Sections 1 and 3 of the act restore, over time, certain business deductions to federal taxable income that were disallowed in Colorado by operation of a department of revenue rule and by House Bill 20-1420. The specific deductions are related to net operating losses, the application of the federal excess business loss rules, interest expenses, and qualified improvement property.

The earned income tax credit is equal to a percentage of the federal earned income tax credit. Section 2 allows taxpayers filing with an individual taxpayer identification number to claim the earned income tax credit for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2020.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the department of labor and employment (department) and specifies that it exercises its powers, duties, and functions, including rule-making, regulation, licensing, and registration, the promulgation of rates and standards, and the rendering of findings, orders, and adjudications, independently of the executive director of the department. The executive director of the department is required to appoint the director of the SAA. The purpose of the SAA is to:

• Serve as the primary point of contact with the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship concerning apprentices and registered apprenticeship programs;
• Accelerate new apprenticeship program growth and assist in promotion and development; and
• Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration, required standards for registration, certification, quality assurance, record-keeping, compliance with federal laws and standards, and provision of administrative and technical assistance.

The director of the SAA is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the state apprenticeship registration program.

The director of the SAA is required to establish the state apprenticeship council (SAC) and an interagency advisory committee (IAC) on apprenticeship. The governor and the director of the SAA appoint the members of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee.

The SAC is charged with overseeing registered apprenticeship programs for the building and construction trades in this state and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws and standards. The IAC is charged with the same responsibilities for all other apprenticeships not in the building and construction trades. Both entities are charged with:

• Registering with and maintaining the standards of the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship and developing standards for registration for their respective apprenticeship programs;
• Resolving conflicts and complaints that arise between parties to apprenticeship agreements;
• Reviewing apprenticeship program performance;
• Making recommendations concerning apprenticeship programs to the director of the state apprenticeship agency;
• Providing technical and professional guidance and promoting best practices;
• Developing administrative policies to ensure safety and quality standards;
• Providing an annual report to the executive director of the department of labor and employment; and
• Advising the SAA concerning their assigned functions and formulating policies for their respective industries.

The act establishes a joint resolution committee of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee to resolve conflicts between the 2 entities and to define their respective jurisdictions.

Additionally, the act requires the state apprenticeship agency to accept applications for registration of apprenticeship programs beginning July 1, 2023. The state apprenticeship agency may deregister an apprenticeship program for noncompliance with the requirements in the act. The state apprenticeship agency shall conduct a hearing upon request of the SAC or the IAC regarding issues of noncompliance and deregistration.

The apprenticeship program is repealed, effective September 1, 2029, after a review of the director's functions is performed.

To implement this act, $485,249 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the SAA. From this amount $85,072 is appropriated to the department of law, and $78,598 is appropriated to the office of the governor.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires the prescription drug monitoring program (program) to track all controlled substances prescribed in Colorado. The act requires the state board of pharmacy (board) to determine if the program should track all prescription drugs prescribed in this state. If the board determines that all drugs should be tracked, the act requires the board to promulgate rules to include all prescription drugs in the program. If the board determines that one or more drugs should not be tracked through the program, the act requires the board to publicly note the justification for the exclusions.

$61,118 is appropriated from the prescription drug monitoring fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of professions and occupations to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act states that a domestic stock insurer (dividing insurer) may divide into 2 or more resulting insurers pursuant to a plan of division. A plan of division must include:

• The name of the dividing insurer;
• The name of each resulting insurer created by the proposed division and, for each resulting insurer, a copy of proposed articles of incorporation and proposed bylaws;
• The manner of allocating assets and liabilities, including policy liabilities, between or among all resulting insurers;
• The manner of distributing shares in the resulting insurers to the dividing insurer or the dividing insurer's shareholders;
• A reasonable description of all liabilities and all assets that the dividing insurer proposes to allocate to each resulting insurer, including the manner by which the dividing insurer proposes to allocate all reinsurance contracts;
• All terms and conditions required by the laws of this state and the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the dividing insurer; and
• All other terms and conditions required by the division.

A plan of division must include additional provisions, the nature of which depends on whether the dividing insurer will survive the division.

A dividing insurer shall file a plan of division with the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) only after the plan of division has been approved in accordance with all provisions of the dividing insurer's articles of incorporation and bylaws. The commissioner shall approve the plan of division if, after considering certain criteria, the commissioner finds that certain requirements are met. If the commissioner approves a plan of division, an officer or duly authorized representative of the dividing insurer shall sign a certificate of division that sets forth certain information concerning the division.

The act establishes procedures for amending and abandoning plans of division.

The act provides for the protection of confidential information, documents, and materials that are submitted to, obtained by, or disclosed to the commissioner in connection with a plan of division or in contemplation of a plan of division.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $10,729 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act requires retail establishments that offer goods or services to accept United States currency (cash) to purchase the goods or services, but does not apply to:

• Establishments that do not have an individual accepting payment in person;
• Establishments that provide a device to convert cash into a prepaid card with no fee and a minimum balance of no more than one dollar;
• A transaction in which a security deposit is placed on a credit card or in which a credit card number is provided to cover unforeseen damages or expenses; and
• A bank or credit union.

