Bill Tracker

The bill prohibits terminating the life of an unborn child and
makes a violation a class 1 felony. The following are exceptions to the
prohibition:
  • A licensed physician performs a medical procedure
designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant
mother, if the physician makes reasonable medical efforts

under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the
mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner
consistent with conventional medical practice; and
  • A licensed physician provides medical treatment, including
chemotherapy or removal of an ectopic pregnancy, to the
mother that results in the accidental or unintentional injury
to or death of the unborn child.
The pregnant mother upon whom termination of the life of an
unborn child is performed or attempted is not subject to a criminal
penalty. The sale and use of contraception is not prohibited by the bill. A
conviction related to the prohibition of the termination of the life of an
unborn child constitutes unprofessional conduct for purposes of physician
licensing.
The bill states that any act, law, treaty, order, or regulation of the
United States government that denies or prohibits protection of a human
person's inalienable right to life is null, void, and unenforceable in this
state and that the courts of the United States have no jurisdiction to
interfere with Colorado's interest in protecting human life at conception
when human life begins.

• March 24, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill prohibits a health benefit plan that provides coverage for
cancer treatment from applying a higher standard of clinical evidence for
coverage of proton beam therapy than the health benefit plan applies for
other radiation therapy treatment.

• March 10, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

Currently, the location of a small or low impact hydroelectric
energy facility, a geothermal energy facility, a biomass energy facility, a
wind energy facility, or a solar energy facility on real property does not
affect the classification of that real property for purposes of determining
the actual value of that real property. As a result, a county assessor cannot
use the location of the facility as a basis for reclassifying the real

property. The bill creates an exception to this requirement for real
property that, immediately prior to the location of the facility, was
classified as agricultural. Therefore, an assessor will be able to consider
the location of the facility when determining whether the real property
should be reclassified.

• March 17, 2021: House Finance Committee Report

Section 1 of the bill defines a protected series as an arrangement,
configuration, or other structure established by an entity formed outside
of Colorado (a foreign entity) as to which, under the organic statutes of
the foreign entity:
  • The assets of or associated with the protected series are not
subject to claims against, or liabilities of, the foreign entity

or any other protected series of the foreign entity; and
  • The assets of or associated with the foreign entity or any
other protected series of the foreign entity are not subject
to claims against, or liabilities of, the protected series.
Section 2 authorizes a foreign entity that has established a
protected series (a foreign series entity) that is doing or proposing to do
business in this state to file with the secretary of state a statement of
foreign entity authority that states the name and principal place of
business of the protected series. Section 3 specifies the effect of filing the
statement of foreign entity authority with regard to the foreign series
entity's and protected series' rights and liabilities.

• March 11, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

Under current law, a school district, charter school, or board of
cooperative services (local education provider) may use per-pupil
intervention money received pursuant to the Colorado READ Act to

purchase core reading instructional programs (programs) that are on an
advisory list of programs created by the department of education
(department).
The bill authorizes a local education provider to use per-pupil
intervention money to purchase programs that are not on the advisory list
but that the local education provider determines meet the criteria for
placement on the list. After the local education provider has used the
programs for 2 school years, the department must review the programs
and the results achieved and determine whether the programs are effective
in improving students' reading competency.
If the programs are effective, the department must place the
programs on the advisory list. If the programs are not effective, a local
education provider may not subsequently use per-pupil intervention
money to purchase the programs.

• April 15, 2021: House Education Committee Report

The bill permits the majority of the governing body of any county
or municipality by adoption of a resolution, ordinance, law, or rule to
abrogate all or any portion of a disaster emergency order applying to the

county or municipality that has been issued by the governor under the
governor's emergency management powers when the disaster emergency
lasts longer than 30 days. Upon the enactment by the governing body of
such a resolution, ordinance, law, or rule the order, or any portion of the
order, has no legal force and effect within, as applicable, the municipality
or within the unincorporated portions of the county where the resolution,
ordinance, law, or rule has been approved by the governing body of a
county.
The bill prohibits the state and any state department, institution, or
agency from taking any action against a county or municipality, including
without limitation any action resulting in denial of a monetary payment
or the provision of any other form of financial assistance in retaliation for
action by the governing body of the county or municipality to abrogate the
governor's order.
The bill requires the governing body of the county or municipality
to notify the governor and any affected state departments, institutions, or
agencies of the adoption of such resolution, ordinance, law, or rule.

• March 05, 2021: House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee Report

The bill amends the Life and Health Insurance Protection
Association Act as follows:
  • Adds health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as
members of the association and subjects HMOs to
assessments from the association; and
  • Allocates responsibility for long-term care insurance

assessments between health insurance and life insurance
association members.

• February 24, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill invalidates any statute, rule, or local ordinance or
resolution that limits or prohibits, except as required for safety purposes,
the installation in a new or existing home or business any system or
appliance that uses natural gas or propane for cooking, hot water, space
heating, or electrical generation.

• March 03, 2021: House Energy & Environment Committee Report

The bill creates a pregnancy-based parking placard. The placard
is available to a person during the last trimester of the person's pregnancy
through the first 2 months after the person gives birth. The placard
authorizes the person to park in reserved disability parking spaces.

• March 16, 2021: House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee Report

The bill specifies that a health order issued by a county, district, or
municipal public health agency, public health director, or board of health
takes effect within the territory of a county, city and county, or
municipality, unless the governing body of the county, city and county,
or municipality rejects the order by a majority vote.

The bill also allows the governing body of a county, city and
county, or municipality to modify a health order issued by a county,
district, or municipal public health agency, public health director, or
board of health.

• March 05, 2021: House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee Report

During the 2020 general election, the voters approved Proposition
114, which authorized the reintroduction of gray wolves on designated
lands in Colorado west of the continental divide beginning no later than
December 31, 2023. The bill excludes from the definition of designated
lands the following:
  • Lands within a county in which the majority of the votes

cast in the 2020 general election did not approve
Proposition 114 unless, prior to a proposed reintroduction
of gray wolves in that county, an election is held in the
county and a majority of the votes cast from that county in
the election approve of the reintroduction of the gray wolf
in designated lands in the county; and
  • Lands within a county in which is located prey of the gray
wolf that, as determined by the parks and wildlife
commission, either:
  • Is a candidate for listing or has been placed in the
threatened or endangered species list pursuant to the
federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 or is
listed as endangered or threatened pursuant to state
law; or
  • The state has spent money to reintroduce or restore.

• February 25, 2021: House Energy & Environment Committee Report

With certain exceptions, current law prohibits a concealed carry
permit holder from carrying a concealed handgun on public elementary,
middle, junior high, or high school grounds. The bill removes this
limitation.

• March 17, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

Current law makes it a class 1 traffic misdemeanor when careless
driving of a motor vehicle causes serious bodily injury to a vulnerable
road user. The bill changes serious bodily injury to a vulnerable road user
to serious bodily injury to anyone.

• April 12, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• February 24, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

At the 2020 general election, the voters approved proposition 114,
which requires the reintroduction and management of gray wolves. The
bill requires all costs for this program to be paid exclusively from the
general fund, and this includes any losses of livestock caused by gray
wolves.

• March 10, 2021: House Energy & Environment Committee Report

The bill prohibits state government from passing or implementing
any law or rule restricting the natural rights of a private sector enterprise
or its customers to use and exercise their free will and free choice to
conduct business, exchange goods and services, and take risks in any
manner, time, or condition that is acceptable by the private sector

enterprise, its customers, and any private sector individuals.
The bill authorizes a private sector enterprise to assert a violation
as a claim against state government in any judicial or administrative
proceeding or as a defense in any judicial or administrative proceeding
without regard to whether the proceeding is brought by or in the name of
state government, any private sector enterprise, private person, or any
other party.

• March 17, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

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.

• March 01, 2021: House Agriculture, Livestock, & Water Committee Report

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.

• April 01, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• March 01, 2021: House Agriculture, Livestock, & Water Committee Report

The bill:
  • Prohibits an employer from requiring union membership or
payment of union dues as a condition of employment;
  • Creates civil and criminal penalties for employer violations
regarding union membership and authorizes the attorney
general and the district attorney in each judicial district to

investigate alleged violations and take action against a
person believed to be in violation; and
  • States that all-union agreements are unfair labor practices.

• February 25, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill adds a registered elector to the list of people who can
request a recount when one is not otherwise required. An interested party
or registered elector who requests a recount can also specify that the
requested recount be conducted as a manual recount of the voter-verified
paper records in the election, in which case, the election official is
required to conduct the recount in accordance with that request.
An interested party or registered elector can also request that a
recount that is required by law be conducted as a manual recount of the

voter-verified paper records. A person making this request must pay for
the additional costs, if any, of conducting the recount manually. If the
person makes the payment required, the election official must conduct the
recount manually.

• March 29, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

Under current law, a physician is required to conduct an in-person
physical examination of a person prior to certifying that the person would
benefit from medical marijuana. The bill permits a physician to treat,
counsel, and conduct appropriate personal physical examinations, in
person or remotely via telephone or video conference, to establish a bona
fide physician-patient relationship with a patient seeking a medical
marijuana card.
Under current law, retail marijuana stores are prohibited from
selling retail marijuana and retail marijuana products online and to a
person not physically present in the retail marijuana store's licensed
premises. The bill repeals this prohibition.

