Bill Tracker

Education: Dan Defibaugh, Dan Grange

The bill creates the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the
department of labor and employment (department) as a type 1 agency.
The executive director of the department is required to appoint a director
of the SAA (director). The purpose of the SAA is to:
  • Serve as the primary point of contact with the United States
department of labor's office of apprenticeship concerning

apprentices and registered apprenticeship programs; and
  • Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration,
required standards for registration, quality assurance, the
promotion of apprenticeships, and the provision of
technical assistance.
The director shall establish the state apprenticeship council (SAC)
and an interagency advisory committee on apprenticeship (IAC). The
governor and the director appoint the members of the SAC and the IAC.
The SAC is charged with overseeing registered apprenticeship programs
for the building and construction trades in this state and ensuring
compliance with state and federal laws and standards. The IAC is charged
with the same responsibilities for all other apprenticeships not in the
building and construction trades.
The bill requires the SAA to accept applications for registration of
apprenticeship programs beginning July 1, 2023. The SAA may deregister
an apprenticeship program for noncompliance with the requirements in
the bill. The SAA shall conduct a hearing upon request of the SAC or the
IAC regarding issues of noncompliance and deregistration.
The director of the SAA is authorized to promulgate rules to
implement the state apprenticeship registration program.

The bill establishes the water storage tank wildfire mitigation grant
program (grant program) within the forest service. Grant recipients may
use grant money to purchase water storage tanks for wildfire firefighting
efforts. The grant program only awards grants to entities that are an
agency of local government, a county, a municipality, a special district,
a tribal agency or program, or a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization

that is registered and in good standing with the secretary of state's office.
In awarding grants, the forest service considers the potential impact of
additional water storage tanks in the applicant's jurisdiction or area.
Grant recipients are required to report to the forest service, and the
forest service is required to annually report on the grant program to the
wildfire matters review committee.
The bill also creates the water storage tank wildfire mitigation cash
fund. Money in the fund is used to implement the grant program. The
general assembly is required to transfer $5 million into the fund beginning
September 1, 2021, through and including the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

The bill directs the Colorado water conservation board (board), in
consultation with the state engineer, to contract with a Colorado
institution of higher education (institution) to conduct a study to:
  • Evaluate ways to maximize the beneficial use of water
within Colorado and implement the storage
recommendations of the Colorado water plan by storing

water underground when water is available;
  • Evaluate ways to minimize the amount of water that flows
out of Colorado to downstream states, without risking
noncompliance with applicable interstate compacts, United
States supreme court rulings, other federal law, decreed
absolute and conditional water rights, the prior
appropriation system, and Colorado's anti-speculation
doctrine;
  • Identify:
  • Specific aquifers that are hydrologically and legally
available to be used for underground storage and
subsequent beneficial use;
  • Sources of revenue that could be used to pay for the
underground storage projects; and
  • Planned potential or existing underground storage
projects that would meet the objectives identified in
the study;
  • Examine the role that various water entities might play in
financing and implementing underground storage projects;
and
  • Recommend legislative changes needed to implement
managed underground storage projects in the identified
aquifers.
The bill directs the board or the institution to submit a report
summarizing the results of the study to the water resources review
committee by August 1, 2022, which shall either have legislation drafted
to implement the study's recommendations or submit the study along with
its own recommendations to the committees of the general assembly with
jurisdiction over water resources by January 1, 2023.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill creates the emergency invasive-pest response fund (fund),
which is subject to annual appropriation. The commissioner of agriculture
(commissioner) may expend money from the fund to implement the bill
and emergency measures to control or eradicate invasive pests. The state
agricultural commission (commission) may request that, at the end of
each fiscal year, money in the plant health, pest control, and

environmental protection cash fund be transferred to the fund. The
commissioner is authorized to seek and expend gifts, grants, or donations
from private or public sources for the new fund.
The commissioner may:
  • Enter into an agreement with any person or local
government to provide pest control services. The
department of agriculture may provide pest control services
directly or through a local government and may require
remuneration for providing pest control services. The
remuneration is deposited in the fund.
  • Work cooperatively with the United States secretary of
agriculture to implement a joint phytosanitary program if
the program would economically or environmentally assist
with mitigating or eradicating the spread of a regulated
nonquarantine pest; and
  • Quarantine anything that harbors a pest if the pest has an
economically unacceptable impact and if the measures to
control the pest may achieve an acceptable level of official
control.
If the commissioner determines that a public nuisance creates an
unacceptable risk of spreading a pest, the commissioner may coordinate
with industry to, support local governments to, and make grants to take
emergency action to quarantine, control, or eradicate an invasive pest.
The commission may establish procedures for determining what
is a public nuisance.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

For a mutual ditch corporation, the bill creates a presumption,
which may be changed by changing the corporation's articles of
incorporation or bylaws, that the shares of stock owned by a stockholder
in the corporation represent:
  • The right to use the water rights appropriated or purchased
by the corporation; and