A violation is a class 2 petty offense punishable by a fine of up to $250. The act applies to offenses committed on or after the effective date of this act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act:

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

The requirements of the "Construction Bidding for Public Projects Act" (CBPPA) generally apply to a public project if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $500,000 for any fiscal year; except that a public project supervised by the department of transportation (CDOT) is subject to the requirements of the CBPPA if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $150,000 for any fiscal year. The act:

• Increases the lower cost amount for CDOT projects to $250,000, which means that the requirements of the CBPPA, including the requirement that CDOT prepare a bid estimate when it proposes to undertake a project itself rather than awarding the project to a contractor through competitive bidding, will apply to a CDOT project only if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $250,000 for any fiscal year;
• Increases from $50,000 to $150,000 the maximum cost for a CDOT project that is exempt from transportation commission approval; and
• Requires CDOT to annually identify in a report to the transportation commission and the transportation legislation review committee of the general assembly all highway maintenance projects for the reporting year costing more than $150,000 but not more than $250,000 that:
• CDOT is completing using CDOT employees;
• CDOT awarded by invitation for bids or competitive sealed best value bidding; or
• For which CDOT solicited but did not receive bids.

The act also limits the existing requirement that CDOT pay all employees performing work on any public project local prevailing wages in accordance with specified federal acts to projects that cost more than $250,000 and requires all electrical work on a CDOT public project to be performed by licensed electricians or registered apprentices properly supervised by electricians.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a statutory basis to allow a private employer to give preference to a veteran of the armed forces or the National Guard and the spouse of a service member killed in the line of duty when hiring a new employee, as long as the veteran or the spouse is as qualified as other applicants for employment. The act allows a private employer's veterans' preference employment policy to also include the preferential hiring of a veteran who has been discharged from active duty within the last 5 years, a spouse of a veteran killed in the line of duty within 5 years after the death, and a veteran with a disability within 10 after the date of discharge. The act creates a rebuttable presumption that a private employer that adopts a program that gives preferences to veterans or their spouses is not committing a discriminatory or unfair labor practice.

The act requires the office of economic development to begin the development of production materials to educate and encourage employers to hire veterans.

$25,000 is appropriated to the office of economic development for allocation to the office of film, television, and media for the development of production materials.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds a requirement, as part of mandatory health insurance coverage of preventive health care services, that health plans cover an annual mental health wellness examination of up to 60 minutes that is performed by a qualified mental health care provider. The coverage must:

• Be comparable to the coverage of a physical examination;
• Comply with the requirements of federal mental health parity laws; and
• Not require any deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for the mental health wellness examination.

The coverage applies to large employer plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, and to individual and small group plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, if the commissioner of insurance determines, and the United States department of health and human services confirms or fails to timely respond to a request for confirmation, that the coverage for an annual mental health wellness examination does not require state defrayal pursuant to the federal "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". Additionally, the division of insurance (division) is directed to conduct an actuarial study to determine the effect of the coverage on insurance premiums.

The act appropriates $26,353 to the division to conduct reviews of health plans to ensure compliance with the coverage required by the bill.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates the legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy (committee) and the associated task force (task force).

The committee is required to annually define in writing, no later than the second meeting of the year, the scope of tax policy to be considered for the committee and the task force. The committee is responsible for considering the policy considerations contained in the tax expenditure evaluations prepared by the state auditor. The committee is responsible for the oversight of the task force. The committee may recommend legislative changes that are treated as bills recommended by an interim legislative committee.

The task force is required to study tax policy within its scope as annually defined by the committee and is required to develop and propose for committee consideration any tax policy and legislative recommendations.

The task force is also authorized, with approval from the committee chair in consultation with the committee vice-chair, to provide evidence-based feedback on the potential benefits or consequences of a legislative or other policy proposal not directly affiliated with or generated by the task force, including any bill or resolution introduced by the general assembly that affects tax policy.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act adds the terms "gender expression" and "gender identity" to statutes prohibiting discrimination against members of a protected class, including statutes prohibiting discriminatory practices in the following areas:

• Membership of the Colorado civil rights commission;
• Employment practices;
• Housing practices;
• Places of public accommodation;
• Publications that advertise places of public accommodation;
• Consumer credit transactions;
• Selection of patients by direct primary health care providers;
• Sales of cemetery plots;
• Membership in labor organizations;
• Colorado labor for public works projects;
• Issuance or renewal of automobile insurance policies;
• The provision of funeral services and crematory services;
• Eligibility for jury service;
• Issuance of licenses to practice law;
• The juvenile diversion program;
• Access to services for youth in foster care;
• Enrollment in a charter school, institute charter school, public school, or pilot school;
• Local school boards' written policies regarding employment, promotion, and dismissal;
• The assignment or transfer of a public school teacher;
• Leasing portions of the grounds of or improvements on the grounds of the Colorado state university - Pueblo and the Colorado school of mines;
• Enrollment or classification of students at private occupational schools;
• Training provided to peace officers concerning the prohibition against profiling;
• Criminal justice data collection;
• Employment in the state personnel system;
• The availability of services for the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections;
• Membership of the health equity commission;
• The availability of family planning services;
• Requirements for managed care programs participating in the state medicaid program and the children's basic health plan;
• The treatment of and access to services by individuals in facilities providing substance use disorder treatment programs;
• Employment practices of county departments of human or social services involving the selection, retention, and promotion of employees;
• Practices of the Colorado housing and finance authority in making or committing to make a housing facility loan;
• The imposition of occupancy requirements on charitable property for which the owner is claiming an exemption from property taxes based on the charitable use of the property;
• Practices of transportation network companies in providing services to the public; and
• The determination of whether expenses paid at or to a club that has a policy to restrict membership are tax deductible.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act moves the broadband deployment board (board) from the department of regulatory agencies (department) to the office of information technology (office) and, on September 1, 2021, reduces the membership of the board from 16 to 11 members.