• May 20, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• May 13, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

Section 1 of the bill allows a person to sell, without licensure,
regulation, or inspection by a public health agency, an animal or shares
of the meat of an animal for future delivery if:
  • At the point of sale, the person displays a conspicuous
disclaimer or gives the customer a document with a

disclaimer indicating that the seller is not subject to
licensure and the animal or meat is not subject to state
regulation or inspection by a public health agency and that
the animal or meat is not intended for resale; and
  • The animal or meat is delivered directly from the seller to
an informed end consumer and is sold only in Colorado and
the sale does not involve interstate commerce.
A person who makes a purchase under the bill is prohibited from
reselling the animal or animal share. The bill clarifies that the seller is not
liable in a civil action for damages caused by inadequately cooking or
improperly preparing the animal or animal share.
Section 2 limits the number of brand inspections for an animal
share sale to a single inspection before slaughter. Each purchaser must be
listed on the inspection certificate. The state board of stock inspection
commissioners will promulgate rules establishing procedures for a single
inspection.

• February 22, 2021: House Agriculture, Livestock, & Water Committee Report

The bill repeals statutory provisions:
  • Prohibiting the sale, transfer, or possession of certain
large-capacity ammunition magazines; and
  • Requiring each large-capacity ammunition magazine
manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013, to
include a permanent stamp or marking indicating that the

magazine was manufactured or assembled after July 1,
2013.

• March 17, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

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.

• March 11, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill requires the court, when determining the type of bond and
conditions of release for a person arrested for violating a protection order,
if it sets a bond with a monetary condition, to set the amount not less
than:
  • $10,000 for the person's first arrest for violating a
protection order; and

  • $25,000 for the person's second or subsequent arrest for
violating a protection order.
The bill does not prohibit the court from determining the type of
bond or non-monetary conditions of release to a person's bond.

• March 10, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

The Colorado constitution allows a veteran who has a

service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim
a property tax exemption for 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value of
the veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The general assembly
may enact legislation to raise or lower the $200,000 actual value limit but
the 100% permanent disability requirement can only be changed through
a constitutional amendment.
For property tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2021,
the bill increases from $200,000 to $300,000 the maximum amount of
actual value of the owner-occupied primary residence of an eligible
veteran with a disability of which 50% is exempt from property taxation.
If at the 2022 general election the voters of the state approve a proposed
constitutional amendment to make more veterans eligible for the
exemption by allowing veterans who have a service-connected disability
rated as a 50% or greater to claim the exemption, the bill makes a
conforming statutory amendment to reflect the expansion of the
exemption for property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023.

• March 04, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill establishes a private school tuition income tax credit
commencing on or after January 1, 2021, that allows any taxpayer to
claim a credit when the taxpayer enrolls a qualified child in a private
school or the taxpayer provides a scholarship to a qualified child for
enrollment in a private school. The private school issues the taxpayer a

credit certificate and the amount of the credit is:
  • For full-time attendance, an amount equal to either the
tuition paid or the scholarship provided to a qualified child,
as applicable, or 50% of the previous year's state average
per pupil revenues, whichever is less; and
  • For half-time attendance, an amount equal to either the
tuition paid or the scholarship provided to a qualified child,
as applicable, or 25% of the previous year's state average
per pupil revenues, whichever is less.
The bill also establishes a home-based education income tax credit
commencing on or after January 1, 2021, that allows any taxpayer who
uses home-based education for a qualified child to claim an income tax
credit in an amount equal to:
  • $1,000 for a taxpayer who uses home-based education for
a qualified child who was enrolled on a full-time basis in a
public school in the state prior to being taught at home; and
  • $500 for a taxpayer who uses home-based education for a
qualified child who was enrolled on a half-time basis in a
public school in the state prior to being taught at home.
Both credits may be carried forward for 3 years but may not be
refunded. In addition, the credits may be transferred, subject to certain
limitations.

• February 25, 2021: House Education Committee Report

The bill extends the duration of a state of disaster emergency

declared by the governor from 30 to 60 days, but prohibits the governor
from renewing a state of disaster emergency declared beyond 60 days.
Instead, the bill authorizes the general assembly, upon the written request
of the governor and by adopting a joint resolution, to extend the state of
disaster emergency for up to 60 additional days. The general assembly
may continue, at the written request of the governor and by adopting a
joint resolution for each extension, to extend a state of disaster emergency
for periods of up to 60 days for as long as it deems it necessary to do so.
If the general assembly is not scheduled to convene in a regular session
when a state of disaster emergency will end as required by the bill, the
governor or a two-thirds majority of the members of each house of the
general assembly, in accordance with applicable state constitutional
provisions, may call the general assembly into an extraordinary session
to consider extending the state of disaster emergency.

• March 18, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers to conduct

background checks of prospective transferees prior to transferring a
firearm by contacting the national instant criminal background check
system (NICS). A dealer is not required to conduct a NICS background
check of a prospective transferee if the transferee presents a state license
or permit that is recognized by the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco,
firearms, and explosives (ATF) as an alternative to a NICS background
check. In order to be eligible for recognition, a permit must have been
issued within 5 years before the transfer and the state must have
completed a NICS background check prior to issuing the permit.
The bill makes a Colorado-issued permit to carry a concealed
handgun eligible for recognition as an alternative to a NICS background
check by requiring a sheriff to receive the results of a background check
prior to issuing or renewing the permit. The Colorado attorney general is
required to contact the ATF to request that a Colorado-issued permit
qualifies as an alternative to the federal background check requirement.
Upon approval by the ATF, a concealed carry permit issued after the
effective date of the bill can be used to satisfy a background check
required by state or federal law. A permit issued in another state that is
otherwise recognized in Colorado is not valid as a substitute for a
background check.
A prospective transferee who presents a permit as an alternative to
a background check must attest, in writing, that the person has not, since
the issuance of the permit, been convicted of a crime of domestic violence
or been treated for a mental health condition, or is otherwise ineligible to
possess a firearm pursuant to state or federal law.

• March 17, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill provides that only an elector who has provided proof of
citizenship can vote in an election. Registered electors who have
presented a county clerk and recorder with proof of citizenship receive
regular mail ballots. All other registered electors receive provisional mail
ballots. Electors who receive provisional mail ballots must present those
ballots at the county clerk and recorder's office and must provide proof of

citizenship at the county clerk and recorder's office.
The bill also ensures that only voters who have provided proof of
citizenship can cast a regular in-person ballot.
Finally, the bill requires the computerized statewide voter
registration list maintained by the secretary of state to note whether an
elector has shown proof of citizenship.

• March 29, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill requires the state auditor to conduct an annual audit of the
statewide voter registration system. The audit must include at least 20%
of the active registered electors in each county, unduplicated over 5
consecutive years. The auditor is required to determine whether the data
in the statewide voter registration list can be validated against other
official records including death records, property records, and tax records.

The secretary of state must reimburse the state for the full cost of the
audit from the department of state cash fund.

• March 29, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill establishes the legal responsibilities of wakeboard park
operators and wakeboarders who use wakeboard parks, including:
  • An operator's responsibility to post boundary markings and
any warnings necessary for the safe enjoyment of the
wakeboard park;
  • A wakeboarder's assumption of the inherent dangers and

risks involved in wakeboarding at a wakeboard park; and
  • Limitations on the type and amount of liability that an
operator has with regard to a wakeboarder's loss or injury
suffered while wakeboarding at the operator's wakeboard
park.
The bill also defines the rights and responsibilities between
wakeboarders at a wakeboard park.

• March 24, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

The bill allows a person who is nominated as a candidate for
elected office who is also nominated as a candidate for lieutenant
governor to run for both offices. If the person wins the election for both
offices, the person must resign from one of them within 7 days of the
final certification of the results of both elections. The vacancy created by
the resignation is filled in accordance with existing law on vacancies for

that office.

• April 13, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report
• March 18, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill states that in a class action under the Colorado Consumer
Protection Act, a successful plaintiff may recover actual damages,
injunctive relief allowed by law, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.

• March 18, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill creates certain rights for foster parents. The rights do not
apply to persons against whom criminal charges have been filed for child
abuse, an unlawful sexual offense, or any felony.

• March 16, 2021: House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee Report

The bill creates a civil cause of action for a person who suffers
injury or damages as a result of not being able to use a firearm to defend
himself, herself, or his or her family as a result of a temporary extreme

risk protection order or an ongoing extreme risk protection order. The
civil action may be brought against any person who drafted, proposed,
promoted, or provided support, financial or otherwise, to pass, implement,
or enforce House Bill 19-1177, extreme risk protection orders. A
successful plaintiff is entitled to attorney fees and compensatory damages
or liquidated damages.