  • Corresponding rights to divert and deliver the stockholder's
water rights through a ditch, canal, reservoir, or other
works.
The bill also authorizes these water rights to be limited to a pro
rata amount at times when shareholder demand exceeds available supply.
A mutual ditch corporation may operate using traditional ditch operating
practices.
The bill clarifies that:
  • When a shareholder is not using some of or all of the
available water under the shareholder's rights, the right to
use the water rights does not include the right to prevent
other stockholders from using any portion of the
corporation's water rights; and
  • The statutes covering ditch and reservoir companies do not
prevent a stockholder from changing the use of the
stockholder's shares or change the standards for water court
approval to change a water right.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill:
  • Adds guardian ad litem and conservator services to the list
of medical aid that an employer is required to furnish to an
employee who is incapacitated as a result of a work-related
injury or occupational disease (section 1 of the bill);
  • Requires an injured worker who is claiming mileage
reimbursement for travel related to obtaining compensable
medical care to submit a request to the employer or insurer
within 120 days after the expense is incurred, and requires
the employer or insurer to pay or dispute mileage within 30
days after submittal and to include in the brochure of
claimants' rights an explanation of rights to mileage
reimbursement and the deadline for filing a request
(sections 1 and 7);
  • Clarifies that offsets to disability benefits granted by the
federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance
Amendments of 1965 only apply if the payments were not
already being received by the employee at the time of the
work-related injury (section 2);
  • Prohibits the reduction of an employee's temporary total
disability, temporary partial disability, or medical benefits
based on apportionment under any circumstances; limits
apportionment of permanent impairment to specific
situations; and declares that the employer or insurer bears
the burden of proof, by a preponderance of the evidence, at
a hearing regarding apportionment of permanent
impairment or permanent total disability benefits (section
3);
  • Adds the following conditions that must be met for an
employer or insurer to request the selection of an
independent medical examiner when an authorized treating
physician has not determined that the employee has reached
maximum medical improvement (MMI): An examining
physician must have examined the employee at least 20
months after the date of the injury, have determined that the
employee has reached MMI, and have served a written
report to the authorized treating physician specifying that
the examining physician has determined that the employee
has reached MMI; and the authorized treating physician
must have responded that the employee has not reached
MMI or must have failed to respond within 15 days after
service of the report (section 4);
  • Changes the whole person impairment rating applicable to
an injured worker from 25% to 19% for purposes of
determining the maximum amount of combined temporary
disability and permanent partial disability payments an
injured worker may receive (section 5);
  • Clarifies when benefits and penalties payable to an injured
worker are deemed paid (section 6);
  • Prohibits an employer or insurer from withdrawing an
admission of liability when 2 years or more have passed
since the date the admission of liability on the issue of
compensability was filed, except in cases of fraud (section
7);
  • Prohibits the director of the division of workers'
compensation or an administrative law judge from
determining issues of compensability or liability unless
specific benefits or penalties are awarded or denied at the
same time (section 8);
  • Clarifies the scope of authority of prehearing
administrative law judges (section 9);
  • Increases the threshold amount that an injured worker must
earn in order for permanent total disability payments to
cease and allows for annual adjustment of the threshold
amount starting in 2022 (section 11); and
  • Clarifies the orders that are subject to review or appeal
(sections 10 and 12).

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill establishes immunity from civil liability for entities for
any act or omission that results in exposure, loss, damage, injury, or death
arising out of COVID-19 if the entity attempts in good faith to comply
with applicable public health guidelines.
The bill is repealed 2 years after the date the governor terminates
the state of disaster emergency declared on March 11, 2020.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

Current law requires an individual or entity to notify the statewide
notification association of all owners and operators of underground
facilities of its intent to engage in excavation so that any underground
facilities that the excavation might affect, such as water and sewer pipes,
gas lines, and electric or cable lines, can be located and marked before
excavation begins. Underground facilities are often located beneath
county gravel and dirt roads, normally at a depth of at least 18 inches
below the road surface. Counties maintain the profile and surface
condition of such county roads and county road rights-of-way by
engaging in routine and emergency maintenance activities that do not
disturb more than 6 inches in depth. These maintenance activities
currently trigger the excavation notification requirement, and the related
requirement that the location of underground facilities be marked, even
though they occur above the levels where underground facilities are
located. To prevent such activities from triggering the excavation
notification requirement, the bill specifies that excavation does not
include routine or emergency maintenance of right-of-way on
county-owned gravel or dirt roads performed by county employees that:
  • Does not lower the existing grade or elevation of the road,
shoulder, and ditches; and
  • Does not disturb more than 6 inches in depth during
maintenance operations.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill creates the support pollinators license plate for vehicles.
A person qualifies for issuance of the plate if the person makes a donation
to a designated nonprofit organization that supports pollinators. The
organization must use the donation for pollination programs and
education.
In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay

2 additional one-time fees for the issuance of the plate. One of these fees
is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other fee is credited to
the licensing services cash fund.

Tax & Budget: Gene Pielin, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

Statutory Revision Committee. The bill removes an unused
definition of agricultural compounds and a redundant reference to a
sales and use tax exemption for poultry and livestock. The bill also

reorganizes special fuel and farm equipment sales and use tax exemptions
so that they are in the same location.