The board is required to develop a request for proposal process through which the board will solicit bids for proposed projects that serve critically unserved areas of the state identified by the office. The board is required to reserve up to 60% of the money from the high cost support mechanism that is allocated for broadband deployment to award grants to proposed projects solicited through the request for proposal process. "Critically unserved" is defined in the act to mean a household or area that lacks access to at least one provider of nonsatellite broadband service delivered at measurable speeds of at least 10 megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream or at measurable speeds of at least one-half of the minimum measurable speeds that qualify as broadband under the federal communications commission's definition, rounded up, whichever is faster.

The act also:

• Requires an applicant or appellant to submit either written certification from a local entity indicating that the area to be served by the applicant's project is an unserved area or a statistically representative number of speed tests performed on an incumbent provider's network and conducted in accordance with industry-standard speed-test protocols;
• Gives additional consideration to proposed projects that would give discounted service for low-income households;
• Contractually requires an applicant receiving a grant award to:
• Report annually on the number of homes and businesses served by the grant-supported broadband network, the number of homes and businesses expected to be served in the following year, and the speeds, rates, and services offered to customers through the grant-supported broadband network; and
• Provide third-party performance-testing certification, after the grant money has been fully expended, that the project meets the original design of, and provides the measurable speeds, rates, and services set forth in, the application.
• Requires an applicant or appellant to submit to the office, in a form and manner determined by the office, certain granular mapping data, which data is not a public record under the "Colorado Open Records Act"; and
• Uses the request for proposal process, or a substantially similar process, for the disbursement of any federal money the board receives for broadband deployment projects and programs so long as using the request for proposal process complies with federal requirements for use of the money.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act transfers $202,504 of the appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act from the department of regulator agencies to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds language to strengthen current Colorado law related to protections against discrimination on the basis of disability for persons with disabilities, specifically as those laws relate to accessibility to government information technology. The added provisions include:

• Prohibiting a person with a disability from being excluded from participating in or being denied the benefits of services, programs, or activities of a public entity or a state agency;
• Clarifying that such prohibition includes the failure of a public entity or state agency to develop an accessibility plan and fully comply, on or before July 1, 2024, with accessibility guidelines established by the office of information technology (office);
• Any Colorado agency with the authority to promulgate rules shall not promulgate a rule that provides less protection than that provided by the "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990".

Definitions related to disabilities are added to the statutory sections for the office. The chief information officer in the office is directed to maintain accessibility standards for individuals with disabilities (accessibility standards) for information technology systems employed by state agencies that provide access to information stored electronically and are designed to present information for interactive communications, in formats intended for visual and nonvisual use.

The chief information officer in the office is directed to promote and monitor the accessibility standards in the state's information technology infrastructure. The act directs each state agency to comply with the accessibility standards established by the office. The accessibility standards must be established using the most recent web content accessibility guidelines promulgated and published by the world wide web consortium web accessibility initiative or the international accessibility guidelines working group.

The act directs each state agency, on or before July 1, 2022, to submit its written accessibility plan to the office. The office shall then work collaboratively with the state agency to review sections related to accessibility standards and to establish implementation methodology. On or before July 1, 2024, each state agency shall fully implement the sections of the state agency's plan related to accessibility standards. The act states that any state agency that is not in full compliance by July 1, 2024, is in violation of the state's laws concerning discrimination against individuals with a disability and is subject to the remedies set forth in statute.

Liability for noncompliance as to content lies with the public entity or state agency that manages the content, whereas noncompliance of the platform hosting the content lies with the public entity or state agency that manages the platform.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $312,922 to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology. This appropriation is from the general fund and is based on an assumption that the office will require an additional 0.9 FTE. To implement this act, the office may use this appropriation for enterprise solutions.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that the existing authority of cities and counties to plan for and regulate the use of land includes the authority to regulate development or redevelopment in order to promote the construction of new affordable housing units. The provisions of the state's rent control statute do not apply to any land use regulation that restricts rents on newly constructed or redeveloped housing units as long as the regulation provides a choice of options to the property owner or land developer and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on the building site. The act also states that it should not be construed to authorize a local government to adopt or enforce any ordinance or regulation that would have the effect of controlling rent on any existing private residential housing unit in violation of the existing statutory prohibition on rent control.

The act prohibits a local government from exercising this new regulatory authority unless the local government demonstrates, at the time it enacts a land use regulation for the purpose of exercising such authority, it has taken one or more among a list of specified actions to increase the overall number and density of housing units within its jurisdictional boundaries or to promote or create incentives to the construction of affordable housing units.

The act requires the department of local affairs to offer guidance to assist local governments in connection with its implementation.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act updates language that must be included on a court summons issued to a defendant-tenant in an eviction action explaining the consequences for failing to answer the complaint, the content of an answer, and the fees and deposits related to filing an answer.

The act prohibits a county sheriff from executing a writ of restitution, which directs the sheriff to assist the landlord in removing the tenant, until at least 10 days after a landlord wins judgment in an eviction action.

The act prohibits residential landlords from increasing rent more than one time in a 12-month period of tenancy. For a residential tenancy of any duration in which there is no written agreement, the act requires a landlord to give a tenant 60 days' notice prior to increasing rent. The act prohibits a landlord from terminating a residential tenancy in which there is no written agreement with the primary purpose of increasing a tenant's rent without providing 60 days' notice.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act facilitates business entities' ability to conduct business activities electronically by:

• Defining terms, including address, delivery, document, e-mail, electronic transmission, notice, and sign, that relate to electronic communications;
• Specifying how notice may be given by electronic transmission; and
• Establishing requirements for remote participation in shareholders' and directors' meetings.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, local governments are prohibited from requiring or banning the use or sale of specific types of plastic materials or products. The act repeals the prohibition on July 1, 2024.

