to the loss of a congressional district in the state, the appointing authority shall determine which current member's term should be terminated, or, if the member will be replaced by an at-large or other member, which member should be replaced at the expiration of the member's term. The appointing authority must attempt to ensure that the remaining membership adequately represents the remaining congressional districts. Section 2 establishes standard provisions that apply to all boards unless the statute or constitutional provision creating a board provides otherwise. The standard provisions include: Requiring an appointing authority to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term; Allowing the designee of a state official who is an ex officio member of a board to fulfill the official's duties on the board; Defining the term "minimum majority" to mean the lowest number of members of a board that is more than half; Allowing members to participate in meetings of the board remotely if allowed by a board's policies or bylaws; and Clarifying that only a partial term that is more than half the length of a standard term counts towards any applicable term limit. Sections 33 and 40 update the statutes that establish the membership of the state board of education and the board of regents of the university of Colorado, respectively, both of which are elected boards created in the state constitution. For the state board of education, section 33 provides for the election of one new member to represent the eighth congressional district and one new member from the state at large at the 2022 general election. For the board of regents, section 40 requires the election of a member to represent the eighth congressional district in place of the election of a member representing the state at large at the 2022 general election. Sections 37, 42, 52, 60, 73, 85, 86, 90, 101, and 107 amend statutes governing boards for which membership is based on the number of congressional districts in the state. For each board, the total number of members is no longer specified. Instead, each statute provides for the appointment of members from each congressional district in the state plus, as applicable, additional members as is currently provided for each board. Provisions requiring staggering of terms and limits on the number of board members who may be affiliated with a single political party are amended to refer to a "minimum majority" of the board to accommodate any future changes in board membership resulting from changes in the number of Colorado congressional districts. Section 133 repeals a statute that addressed the impact of redistricting on boards following the 2000 federal decennial census and a statute that adjusted the lengths of terms of members of certain boards in 1987. The remaining sections of the act make changes to statutory provisions governing various boards with appointed members, including: Repealing deadlines for events or actions that have already occurred; Repealing language setting specific expiration dates or requirements for board members' terms in order to create staggering of the board members' terms and replacing it with a general requirement that terms be staggered; Repealing requirements for notice and hearing before a board member can be removed for cause by an appointing authority; Repealing, for certain boards, the requirement that a board member serve until the board member's successor is confirmed by the senate; Updating archaic language to conform to current drafting standards; Reorganizing sections to clarify requirements related to appointments, qualifications for appointees, and terms of office; Clarifying requirements related to the number of board members that may be affiliated with one political party; and Making conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)