Under current law, local governments are prohibited from
requiring or banning the use or sale of specific types of plastic materials
or products. Section 1 repeals the prohibition on July 1, 2023.
Section 2 prohibits stores and retail food establishments, on and
after September 1, 2022, from providing single-use plastic carryout bags
to customers. The prohibition does not apply to inventory purchased
before September 1, 2022, and used on or before March 31, 2023, which
may be supplied to a customer at the point of sale for a 10-cent fee.

Between September 1, 2021, and September 1, 2022, a store may
furnish a recycled paper carryout bag or a single-use plastic carryout bag
to a customer at the point of sale if the customer pays a fee of 10 cents per
bag or a higher fee adopted by the municipality or county in which the
store is located.
On and after September 1, 2022, a store may furnish only a
recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale at a fee of
10 cents per bag or a higher fee imposed by the municipality or county in
which the store is located.
A store is required to remit, on a quarterly basis beginning January
1, 2022, 60% of the carryout bag fee revenues to the municipality or
county within which the store is located and may retain the remaining
40% of the carryout bag fee revenues. A municipality or county may use
its portion of the carryout bag fee revenues to pay for its administrative
and enforcement costs and any recycling, composting, or other waste
diversion programs or related outreach or education activities.
The carryout bag fee does not apply to a customer that provides
evidence to the store that the customer is a participant in a federal or state
food assistance program.
Section 2 also prohibits a retail food establishment, on and after
January 1, 2022, from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for
use as a container for ready-to-eat food in this state. The prohibition does
not apply to retail food establishments located within certain schools until
January 1, 2023; except that the prohibition does not apply to a high
school until January 1, 2024.
Retail food establishments that purchase expanded polystyrene
products before January 1, 2022, may continue to use the products until
their supply is depleted.
Section 2 also authorizes a local government to enforce against a
violation of section 2 and expressly authorizes a county to impose a civil
penalty against a store or retail food establishment of $500 for a second
violation or $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation.
On and after July 1, 2023, a local government may enact,
implement, or enforce an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision
that is as stringent as or more stringent than the requirements set forth in
the bill.

Tax & Budget: Gene Pielin, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill allows a retailer to advertise, directly or indirectly, or
imply, that the retailer will absorb or pay any or all sales or use tax on
purchases of tangible personal property or services sold.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill prohibits a property owner from withholding from a
contractor more than 5% of the price of completed work to ensure the
work is satisfactorily completed. The contractor and subcontractors are
also prohibited from withholding more than 5% from subcontractors and
suppliers. The bill also clarifies that these prohibitions do not apply to
other types of contractual conditions made before payment is due.

The contract may require lien waivers to be executed before
payment is made.
The bill applies to:
  • A contract that has a price of at least $150,000; and
  • A subcontract or supply agreement to such a contract.
The bill does not apply to a single contract that governs:
  • The building of:
  • A single-family dwelling;
  • A multifamily dwelling with 4 or fewer family
dwelling units; or
  • A contract with a public entity.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill creates the Colorado soil health program in the department
of agriculture (department). The soil health program is voluntary. The
department, commissioner of agriculture (commissioner), and state
agricultural commission will administer the soil health program.
The department may establish the following:
  • A system for monitoring the environmental or economic

benefits of soil health practices;
  • A state soil health inventory and platform;
  • A soil health testing program; and
  • Other programs the department deems appropriate or
necessary.
Before establishing a system, inventory and platform, or program,
the department must provide public notice and afford the public an
opportunity to submit written comments.
The department may also:
  • Seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations;
  • Administer and expend the money from public and private
sources;
  • Provide grants, loans, and other resources to perform soil
health activities; and
  • Cooperate and collaborate with other people.
The bill also creates a soil health advisory committee (advisory
committee). The commissioner is required to appoint members who
represent the different geographic areas, political diversity, and
demographic diversity of the state and include agricultural producers of
diverse production systems.
The advisory committee will make recommendations to the
department and assist in the development of the soil health program. The
advisory committee is also authorized to solicit input, review proposals
and agreements, and evaluate the soil health program.
The department shall maintain the confidentiality of information
related to private lands that identify landowners, land managers,
agricultural producers, or lands.
No later than January 31 of each year, the department shall prepare
and make available to the public a report of its activities on its official
website.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

Usually, an owner of digital electronic equipment (equipment),
such as cell phones and tablets, must seek diagnostic, maintenance, or

repair services of the equipment from the original equipment
manufacturer (manufacturer) or an authorized repair provider affiliated
with the manufacturer.
The bill requires a manufacturer to provide parts, embedded
software, firmware, tools, or documentation, such as diagnostic,
maintenance, or repair manuals, diagrams, or similar information, to
independent repair providers and owners of the manufacturer's equipment
to allow an independent repair provider or owner to conduct diagnostic,
maintenance, or repair services. A manufacturer's failure to comply with
the requirement is an unfair or deceptive trade practice. Manufacturers
need not divulge any trade secrets to independent repair providers and
owners.
The bill does not apply to motor vehicle manufacturers or dealers
acting in that capacity, powersports vehicle manufacturers or dealers
acting in that capacity, or medical devices; except that the bill does apply
to class 2 powered wheelchairs.
Any contractual provision or other arrangement that a
manufacturer enters into that would remove or limit the manufacturer's
obligation to provide these resources to independent repair providers and
owners is void and unenforceable.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill limits the definition of overpayments of workers'
compensation benefits to include only benefits paid as a result of fraud or
duplicate benefits that result from offsets that reduce disability or death
benefits paid to a claimant. The bill also:
  • Clarifies that this limit does not prevent an insurance
carrier from receiving a credit against permanent disability

benefits for temporary disability benefits paid beyond the
date of maximum medical improvement; and
  • Prohibits the director of the division of workers'
compensation or an administrative law judge from
reopening an award of benefits paid to a claimant due to an
overpayment except in limited, specific circumstances.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