The act prohibits stores and retail food establishments, on and after January 1, 2024, from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers; except that retail food establishments that are restaurants and small stores that operate solely in Colorado and have 3 or fewer locations may provide single-use plastic carryout bags. The prohibition does not apply to inventory purchased before January 1, 2024, and used on or before June 1, 2024, which may be supplied to a customer at the point of sale for a 10-cent or greater fee.

Between January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, a store may furnish a recycled paper carryout bag or a single-use plastic carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale if the customer pays a fee of 10 cents per bag or a higher fee adopted by the municipality or county in which the store is located.

On and after January 1, 2024, a store may furnish only a recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale at a fee of 10 cents per bag or a higher fee imposed by the municipality or county in which the store is located.

A store is required to remit, on a quarterly basis beginning April 1, 2024, 60% of the carryout bag fee revenues to the municipality or county within which the store is located and may retain the remaining 40% of the carryout bag fee revenues. A municipality or county may use its portion of the carryout bag fee revenues to pay for its administrative and enforcement costs and any recycling, composting, or other waste diversion programs or related outreach or education activities.

The carryout bag fee does not apply to a customer that provides evidence to the store that the customer is a participant in a federal or state food assistance program.

The act prohibits a retail food establishment, on and after January 1, 2024, from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for use as a container for ready-to-eat food in this state. Retail food establishments that purchase expanded polystyrene products before January 1, 2024, may continue to use the products until their supply is depleted.

The act also authorizes a local government to enforce against a violation of the act and expressly authorizes a county to impose a civil penalty against a store or retail food establishment of up to $500 for a second violation or up to $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation; except that a local government cannot enforce a violation committed by a retail food establishment located within a school.

On and after July 1, 2024, a local government may enact, implement, or enforce an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision that is as stringent as or more stringent than the requirements set forth in the act.

The act does not apply to materials used in the packaging of pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements or any equipment or materials used to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of local affairs (department), no later than August 13, 2021, to establish a pilot program to help local governments identify perceptual and substantial barriers to entry for historically underutilized businesses in local government procurement.

The act requires local governments participating in the pilot program to consider a number of items, such as:

• Identifying implementation needs, such as labor and technology, for historically underutilized businesses preference programs for local government procurement (programs);
• Determining the appropriate size contracts that would benefit from a program; and
• Creating a sample program that all local governments may use and articulate the necessary steps to build a program.

The act specifies that pilot program participants may collaborate with the department and the general assembly on future legislation requiring local governments to establish programs.

In January 2022, the department is required to report on the progress of the pilot program as part of the department's presentation to its committee of reference at a hearing held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act".

In January 2023, the department is required to include the findings of the pilot program as part of the department's presentation to its committee of reference at a hearing held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act".

The act defines a historically underutilized business as a business that is at least 51% owned and controlled, in both the management and day-to-day business decisions, by one or more individuals who are:

• Members of a racial or ethnic minority group;
• Non-Hispanic Caucasian women;
• Persons with physical or mental disabilities;
• Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community; or
• Veterans.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act allows a plaintiff to assert direct negligence claims against an employer or principal arising out of the same incident in which the employer or principal admits liability for the tortious actions of its employee or agent.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Beginning June 1, 2022, a health-care facility shall screen each uninsured patient for eligibility for public health insurance programs, discounted care through the Colorado indigent care program (CICP), and discounted care as described in the act. Health-care facilities shall use a single uniform application developed by the department of health care policy and financing (department) when screening a patient. If a health-care facility determines a patient is ineligible for discounted care, the facility shall provide the patient notice of the determination and an opportunity for the patient to appeal the determination.

Beginning June 1, 2022, for emergency and other non-CICP health-care services provided to patients qualified for public health insurance or discounted care, a health-care facility and licensed health-care professional shall limit the amounts charged to not more than the discounted rate established by the department; collect amounts charged in monthly installments such that a patient is not paying more than 4% of the patient's monthly household income on a bill from a health-care facility and not paying more than 2% of the patient's monthly household income on a bill from each licensed health-care professional; and after a cumulative 36 months of payments, consider the patient's bill paid in full and permanently cease any and all collection activities on any balance that remains unpaid.

Beginning June 1, 2022, a health-care facility shall make information about patient's rights and the uniform application for discounted care available to the public and to each patient.

Beginning June 1, 2023, and each June 1 thereafter, each health-care facility shall report to the department data that the department determines is necessary to evaluate compliance across patient groups based on race, ethnicity, age, and primary language spoken with the required screening, discounted care, payment plan, and collections practices.

No later than April 1, 2022, the department shall develop a written explanation of a patient's rights, make the explanation available to the public and each patient, and establish a process for patients to submit a complaint relating to noncompliance with the requirements. The department shall periodically review health-care facilities and licensed health-care professionals (hospital providers) to ensure compliance, and the department shall notify the hospital provider if the hospital provider is not in compliance that the hospital provider has 90 days to file a corrective action plan with the department. A hospital provider may request up to 120 days to submit a corrective action plan. The department may require a hospital provider that is not in compliance to develop and operate under a corrective action plan until the department determines the hospital provider is in compliance. The act implements fines for hospital providers if the department determines the hospital provider's noncompliance is knowing or willful.