The starting point for determining state income tax liability is
federal taxable income. This number is adjusted for additions and
subtractions (deductions) that are used to determine Colorado taxable
income, which amount is multiplied by the state's income tax rate.
Income earned from pensions or annuities, including military
retirement benefits, can be considered income for purposes of the state's

income tax. In Colorado, current law provides an income tax deduction
that subtracts from federal taxable income amounts received from
pensions or annuities for individuals who are 55 years or older. For
individuals who are 55 to 64, that benefit is capped at $20,000 per income
tax year. For individuals who are 65 or older, that benefit is capped at
$24,000 per income tax year. This existing benefit applies to pensions or
annuities received, among other things, from service in the uniformed
services of the United States. The bill does not change this current tax
benefit.
In 2018, the general assembly enacted a separate temporary
income tax deduction through the income tax year commencing on or
after January 1, 2023, that subtracts from federal taxable income amounts
received from military retirement benefits for individuals who are under
55 years old. This additional deduction for military retirements benefits
is currently capped as follows:
  • $7,500 for the income tax year commencing on or after
January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2021;
  • $10,000 for the income tax year commencing on or after
January 1, 2021, but before January 1, 2022; and
  • $15,000 for income tax years commencing on or after
January 1, 2022, but before January 1, 2024.
The bill makes modifications to the existing tax deduction for
military retirement benefits for individuals who are under 55 years old by:
  • Extending the number of years the temporary income tax
deduction is available by 10 years; and
  • Increasing the maximum benefit to $20,000 for income tax
years commencing January 1, 2023, and for each income
tax year thereafter.

• March 18, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill defines backcountry search and rescue as the utilization,
training, and support of responders, with their specialized equipment, to
locate, provide assistance to, and remove to safety individuals who are
lost, injured, stranded, or entrapped, generally in remote areas of the state.
The department of natural resources (department) must conduct a study
and develop recommendations on the issues related to backcountry search

and rescue, including coordination among the local, state, and nonprofit
organizations involved in backcountry search and rescue, the adequacy of
resources and benefits available to volunteers who provide backcountry
search and rescue services, the funding needs for equipment and
reimbursement, and the needs for volunteer training and public education.
The department must also, subject to available appropriations, conduct
outreach and training related to the physical and psychological support
needs of backcountry search and rescue volunteers, which may include
working with consultants, providing programs, or creating a grant
program for local governments or nonprofit organizations providing
backcountry search and rescue. The bill makes conforming amendments
related to the definition of backcountry search and rescue.

• March 02, 2021: House Transportation & Local Government Committee Report

The bill creates the Guard Training and Standards Act (Act). The
Act requires the following persons to obtain a license to practice their
occupation:
  • Armed guards who, for financial compensation, carry a
firearm and may use physical force to protect a person or
property;

  • Protection guards who, for financial compensation, may
use physical force to protect a person or property; and
  • Security guards who, for financial compensation, secure a
person or property.
The Act also requires a guard employer to be registered with the director
of the division of professions and occupations in the department of
regulatory agencies (director).
The licensing is administered by the director, who, subject to the
administrative procedures act, has the power and duty to:
  • Promulgate rules;
  • Establish licensure fees;
  • Investigate, hold hearings, and gather evidence;
  • Enter, during business hours, the business premises of a
licensee where violations are alleged to have occurred;
  • Take disciplinary action upon proof of a violation of the
Act or the rules promulgated to implement the Act;
  • Issue cease-and-desist orders;
  • Apply to a court for an order enjoining any act or practice
that violates the Act;
  • Approve training programs that are required to meet the
standards for licensure as a protection guard or an armed
guard;
  • Implement a requirement that protection guards and armed
guards wear body cameras and record interactions with
members of the public in a similar manner to the
requirements for peace officers;
  • Set marking, design, and equipment standards for motor
vehicles used by a guard in the guard's duties;
  • Set standards for uniforms, including external
identification, worn by a guard;
  • Set standards for when it is appropriate to wear plain
clothes and for the issuance of a plainclothes permit; and
  • Establish a procedure and standards for waiving a portion
of the training required for a protection guard or an armed
guard to be issued a license.
A person may use the titles of security guard, protection guard,
or armed guard only if the person is licensed. A person who engages in
the occupation of being a guard without the required license or who
employs a guard without a registration commits a class 2 misdemeanor
for the first offense and a class 6 felony for the second or subsequent
offense. Peace officers are exempt from the licensing requirements.
To be issued a license, a person must apply, pay a fee, prove
qualifications as required in the Act, and submit to a criminal history
background check. Upon being licensed, the person is given a license
document that contains the guard's photograph and other relevant
information.
Security guards are prohibited from carrying a firearm and using
physical force to secure or protect people or property. To be qualified for
a security guard license, a person must not have a conviction within the
last 10 years for certain crimes that relate to violence or unlawful sexual
behavior or for attempting or conspiring to commit these types of crimes.
Protection guards are prohibited from carrying a firearm. To be
qualified for a protection guard license, a person must:
  • Not have a conviction, within the last 10 years, for the
same type of crimes described for security guards; and
  • Have successfully completed 80 hours of training that is
approved by rule and covers the obligations and restrictions
imposed on a protection guard by the Act.
To be qualified for an armed guard license, a person must:
  • Have a concealed carry permit for firearms;
  • Not have a conviction, within the last 10 years, for the
same type of crimes described for security guards;
  • Have successfully completed 80 hours of training that is
approved by rule and covers the obligations and restrictions
imposed on an armed guard by the Act; and
  • Have completed firearms training that is substantially
equivalent to the training required to be certified as a peace
officer.
To renew a protection guard license or armed guard license, the
license holder must successfully complete 8 hours of training approved
by the director by rule.
Within 30 days after a felony or misdemeanor conviction for
certain listed crimes, which are broader than the crimes that disqualify a
person to be a guard because the crimes cover certain property offenses
and offenses involving fraud, a guard must report the conviction to the
director. Within 30 days after terminating the employment of a guard for
misconduct, a guard employer must report the termination and the
misconduct that is the basis for the termination to the director. Within 30
days after using physical force to protect a person or property, a guard and
the guard's employer must report the use of physical force to the director.
The report must include the demographic information, as required by rule,
of the guard using physical force and of the individual subjected to the
physical force.
The director will maintain a database of licensed guards. The
database contains the name of each licensee and the following
information about each licensee:
  • Each criminal conviction of the type the guard must report;
and
  • Each termination of employment for misconduct and the
misconduct.
The director will make the database available, including online through
the director's website, to a registered guard employer.
The Act establishes standards of conduct for guards that include
obeying the Act and rules promulgated under the Act and the following
standards:
  • All guards must:
  • Wear a uniform unless the guard has been issued a
plainclothes permit;
  • Carry the guard's license;
  • Use a vehicle that complies with the marking,
design, and equipment rules promulgated by the
director; and
  • Not use a canine to detect explosive devices unless
the canine is certified by a nationally recognized
training association or a law enforcement agency,
and the guard handling the canine is one of the
canine's primary handlers.
  • An armed guard must wear a form of identification on the
outermost part of the armed guard's uniform.
The director sets standards for issuing a plainclothes permit.
The director may discipline each type of guard or a guard employer
for:
  • Fraud or intentional misrepresentation in obtaining or
attempting to obtain, reinstate, or renew a license;
  • Violating a currently valid order of the director;
  • Violating the Act or a rule promulgated under the Act;
  • Being convicted of a felony when acting within the course
and scope of the guard's duties;
  • Using false advertising or intentionally misleading
advertising;
  • Failing to meet the mentioned standards of practice;
  • Failing to pay a fine assessed by the director; and
  • Using deadly force or authorizing the use of deadly force
against any individual unless the use of deadly force is
necessary to prevent an immediate risk of serious physical
harm to an individual.
The director may discipline or require additional training of:
  • A security guard for using unlawful physical force on
another person;
  • A protection guard or armed guard for:
  • Failing to use a body camera;
  • Using physical force that is prohibited for peace
officers to use; or
  • Being convicted of a crime that would disqualify the
protection guard or armed guard from being issued
a license; and
  • A guard employer for:
  • Authorizing a guard to take an action that is a
ground for discipline;
  • Failing to ensure that protection guards and armed
guards use body cameras; or
  • Failing to make a required report.
The director may adopt rules establishing fines that the director
may impose on a licensee for violating the Act or rules under the Act,
with a minimum fine of not less than $50 and a maximum fine of not
more than $5,000 per violation.
In accordance with the sunset law, the Act will repeal on
September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, the Act is scheduled for review by
the department of regulatory agencies.

• May 04, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

The bill suspends the administration of state assessments,
contingent on a change to federal law or a waiver of federal law from the
federal department of education, for the following instructional areas for
the 2020-21 school year:
  • Science administered to students enrolled in grades 5, 8,
and 11;

  • Math administered to students enrolled in grades 3 through
8;
  • English language arts administered to students enrolled in
grades 3 through 8; and
  • Social studies administered to students enrolled in grades
4 and 7.
The bill prohibits a school district from using student academic
growth measures or student performance measures when evaluating
teachers and principals for the 2020-21 school year.
The bill requires a school or a school district to implement the
school plan type that was assigned in the preceding school year. The bill
requires the department of education, in determining the number of
school years that a school or school district is on performance watch, to
exclude the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, and count the 2021-22
school year as if it were consecutive to the 2018-19 school year.