Section 2 of the bill:
  • Sets forth a process and deadlines for and requires the
conversion of Pinnacol Assurance from a political

subdivision of the state to a stock insurance company
owned by a mutual insurance holding company, the initial
members of which are the policyholders of Pinnacol
Assurance immediately prior to the conversion, and also
sets forth a process and deadlines for the disaffiliation of
Pinnacol Assurance from the public employees' retirement
association (PERA), with details as to how the
disaffiliation is to be accomplished;
  • Requires the transfer of a specified amount from Pinnacol
Assurance to the state within 5 days of the effective date of
the conversion and requires the money transferred to be
allocated in equal shares to the controlled maintenance trust
fund and to the just transition trust fund; and
  • Requires the commissioner of insurance to contract with an
insurance company as the carrier of last resort for
employers seeking workers' compensation insurance and
for the successor stock insurance company to serve in that
capacity for a transitional period.
Section 3 repeals the existing statutes concerning Pinnacol
Assurance in its current form as a political subdivision of the state.
Sections 4 to 35 make conforming amendments necessitated by
the conversion of Pinnacol Assurance from a political subdivision of the
state to a stock insurance company owned by a mutual insurance holding
company and the disaffiliation of Pinnacol Assurance from PERA.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

Section 1 of the bill creates in the department of agriculture the
agricultural drought and climate resilience office (office). The office may
provide voluntary technical assistance, nonregulatory programs, and
incentives that increase the ability to anticipate, prepare for, mitigate,
adapt to, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related

to drought or the climate. The office may accept gifts, grants, and
donations for these purposes. On July 1, 2021, the state treasurer shall
transfer all unobligated money in the agriculture value-added cash fund
to the newly created agriculture drought and climate resiliency cash fund.
The commissioner of agriculture shall appoint the head of the office and
may promulgate rules necessary for the administration of the office's
assistance, programs, and incentives.
Section 2 annually transfers $500,000 from tier 2 of the severance
tax operational fund to the new cash fund until July 1, 2029.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

The bill allocates $20 million from the general fund to the
Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) to be spent to implement the
state water plan as follows:
  • $15 million, which is transferred to the water plan
implementation cash fund for expenditures and grants

administered by the CWCB to implement the state water
plan; and
  • $5 million, which is transferred to the water supply reserve
fund for CWCB to disperse to the basin roundtables.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

The bill declares that new technologies, such as blockchain,

telemetry, improved sensors, and advanced aerial observation platforms,
can improve monitoring, management, conservation, and trading of water
and enhance confidence in the reliability of data underlying water rights
transactions. To advance the potential use of these new technologies, the
bill:
  • Authorizes and directs the university of Colorado and
Colorado state university, in collaboration with the
Colorado water institute at Colorado state university, to
conduct feasibility studies and pilot deployments of these
new technologies to improve water management in
Colorado; and
  • Appropriates $20,000 to each university from the general
fund, contingent on the universities' receipt of a matching
$40,000 in gifts, grants, and donations, for the purpose of
funding the feasibility studies and pilot deployments.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller, Will LaPoint

Section 1 of the bill requires owners of certain large buildings
(covered buildings), on an annual basis, to collect and report to the
Colorado energy office (office) the covered building's energy use. The
bill establishes a process requiring certain electric and gas utilities to
provide energy-use data to a covered building owner when requested by
the covered building owner.
Section 1 also requires that, on or before June 1, 2027, a covered
building owner demonstrate that, in 2026, the covered building met
performance standards set forth in the bill. A covered building owner
must demonstrate compliance with the performance standards every 5
years after June 1, 2027. The air quality control commission
(commission) is required to adopt rules in 2026 or 2027 that extend or
modify the performance standards. Thereafter, the commission may, as
the commission deems necessary, modify the performance standards by
rule.
Section 2 requires the office to assist covered building owners
with the reporting requirements set forth in section 1 by:
  • Creating a database of covered buildings and owners
required to comply with section 1;
  • Developing publicly available, digitally interactive maps
and lists showing the energy-use and performance-standard
data reported;
  • Coordinating with any local government that implements
its own energy benchmarking requirements or energy
performance program, including coordination of reporting
requirements; and
  • Collecting an annual fee from owners of covered buildings
of $100 per covered building. The office is required to
transfer the fees collected to the state treasurer, who will
credit the fees to the climate change mitigation and
adaptation fund (fund) created in section 2.
Section 3 imposes penalties for violations of section 1, ranging
from $500 to $5,000, depending on whether the violations are first
violations or subsequent violations, and requires that the civil penalty
payments be credited to the fund. Certain subsequent violations are also
subject to a penalty of 2 cents per square foot of gross floor area of the
covered building for each day that the violations continue.
Section 4 modifies the definition of an energy performance
contract that a governing body of a municipality, county, special district,
or school district (board) enters into for evaluation, recommendations, or
implementation of energy-saving measures to remove requirements that
a board's payment for goods and services pursuant to the contract be made
within a certain number of years of the contract's execution.
1

