Sen. Jeff Bridges

Registrations and certificates of title - electronic issuance - appropriation. To electronically issue registrations and certificates of title, the act appropriates $1,187,502 out of gifts, grants, and donations and to the department of revenue for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 state fiscal years.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Apprenticeship resource directory - creation - appropriation. The act requires the department of labor and employment (department) to create the Colorado state apprenticeship resource directory. The department is required to collect detailed information on each apprenticeship program in the state, including the application process, costs, program outcomes, and requirements for enrollment. The department is required to promote the availability of the directory. $25,507 is appropriated to the department from the general fund to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Pretrial release - post bond within 2 hours - nominal processing fees - release 4 hours after posting bond - release even if costs or fees need to be paid - plan for bond hearing within 48 hours - application of bond toward fees, costs, fines, restitution, or surcharges. The act creates rights for defendants related to release on bond as follows: Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, a defendant must be allowed to post bond within 2 hours after the sheriff receives the bond information from the court; Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, a defendant cannot be charged more than a $10 bond processing fee and not charged any additional transaction fees including kiosk fees; except that a standard credit card processing fee may be charged when a credit card is used; Unless extraordinary circumstances exist, the custodian of a jail has to release a defendant within 4 hours after the defendant has posted bond and is physically present in the jail; except that, if the defendant needs to be fitted for an electronic monitoring device, then the 4-hour period does not apply; and If a defendant has been granted bond and can meet the terms of the bond, the court shall release the defendant even if the defendant is unable to pay a fee or cost. The act requires the chief judge of each judicial district to develop a plan for setting bond for all in-custody defendants within 48 hours of arrest. In developing the plan, county commissioners, sheriffs, and district attorneys shall provide the chief judge cost estimates of feasibility as well as any potential savings from the proposal, including jail bed costs and savings. No later than November 1, 2019, the state court administrator's office shall report to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and the senate the plans for all 22 judicial districts, not including the Denver county court. The report must include an estimate of resources necessary to implement a 48-hour requirement. Under current law, a defendant's bond deposit can be applied to court costs, fees, fines, restitution, or surcharges owed by the defendant. The act allows application of the bond if the defendant posted the bond and agrees in writing to allow it to be used for such purposes. The act prohibits that application if the bond was posted by a third party. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Electric scooters - regulation - authorizing use on roadways. Electric scooters, which are lightweight, motorized transportation devices, with handlebars, that obtain a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour when powered by motor, are currently regulated as toy vehicles. Toy vehicles are authorized for use on sidewalks, but not for use on roadways. The act excludes electric scooters from the definition of "toy vehicle" and includes electric scooters in the definition of "vehicle", thus authorizing the use of electric scooters on roadways. The act affords riders of electric scooters the same rights and duties that riders of electrical assisted bicycles have under Colorado law. Section 5 of the act authorizes a local government to regulate the operation of an electric scooter in a manner that is no more restrictive than the manner in which the local government may regulate an electrical assisted bicycle. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Legislative services - director of research of the legislative council - state tax system working group - report - appropriation. The director of research of the legislative council, in coordination with the other nonpartisan legislative staff agencies, the department of revenue, the department of personnel, and the governor's office of information technology, is required to convene a state tax system working group (working group) to meet during the interim following the first regular session of the seventy-second general assembly and to conduct an analysis of the state tax system used by the department of revenue. The working group is authorized to solicit input from any additional interested parties, as deemed necessary and appropriate by the working group. The working group is required to provide a progress report regarding its work to the joint technology committee and the joint budget committee and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations in connection with the state tax system to the joint technology committee, the joint budget committee, and the finance committees of the house of representatives and the senate. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $44,552 is appropriated from the general fund to the legislative department and $30,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue for the purposes of the working group. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Automated external defibrillator - placement of AED in public place - acceptance of donated AED - appropriation. The act encourages any person that owns, operates, or manages a public place or public school to place functional automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in sufficient quantities to ensure reasonable availability for use during perceived sudden cardiac arrest emergencies. Any public place or public school is required to accept any gift, grant, or donation of an AED that meets federal standards. If a public place or public school accepts a donated AED but the public place or public school does not want to accept responsibility for AED training, installation, or maintenance, the public place or public school is not required to accept the AED unless the donating party agrees to be responsible for AED training, installation, and maintenance. If the donating party accepts responsibility but can no longer provide maintenance, the public place or public school may remove the AED from the public place or public school. The public place or public school is allowed to decide who will be trained, the frequency of training, and when the AED training and installation will take place. On or before September 1, 2019, the department of public health and environment shall award a $15,000 contract to a nonprofit organization for the purpose of acquiring and distributing AEDs to public places. The act makes an appropriation of $15,000 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the health facilities and emergency medical services division for the state EMS coordination, planning, and certification program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Full-day kindergarten - funding - appropriation. Before passage of the act, the school finance formula provided funding for half-day kindergarten educational programs plus a small additional amount of supplemental kindergarten funding. The act provides funding through the school finance formula for full-day kindergarten educational programs. A student enrolled in a full-day kindergarten educational program will be funded at the same amount as students enrolled full-time in other grades. A student enrolled in a half-day kindergarten educational program will be funded as a half-day student plus the existing amount of supplemental kindergarten funding. Before passage of the act, many school districts charged parents of students enrolled in full-day kindergarten a fee to fund the full-day kindergarten educational program. After passage of the act, a school district or a charter school that provides a full-day kindergarten educational program shall not charge fees for attending kindergarten other than those fees that are routinely charged to parents of students enrolled in other grades and are applicable to the kindergarten educational program. However, if the general assembly stops funding kindergarten students as full-time pupils, then a school district or charter school may resume charging a fee or tuition for the unfunded portion of the school day. Before passage of the act, a school district was authorized to use a half-day preschool position to enroll a child in full-day kindergarten. The act prohibits using a preschool position to enroll a child in full-day kindergarten. A school district that used preschool positions in this manner in the 2018-19 budget year will retain the positions in the 2019-20 budget year and budget years thereafter to the extent the school district fills the positions with preschool students. The act directs a school district that is not offering a full-day kindergarten educational program as of the 2019-20 school year to submit a plan to the department of education addressing how it could phase in a full-day kindergarten educational program, but a school district is not required to offer a full-day kindergarten educational program. If a charter school seeks to expand an existing half-day kindergarten educational program to full day, it must notify the charter authorizer and amend the charter contract, if necessary. If the authorizer objects to the program expansion, the charter school and the authorizer must negotiate a change to the charter contract. If the parties cannot agree, the charter school may appeal the issue to the state board of education for a determination. Any renegotiation of the charter school's contract must be limited to the issue of expanding the kindergarten educational program. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $182,911,699 to the department of education for the state share of total program funding associated with full-day kindergarten programs. The act also appropriates $25,094 to the department of human services for child care licensing and administration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Advisory council for parent involvement in education - continuation - appropriation. The act continues the state advisory council for parent involvement in education ("council") for five years. The act changes the number of persons appointed to the council from 5 parents to one parent from each congressional district. The council is scheduled for a sunset review prior to repeal in September 2024. The act appropriates $2,000 to the department of education from the general fund for accountability and improvement planning. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Tenants and landlords - warranty of habitability - breach of warranty - tenants' remedies. Under current law, a warranty of habitability (warranty) is implied in every rental agreement for a residential premises. The act states that, except in cases involving a condition that is based on the presence of mold, a landlord commits a breach of the warranty (breach) if the residential premises is: Uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation or in a condition that materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety; and The landlord has received reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition and failed to commence remedial action by employing reasonable efforts within: 24 hours, where the condition materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety; or 96 hours, where the premises is uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation and the tenant has included with the notice permission for the landlord or the landlord's authorized agent to enter the residential premises. For cases involving a residential premises that has mold that is associated with dampness, or where there is any other condition causing the residential premises to be damp, which condition, if not remedied, would materially interfere with the life, health, or safety of a tenant, a landlord commits a breach if the landlord fails: Within 96 hours after receiving reasonably complete written or electronic notice of the condition, to mitigate immediate risk of mold by installing a containment, stopping active sources of water to the mold, and installing a high-efficiency particulate air filtration device to reduce tenants' exposure to mold; To maintain the containment until certain acts have been performed; and Within a reasonable amount of time, to execute certain remedial actions to remove the health risk posed by mold. Current law provides a list of conditions that render a residential premises uninhabitable. To this list, the act adds 2 conditions; specifically, a residential premises is uninhabitable if: The premises lacks functioning appliances that conformed to applicable law at the time of installation and that are maintained in good working order; or There is mold that is associated with dampness, or there is any other condition causing the residential premises to be damp, which condition, if not remedied, would materially interfere with the health or safety of the tenant, excluding the presence of mold that is minor and found on surfaces that can accumulate moisture as part of their proper functioning and intended use. The act grants jurisdiction to county courts to provide injunctive relief related to a breach. The act also: States that if a tenant gives a landlord notice of a condition that materially interferes with the tenant's life, health, or safety, the landlord, at the request of the tenant, shall provide the tenant a comparable dwelling unit, as selected by the landlord, at no expense or cost to the tenant, or a hotel room, as selected by the landlord, at no expense or cost to the tenant; Allows a tenant who satisfies certain conditions to deduct from one or more rent payments the cost to repair or remedy a condition causing a breach; Repeals the requirement that a tenant notify a local government before seeking an injunction for a breach; Repeals provisions that allow a rental agreement to require a tenant to assume certain responsibilities concerning conditions and characteristics of a residential premises; Creates an exception for single-family residence premises for which a landlord does not receive a subsidy from any governmental source, by which exception a landlord and tenant may agree in writing that the tenant is to perform specific repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations, and remodeling, subject to certain requirements; Prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant in response to the tenant having made a good-faith complaint to the landlord or to a governmental agency alleging a condition that renders the premises uninhabitable or any condition that materially interferes with the life, health, or safety of the tenant; Repeals certain presumptions that favor landlords; and Specifies monetary damages that may be available to a tenant against whom a landlord retaliates. The act states that if the same condition that substantially caused a breach recurs within 6 months after the condition is repaired or remedied, other than a condition that merely involves a nonfunctioning appliance, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement 14 days after providing the landlord written or electronic notice of the tenant's intent to do so. In a case concerning a condition that merely involves a nonfunctioning appliance, if the landlord remedies the condition within 14 days after receiving the notice, the tenant may not terminate the rental agreement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Wage garnishment - disposable earnings - hardship exemption - notice - applicability. Under current law, the amount of an individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment is either 25% of the individual's disposable weekly earnings or the amount by which an individual's disposable earnings for a week exceed 30 times the state or federal minimum wage, whichever is less. The act changes the amount subject to garnishment to 20% of the individual's disposable weekly earnings 40 times the amount by which an individual's disposable earnings for a week exceed the state or federal minimum wage. Currently, the cost of court-ordered health insurance for a child provided by an individual is deducted from the individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment. The act also deducts from an individual's disposable earnings subject to garnishment the cost of any health insurance that is provided by the individual's employer and voluntarily withheld from the individual's earnings. The act creates an exemption that would permit individuals to prove that the amount of their pay subject to garnishment should be further reduced or eliminated altogether if the individual can establish that such reductions are necessary to support the individual or the individual's family. The act also requires clearer and more timely notice to an individual whose wages are being garnished and gives the individual more time after receiving the notice before garnishment starts. The act applies to all writs of garnishment issued on or after October 1, 2020, regardless of the date of the judgment that is basis of the writ of garnishment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More