• March 05, 2021: House Education Committee Report

Current law prohibits a county from appropriating county general
fund money for roads and bridges and, subject to an exception for disaster
emergency response within the county, from transferring county general
fund money to the county road and bridge fund. The bill authorizes a
county to use county general fund money to fund roads and bridges by
eliminating these existing prohibitions.

• March 16, 2021: House Transportation & Local Government Committee Report

The bill defines a health-care cost-sharing arrangement as a
health care sharing ministry or medical cost-sharing community that
collects money from its members on a regular basis, at levels established
by the arrangement, for purposes of sharing, covering, or defraying the
medical costs of its members. A health-care cost-sharing arrangement is
required to:

  • Report specified information to the commissioner of
insurance (commissioner) regarding its operations,
financial statements, membership, and medical bills
submitted, paid, and denied in Colorado;
  • Provide certain written disclosures to potential and
renewing members, post the disclosures on its website, if
the arrangement has a website, and include the disclosures
in its marketing materials;
  • Provide specified written statements about arrangement
finances and guidelines about arrangement procedures to
members; and
  • Respond to requests for payment of medical expenses from
members or health-care providers within a period specified
by the commissioner by rule.
An insurance broker that offers a health-care cost-sharing
arrangement in this state is required to provide written or electronic
disclosures about the product to prospective members before selling the
arrangement to the person.
The commissioner is authorized to:
  • Adopt rules to implement the data reporting, disclosure,
and response time requirements;
  • Impose fines for failure to comply with the requirements
and prohibitions specified in the bill;
  • Issue an emergency, ex parte cease-and-desist order against
a person the commissioner believes to be violating the bill
if it appears to the commissioner that the alleged conduct
is fraudulent, creates an immediate danger to public safety,
or is causing or is reasonably expected to cause significant,
imminent, and irreparable public injury; and
  • Impose a civil penalty, order restitution, or both, against a
person that violates an ex parte cease-and-desist order.
A person is prohibited from making, issuing, circulating, or
causing to be made, issued, or circulated any statement or publication that
misrepresents the medical cost-sharing benefits, advantages, conditions,
or terms of any health-care cost-sharing arrangement.

• March 23, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the bill require applicants for

manufacturers', suppliers', and agents' licenses to disclose to the secretary
of state (licensing authority) whether those applicants or any of their
owners, officers, directors, members, or partners have had gaming
licenses suspended or revoked in any other jurisdiction.
Sections 6 and 7 authorize the licensing authority to approve
additional types of equipment that players may use, including certain
electronic devices that reveal the winning or nonwinning status of tickets
in pull tab games, and clarifies that these devices are not defined as slot
machines or other prohibited devices. Section 1 amends existing
definitions accordingly, and section 2 removes a prohibition on the
charging of license fees for the equipment by the licensing authority.

• March 24, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

Under current law, a retail marijuana store licensee may have a
marijuana delivery permit associated with its store license. The bill
requires the store to be open at least 5 days a week and at least 5 hours a
day to have a delivery permit. The bill limits delivery sales to only retail
marijuana, retail marijuana products, or branded merchandise that is
available for sale from the retail marijuana store and requires the prices
to be the same as the in-store price. The bill prohibits an online platform
from holding pre-paid accounts for a licensed retail marijuana store.

The bill waives the licensing fee for a transporter applicant who is
a social equity licensee.
The bill prohibits a medical or retail marijuana business operator
from engaging in the delivery of regulated marijuana.

• May 06, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• April 08, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

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.

• May 17, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• March 25, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill creates the information technology and infrastructure
advisement committee on Colorado elections (committee). The
committee's purpose is to evaluate and make recommendations to the
secretary of state on the following issues:
  • The standards for certification of electronic voting systems;

  • Any issues involving electronic voting systems that have
arisen in the state;
  • The security, reliability, and integrity of electronic voting
systems; and
  • Other information technology issues related to the accuracy
and transparency of electronic voting systems in the state.
The committee is required to submit an initial report by March 1,
2022, and annual follow-up reports with its findings and
recommendations to the secretary of state. The committee is required to
meet at least 2 times each year and is scheduled for sunset review before
September 1, 2025.

• March 29, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill specifies that a patient admitted to a hospital for inpatient
care and a resident of a nursing care facility or assisted living residence
may have at least one visitor of the patient's or resident's choosing during
the stay or residency. A hospital, a nursing care facility, and an assisted
living residence (collectively referred to as health-care facility) must
have written policies and procedures regarding the visitation rights of
patients and residents, including policies and procedures setting forth any
clinically necessary or reasonable restriction or limitation that the

health-care facility may need to place on patient and resident visitation
rights and the reasons for the restriction or limitation.
The bill prohibits a health-care facility from adopting policies or
procedures that prohibit visitation of a patient or resident if the sole
reason for the prohibition is to reduce the risk of transmission of a
pandemic disease, but a health-care facility may impose specified
requirements and limitations for visitors to reduce the risk of transmission
of the pandemic disease.

• April 21, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill allows a person who has been issued a penalty assessment
for or has been convicted of a traffic infraction or traffic misdemeanor to
make a donation of money or time to a nonprofit organization in lieu of
paying the fine. The amount of fine that may be offset by a donation is
limited to $500.

• May 20, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• April 26, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill creates the Colorado bipartisan election commission

(commission) in the department of state, a 5-member panel whose main
function is to make recommendations to the secretary of state (secretary)
and the general assembly concerning the manner in which a
comprehensive audit of the state's election processes is to be conducted.
The bill specifies requirements relating to the qualifications of
persons appointed to the commission and the operation of the
commission. The commission is to determine such matters as the scope
of the audit, the matters to be audited, and the procedures that will guide
the audit.
The bill also requires the commission to consider whether an audit
should consider additional issues specified in the bill.
The commission is required to prepare a report summarizing its
findings and conclusions by December 1, 2021. The report must include
the commission's recommendation on the manner in which a
comprehensive audit of the state's election processes must be conducted.
The commission may also include in its report any recommendations for
changes in the Colorado Revised Statutes or the election rules of the
secretary of state that will facilitate the administration of secure and fair
elections in the state. The commission is required to submit its report to
the secretary, the legislative audit committee, and the general assembly.
The commission is repealed September 1, 2022.

• March 29, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws. The bill enacts
the Uniform Recognition and Enforcement of Canadian Domestic
Violence Protection Orders Act as recommended by the national
conference of commissioners on uniform state laws. The bill allows a
peace officer to enforce a Canadian domestic violence protection order.

The bill allows a court to enter an order enforcing or refusing to enforce
a Canadian domestic violence protection order. The bill provides
immunity for a person who enforces a Canadian domestic violence
protection order.

• March 09, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

The bill requires a supervising representative of a law enforcement
agency to order a designated security employee of a wireless
telecommunications provider to provide the law enforcement agency,
without requiring the agency to obtain a court order, location information
concerning the telecommunications device of a missing child if:

  • An emergency situation exists because the time required to
obtain a search warrant or other court order authorizing the
acquisition of the information would frustrate the timely
and safe recovery of the missing child; and
  • The request for location is made to the law enforcement
agency by the missing child's parent or legal guardian.
However, a law enforcement agency shall not order the location
information if the request is made by a parent or legal guardian who is a
restrained person pursuant to an active protection order that identifies the
missing child as a protected person, or if a law enforcement agency has
an articulable reason to believe there is a custodial issue that has not been
reviewed by a court.

• April 07, 2021: House Judiciary Committee Report

The bill requires health-care providers that perform induced
terminations of pregnancies to report specified information concerning
the women who obtain the procedure to the state registrar of vital
statistics in the department of public health and environment. The
reported information must not include information that could identify the

women who obtained induced terminations of pregnancies.
The bill requires the state registrar to annually create a summary
report of the information reported by health-care providers and to make
the report available to the public. The bill places limitations on how and
to whom the state registrar may release the information reported to the
state registrar. A physician or physician assistant who falsifies or fails to
submit the required information engages in unprofessional conduct
pursuant to the Colorado Medical Practice Act. An advanced practice
registered nurse who falsifies or fails to submit the required information
is subject to discipline pursuant to the Nurse and Nurse Aide Practice
Act.

• March 24, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill establishes requirements for health benefit plans related

to health-care services provided by physician assistants and
reimbursement for such services.
The bill also modifies the relationship between a physician
assistant and a physician by removing the supervision requirement and
replacing it with a requirement that a physician assistant collaborate with
a physician. Formal collaboration with a physician is required only for a
physician assistant with fewer than 5,760 hours of practice experience or
who is beginning practice in a new specialty.

• March 24, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

Under existing law, during a disaster emergency the governor may
suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of firearms,
explosives, and combustibles. The bill repeals the governor's authority
related to firearms and clarifies that the governor may not suspend or
limit the sale of firearms ammunition during a disaster emergency.

The bill repeals the prohibition on completing a handgun training
class via the internet or in a location other than the physical location
where the certified instructor offers the course.