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

CONCERNING APPROVAL OF WATER PROJECT REVOLVING FUND
ELIGIBILITY LISTS ADMINISTERED BY THE COLORADO WATER
RESOURCES AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill exempts a business from a public health agency order or
executive order requiring businesses to close if:
  • The products sold or services offered by the business are
also available at a business that has not been required by
the applicable order to cease or limit operations and the
open business is operating at a physical location in the

geographical area that is subject to the order; and
  • The business that is required by the applicable order to
limit or cease operations complies with any safety
precautions that the order requires of businesses that are
permitted to continue operations.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

An entity is not liable for any damages that result from exposure,
loss, damage, injury, or death arising out of COVID-19 unless:
  • A claimant proves by clear and convincing evidence that
the exposure, loss, damage, injury, or death was caused by
the entity's failure to comply with public health guidelines;
or

  • The exposure, loss, damage, injury, or death was caused by
gross negligence or a willful and wanton act or omission of
the entity.
The bill is repealed 2 years after the date the governor terminates
the state of disaster emergency declared on March 11, 2020.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill:
  • Removes the exemption of agricultural employers and
employees from the Colorado Labor Peace Act and
authorizes agricultural employees to organize and join
labor unions; engage in protected, concerted activity; and
engage in collective bargaining;
  • Removes the exemption of agricultural labor from state and
local minimum wage laws;

  • Requires the director of the division of labor standards and
statistics to promulgate rules to establish the overtime pay
of agricultural employees for hours worked in excess of 40
hours per week or 12 hours in one day;
  • Grants agricultural employees meal breaks and rest periods
throughout each work period, consistent with protections
for other employees;
  • Requires agricultural employers to provide agricultural
employees with access and transportation to key service
providers;
  • Authorizes agricultural employees to have visitors at
employer-provided housing without interference from other
persons;
  • Requires agricultural employers to provide overwork and
health protections to agricultural employees;
  • Prohibits the use of the short-handled or long-handled hoe
for agricultural labor except in specific circumstances;
  • During a public health emergency, requires an agricultural
employer to provide extra protections and increased safety
precautions for agricultural employees;
  • Creates the agricultural work advisory committee to study
and analyze agricultural wages and working conditions;
and
  • Creates rights, remedies, and enforcement actions for
aggrieved agricultural employees, whistleblowers, relators,
and key service providers.

Education: Dan Defibaugh, Dan Grange

The career development success program provides financial
incentives for participating school districts and participating charter
schools to encourage pupils enrolled in grades 9 through 12 to enroll in
and successfully complete qualified industry-credential programs;
qualified internship, residency, or construction industry

pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs; and qualified advanced
placement courses (programs and courses). The bill amends the list of
qualified programs by removing residency programs and expanding
pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to include any industry
program, not just construction industry programs.
The bill expands the definition of a qualified industry-credential
program to include a career and technical education program that, upon
completion, results in an industry-recognized credential with labor market
value aligned with a high-skill, high-wage, in-demand job.
Current law requires the work force development council (council)
to identify the programs and courses by identifying the jobs included in
the Colorado talent report with the greatest regional and state demand,
including jobs in in-demand industries. The bill requires the council to
consult with relevant industries to identify the programs and courses by
identifying high-skill, high-wage jobs in in-demand industries that have
labor market value. Any programs and courses the council determines do
not demonstrate labor market value may be removed from the council's
website.
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, and each school year
thereafter, the department of education (department), in coordination with
the department of labor and employment, the department of higher
education, the Colorado community college system, and employers from
in-demand industries, shall identify the top 10 industry-recognized
credentials that may be awarded to high school students. For each
identified credential, the department shall specify how the courses taken
to earn the credential align with the state academic standards.
The bill requires each participating school district, each
nonparticipating school district on behalf of its participating charter
schools, and the state charter school institute on behalf of each
participating institute charter school to report to the department the total
number of pupils who successfully complete a program or course,
disaggregated by the student's race, ethnicity, and gender, and whether the
student is a student with a disability, an English language learner, or
eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Current law requires each participating school district and each
participating charter school to regularly communicate to all high school
students the availability of programs and courses and the benefits a
student receives as a result of successfully completing one of the
programs or courses. The bill expands this requirement to all middle
school students and the students' families.
The bill requires each participating school district and each
participating charter school to communicate how industry-recognized
credentials and guaranteed-transfer pathways courses that are included in
such credentials are aligned with postsecondary degrees and high-skill,
high-wage, in-demand jobs, and the top 10 industry-recognized
credentials identified by the department. The communications must be
provided in a language that the students and the students' families
understand.
The bill updates the department's annual reporting requirements to
the general assembly to include:
  • Whether the students participating in the programs and
courses enlisted in the military or entered the workforce
after graduation;
  • How money received under the career development success
program was used to promote the availability of programs
and courses; and
  • How the participating school district or participating
charter school determined which programs and courses to
offer, including how the programs and courses are aligned
with local workforce needs.
No later than July 1, 2022, the department, in collaboration with
the Colorado community college system, shall publish and disseminate
materials through existing and relevant platforms used to engage with
districts that include, at a minimum, the top 10 industry-recognized
credentials and a sample communications plan for how a participating
school district or participating charter school may communicate the value
of credentials and experiences to students and families.
The bill requires participating school districts and participating
charter schools to utilize program funding to promote access to programs
and courses.