Beginning June 1, 2022, the act imposes requirements on hospital providers before assigning or selling patient debt to a medical creditor or before pursuing any permissible extraordinary collection action and imposes fines for any hospital provider that fails to comply with the requirements.

Beginning June 1, 2022, a medical creditor shall not use impermissible extraordinary collection actions to collect debts owed for hospital services. A medical creditor may engage in permissible extraordinary collection actions 182 days after the patient receives hospital services. At least 30 days before taking any permissible extraordinary collection action, a medical creditor shall notify the patient of potential collection actions and shall include with the notice a statement that explains the availability of discounted care for qualified individuals and how to apply for such care. If a patient is later found eligible for discounted care, the medical creditor shall reverse any permissible extraordinary collection actions.

Beginning June 1, 2022, a medical creditor shall not sell a medical debt to another party unless, prior to the sale, the medical debt seller has entered into a legally binding written agreement with the medical debt buyer in which certain terms are agreed to. The medical debt seller shall indemnify the medical debt buyer for any amount paid for a debt that is returned to or recalled by the medical debt seller.

Beginning June 1, 2022, the department shall promulgate rules prohibiting hospitals from considering assets when determining whether a patient meets the specified percentage of the federal poverty level for CICP and ensuring the method used to determine whether a patient meets the specified percent is uniform across hospitals.

The act appropriates $219,295 to the department of health care policy and financing to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act defines "overpayments" of workers' compensation benefits as money received by a claimant that:

• Is a result of fraud;
• Is the result of an error due only to miscalculation, omission, or clerical error asserted in a new admission of liability;
• Is paid in error or in excess of an admission or order that exists at the time that the benefits are paid to a claimant; or
• Results in duplicate benefits as specified in the act.

The act also:

• Clarifies that these limitations on overpayments do not prevent an insurance carrier or employer from receiving a credit against permanent disability benefits for temporary disability benefits paid beyond the date of maximum medical improvement and do not prevent the director of the division of workers' compensation or an administrative law judge from determining overpayments and requiring repayment of overpayments; and
• Prohibits the director or an administrative law judge from reopening an award of benefits paid to a claimant due to an overpayment except in limited, specific circumstances.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates the outdoor recreation industry office in the office of economic development. The director of the outdoor recreation industry office is designated by and reports to the director of the office of economic development.

The outdoor recreation industry office serves as a central coordinator of outdoor recreation industry matters.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, when real property is sold in a foreclosure sale for an amount above the value of the lien on the property, any excess amount (overbid), after paying all junior lienors, is paid to the owner of the property as of the recording of the election to foreclose. The act requires that any overbid is instead paid to the person liable under the related evidence of debt constituting a mortgage loan or deed of trust.

The act also adds to the definition of "qualified holder" a private company that originates, insures, guaranties, or purchases loans on behalf of a holder of evidence of debt that is secured by a deed of trust encumbering a time share estate with a minimum of $5 million in assets or not less than 1,000 loans.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act increases requirements for disclosure and transparency in the operations of unit owners' associations (HOAs) in common interest communities, including requiring an HOA to maintain and keep available to unit owners, as part of its official records:

• A list of the HOA's current fees chargeable upon sale of a home in the community; and
• Other information currently required to be disclosed annually under existing law, including financial statements, reserve fund balances, insurance policies, and meeting minutes.

If access to the association records described above are not provided within 30 calendar days after a request was submitted by certified mail, the HOA is liable for a penalty of $50 per day for not providing them.

Section 2 of the act adds specificity to the requirement that HOAs allow installation of renewable energy generation devices (e.g., solar panels) subject to reasonable aesthetic guidelines by requiring approval or denial of a completed application within 60 days and requiring approval if imposition of the aesthetic guidelines would result in more than a 10% reduction in efficiency or a 10% increase in price.

Section 1 specifically includes nonvegetative turf grass (also known as artificial turf) among the types of drought-tolerant landscaping materials that the HOA may regulate but not prohibit in the backyard area of a unit. Section 3 adds a similar provision to a companion statute.

The act does not apply to HOAs that include time-share units.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act directs the office of information technology (office) to:

• Develop a centralized, statewide search interface for access to all agency rule-making that is highly visible on the state's main website and that meets various standards specified in the act; and
• Make the search interface available for use by June 30, 2022.

The secretary of state and other state agencies are directed to provide access to the code of Colorado regulations, the Colorado register, and rule databases to the office to facilitate the development of the interface.

The act appropriates $368,194 from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by the office. The act also appropriates $108,718 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) in the department of regulatory agencies to establish a standardized health benefit plan by rule on or before January 1, 2022, to be offered by health insurance carriers (carriers) in the individual and small group markets. The standardized plan must:

• Offer health-care coverage at the bronze, silver, and gold levels of coverage;
• Include pediatric and other essential health benefits;
• Be offered through the Colorado health benefit exchange and in the individual market;
• Have a standardized benefit design that is created through a stakeholder engagement process, has a defined benefit design and cost sharing that improves access and affordability, and is designed to improve racial health equity and decrease racial health disparities;
• Provide by, among other measures, providing first-dollar, predictable coverage for certain high value services;
• Be actuarially sound and allow carriers to meet financial requirements;
• Comply with state and federal law; and
• Have a provider network (network) that is culturally responsive and reflects the diversity of its enrollees and be no more narrow than the most restrictive nonstandardized plan offered by the carrier.