• March 17, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill prohibits an employer, including a licensed health facility,
from taking adverse action against an employee or an applicant for
employment based on the employee's or applicant's COVID-19
immunization status. The bill allows an aggrieved employee or applicant
for employment to file a civil action for injunctive, affirmative, and
equitable relief and, if the employer or health facility acted with malice

or wanton or willful misconduct or has repeatedly violated the law, the
court may also award punitive damages and attorney fees and costs.
Additionally, the bill specifies that the COVID-19 vaccine is not
mandatory, that the state cannot require any individual to obtain a
COVID-19 vaccine, and that government agencies and private businesses,
including health insurers, cannot discriminate against clients, patrons, or
customers based on their COVID-19 vaccination status. A person
aggrieved by a violation of these prohibitions may file a civil action for
injunctive and other appropriate relief and may be awarded punitive
damages and attorney fees and costs for wanton, willful, or repeated
violations.

• May 12, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

Under federal law, money deposited in a qualified tuition program
under section 529 of the internal revenue code (529 plan) grows tax
deferred and is withdrawn tax free when used for eligible expenses. In

addition to the federal tax benefit, the state provides an incentive for the
deposit of money into a 529 plan by offering a state income tax deduction
for contributions to such 529 plans.
In 2019, the federal government included paying principle or
interest on any qualified education loan, up to $10,000 per year, as an
eligible expense.
Current law requires the state income tax deduction to be
recaptured from the taxpayer if a distribution is not used for listed
purposes. The bill specifies that using a 529 plan for paying principle or
interest on any qualified education loan, not to exceed $10,000, is also an
eligible distribution for purposes of the state income tax deduction for
contributions to such 529 plans.
The bill also requires collegeinvest to provide the department of
revenue with a secure electronic report containing information for the 529
plan owners and third-party contributors necessary for the administration
of the income tax deduction.

• April 07, 2021: House Education Committee Report

• March 29, 2021: House Finance Committee Report

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.

• March 25, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill specifies that:
  • A physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice

registered nurse with prescriptive authority may prescribe
and dispense, and a pharmacist may dispense, therapeutic
drugs for off-label use, including hydroxychloroquine
sulfate and ivermectin, to provide prophylaxis or outpatient
(at-home) and inpatient (hospital) treatment to an
individual with COVID-19; and
  • This practice is not unprofessional conduct or otherwise
grounds for discipline.

• March 31, 2021: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill creates the driver's license and identification card
processing unit (unit) in the department of revenue. The unit processes
and issues a driver's license or identification card to persons who are
eligible for a driver's license or identification card and are scheduled to
be released from the department of corrections or a jail.

• March 22, 2021: House Finance Committee Report

The bill requires a road usage equalization fee (equalization fee)
to be imposed at the time of annual registration on each plug-in electric
motor vehicle that is required to be registered in the state. The fee is set
in an amount that is estimated to achieve parity between the aggregate
amount of motor vehicle registration fees and motor fuel excise taxes paid
per vehicle by owners of plug-in electric motor vehicles and vehicles

fueled by gasoline, diesel, or other special fuels and is annually adjusted
for inflation.
The executive directors of the department of transportation and the
department of revenue are required to form a joint working group to
develop recommendations as to whether and to what extent the
equalization fee should be adjusted to achieve the goal of maintaining
parity between plug-in electric motor vehicle owners and owners of motor
vehicles that use motor fuel for propulsion with respect to the aggregate
amount in motor vehicle registration fees and motor fuel taxes paid. The
recommendations must include recommendations as to whether the road
equalization fee needs to be adjusted to account for changes to motor fuel
excise tax rates or the imposition of other government charges that are
calculated on the basis of motor fuel consumption, whether the amount
of the fee should be different for personal and commercial vehicles, or
whether the amount of the fee should vary based on specified factors.
After the joint working group reports to the executive directors, the
executive directors or their designees must prepare a written report
regarding the recommendations for presentation to the transportation
legislation review committee during the 2022 legislative interim.
Revenue generated by the fee:
  • Must be credited to the highway users tax fund (HUTF)
and distributed pursuant to the existing second stream
HUTF allocation formula as follows:
  • 60% to the state highway fund;
  • 22% to counties; and
  • 18% to municipalities; and
  • Must be used only for maintenance of existing highways,
streets, and roads.

• March 24, 2021: House Energy & Environment Committee Report

The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which became law in
December 2017, added distributions for elementary or secondary tuition
expenses as qualified distributions from a qualified state tuition program

(529 account), thereby allowing, on the federal level, income tax-free
distributions for elementary and secondary tuition expenses in addition to
already authorized income tax-free distributions for higher education
expenses. Similarly, the federal Setting Every Community Up for
Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, which became law in December
2019, expands the qualified distributions from a 529 account to include
repayment of qualified education loans and payments for registered
apprenticeships.
The bill creates the foundational learning experience savings
program (FLEX savings program).
The bill also specifies that distributions from FLEX savings
program accounts are not counted as federal or state taxable income and
that contributions to FLEX savings program accounts for qualified
elementary or secondary tuition expenses may not be deducted from state
taxable income.
The accounts created under the FLEX savings program are defined
by the following characteristics:
  • Account owners may only use distributions from the
accounts for qualified elementary or secondary tuition
expenses;
  • Anyone may contribute to the account, irrespective of their
relationship to the account's designated beneficiary;
  • An account owner may transfer money to the FLEX
savings program accounts from a 529 account, if the total
of all amounts transferred does not exceed $10,000 and is
less than or equal to the lowest balance in the 529 account
at any point during the previous 2 years; and
  • Money in the account can be transferred to a different 529
account.
The bill also allows for expenses for fees, books, supplies, and
equipment required for the participation of a designated beneficiary in
certain apprenticeship programs to be treated as qualified higher
education expenses and subtracted from federal taxable income. The bill
clarifies that qualified higher education expenses does not include
repayment of qualified education loans.

• April 07, 2021: House Education Committee Report

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.

• March 22, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill modifies existing disclaimer statement requirements that
must accompany any communication that is broadcast, printed, mailed,
or delivered; placed on a website, streaming media service, or online
forum for a fee; or that is otherwise distributed, that constitutes an
independent expenditure made in excess of $1,000.
Under current law, the disclaimer statement must identify a natural

person who is the registered agent of the person paying for the
communication if the person paying is not a natural person. The bill
eliminates the requirement that this information be included in the
disclaimer statement and instead requires that the information be provided
to the appropriate officer as part of an existing written notice to be
submitted by the person expending money for the independent
expenditure.
In the case of a nonbroadcast communication, including an online
communication, such as campaign yard signs, campaign poster signs, and
campaign billboard signs, the bill requires the secretary of state, by rule,
to establish size and placement requirements for the disclaimer statement.
The rules must allow a disclaimer statement to be of a sufficient type size
to be clearly readable by the recipient of the communication. In addition,
the rules must also specify that the maximum font size of the disclaimer
must not exceed the requirements applicable to such disclaimers in
campaigns for federal elected office as promulgated by the federal
election commission.

• May 20, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The bill prohibits a legal entity that targets products or services to
people in Colorado (covered entity) from collecting, storing, or using
biometric identifiers of a Colorado consumer unless it:
  • Provides the consumer with information about what
biometric identifiers are collected;
  • Obtains the consent of the consumer to the collection,

storage, or use of the biometric identifiers; and
  • Informs the consumer that the consumer can revoke
consent at any time and how to do so.
If a consumer revokes consent to collect, store, or use biometric
identifiers, the covered entity is required to cease collection within 30
days and to delete or destroy any biometric identifiers it has stored. A
violation of the bill's requirements is an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
A governmental entity is prohibited from acquiring, possessing, or
using biometric identifiers or a biometric surveillance system unless
authorized by statute. A governmental entity is prohibited from selling,
releasing, or publicly disclosing biometric identifiers or information from
a biometric surveillance system in its possession and from buying or
otherwise receiving such information from a third party, unless:
  • The sale, disclosure, or receipt of the information is
necessary to comply with a court order or rule or with state
or federal law; or
  • The person who is the subject of the information consents
in writing.
An individual can bring a private right of action against a governmental
entity that violates the bill's requirements. Upon a finding of a violation,
a court can award actual damages, punitive or exemplary damages,
reasonable attorney fees and costs, and other relief.
Biometric identifier is defined to include a retina or iris scan, a
voice print, a face print, a fingerprint or palm print, or any other unique
identifying information based on an individual's immutable
characteristics.

• May 12, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The public employees' retirement association (PERA) board
(board) is required to create an exclusion list of all fossil fuel companies
in whose stocks, securities, equities, assets, or other obligations PERA
has any money or assets directly invested. The board is required to notify
any company on the list of its inclusion on the list and of the divestment

requirements of the bill. The board is required to periodically update the
exclusion list.
A company that was included on the exclusion list may request
that it be removed from the list on the basis of clear and convincing
evidence that it is not currently a fossil fuel company or that it will no
longer meet such definition by a certain date.
Within 6 months from the completion of the exclusion list, the
board is required to issue a determination as to whether divestment from
the companies on the exclusion list complies with the board's fiduciary
obligations. If the board determines that divestment from any company
on the exclusion list does not comply with its fiduciary obligations, the
board will remove the company from the exclusion list.
Beginning one year after the effective date of the bill, the board is
required to:
  • Divest the funds managed by PERA (fund) of any stocks,
securities, equities, assets, or other obligations of
companies on the exclusion list in which any money or
assets of the fund are directly invested; and
  • Cease new direct investments of any money or assets of the
fund in any stocks, securities, or other obligations of any
company that is a fossil fuel company.
The board is required to complete divestment from fossil fuel
companies by a specified date.
Beginning one year after the effective date of the bill, the board is
required to endeavor to ensure that no money or assets of the fund are
invested in an indirect investment vehicle unless the board is satisfied that
such indirect investment vehicle is unlikely to have in excess of 2% of its
assets directly or indirectly invested in fossil fuel companies.
The board is required to issue periodic reports to the members of
the pension review commission of the general assembly outlining all
actions taken to comply with the requirements of the bill.