Tax & Budget: Gene Pielin, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill allows counties, municipalities, and special districts to
exempt up to 100% of business personal property from the levy and
collection of property taxation for the 2021 property tax year.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment
practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the bill:
  • Allows an employment discrimination claim to be brought
in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county or
district where the alleged discriminatory or unfair
employment practice occurred and allows an individual to

file a civil action, without otherwise exhausting
administrative proceedings and remedies, as long as the
individual either files a charge with the Colorado civil
rights commission (commission) or serves a written
demand for the relief on the individual's employer and
allows the employer 14 days to respond;
  • Expands the definition of employee to include
individuals in domestic service; individuals who perform
a service for a price, including independent contractors,
subcontractors, and their employees; and individuals who
offer services or labor without pay;
  • Adds new definitions of caregiver, care recipient,
child, minor child, harassment, hostile work
environment, and independent contractor;
  • Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair
employment practices for individuals based on their
marital status or caregiver status;
  • Specifies that it is a discriminatory or unfair employment
practice for an employer to fail to initiate an investigation
of a complaint or fail to take prompt remedial action if
appropriate;
  • Prohibits certain preemployment medical examinations,
imposes limitations on inquiries and examinations about an
employee's disability during employment, and specifies that
violations of these prohibitions and limitations constitute
discriminatory or unfair employment practices;
  • Expands the time limit to file a charge with the commission
from 6 months to 300 days after the alleged discriminatory
or unfair employment practice occurred;
  • Repeals the limits on remedies in cases involving age
discrimination; and
  • Limits the ability of an employer to require confidentiality
of claims once a charge is filed with the commission.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller

The bill provides injured workers control over the selection of the
primary treating physician in workers' compensation cases, allowing them
to choose from any level I or level II accredited physician through the
division of workers' compensation. The bill creates the mechanism by
which the injured worker may select the treating physician, and requires
the employer or insurer to choose the physician when an injured worker

is unable or unwilling to select the treating physician.

Water: Jeff Echter, Glenda Mostek

The bill creates the agriculture and drought resiliency fund and
directs the state treasurer to transfer $3 million from the general fund to
the fund. The department of agriculture will use the fund to engage in

activities that promote the ability of the state to anticipate, prepare for,
mitigate, adapt to, or respond to any event, trend, or climatological
disturbance related to drought or climate. The fund is repealed, effective
September 1, 2022.

Business Practices: Hunter White, Troy Tinberg, Dan Grange, Steve Steele, Dot Miller, Will LaPoint

The bill directs the public utilities commission (PUC) to establish
energy savings targets and approve plans under which investor-owned

electric utilities will promote the use of energy-efficient electric
equipment in place of less efficient fossil-fuel-based systems. This
directive would substantially follow the model of existing demand-side
management (DSM) policies established by the PUC.
Section 1 of the bill declares that DSM has provided substantial
economic and environmental benefits, and the PUC's administration of
DSM has successfully carried out legislative intent; therefore, the PUC
is directed to implement the beneficial electrification programs and plans
using the same approach.
Sections 2 and 4 specify the parameters for these programs and
plans, including the types of systems and appliances that are eligible for
installation, the criteria to be considered when the PUC evaluates plan
proposals, the implementation of plans, utility cost-recovery mechanisms,
and performance incentives. Section 4 also requires that any installation,
upgrade, or new construction under a beneficial electrification program
must be performed either by utility employees or by qualified,
Colorado-licensed contractors.
Section 3 directs the PUC to apply current standards for
measurement of the social cost of carbon emissions, including methane,
in evaluating the cost, benefit, or net present value of utility plans and
proposals for beneficial electrification.
Section 5 makes a conforming amendment.

The bill creates the Colorado agricultural future loan program

(loan program) in the department of agriculture (department) to provide:
  • Farm-to-market infrastructure loans to eligible applicants;
and
  • Low-interest loans to eligible farmers or ranchers and
eligible businesses in Colorado.
The department shall administer the loan program and provide
loans from the Colorado agricultural future loan program cash fund
(fund), which is also created in the bill.
In administering the loan program, the department, to the extent
practicable, shall attempt to award:
  • A total of at least $5 million but no more than $10 million
in the form of farm-to-market infrastructure loans by June
30, 2022; and
  • A total of at least $10 million but no more than $20 million
in the form of low-interest loans to eligible farmers or
ranchers and eligible businesses by December 31, 2022.
In administering the loan program on and after January 1, 2023, to
the extent practicable, the department shall prioritize the provision of
loans to eligible farmers or ranchers who apply for loans from the loan
program and who have owned or operated a farm or ranch for less than
10 years or represent a population that is underserved or underrepresented
in Colorado agriculture.
The commissioner of agriculture is required to promulgate rules
to implement the loan program, and the department is required to submit
an annual report to the general assembly concerning the loan program.
The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $30 million from the
general fund to the fund for use by the department to implement and
administer the loan program. The money in the fund is continuously
appropriated to the department to expend for the loan program.

