Rep. Andy Boesenecker

Legislative Audit Committee. Under current law, when the public utilities commission (PUC) evaluates electric resource acquisitions and requests for certificates of public convenience and necessity for construction or expansion of generating facilities, the PUC must consider best value regarding employment of Colorado labor and positive impacts on the long-term economic viability of Colorado communities. To this end, the PUC must require electric utilities to obtain certain information regarding certain "best value" employment metrics and report this information to the PUC for its consideration. The bill: Requires the PUC to promulgate rules requiring utilities, when submitting annual progress reports for an electric resource acquisition, to collect and provide to the PUC information concerning the implementation of "best value" employment metrics; Requires the PUC to report annually to committees of reference of the general assembly concerning the information that is reported; and Repeals language requiring the state auditor to conduct a performance audit, which performance audit the state auditor completed in July 2022.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) may enter an order combining the ownership interests of 2 or more owners of mineral interests located on separate tracts (drilling unit) to authorize the drilling of an oil and gas well on the drilling unit (pooling order). Under certain circumstances and after notice and a hearing, the commission may enter a pooling order for a drilling unit, which order includes an owner of mineral interests that does not consent to the drilling for oil and gas on the mineral owner's tract (forced pooling order). The bill changes the commission's process for entering a forced pooling order by: Requiring an applicant for a forced pooling order to prove that owners of more than 45% of the mineral interests to be pooled consent to pooling by submitting to the commission a third-party expert's title report or title opinion; Requiring the commission to determine if the minerals in the drilling unit may be extracted without disturbing a nonconsenting mineral interest owner's mineral rights and, if so, requiring the commission to include in the forced pooling order a condition that the nonconsenting mineral interest owner's mineral rights not be disturbed. Alternatively, if the commission determines that the minerals cannot be extracted without disturbing the nonconsenting mineral interest owner's mineral rights, the commission is required to make explicit findings of that determination. Requiring that a forced pooling order be issued in a manner that protects and minimizes adverse impacts on public health, safety, and welfare; the environment; and wildlife resources and that protects against adverse environmental impacts on any air, water, soil, or biological resources resulting from oil and gas operations; Reducing the amount of production costs that consenting mineral interest owners in a drilling unit may recover from a nonconsenting mineral interest owner in the drilling unit; and Prohibiting the commission from entering a forced pooling order that includes an unleased, nonconsenting mineral owner that is a local government or a school district, including a charter school or an institute charter school. Additionally, the bill requires that the commission issue a pooling order before any minerals that are subject to the pooling order are extracted or any well is drilled to access the minerals. The bill also authorizes a nonconsenting owner to audit or cause to be audited certain records of the oil and gas operator no more frequently than every 3 years but before any costs are recovered from the drilling unit. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act requires a driver to yield the right-of-way to a driver of a truck, bus, emergency vehicle, or recreational vehicle that generally has a total length of more than 35 feet or a total width of more than 10 feet (large vehicle) when entering, exiting, or driving in the circulatory lanes in a roundabout. The act also requires that when 2 drivers of large vehicles enter, exit, or drive in the circulatory lanes in a roundabout at the same time, the driver on the right must yield the right-of-way to the driver on the left. A person who fails to yield commits a class A traffic infraction and is subject to a fine of $70 and an $11 surcharge. APPROVED by Governor March 23, 2023 EFFECTIVE October 1, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires out-of-state online dealers and salespersons selling motor vehicles or powersports vehicles to submit to the jurisdiction of the motor vehicle dealer board (board) when selling to a Colorado consumer. The act does not require these online dealers and salespersons to obtain a Colorado dealer license or have a physical location in Colorado but requires them to comply with Colorado laws and the board's rules. APPROVED by Governor March 3, 2023 EFFECTIVE March 3, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Transportation Legislation Review Committee. For 10 income tax years, section 1 of the bill creates a refundable income tax credit for purchasing driver education and training for a minor. The amount of the credit is the amount spent on driver education and training, but cannot exceed $1,000 per student. To claim a credit, an individual must provide the department of revenue (department) with a receipt for the amount paid if the department requests the receipt. Currently, a minor who is under 18 years of age may be issued a driver's license or temporary driver's license if the minor has held an instruction permit for 12 months and has completed 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 