The act appropriates $6 million from the species conservation trust fund for programs submitted by the executive director of the department of natural resources that are designed to conserve native species that state or federal law list as threatened or endangered or that are candidate species or are likely to become candidate species as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service, allocated as follows: $770,000 for native terrestrial wildlife conservation; $2,230,000 for native aquatic wildlife conservation; $1,900,000 for a Platte river recovery implementation program; $800,000 for an upper Colorado river endangered fish recovery program and San Juan river basin recovery implementation program; $250,000 for a 15-mile reach of Ruedi reservoir releases; and $50,000 for selenium management, research, monitoring, evaluation, and control.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
The act transfers the duties, powers, and functions of the department of local affairs (DOLA) related to backcountry search and rescue, the backcountry search and rescue card (card) and the backcountry search and rescue fund (fund) to the division of parks and wildlife (division), effective January 1, 2023. On and after January 1, 2023: All positions of employment and appropriations for personal services in DOLA related to backcountry search and rescue and the administration of the card and fund are transferred to the division; The division is required to administer the card program and to process requests for reimbursement for search and rescue efforts from the fund and assumes all rights and obligations previously vested in DOLA; The parks and wildlife commission is required to promulgate rules establishing the price and vendor fee for the card and the amount of the surcharges imposed on certain hunting and fishing licenses and on boats, snowmobile, and off-highway vehicle registrations that are credited to the fund; and The fund is continuously appropriated to the division to reimburse local governments for backcountry search and rescue efforts and to support search and rescue efforts throughout the state. The act amends current laws providing immunity from civil liability in certain circumstances to volunteer firefighters and incident management teams responding to emergencies and to volunteers providing services to nonprofit organizations to include persons, including associated legal entities, engaged in backcountry search and rescue efforts. A dependent of a person who died or was permanently disabled while engaged in backcountry search and rescue efforts is eligible for educational benefits that are currently extended to the dependents of individuals who die or are permanently disabled while on active duty as a Colorado National Guardsman or while working as a police officer, sheriff, or other law enforcement officer or firefighter. One million dollars is transferred from the general fund to the wildlife cash fund for use by the division to support backcountry search and rescue efforts. If there is any unobligated and unexpended money remaining from that transfer on January 2, 2023, the remainder is transferred to the backcountry search and rescue fund. The one million dollars transferred to the wildlife cash fund is appropriated to the department of natural resources for use by the division for backcountry search and rescue efforts. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The voluntary contribution to the Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund that was authorized to appear on the state income tax return from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2022, was scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2023. The act extends the voluntary contribution indefinitely. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado wildlife safe passages fund (fund) within the state treasury and transfers $5,000,000 from the general fund to the fund. Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department of transportation (department) to provide funding for projects that provide safe road crossings for connectivity of wildlife and reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, for the full range of wildlife crossing project needs, and for matching requirements for federal grant programs relating to wildlife crossing projects. The department must consult with the division of parks and wildlife and the Colorado wildlife and transportation alliance regarding the disbursement of money from the fund and must annually report on the disbursement of such money. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, for tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2017, but prior to January 1, 2023, the credit for health-care preceptors working in health professional shortage areas offers an income tax credit in the amount of $1,000 to health-care professionals in rural and frontier areas who provide a preceptorship, an uncompensated mentoring experience for eligible health professional students that includes a specified minimum amount of personalized instruction, training, and supervision, during the applicable income tax year. The act modifies the tax credit by: Extending the period for which the tax credit may be claimed to tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2033; Allowing up to 300, rather than 200, preceptors to claim the credit in any tax year; Expanding who may offer a preceptorship to include, in addition to a medical doctor, doctor of osteopathic medicine, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, doctor of dental surgery, or doctor of dental medicine as provided by existing law, a registered nurse, registered dental hygienist, pharmacist, licensed clinical or counseling psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, psychiatric nurse specialist, licensed addiction counselor, or certified addiction counselor working in an outpatient clinical setting who has been licensed in his or her primary health-care field in the state by the applicable licensing authority; Expanding who may participate in a preceptorship to include individuals matriculating at any accredited Colorado institution of higher education seeking a degree or certification in a primary health-care field; Allowing nonconsecutive days to be counted when determining the eligibility of a preceptorship for the credit; Modifying the definitions of "rural areas", "preceptorship", and "primary health-care" for purposes of the tax credit; Modifying the certification requirements for taxpayers who claim the tax credit; and Providing a tax preference performance statement for the tax credit.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The concurrent resolution amends section 2 of article XVIII of the Colorado constitution by: Repealing the 5-year continuous existence requirement to obtain a charitable gaming license; and Authorizing a manager or operator of a charitable game to make minimum wage until 2024, when the provision repeals the prohibition on paying managers or operators.(Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as adopted.)