The bill creates new sources of dedicated funding and new state
enterprises to enable the planning, funding, development, construction,
maintenance, and supervision of a sustainable transportation system by
preserving, improving, and expanding existing transportation
infrastructure, developing the modern infrastructure needed to support the
widespread adoption of electric motor vehicles, and mitigating adverse
environmental and health impacts of transportation system use as follows:
  • Section 6 of the bill creates the community access
enterprise within the Colorado energy office (CEO) for the
purpose of supporting the widespread and equitable
adoption of electric motor vehicles and electric alternatives
to motor vehicles in an equitable manner. The community
access enterprise is authorized to impose a community
access retail delivery fee to fund its business purpose. The
governance and powers and duties of the community access
enterprise are specified.
  • Section 7 makes various general fund transfers to the state
highway fund, the highway users tax fund (HUTF), and the
multimodal transportation and mitigation options fund,
including limited contingent transfers of a portion of any
additional general fund revenue made available due to the
restoration of the excess state revenues cap (Referendum C
cap) by Section 8.
  • Section 8 restores the Referendum C cap, which the general
assembly reduced in 2017, to its maximum voter-approved
level.
  • Section 11 creates the clean fleet enterprise within the
department of public health and environment (CDPHE) for
the purpose of incentivizing and supporting the use of
electric motor vehicles and other clean fleet technologies
by owners and operators of motor vehicle fleets. The clean
fleet enterprise is authorized to impose a clean fleet retail
delivery fee to be paid by the purchaser of tangible
personal property delivered to the purchaser by motor
vehicle and a clean fleet per ride fee to be paid by a
transportation network company (TNC) on each ride
offered and accepted by the TNC to fund the clean fleet
enterprise's business purpose. The governance and powers
and duties of the clean fleet enterprise are specified.
  • Section 25 requires the department of revenue (DOR) to
collect the per ride fees imposed by the clean fleet
enterprise and the nonattainment area air pollution
mitigation enterprise as authorized by sections 11 and 50
Both fees are first imposed for rides offered and accepted
in state fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 and are annually adjusted
for consumer price index (CPI) inflation thereafter.
  • Section 26 indexes the existing $50 registration fee
imposed on electric motor vehicles to national highway
construction cost index (NHCCI) inflation and imposes
additional electric motor vehicle road usage equalization
fees on battery electric motor vehicles at a specified level
and on plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicles at a lower
level, with both additional fees being phased in on a set
schedule from state FYs 2022-23 through 2031-32 and
thereafter indexed to NHCCI inflation. Section 26 also
imposes a commercial electric motor vehicle fee. The
increase and new fee revenue is credited to the HUTF for
allocation to the state, counties, and municipalities; except
that 40% of the revenue generated by inflation indexing of
the existing $50 registration fee is credited to the electric
vehicle grant fund and 30% of the revenue generated by the
commercial electric motor vehicle fee is credited to the
state highway fund for freight-related projects. In 2026,
specified executive agencies must jointly review the fees
and make recommendations to the transportation legislation
review committee of the general assembly as to whether the
fees should be adjusted to ensure continued equalization of
the average aggregate amount of registration fees and
motor fuel charges annually paid by owners of electric
motor vehicles and owners of motor vehicles powered
exclusively by internal combustion engines.
  • Section 33 imposes road usage fees on gasoline and diesel
purchases that are phased in from state FYs 2022-23
through 2031-32 and thereafter indexed to NHCCI
inflation, with the road usage fees also being adjusted
beginning in state FY 2032-33 in a manner calculated to
generate the same amount of additional revenue as would
be generated by indexing the existing state excise taxes
imposed on gasoline and diesel to construction cost
inflation. The fee revenue is credited to the HUTF for
allocation to the state, counties, and municipalities.
  • Section 33 also imposes a retail delivery fee on retail
deliveries by motor vehicle that include tangible personal
property subject to the state sales tax, requires the fee to be
collected from the purchaser by the retailer, and requires
simultaneous collection of community access, clean fleet,
bridge and tunnel, clean transit, and air pollution mitigation
retail delivery fees imposed, respectively, by the
community access, clean fleet, statewide bridge and tunnel,
clean transit, and nonattainment area air pollution
mitigation enterprises. The fees are first collected in state
FY 2022-23 and are annually adjusted for CPI inflation
thereafter. Retail delivery fee revenue is credited to the
HUTF for allocation to the state, counties, and
municipalities and to the multimodal transportation and
mitigation options fund and each enterprise's retail delivery
fee revenue is collected by DOR on behalf of and credited
to the cash fund controlled by the enterprise.
  • Sections 43, 44, and 46 change the name of the statewide
bridge enterprise to the statewide bridge and tunnel
enterprise, authorize the enterprise to complete tunnel
projects, and authorize the enterprise to impose a bridge
and tunnel impact fee on diesel fuel and a bridge and tunnel
retail delivery fee to fund its business purpose. The bridge