hours of night driving. Section 2 adds the requirements that the applicant must: Complete a 30-hour driver education course, which may include an online course, approved by the department; and Receive at least 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving training with a driving instructor or, for minors who live in rural areas of the state, 12 hours of behind-the-wheel training with a parent, a legal guardian, or an alternate permit supervisor. Additionally, section 2 eliminates the current instructional requirements for minors under 16 and one-half years of age to hold an instruction permit for 12 months, complete 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 hours of night driving, and receive 6 hours of behind-the-wheel driving training with a driving instructor or, if the minor lives more than 30 miles from a business offering driving instruction, at least 12 hours of training from a parent, legal guardian, or responsible adult to be eligible for issuance of a driver's license. Section 2 also adds a requirement that a minor who is 18 years of age or older and under 21 years of age must successfully complete a 4-hour prequalification driver awareness program approved by the department to be issued a driver's license or temporary driver's license. Current law authorizes the department to issue an instruction permit to a minor if the minor meets one of the following conditions: A minor who is 16 years of age or older need not complete a driver education course; A minor who is at least 15 and one-half years of age but under 16 years of age must have completed a driver education course or a 4-hour driver awareness course; or A minor who is 15 years of age or older but under 15 and one-half years of age must have completed a driver education course. Sections 2 and 3 eliminate the tiered system and require all minors who are under 18 years of age to complete a 30-hour driver education course and minors who are 18 years of age or older but under 21 years of age to complete a 4-hour driver awareness course. Section 5 prohibits a person who has been convicted of certain violent or sexual crimes from providing behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors. A commercial driving school is prohibited from employing such a driving instructor to provide behind-the-wheel driving instruction to minors. Each instructor employed by a commercial driving school must obtain a fingerprint-based criminal history record check to verify that the instructor has not committed a disqualifying crime.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act requires: No later than February 1, 2025, the state auditor to select a random sample of operators (random sample) and provide the list of operators in the random sample to the oil and gas conservation commission (commission), the executive director of the department of revenue (executive director), and the division of administration in the department of public health and environment (division); No later than April 15, 2025, the commission, executive director, and division to submit certain reporting information for the operators in the random sample for calendar year 2023 and other information to the state auditor; No later than May 1, 2025, the state auditor to commence conducting or cause to be conducted a performance audit based on the information submitted by the commission, the executive director, and the division; and No later than March 1, 2026, the state auditor to prepare a report and recommendations based on the performance audit, which the state auditor will present to the legislative audit committee.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the office of health equity (office) in the department of public health and environment to: On or before January 1, 2023, create a culturally relevant and affirming health-care training grant program (program) to provide money to nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers to develop new, culturally responsive training programs for priority populations; and Contract with a third-party administrator to administer the program. "Priority populations" is defined as people experiencing homelessness; people involved with the criminal justice system; black people, indigenous people, and people of color; American Indians and Alaska natives; veterans; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning; people of disproportionately affected sexual orientations and gender identities; people who have AIDS or HIV; older adults; children and families; and people with disabilities, including people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people who are blind and deafblind, people with brain injuries, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with other co-occurring disabilities; and other populations as deemed appropriate by the office of behavioral health. The third-party administrator is required to: Issue a grant application for nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers who wish to participate in the program to develop culturally relevant and affirming health-care training for health-care professionals; and Submit the list of the qualified applicants for the program to the health equity commission in the office for approval. Each regulator in the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies for the applicable health-care professional is required to provide information concerning the training courses available to the licensee, certificate holder, or registrant. The regulator is required to encourage participation in the training courses. $900,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for allocation to the office to administer and support