The act repeals the requirement that an institution of higher education (institution) must classify a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student has attended a Colorado high school for 3 years and been admitted to college within 12 months of graduating or completing an equivalency examination. Instead, the act requires an institution to classify a student as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student: Either attended a public or private high school for one year immediately preceding the date the student graduated from a Colorado high school or was physically present in Colorado for at least one year immediately preceding the date the student successfully completed a high school equivalency examination in Colorado; and Has been physically present in Colorado for at least 12 consecutive months prior to enrolling in an institution. The act clarifies that a student who is classified as an in-state student because the student meets the requirements in the act is an in-state student for the purposes of determining whether an institution meets the minimum required percentage of in-state students in an incoming freshman class. Because the act repeals the requirement to be admitted to college within 12 months of graduation, the act also repeals the exception to that requirement for a student who does not have lawful immigration status and graduated or successfully completed the equivalency examination prior to September 1, 2013. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the transformational affordable housing revolving loan fund program (loan program) in the division of housing (division) in the department of local affairs (department) as a revolving loan program in accordance with the requirements of the act and the policies established by the division. The loan program provides flexible, low-interest, and below-market rate loan funding to assist eligible recipients in completing the eligible loan projects identified in the act. The division may administer the loan program or, if it determines that it would be more efficient and effective to contract out full or partial administration of the loan program, the division may enter into a contract with a third-party entity to administer the loan program. Any loan made under the loan program by the state, any department, division, or agency of the state, or any administrator to a district, as defined in the TABOR amendment to the state constitution, must either be approved by the voters of the district in accordance with TABOR or be structured so that it is not a multiple-fiscal year direct or indirect district debt or other financial obligation whatsoever that requires voter approval under TABOR. The act specifies eligibility requirements in order for projects to be funded under the loan program. The division is required to establish and publicize policies for the loan program. The division is encouraged to consider prioritizing applications for funding that satisfy certain objectives specified in the act. The transformational affordable housing revolving loan fund (fund) is created in the state treasury and the act specifies requirements pertaining to the administration of the fund. On July 1, 2022, the state treasurer is required to transfer $150 million from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund to the fund. The division is required to report on the activities of the loan program as part of the regular annual public report prepared by the division on affordable housing spending undertaken by the state. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $379,081 to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology (OIT). The appropriation is from reappropriated money from the fund. To implement the act, OIT may use the appropriation to provide information technology services for the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the spending authority granted to the department of agriculture as follows: The $3 million appropriation in Senate Bill 21-235, concerning additional funding for programs of the department of agriculture to support increased efficiency in agricultural operations, from the agriculture value-added cash fund to make grants to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, conduct energy audits, and provide technical assistance is continued through the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year; The $2.5 million appropriation in Senate Bill 21-203, concerning an appropriation to the department of agriculture for the Colorado proud program, from the general fund for use by the agricultural markets division for the Colorado proud program is continued through the end of the 2023-24 state fiscal year; and The $5 million appropriation in House Bill 21-1262, concerning monetary support for agricultural events in Colorado, from the Colorado state fair authority cash fund for use by the Colorado state fair is continued through the end of the 2022-23 state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes 3 new grant programs within the division of criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety: A multidisciplinary crime prevention and crisis intervention grant program to award grants to law enforcement, other local governmental agencies, federally recognized Indian tribes, community-based organizations, and third-party membership organizations or administrators to identify high-crime areas and to implement crime prevention and intervention strategies in those areas; A law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant program to award grants to law enforcement agencies to address workforce shortages, improve training, and improve relationships between law enforcement and impacted communities; and A state's mission for assistance in recruitment and training (SMART) policing grant program to increase the number of P.O.S.T.-certified and non-certified law enforcement officers who are representative of the communities they police and provide training for those additional law enforcement officers. The act directs the executive director of the department of public safety to establish policies and procedures and create advisory committees consisting of diverse members to review applications and make recommendations on who should receive grants and the amount of the grants. The act requires the division to create a project management team to coordinate grant programs. The act requires the division to host a statewide forum which may be facilitated by a national criminal justice organization to solicit suggestions on crime prevention measures related to the grant programs. The act requires the general assembly to appropriate money for the grant programs in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years, for the statewide forum in the 2022-23 fiscal year, and for the project management team in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years. The act appropriates from the general fund: $300,000 to the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to implement the act; $7.5 million to the multidisciplinary crime prevention and intervention grant fund; $3.75 million to the law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant fund; and $3.75 million to the SMART policing grant fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)