Each carrier must:

• Include, as part of its network access plan for the standardized plan, a description of its efforts to construct diverse, culturally responsive networks;
• Include a majority of the essential community providers in the service area in its network; and
• Allow consumers to easily compare the standardized health benefit plans offered by each carrier.

Additionally, the act requires the commissioner to:

• Promulgate rules regarding network adequacy;
• Contract with an independent third party to conduct an analysis of the implementation of the standardized health benefit plan and the related requirements; and
• Collaborate with the health benefit exchange to conduct a consumer survey.

Beginning January 1, 2023, and each year thereafter, the act requires carriers that offer:

• An individual health benefit plan in Colorado to offer the standardized health benefit plan in the individual market in each county where the carrier offers an individual plan; and
• A small group health benefit plan in Colorado to offer the standardized health benefit plan in the small group market in each county where the carrier offers a small group plan.

In the individual market and in the small group market, each carrier shall offer a standardized health benefit plan premium that:

• For 2023, is at least 5% less than the premium rate for health benefit plans offered by that carrier in the 2021 calendar year, as adjusted for medical inflation;
• For 2024, is at least 10% less than the premium rate for health benefit plans offered by that carrier in the 2021 calendar year, as adjusted for medical inflation;
• For 2025, is at least 15% less than the premium rate for health benefit plans offered by that carrier in the 2021 calendar year, as adjusted for medical inflation;
• For 2026 and each year thereafter, is increased above the premium in the previous year by no more than medical inflation, relative to the previous year.

The act also requires each carrier to file its premium rates for the standardized health benefit plan with the commissioner. If a carrier or health-care provider anticipates that a carrier will be unable to meet network adequacy standards or the premium rate requirements due to a reimbursement rate dispute, the carrier or the health-care provider may initiate nonbinding arbitration prior to filing rates for the standardized health benefit plan. If a carrier cannot meet the premium rate requirements, the carrier must notify the commissioner of the reasons. The division shall hold a public hearing concerning network adequacy and premium rates. Based on evidence at the hearing, the commissioner may establish carrier reimbursement rates for hospitals and health-care providers and require the hospitals and health-care providers to accept patients and the established reimbursement rates. The act establishes limits on the reimbursement rates that may be set.

The act creates an advisory board, with members appointed by the governor, to implement the standardized health benefit plan. The advisory board is charged with considering recommendations to streamline prior authorization and utilization management processes, recommend ways to keep health-care services in communities where patients live, and to consider alternative payment models.

The commissioner may apply to the secretary of the United States department of health and human services for a state innovation waiver to capture savings as a result of the implementation of the standardized health benefit plan. Upon approval of the waiver, the commissioner is authorized to use any federal money for the implementation of the bill and for the Colorado health insurance affordability enterprise.

The act requires the commissioner to:

• Contract with an independent third party to prepare reports regarding the implementation of the bill;
• Monitor whether there is an adequate number of health-care providers in the carriers' standardized health benefit plan network and the percentage of premiums attributable to health-care providers in the network;
• Contract with an independent third-party organization to evaluate how to phase in a hospital's reimbursement rate methodology;
• Report various findings during the hearings conducted pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act"; and
• Disapprove of a rate filing submitted by a carrier if the rate filing reflects a cost shift between the standardized health benefit plan and the health benefit plan for which rate approval is being sought.

The department of public health and environment, upon notice from the commissioner, may fine or suspend or impose conditions on a hospital that refuses to participate in the standardized health benefit plan.

The act creates the office of the insurance ombudsman in the department of health care policy and financing to act as an advocate for consumer interests in matters related to access to and affordability of the standardized health benefit plan.

To implement this act:

• $1,409,637 is appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance and the executive director's office, $212,680 of which is reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services; and
• $78,993 is appropriated to the department of health care policy and financing.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The department of personnel (department) is required to contract for the services of a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) for group benefit plans provided pursuant to the "State Employees Group Benefits Act" (state employee group benefits plans) and to procure a technology platform with the required capabilities for conducting a PBM reverse auction and the related services of a technology platform operator.

The department is required to repurpose the technology platform used to conduct the reverse auction over the duration of the PBM services contract to perform reviews of all invoiced PBM prescription drug claims, and to identify all deviations from the specific terms of the PBM services contract. The department is required to reconcile the electronically adjudicated pharmacy claims with PBM invoices to ensure that state payments do not exceed the terms specified in any PBM services contract.

Each PBM reverse auction is required to be completed and the PBM services contract awarded to the winning PBM within a specified timeline.

The department may perform a market check for providing PBM services during the term of the current PBM services contract to ensure continuing competitiveness of incumbent prescription drug pricing over the life of a PBM services contract.

To ensure that the department does not incur additional expenditures associated with the requirements of the act, the department is required to implement a no-pay option that obligates the winning PBM to pay the cost of the technology platform and related technology platform operator services by assessing a per-prescription fee and requiring the PBM to pay these fees to the technology operator over the duration of the PBM services contract.

The act allows other health plans to use the processes and procedures established in the act individually, collectively, or as a joint purchasing group with the state employee group benefits plans.

After completion of the first state employees group benefits plans PBM reverse auction, self-funded private sector employer or multi-employer health plans have the option to participate in a joint purchasing pool with state employees for conduct of subsequent PBM reverse auctions.

The state employees group benefits plans and any self-funded public or private sector health plans that opt to participate with the state employees group benefits plans in a joint PBM reverse auction purchasing pool shall retain full autonomy over determination of their respective prescription drug formularies and pharmacy benefit designs and shall not be required to adopt a common prescription drug formulary or common prescription pharmacy benefit design.