• April 19, 2021: House Finance Committee Report

The bill allows eligible electors in the town of Parker to elect to
have all of the area within the boundaries of the town included in or
excluded from the boundaries of the regional transportation district

(district). The bill requires that for the election to go forward, 2 separate
ballot questions must be presented to the electors, one regarding the
town's inclusion in and one regarding the town's exclusion from each
special district.
The ballot questions may be initiated by petitions signed by at least
5% of the voters, or the governing body may adopt resolutions to hold
elections on the ballot questions. The ballot must include one question
allowing the voters to vote for or against the inclusion of the proposed
area in the district, and one question allowing voters to vote for or against
the exclusion of the proposed area from the district.
If one question is approved by a majority of the eligible electors
and the other question is not approved by a majority of eligible electors,
the question that was approved takes effect. If both questions are
approved by a majority of the eligible electors, only the question that
received the greater number of votes in favor of the question takes effect.
If neither question is approved by a majority of eligible electors, neither
question takes effect and the boundaries of the district remain as they
were before the election.
If the voters elect to be excluded from the district, the exclusion
takes effect on the earlier of December 31, 2050, or the date on which any
district securities that were secured by the specific pledge of proceeds of
sales taxes prior to January 1, 2021, are repaid. The district may continue
to collect sales and use tax revenues within the boundaries of the district
after the voters elect to be excluded and prior to the effective date of the
exclusion, so long as the district provides a reasonably proportionate level
of service to the town of Parker during that time.

• April 20, 2021: House Transportation & Local Government Committee Report

The bill creates the stimulus investments in reskilling, upskilling,
and next-skilling workers program (program) as an initiative of the state
work force development council (state council) to facilitate training for

unemployed and underemployed workers in the state during times of
substantial unemployment, defined as a statewide unemployment rate that
exceeds 4%. The bill appropriates $25 million for the program and directs
the state council to use the money to support individuals in need of:
  • Reskilling, which supports unemployed and
underemployed workers to change industries in order to
return to work or obtain more appropriate work based on
their skills;
  • Upskilling, which assists workers in increasing skill levels
to retain or advance in their employment; or
  • Next-skilling, which supports workers in developing
future-ready skills necessary for employment in the
twenty-first century.
The state council, in collaboration with the department of labor
and employment, is directed to allocate funding to local work force
development areas and to develop a grant program to award grants to
other partners to provide reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling supports
to eligible individuals for up to 13 months.
Starting in 2022, as part of the Colorado talent report, the state
council is directed to report on the activities and outcomes resulting from
the program. The program repeals on June 30, 2024.

• June 03, 2021: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• May 12, 2021: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report
• April 28, 2021: House Appropriations Committee Report
• April 21, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill subjects mortgage servicers to regulation by an assistant
attorney general, including the requirements of notification, record
keeping, reporting, examinations, inspections, and enforcement. A
violation of the requirements is an unfair or deceptive trade practice.

• June 01, 2021: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• May 25, 2021: Senate Finance Committee Report
• May 18, 2021: House Appropriations Committee Report
• May 10, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• April 29, 2021: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

Under current law, an entity may appeal a decision by a school
district board of education (local board) concerning a charter school to the
state board of education (state board). The state board reviews the
decision to determine whether it was contrary to the best interests of the
students, school district, or community.

The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a local board's
decision was in the best interests of the students, school district, or
community if the decision was based on at least one of several specified
considerations. A person bringing an appeal may overcome the
presumption by a preponderance of the evidence demonstrating that the
decision was not based on at least one of those considerations.

• May 27, 2021: House Education Committee Report

The property tax administrator is required by law to prepare and
publish manuals, appraisal procedures, instructions, and guidelines
(property tax materials) concerning the administration of the property tax.
Beginning January 1, 2022, section 1 of the bill requires the administrator
to conduct a public hearing on a proposed change to the property tax
materials prior to submitting the proposed change to the advisory
committee to the property tax administrator (advisory committee). The
administrator must publish notice of the hearing and mail notice to those
people who so request. At the hearing, interested persons may submit
information and the administrator is required to consider these
submissions. Any interested person may also petition the administrator for
the issuance, amendment, or repeal of any property tax material.
At least 2 weeks prior to the advisory committee reviewing a
proposed change to the property tax materials, section 2 requires the
property tax administrator to publish notice about the proposed change.
Under current law, an assessor may, with the permission of the
board of county commissioners, include an estimate of property taxes
owed in a notice of valuation. Section 3 requires an assessor to include
this estimate and allows the assessor to include a range of values.
If in the consideration of a protest an assessor finds that he or she
made a systematic error and the valuations of other similar properties are
incorrect, section 4 requires the assessor to correct the error for the other
similar properties.
Sections 4 through 9 extend all deadlines related to protests of the
valuation of real or personal property and for appeals to the county board
of equalization to the same day of the following month. The deadline for
a county assessor to report the total valuation for assessment of land and
improvements within a county is likewise delayed.

• May 19, 2021: House Transportation & Local Government Committee Report

The Colorado constitution allows a veteran who has a
service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim
a property tax exemption for 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value of
the veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The concurrent
resolution expands eligibility for the exemption to allow veterans with a
disability that has been rated as at least a 50% permanent disability to
claim the exemption.

• March 04, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

The Colorado constitution allows a qualifying senior or a veteran

who has a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent
disability to claim a property tax exemption for 50% of the first $200,000
of actual value of the qualifying senior's or veteran's owner-occupied
primary residence. The concurrent resolution extends eligibility for the
exemption to the gold star spouse of a veteran. Gold star spouse is
defined as the spouse of a deceased member of the United States armed
forces who qualifies for a gold star lapel button due to the death of the
member of the United States armed forces under applicable federal law
and regulations prescribed by the federal secretary of defense.

• June 07, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report
• June 03, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

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.

• March 16, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

Commencing with the 2022 general election, and subject to an
elector's choice to receive and cast all ballots by mail, the bill requires
that all registered electors cast their ballot in person for each general
election at a polling location within the county of the elector's residence.
The number and siting of polling locations within a county must be
designated by the county clerk and recorder.

Under the bill, voting in person is limited to a 7-day period
commencing 6 days before and culminating the day of the election.
During this one-week period, polling locations must remain open for
voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day during the week. A registered
elector may cast a ballot in person at any time during which polling
locations are open during the one-week period.
Each county clerk and recorder shall institute procedures by which
a registered elector may choose to vote by mail ballot by affirmatively
requesting that the elector would like to receive and cast a ballot by mail
for all forthcoming general elections.
The bill requires all ballots to be counted not later than the day of
the election. A ballot is not counted if it is received by a county clerk and
recorder after the polls have closed on election day. No preliminary
results of any race contested in the election may be disclosed by the
county clerk and recorder prior to the dissemination of the final results of
a race on or after election day.

• February 23, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

Under current law, if an eligible elector is unable to sign a mail
ballot issued to the elector, the elector may provide the self-affirmation
required to cast the ballot by making a mark on the self-affirmation, with
or without assistance, witnessed by another registered elector (witness).
The bill requires the envelope used for the ballot's return to show a place

for the witness to list the witness's voter identification number, and the
witness is required to write the witness's voter identification number on
the return envelope. The county clerk is required to verify the witness's
signature. A witness must be registered in the same county in which the
elector completing the self-affirmation is registered. A returned ballot for
which an elector's self-affirmation has been witnessed in a manner that
does not satisfy the requirements of the bill will be treated as a
provisional ballot.

• March 16, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

The bill allows the state department of human services (state
department), along with the child care allocation workgroup, to consider
a utilization factor. This utilization factor would enable the state
department to consider the volume of the eligible population and the
service delivery cost to each county department of human or social
services (county department) when allocating and distributing money for

the Colorado child care assistance program (CCCAP). The bill further
allows a county department to set its own eligibility levels for CCCAP,
expressed as a percentage of the federal poverty level.

