The act enacts the "Interstate Licensed Professional Counselors Compact", which, once effective, will allow licensed professional counselors in any state that has joined the compact (member state) to provide: Licensed professional counselor services in each member state under a privilege to practice; and Telehealth services in each member state under a privilege to practice. The act authorizes the state board of licensed professional counselor examiners (board) to promulgate rules and to facilitate Colorado's participation in the compact, including notification to the Counseling Compact Commission (commission) established by the compact of any adverse action taken by the board against a Colorado licensed professional counselor. The commission includes a delegate from each member state and has the powers and duties set forth in the act. The compact becomes effective on the date the compact is enacted in the tenth member state. The act appropriates $104,538 to the department of regulatory agencies from the division of professions and occupations cash fund for use by the division of professions and occupations to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act corrects defects in the definitions of "bulk transfer and terminal system" and "gasoline", which defects resulted from legislation enacted in 2021. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a study to investigate devices that are capable of assessing cognitive and physical impairment of motorists to detect the presence of drugs other than alcohol during roadside sobriety investigations. The act requires the Colorado department of transportation (department) to issue a request for proposal for a study and report to be conducted and completed not later than June 1, 2023. The department shall submit and present a final report with the findings of the study at the joint transportation committee's "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearing and to the Colorado task force on drunk and impaired driving. The act sets requirements and standards for the study. The study repeals July 1, 2024. The act appropriates $751,649 from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department for the study. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill modifies the following statutory provisions that apply to solar energy so that they also apply to geothermal energy: which generally is using the heat of the earth to generate electricity or to heat or cool space or water: Section 1 of the bill requires the Colorado energy office (office) to develop basic consumer education and guidance about leased or purchased geothermal or, if available, leased installation in consultation with industries that offer these options to consumers of a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single building or for space heating for more than one building through a pipeline network; Sections 2, 6, and 8 limit the aggregate of all charges or other related or associated fees the state, a county, or a municipality may impose or assess to install a geothermal energy system, which means a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single building, for space heating for more than one building through a pipeline network, or for electricity generation; Section 3 specifies that geothermal equipment is a type of pollution control equipment that the division of administration in the department of public health and environment may certify as pollution control equipment; Section 4 specifies that a "project" for purposes of the "County and Municipality Development Revenue Bond Act" includes capital improvements to existing single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, or industrial structures, to retrofit such structures for installation of geothermal improvements a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling in a single structure; Section 5 permits a county board of commissioners or a regional planning commission, and section 9 requires permits a municipal development commission, to include methods for assuring access to appropriate conditions for geothermal energy sources in a master plan for development; Section 7 specifies that the addition of a geothermal energy device to such building used as part of a system that uses geothermal energy for water heating or space heating or cooling to a building is not necessarily considered a structural alteration for purposes of continuing a nonconforming use of a building, structure, or land under a county zoning resolution; Section 10 permits the Colorado agricultural value-added development board to use some of the money in the agriculture value-added cash fund for geothermal energy generation facilities that are colocated with agricultural uses; Section 11 10 adds a geothermal energy device to the types of renewable energy generation devices that cannot be prohibited in legal instruments related to the transfer or sale of, or interest in, real property; Section 13 includes an independently owned geothermal energy system, which is defined in section 12 , in the property tax exemption for household furnishings; Section 14 11 creates community geothermal gardens, which are analogous to community solar gardens; except that a qualifying retail utility is permitted and not required to purchase electricity and renewable energy credits generated from one or more community geothermal gardens; and Sections 15 and 16 12 through 16 create conforming amendments to the definition of "qualified community location" to incorporate community geothermal gardens for purposes of local improvement districts and municipal special improvement districts to the creation of community geothermal gardens. Section 1 requires permits the office to update the greenhouse gas pollution reduction roadmap to expressly include geothermal energy as a renewable energy resource that qualifying retail utilities may use to achieve the electric utility sector greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals set forth in the roadmap. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The federal "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019" expanded qualified distributions from a qualified state tuition program (529 account) to include expenses for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for the participation of a designated beneficiary in certain apprenticeship programs. In light of these changes to federal law, the act amends Colorado law to clarify what qualifies as a qualified distribution from a 529 account for the purpose of determining state taxable income. The act allows expenses for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for the participation of a designated beneficiary in certain apprenticeship programs to be treated as such a qualified distribution. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the geothermal energy grant program (grant program) in the Colorado energy office (office) within the office of the governor. The grant program offers 3 types of grants: The single-structure geothermal grant, which is awarded to applicants that are constructing new buildings and that are installing a geothermal system as the primary heating and cooling system for the building; The community district heating grant, which is awarded to support ground-source, water-source, or multisource thermal systems that serve more than one building; and The geothermal electricity generation grant, which is awarded to support the development of geothermal electricity generation and hydrogen generation produced from geothermal energy. The act sets qualifications, limits, and standards for awarding the grants. A grantee is prohibited from using the money for any purpose not specified in statute or in the grant application. Using the grant money for another purpose subjects the grantee to a civil action seeking repayment. The act creates the geothermal energy grant fund (fund).The grant money in the fund is allocated in the following percentages: Up to 40% of the total money in the fund may be awarded in grants for to support the development of geothermal electricity generation and resource development, which may include hydrogen generation produced from geothermal energy; Up to 80% of the total money in the fund may be awarded in grants for constructing new buildings using geothermal heating, and one-fourth of the money must be awarded to eligible entities from or projects in low-income, disproportionately impacted, or just transition communities; and Up to 25% of the total money in the fund may be awarded in grants to support the development of community district heating systems in new construction or to retrofit existing buildings. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to implement the grant program. The state treasurer will transfer $12 million from the general fund to the fund. The office administers the grant program and, in doing so, must develop and apply criteria for evaluating and awarding grant applications that: Prioritize projects in low-income, disproportionately impacted, or just transition communities; and Maximize the number of additional projects that would otherwise not occur without grant money. Each grantee must submit an annual report to the office for 2 years following receipt of a grant award. By February 1, 2024, and each year thereafter through February 1, 2026, the office must submit a report to the transportation and energy committee of the senate and the energy and environment committee of the house of representatives. The report must include for the preceding calendar year: The total amount of grant money awarded; The total number of grants awarded and the amount of each grant; The total amount of grant money awarded to each grantee; The percentage of the total amount of grant money awarded for each type of grant; The total amount of matching funds that grantees provided to receive a grant; The percentage of the total amount of grant money awarded to and for projects in low-income, disproportionately impacted, or just transition communities; and To the extent available, the effects of the grants on gas use, electricity use, emissions, and energy costs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under existing law, a pawnbroker is a person who regularly engages in the business of making contracts for purchase or purchase transactions in the course of his or her business. The act amends the definition of pawnbroker so that a person who is regularly engaged in the business of making purchase transactions is a pawnbroker only if the person also engages in the business of making contracts for purchase. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The collegeinvest authority administers the achieving a better life experience (ABLE) savings program. Individuals who were declared disabled, as defined under federal law, before reaching 26 years of age are eligible to open an ABLE savings account. ABLE savings accounts under section 529A of the internal revenue code are modeled after section 529 college savings accounts, but, unlike those accounts, ABLE savings accounts may be used to save for many expenses related to an individual's disability without disqualifying the individual for certain federal benefits. The act modifies the administration and operation of these accounts in 2 ways. First, the act allows a person other than the individual with a disability to open an ABLE savings account for the individual and to have signature authority over that account. Second, the act prohibits the state from filing a claim against the ABLE savings account upon the account owner's death for outstanding payments due for qualified disability expenses. The act also modifies the tax benefits associated with an ABLE savings account for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 tax years. Under the act, a taxpayer may deduct from their federal taxable income for purposes of calculating their state taxable income certain contributions made to an ABLE savings account. Further, the act ensures that a taxpayer does not encounter tax recapture of any deductions claimed for these contributions when distributions are made from an ABLE savings account for qualified disability expenses. $44,517 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for the implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the innovative housing incentive program (program) within the office of economic development (office). A business located in Colorado that has 500 or fewer employees and that manufactures certain types of housing may apply for funding through the program. Funding may be awarded through grants for operating expenses and for incentives for units manufactured based on criteria established by the office such as affordability, location where the unit is installed in the state, or meeting energy efficiency standards. Funding may also be awarded through loans that fund a new housing manufacturing factory or the expansion of an existing housing manufacturing factory. The act creates the innovative housing incentive program fund, requires a $40 million transfer to the fund of money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund that originates from the general fund, and continuously appropriates all money in the fund to the office to fund the program. The office must annually report to the general assembly regarding the expenditure of money from the innovative housing incentive program fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the act correct incorrect cross references to sales tax filing and remittance requirements for direct pay permit holders in local sales tax statutes. Section 5 corrects an incorrect cross reference in the definition of "auction sale", which is defined to include only the sale of tangible personal property, by replacing a cross reference to a supplemental definition of sale that includes "the transaction of furnishing rooms or accommodations" with a cross reference to the more general definition of "sale". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)