and tunnel impact fee is phased in from state FYs 2022-23
through 2031-32 and thereafter indexed to NHCCI
inflation.
  • Section 45 indexes the existing $2 short-term daily vehicle
rental fee to CPI inflation and, on or after July 1, 2022,
requires a car sharing program to collect the daily vehicle
rental fee for any short-term vehicle rental of 24 hours or
longer that is enabled by the car sharing program.
  • Sections 47 through 49 change the name of the
multimodal transportation options fund to the multimodal
transportation and mitigation options fund and make
greenhouse gas mitigation projects eligible for funding
from the fund.
  • Section 50 creates the clean transit enterprise within the
department of transportation (CDOT) for the purpose of
supporting clean public transit through electrification
planning efforts, facility upgrades, fleet motor vehicle
replacement, and construction and development of
associated electric motor vehicle charging and fueling
infrastructure. The clean transit enterprise is authorized to
impose a clean transit retail delivery fee of up to a specified
amount to fund its business purpose. The governance and
powers and duties of the clean transit enterprise are
specified. Section 50 also creates the nonattainment area air
pollution mitigation enterprise for the purpose of mitigating
transportation-related emissions in ozone nonattainment
areas. The nonattainment area air pollution mitigation
enterprise is authorized to impose air pollution mitigation
per ride and retail delivery fees to fund its business
purpose.
Section 1 makes legislative findings and declarations that explain
the purpose of the bill and the reasons why it includes the new sources of
dedicated funding and new state enterprises that it does. Section 2
clarifies that an existing fee may be used to fund the functions of the
freight mobility and safety branch created in section 27. Sections 3 and
4 respectively clarify that the clean fleet enterprise operates as a type 1
agency within CDPHE and that the clean transit enterprise and the
nonattainment area air pollution mitigation enterprise operate as type 1
agencies within CDOT.
Section 5 requires the CEO and CDPHE, after consultation with
CDOT, to jointly and annually prepare a report for specified legislative
committees that details the progress made toward the electric motor
vehicle adoption goals set forth in the Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan
2020 and the transportation sector greenhouse gas pollution reduction
goals set forth in the Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction
Roadmap. Section 5 also specifies a methodology to be used by the
CEO, CDOT, and CDPHE to estimate the social costs of greenhouse gas
pollution.
Sections 9, 32, 42, and 51 effectuate the repeal of the requirement
that a ballot question seeking approval for the issuance of transportation
revenue anticipation notes be submitted to the voters of the state at the
November 2021 statewide election.
Section 10 requires CDOT to comply with specified transparency
and contractor short-listing requirements when using the integrated
project delivery method of contract procurement for a public project.
Section 14 clarifies that sales and use tax is not levied on the retail
delivery fees imposed by or as authorized by the bill. Sections 16
through 21 provide legal authority for collection under an existing
multistate agreement of the motor fuel road usage and bridge and tunnel
impact fees imposed by or as authorized by the bill. Section 22 requires
the public utilities commission to conduct a certificated taxi carrier parity
study.
Section 27 creates the freight mobility and safety branch in
CDOT's transportation development division. Section 28 requires CDOT
and metropolitan planning organizations to engage in an enhanced level
of planning, analysis, community engagement, and monitoring with
respect to transportation capacity projects and specifies what that entails
and also requires CDOT to conduct a road usage charge study and an
autonomous vehicle study. Section 29 allows some of the general fund
money transferred to the state highway fund pursuant to section 7 to be
used for multimodal transportation projects. Section 31 specifies the
manner in which revenue credited to the HUTF as required by the bill is
allocated and expended.
Sections 34 through 41 authorize a transportation planning
organization (TPO), subject to territorial restrictions and TPO member
jurisdiction approval requirements, to exercise the powers of a regional
transportation authority (RTA). Among other powers, the powers of a
RTA include the power to impose various charges, fees, and, with voter
approval, visitor benefit, sales, and use taxes to generate transportation
funding for the purpose of financing, constructing, operating, and
maintaining regional transportation systems.
Any additional transportation funding obtained by a TPO
exercising the power of a RTA is intended to supplement and not supplant
state and federal transportation funding allocated within the boundaries
of the TPO. Therefore, the transportation commission and CDOT are
prohibited from taking such additional transportation funding into
account when determining the amount of state and federal transportation
funding to be allocated within the boundaries of a TPO, and CDOT, when
submitting its annual proposed budget allocation plan, is required to
provide evidence that the proposed allocation of state and federal
transportation funding within the boundaries of any TPO that has
obtained such additional transportation funding has not been reduced in
any way on account of the additional transportation funding.
Section 45 reduces the amount of each road safety surcharge
imposed on motor vehicle registration for registration periods beginning
on or after January 1, 2022, but before January 1, 2024, by $5.55.