• May 12, 2021: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• March 24, 2021: Senate Health & Human Services Committee Report

The bill prohibits the state and any of its departments, institutions,
or agencies (state) from making it a condition of employment that an
employee or a prospective employee execute a contract or other form of
agreement that prohibits, prevents, or otherwise restricts the employee or
prospective employee from disclosing factual circumstances concerning
the individual's employment with the state (nondisclosure agreement)

except where the nondisclosure agreement is necessary to prevent
disclosure of:
  • Factual circumstances relating to the employment that
reasonably implicate privacy interests held by the employee
who is a party to the agreement; and
  • Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or
rules or by state statute or matters bearing on the
specialized details of security arrangements or
investigations.
The bill prohibits nondisclosure agreements that prohibit state
employees from disclosing factual circumstances concerning their
employment. To the extent that an employer includes any such provision
in any employment contract or agreement, the provision is deemed against
public policy and unenforceable against a current or former employee
who is a party to the contract or agreement except where the provision is
intended to prevent disclosure of factual circumstances implicating the
employee's privacy interests or matters required to be kept confidential
under federal or state law or matters bearing on the specialized details of
security arrangements or investigations.
The bill prohibits the state from taking any retaliatory action
against an individual on the grounds that the individual does not enter into
a contract or agreement deemed to be against public policy and
unenforceable under the bill. Any person who enforces or attempts to
enforce a provision deemed against public policy and unenforceable
under the bill is liable for the employee's reasonable attorney fees and
costs in defending against the action.

• March 18, 2021: Senate Judiciary Committee Report

The bill clarifies that, whenever the state board of health or the
Colorado department of public health and environment promulgates a
rule, it shall do so by complying with the State Administrative Procedure

Act.
The bill also prohibits the state board of health and the Colorado
department of public health and environment from issuing an order that
has the general applicability of a rule unless the state board of health or
the Colorado department of public health and environment issues the
order in accordance with the requirements for promulgating a rule, as set
forth in the State Administrative Procedure Act.

• March 02, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

The bill prohibits a state, county, or local government agency, or
any person acting on behalf of the state, county, or local government
agency, from ordering persons participating in a protest or demonstration
(protest) to disperse, or from deeming the protest unlawful, unless the
persons participating in the protest are acting in concert to pose an
imminent threat to use force or violence to cause personal injury or

significant property damage.

• May 24, 2021: Senate Judiciary Committee Report

A working group was convened over the 2019 interim pursuant to
House Bill 19-1264 to develop proposed statutes to address certain issues
affecting the creation, valuation, tax treatment, and stewardship of

conservation easements in the state. The bill implements the
recommendations of the working group by creating a new state income
tax credit (new credit) for certain taxpayers who were denied state income
tax credits for conservation easements donated between 2000 and 2013
(original credit) if the federal internal revenue service allowed a federal
income tax deduction for the same donation. The amount of the new
credit is based upon the amount of the original credit that could have been
claimed at the time of the original donation based upon the value of the
donation accepted by the internal revenue service. The amount of the new
credit is reduced by any amount that was allowed to be claimed against
Colorado income tax or otherwise reinstated to the claimant of the
original credit. The new credit is not refundable but may be carried
forward or transferred in the same manner as original credits. New credits
allowed count against a portion of the existing cap on the total amount of
original conservation easement credits that may be claimed each year. The
department of revenue is required to make information about the new
credit available online.
The bill establishes a process for applying to the division of
conservation to claim the new credit. If the original credit that was denied
was transferred to another taxpayer as transferee, the bill provides a
process for all parties to the transaction to submit a mutual application to
claim the new credit or, if there is objection, an ombudsman process to
resolve disputes about the distribution of the credit.

• June 07, 2021: House Finance Committee Report
• May 26, 2021: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• April 14, 2021: Senate Finance Committee Report

The bill creates the water resources financing enterprise
(enterprise). The board of the enterprise (board) consists of the board of
directors of the Colorado water resources and power development

authority and the board members of the Colorado water conservation
board. The enterprise will provide financing to water providers, defined
to include drinking water suppliers, wastewater treatment suppliers, and
raw water suppliers. Raw water suppliers are limited to those that provide
raw water for treatment and use as drinking water.
Customers of a drinking water supplier will pay a fee to the
supplier, who will transmit it to the enterprise to be used for the
financing. The fee for each individual metered connection in a drinking
water supplier's public water system is 25 cents per 1,000 gallons of
drinking water delivered per month in excess of the first 4,000 gallons of
drinking water delivered in that month to the individual metered
connection. The board may adjust the fee based on inflation and equity
concerns for large nonresidential customers and customers who pay tiered
rates that start higher than 4,000 gallons per month.
The enterprise can provide financing for grants, loans, and in-kind
technical assistance in arranging third-party financing. In determining
whether to provide financing, the board shall consider the following
factors:
  • A water provider's ability to pay, including whether the
water provider has sought or received other financial
assistance;
  • Whether a water provider has been found to be
noncompliant with requirements, or is subject to increased
requirements, related to the provision of raw water,
drinking water, or wastewater treatment;
  • Whether the proposed use of financing relates to a project
identified in and in furtherance of the state water plan; and
  • The geographic location and demographic characteristics
of the water provider and its customers.
The enterprise shall provide, and a water provider may use, the
financing only:
  • In connection with the provision of raw water, drinking
water, or wastewater treatment; and
  • For feasibility studies, consulting, planning, permitting, and
construction of infrastructure and water conservation
projects and related recreational, hydroelectric, and flood
control facilities, including necessary enlargement and
rehabilitation of facilities but excluding maintenance and
operation of facilities.

• March 11, 2021: Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee Report

The bill requires that a state agency, in issuing an emergency
public health order, comply with the procedural requirements set forth in
the State Administrative Procedure Act (APA) that apply to emergency
rules. To extend an emergency public health order beyond the 120-day
limit that applies to emergency rules, the agency must comply with the
rule-making procedures regarding notice and a hearing, as set forth in the

APA.

• March 02, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

The bill requires each school district and institute charter school

that is closed to in-person instruction for a total of 30 or more school days
during a school year (education provider) to establish and operate a
student equity education funding program (program) for the next school
year, which provides money to parents of eligible students for the
purchase of educational services and supplies for the eligible student. An
eligible student who participates in a program is deemed to be enrolled by
the education provider that operates the program, although the eligible
student may not receive educational services from the education provider.
The eligible student's participation in educational services purchased
using money from the program is deemed to meet the compulsory
education requirements.
The education provider must provide information to the public
concerning the program it operates, including the manner in which a
parent may apply to participate in the program. The bill establishes
eligibility requirements that a student must meet to participate in a
program and requirements for program applications.
For each eligible student who participates in a program, the
student's parent receives an amount equal to the state share of the
education provider's per pupil revenue for the applicable school year. The
parent must report to the education provider how the parent spends the
money received and provide receipts. The education provider is required
to audit a representative sample of the parents of eligible students who
participate in the education provider's program to ensure that the eligible
students met the eligibility requirements and the parents used the money
for authorized purposes.

• March 10, 2021: Senate Education Committee Report

Colorado courts follow the common law rule that, generally, only
a parent or guardian has the right to claim pre-majority economic
damages of a minor for which another person is liable. The bill abolishes
the common law rule and permits a minor to bring a claim to recover
damages for the minor's pre-majority economic loss. A minor or a parent
may not be awarded damages for any economic loss that have been

awarded to another person.
Under existing law, the statute of limitations for civil claims
against health care institutions and health care professionals is 2 years,
with certain exceptions. The exceptions to the 2-year limitation include
claims brought by or on behalf of a minor who is under 8 years old and
claims brought by or on behalf of a person under disability. The bill
makes any exemption to the 2-year limitation that would apply to a
minor's claim also apply to a claim brought by a person entitled or
required to bring a claim to recover damages for a minor's pre-majority
economic loss.

• March 25, 2021: Senate Judiciary Committee Report

The bill gives a peace officer the authority to issue a summons and
complaint for any offense committed in the officer's presence, or if not
committed in the officer's presence, for any offense that the officer has
probable cause to believe was committed and probable cause to believe
was committed by the person charged, unless arrest is statutorily required
or the offense is a crime of violence.
The bill prohibits a peace officer from arresting a person based
solely on the alleged commission of a traffic offense; petty offense;

municipal offense; misdemeanor offense; a class 4, 5, or 6 felony; or a
level 3 or 4 drug felony unless:
  • A custodial arrest is statutorily required;
  • The officer is unable to sufficiently verify the individual's
identity absent a custodial arrest;
  • The person was convicted for a violation of section
42-4-1301, Colorado Revised Statutes, in the previous 12
months; or
  • The offense is a felony or a victims' rights crime, the
offense includes an element of illegal possession or use of
firearm, the offense constitutes unlawful sexual behavior,
or the offense is a violation a temporary or regular extreme
risk protection order, a violation of a credible threat to a
school, or a violation of eluding in a vehicle and:
  • The arresting officer records in the arrest documents
a reasonable suspicion to conclude the person poses
a threat to the safety of another, absent custodial
arrest; or
  • The arresting officer records in the arrest documents
a reasonable suspicion to conclude the person has
indicated a clear unwillingness to cease and desist in
criminal behavior, absent custodial arrest.
The bill prohibits a court from issuing a monetary bond for a
misdemeanor offense; municipal offense; class 4, 5, or 6 felony; or level
3 or 4 drug felony unless the court finds the defendant will flee
prosecution or threaten the safety of another and no other condition of
release can reasonably mitigate the risk. The bill requires the court to
issue a personal recognizance bond when the defendant fails to appear
unless the defendant has failed to appear 3 or more times in the case. The
bill requires the court to issue a personal recognizance bond in a failure
to comply with conditions probation hearing unless it is based on a
commission of a new crime.
The bill authorizes sheriffs to actively manage their jail
populations in order to keep the population as low as possible while
maintaining community safety, including the authority to establish jail
admission standards that include offense-based admission standards that
limit jail admissions.