the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" if a person claims to be a "board-certified music therapist" or "music therapist", uses the title "music therapist", uses the abbreviation "MT-BC", or in any other way indicates or implies that the person is a music therapist unless the person holds an active music therapist board-certified credential administered by the Certification Board for Music Therapists. The act does not prohibit a person from performing work, including the use of music, incidental to the person's profession or occupation, if that person does not represent that the person is a music therapist. Any person who unlawfully claims to be a music therapist commits a class 2 misdemeanor. The act clarifies that the attorney general or district attorney may seek assurance of discontinuance of the deceptive trade practice or other remedies or penalties prior to charging a person with a misdemeanor. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends the "Mobile Home Park Act" and the "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program" to: Require the landlord or the landlord's representative to attend up to 2 public meetings for residents of the park each year at the request of the residents; Clarify that a landlord is responsible for the cost of repairing any damage to a mobile home or lot that results from the landlord's failure to maintain the premises of the park; Clarify the triggering events that demonstrate a park owner's intent to sell a park for purposes of providing notice to home owners and the method for giving notice; Change the period in which a group or association of mobile home owners may make an offer to purchase the park from 90 to 180 days, and provide for tolling of that time period in certain circumstances; Provide a right of first refusal for a public entity that accepts an assignment of a group or association of mobile home owners' opportunity to purchase; Clarify the obligations of a landlord to provide notice to home owners concerning the terms and conditions of an offer to purchase the park that the landlord would accept and to negotiate in good faith with the home owners; Require a landlord who changes the use of the land comprising the park to compensate a mobile home owner who has not given notice to terminate the lease or rental agreement and who is displaced by the change in use for the reasonable costs of relocating the mobile home to a location within 100 miles of the park, the fair market value of the mobile home before the change in use, or in the amount of $7,500 for a single-section mobile home or $10,000 for a multi-section mobile home; Allow the department to enforce statutory provisions concerning the required notice of intent to sell or change the use of the land and the mobile home owners' opportunity to purchase by imposing a fine for a violation or filing for injunctive relief in district court; Allow the attorney general to investigate and enforce statutory provisions providing protections for mobile home owners; Clarify the procedures and penalties that apply when a party does not respond to a subpoena from the division; Allow the division to take immediate action in response to complaints or violations that will cause immediate harm to mobile home owners; Prohibit landlords from harassing or coercing mobile home owners in an effort to require a mobile owner to sign an agreement or to influence a decision by the home owner about an opportunity to purchase; Establish criteria for when a mobile home park rule or regulation that limits a home owner's right to control the use, appearance, and structure of a mobile home is enforceable; Prohibit a landlord from interfering with the mobile home owner's right to sell a mobile home to the buyer of his or her choice, except in limited circumstances; Establish record retention requirements for landlords; and Consolidate provisions concerning private rights of action for landlords, home owners, and residents, and establish penalties and remedies available in private actions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes a revolving loan and grant program to provide assistance and financing to mobile home owners seeking to organize and purchase their mobile home parks. The division of housing (division) in the department of local affairs (department) is required to contract with at least 2, and not more than 3, loan program administrators, unless the division determines that there is only one qualified applicant during an open and competitive selection process, in which case the division may contract with a single administrator. The administrators are required to use money provided by the loan program to make loans to mobile home owners seeking to purchase their mobile home parks. The division is required to establish a grant program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that provide technical and other assistance to eligible home owners seeking to organize to purchase their mobile home parks. The division is also required to establish a grant program to provide grants to eligible home owners to support programs to ensure the long term affordability of a resident-owned park, including by stabilizing lot rents and limiting rent increases. The mobile home park resident empowerment loan and grant program fund (fund) is created. The state treasurer is required to transfer $35 million of money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund that originates from the general fund to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department to implement the loan and grant program; except that $384,019 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department and $29,571 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)