Any PBM providing services to the department or a self-funded public or private sector employee health plan is required to provide the department and the plan access to complete pharmacy claims data necessary to conduct the reverse auction and carry out their administrative and management duties.

The department may elect to vacate the outcome of a PBM reverse auction if the lowest cost bid is not less than the projected cost trend for the incumbent PBM contract as verified by the department.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act states that, in addition to any other right to revoke an offer, a buyer has the right to cancel a dating service contract until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs the contract.

A dating service contract must be set forth in writing, which, in the case of an online dating service contract, may be an electronic writing made available for viewing online. Each dating service contract must contain on its face, in close proximity to the space reserved for the signature of the buyer, a conspicuous statement concerning the buyer's right to cancel the contract.

A dating service contract may not require payments or financing by the buyer over a period exceeding 2 years after the date the contract is entered into, nor may the term of any such contract be measured by the life of the buyer.

Each dating service contract must contain language providing that:

• If by reason of death or disability the buyer is unable to receive all services for which the buyer has contracted, the buyer and the buyer's estate may elect to be relieved of the obligation to make payments for services other than those received before death or the onset of disability, so long as the buyer or the buyer's estate provides written verification of the death or disability to the dating service;
• If the buyer has prepaid any amount for services, so much of the amount prepaid that is allocable to services that the buyer has not received shall be promptly refunded to the buyer or the buyer's representative; and
• If the physician verifying the buyer's disability determines that the duration of the disability will be less than 6 months, the dating service may extend the term of the contract for a period of 6 months at no additional charge to the buyer in lieu of cancellation.

If a dating service provides services within a limited geographical area, and a buyer relocates the buyer's primary residence more than 50 miles from the dating service office and is unable to transfer the contract to a comparable facility, the buyer may elect to be relieved of the obligation to make payment for services other than those received prior to the relocation, and if the buyer has prepaid any amount for services, so much of the amount prepaid that is allocable to services that the buyer has not received shall be promptly refunded to the buyer.

An online dating service shall provide notice to all of its members in this state who the online dating service knows have previously received and responded to an on-site message from a banned member. The notice must include certain information concerning the banned member and how to avoid online fraud.

A person that offers an automatic renewal contract to a consumer in this state must:

• Present the terms in a clear and conspicuous manner;
• Ensure that any online link that is presented as part of an offer of an automatic renewal contract and directs a consumer to detailed information about the automatic renewal contract is available before a consumer elects to purchase any good or service subject to the automatic renewal contract, appears directly adjacent to any online link used by the consumer to purchase any good or service subject to the automatic renewal contract, and is labeled with, or is directly adjacent to, a clear and conspicuous disclosure that states that by purchasing the good or service, the consumer agrees to enroll in an automatic renewal contract;
• Provide the consumer a written acknowledgment that includes the contract terms, the cancellation policy, and information regarding how to cancel; and
• Provide a simple, cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use mechanism for canceling the contract or, if applicable, a trial-period offer.

A person that sells a good or service to a consumer pursuant to an automatic renewal contract must notify the consumer that the automatic renewal contract will automatically renew unless the consumer cancels the contract. A notice must be provided at least 25 but not more than 40 days before the first automatic renewal and at least 25 but not more than 40 days before each subsequent automatic renewal.

The act exempts certain persons from the new provisions concerning automatic renewal contract s.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates the Colorado meeting and events incentive program (program) in the Colorado tourism office (office) to provide rebates and direct support to eligible events in Colorado to assist in the state's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.


An eligible event means an event, including a meeting, conference, or festival, that:

• Takes place in Colorado between July 1, 2021, and December 31, 2022;
• Can demonstrate a significant economic benefit for the host community as determined by the office;
• Generates at least 25 paid overnight stays in a motel, hotel, vacation rental, or other lodging establishment; and
• Meets any additional criteria established by the office.

The program may offer rebates of up to 10% of the hard costs of an eligible event. A hard cost means an actual incurred cost associated with hosting the event, as determined by the office in consultation with industry stakeholders. The program may also offer rebates of up to 25% for COVID-19-related costs, which are hard costs that are directly related to complying with public health orders or other mandates issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as determined by the office in consultation with industry stakeholders. The primary organizer or booking agent, as determined pursuant to guidelines developed by the office, may apply for and receive the rebate for an eligible event.

The program may provide direct support to attract eligible events that have the potential to generate significant economic impact and affect multiple counties. The costs of all such direct support cannot exceed 5% of the total appropriation for the program.

The office is required to create guidelines for the program. In doing so, the office must consider mechanisms to:

• Make rebates and direct support available equitably and proportionally across the state;
• Prioritize events with significant economic impacts; and
• Retain existing events with a demonstrated risk of cancellation, delay, or relocation in addition to attracting new events to the state.

The act appropriates $10 million to the office for the program. The program is repealed, effective January 1, 2024.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund (fund) for the purpose of responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency and the negative economic impacts of the pandemic as follows:

• To provide assistance to unemployed workers, including job training;
• To provide assistance to households;
• For programs, services, or other assistance for populations disproportionately impacted by the public health emergency, including programs or services to address or mitigate the effects on education;
• To provide aid to impacted industries, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations through the provision of related educational and job training services; and
• For related administrative costs.