• May 26, 2021: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• March 04, 2021: Senate Judiciary Committee Report

The bill creates a process to automatically expunge petty offenses
a year after completion of the sentence, nonviolent misdemeanors 3 years
after the completion of the sentence, and nonviolent felonies 5 years after
the completion of the sentence. The bill creates a list of convictions for
which automatic expungement is not permitted. The bill requires the state
court administrator (administrator) to compile a list of convictions that are

eligible for expungement. After the administrator compiles the list, the
administrator sends the list to the Colorado bureau of investigation
(bureau) for review, and the bureau removes from the list any convictions
in which the identity of the defendant is unverifiable or in which the
defendant had another conviction during the waiting period. The bureau
sends its amended list to each district attorney in the state, and the district
attorney removes any convictions in which the defendant has a pending
criminal charge. Each district attorney sends its amended list to the
administrator. The administrator compiles all of the lists into one final list
and sorts the convictions by judicial district.
If the chief judge of a judicial district authorizes the administrator
to issue expungement orders, the administrator shall issue expungement
orders based on the final list. If the chief judge of a judicial district does
not authorize the administrator to issue expungement orders, the
administrator shall send the final list to the chief judge of the judicial
district, and the courts of that judicial district shall enter expungement
orders based on the final list received.
The administrator shall develop a website that allows a defendant
to confidentially determine whether the defendant's conviction has been
expunged and provides information about how to receive a copy of the
expungement order.

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.

• March 08, 2021: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report

The bill requires the division of insurance (division) to retain a
contractor on or before November 1, 2021, for the purpose of performing
actuarial reviews of proposed legislation that may impose a new health
benefit mandate on health benefit plans. The contractor, under the
direction of the division, shall conduct an actuarial review of up to 5

legislative proposals for each regular legislative session, each at the
request of a member of the general assembly. Each actuarial review
performed by the contractor must consider the predicted effects of the
legislative proposal during the 5 years immediately following the
effective date of the proposed legislation, including specifically described
considerations.
In preparing a fiscal note for any legislative proposal that may
impose a new health benefit mandate on health benefit plans, the
legislative service agency charged with preparing the fiscal note shall
either:
  • Include in the fiscal note information that is produced by
the contractor in review of the legislative proposal; or
  • If no information is produced by the contractor in review of
the legislative proposal, indicate such fact in the fiscal note.

• March 30, 2021: Senate Finance Committee Report

The bill permits a fermented malt beverage retailer that is licensed
to sell fermented malt beverages for off-premises consumption and that

has licensed premises comprising less than 7,500 square feet to use a
third-party delivery service, instead of its own employees and vehicles,
to deliver fermented malt beverages to its customers.

• March 22, 2021: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report

Current law appropriates $5 million annually from the tobacco tax
cash fund to the department of public health and environment
(department) for breast and cervical cancer screenings. The bill expands

the use of the funds for additional cancer screenings. The bill changes the
name of the breast cancer screening fund to the cancer screening fund and
authorizes the money in the fund to be used for breast and cervical cancer
screenings, colorectal cancer screenings, and screenings for additional
screenable cancers.
The bill changes the makeup of the existing advisory board from
persons interested in health care and the promotion of breast cancer
screenings to include persons who are interested in health care and the
promotion of services for other screenable cancers. When making
recommendations to the executive director of the department concerning
cancer screening services, the bill requires the advisory board to allocate,
at a minimum, $2.5 million annually for breast and cervical cancer
screenings, $1 million annually for colorectal cancer screenings, and, if
feasible, money for screenings for additional screenable cancers.

• March 17, 2021: Senate Health & Human Services Committee Report

At the November 2020 general election, the voters approved
proposition 114, which:
  • Approved the reintroduction of gray wolves on designated
lands in Colorado west of the continental divide beginning
no later than December 31, 2023; and

  • Acknowledged that the general assembly may adopt
implementing legislation to facilitate the restoration of gray
wolves to Colorado.
The bill:
  • Specifies the process that the parks and wildlife
commission (commission) must follow in soliciting and
considering public input regarding a draft of the gray wolf
reintroduction and management plan, including when the
commission periodically updates the plan;
  • Requires the commission to submit:
  • To the general assembly the plan and specified
recommendations regarding how to finance the
reintroduction and management of gray wolves; and
  • A request to the United States fish and wildlife
service to conduct an environmental impact analysis
pursuant to the federal National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 before the reintroduction of
gray wolves on designated lands that are owned and
managed by the United States; and
  • Requires the commission to initiate the process to remove
the gray wolf from the state list of endangered or
threatened species as soon as any litigation contesting the
validity of the federal delisting of gray wolves has been
finally resolved.

• March 11, 2021: Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee Report

The bill requires that proposed public school building sites be set
back from existing oil and gas facilities a distance that is no less than:
  • The setback distance required by the local government
having land use jurisdiction over the site for locating new
oil and gas facilities from public school properties; or

  • If there are no local government setback requirements, the
setback distance required by the oil and gas conservation
commission for siting new oil and gas facilities from
existing public school properties.

• March 25, 2021: Senate Transportation & Energy Committee Report

The bill requires a person who owns, leases, leases to, or operates
a movie theater open to the public in Colorado to provide, on or before
January 1, 2022, and ongoing thereafter, open captioning at all indoor and
outdoor movie showings of each movie that is produced and offered with
open movie captioning, including trailers.

• March 10, 2021: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report

Current law requires the air quality control commission
(commission) to give at least 60 days' notice before the hearing when
promulgating certain rules that set air quality standards. The bill clarifies
that the commission may give an earlier notice and requires the notice to
include a description of the classes of persons and entities that will be

affected by the proposed rule.
Current law authorizes people to submit alternate proposals to the
commission's rules that set air quality standards. The bill requires the
commission to promulgate rules concerning alternate proposals that:
  • Establish a deadline for submitting these proposals, but the
deadline can be no later than the deadline for party
statements;
  • Govern the submission of proposals;
  • Establish procedures for assigning a hearing officer to
make the determination whether the proposal complies with
the requirements;
  • Ensure that any party to the hearing is afforded sufficient
time before the hearing to consider proposals and file with
the commission a written response to the proposal.
The commission is prohibited from considering an alternate
proposal at the hearing unless the proposal:
  • Complies with the bill, as determined by a hearing officer;
and
  • Includes:
  • An initial economic impact analysis;
  • A description of the classes of persons that will be
affected; and
  • A statement as to whether the proposal was
developed in consultation with those persons or why
consultation with those persons was not conducted.
No later than 10 days after receiving an alternate proposal, a
hearing officer must:
  • Determine whether the proposal complies with the bill; and
  • Provide notice of the determinations to all persons that
have filed with the commission a written request to receive
the notices.
The bill requires the proponents of an alternate proposal to provide
to the commission a final economic impact analysis.

• April 01, 2021: Senate Transportation & Energy Committee Report

The bill authorizes the director of the division of professions and
occupations or the applicable regulatory board in the department of
regulatory agencies (regulator) to suspend or waive statutes or rules
governing a health care profession or occupation over which a regulator
has authority during a disaster emergency declared by the governor. The

suspension or waiver of a statute or rule is limited to those in which strict
compliance would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping
with or responding to the disaster emergency and may not suspend,
waive, or modify any supervisory requirements.
The bill allows a regulator to promulgate emergency rules
commensurate with the nature of the disaster emergency and within the
limits of the declaration and the applicable practice act for a health care
profession or occupation. The emergency rules automatically expire 60
days after the termination of the declared disaster emergency.

• March 17, 2021: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report

The bill creates the digital communications division (division) and
the digital communications commission (commission) within the
department of regulatory agencies. On an annual basis and for a

reasonable fee determined by the commission, the division shall register
digital communications platforms, which are certain
communications-oriented online businesses, such as social media
platforms or media-sharing platforms, that conduct business in Colorado
or own or operate services that are offered to Colorado residents. A
digital communications platform that fails to register with the division
commits a class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 for
each day that the violation continues.
The division shall investigate and the commission may hold
hearings on claims filed with the division alleging that a digital
communications platform has allowed a person to engage in one or more
unfair or discriminatory digital communications practices on the platform,
which practices:
  • Include practices that promote hate speech; undermine
election integrity; disseminate intentional disinformation,
conspiracy theories, or fake news; or authorize, encourage,
or carry out violations of users' privacy; and
  • May include business, political, or social practices that are
conducted in a manner that a person aggrieved by the
practices can demonstrate are unfair or discriminatory to
the aggrieved person. Such practices, if done in an unfair
or discriminatory manner, might include:
  • Practices that target users for purposes of collecting
and disseminating users' personal data, including
users' sensitive data;
  • Profiling users based on their personal data
collected;
  • Selling or authorizing others to use users' personal
data to provide location-based advertising or
targeted advertising; or
  • Using facial recognition software and other tracking
technology.
If a person who files a complaint with the division exhausts all
administrative remedies and proceedings, the person may file a civil
action in district court alleging an unfair or discriminatory digital
communications practice.

• May 06, 2021: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report
• March 23, 2021: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report