The act directs the state treasurer to transfer to the fund $200 million of the money the state received pursuant to the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (ARPA) and $25 million from the general fund. Of this amount, the act appropriates a total of $75 million for use in the 2021-22 state fiscal year, allocated in the following amounts and for the following purposes related to assisting unemployed workers, aiding impacted industries, and addressing or mitigating the impacts of the public health emergency on education:

• $25 million for the investments in reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling workers program (program), which is 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 an unemployment rate that exceeds 4% statewide or within a work force development area. Of this amount, the state council, in collaboration with the department of labor and employment (department), is directed to allocate: $20.75 million to local work force development areas for the program; $3 million for a grant program developed by the state council to award grants to other partners to provide reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling supports to eligible individuals for up to 13 months; and $1.25 million for the department to conduct outreach and recruitment, provide access to digital platforms for career navigation, issue licenses for virtual training classes, and implement, administer, and report on the program, with any portion of the $1.25 million that is unencumbered and unexpended as of June 30, 2022, reallocated for the program and the grant program.
• $35 million for programs and initiatives established under the "Work Force Innovation Act", including $17.5 million for allocation to work force development boards for the work force innovation grant program to promote innovation to improve outcomes for learners and workers by helping prepare Coloradans for well-paying, quality jobs; and $17.5 million for use by the state council for statewide work force innovation initiatives;
• $10 million to the department of higher education for allocation by the state board for community colleges and occupational education to specified career and technical education providers to expand equipment, facility, and instruction capacity in key career and technical education job demand areas identified in the annual Colorado talent report; and
• $5 million to the department of education for the adult education and literacy grant program.

As required by ARPA, the money appropriated in the act must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and expended by December 31, 2026, and recipients of ARPA money must comply with reporting requirements specified in ARPA and by the state controller.

The act also authorizes the department to receive and expend money from the general fund or any other state source that is appropriated by the general assembly or passed through another entity for purposes of distributing state funds to work force development areas to implement work force development activities. The act specifies that state money appropriated or passed through to the department is not subject to limits imposed on the use of money received by the department pursuant to specified federal laws.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act continues for June 2021, July 2021, and August 2021 a temporary deduction from state net taxable sales for qualifying retailers in the alcoholic beverages drinking places industry, the restaurant and other eating places industry, and the mobile food services industry in the state in order to allow such qualified retailers to retain the resulting sales tax collected as assistance for lost revenue as a result of the economic disruptions due to the presence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Colorado.

The act also expands the definition of qualifying retailers to include those in the catering industry, the food service contractors industry, and the hotel-operated restaurant, bar, or catering service.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the act requires owners of certain large buildings (covered buildings), on an annual basis, to collect and report to the Colorado energy office (office) the covered building's energy use. The act establishes a process requiring certain electric and gas utilities to provide energy-use data to a covered building owner when requested by the covered building owner.

On or before October 1, 2021, the director of the office is required to appoint and convene a task force consisting of various building owners, building professionals, utility representatives, and local government representatives to recommend performance standards for adoption as rules by the air quality control commission (commission). The performance standards set forth in rule would need to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 7% by 2026 compared to 2021 levels as reported in energy benchmarking data and by 20% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. The performance standards adopted must include a provision that an owner of a public building need only comply with the performance standards with regard to certain types of construction or renovation projects and only if the construction or renovation project has an estimated cost of at least $500,000. Covered building owners would then need to demonstrate their compliance with the performance standards set forth in the commission's rules. The commission is also required to adopt rules regarding the issuance of waivers and extensions of time for performance standard compliance. The commission may adopt additional rules, as the commission deems necessary, to modify or continue the performance standards.

Section 2 authorizes the office to use the energy fund to help finance its work to administer the benchmarking and performance standard program described in section 1 (program).

Section 3 requires the office to administer the program and assist covered building owners with the reporting requirements set forth in section 1 by:

• Creating a database of covered buildings and owners required to comply with section 1;
• Tracking compliance with the program and providing a list of noncompliant owners of covered buildings to the division of administration in the department of public health and environment;
• Developing publicly available, digitally interactive maps and lists showing the energy-use and performance-standard data reported;
• Coordinating with any local government that implements its own energy benchmarking requirements or energy performance program, including coordination of reporting requirements; and
• Collecting an annual fee from owners of covered buildings of $100 per covered building; except that owners of public buildings are exempt from paying the fee. The office is required to transfer the fees collected to the state treasurer, who will credit the fees to the climate change mitigation and adaptation fund (fund) created in section 3.

Section 4 imposes penalties for violations of the benchmarking requirements in amounts up to $500 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for each subsequent violation. The commission is required to establish by rule civil penalties for a violation of the commission's performance standards in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for a subsequent violation.

Section 5 modifies the definition of an "energy performance contract" that a governing body of a municipality, county, special district, or school district (board) enters into for evaluation, recommendations, or implementation of energy saving measures to remove requirements that a board's payment for goods and services pursuant to the contract be made within a certain number of years of the contract's execution.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Colorado startup loan program (program) in the office of economic development (office) as a revolving loan program to provide loans and grants to businesses seeking capital to start, restart, or restructure a business. The office must contract with a business nonprofit organization, bank, nondepository community development financial institution, or other entity to administer the program, and does not have direct lending authority to make loans under the program.

The office or an administrator is required to establish policies for the program, including:

• The process and deadlines for applying to the program;
• The eligibility criteria for businesses;
• Maximum assistance levels for loans and grants;
• Loan terms, program fees, and underwriting and risk management policies; and
• Reporting requirements for recipients.

The policies must be developed with the goal of generating enough return to replenish the Colorado startup loan program fund for further loan allocations.

In determining the eligibility of applicants and the size and terms of loans and grants, the office or an administrator must consider:

• The need of the business to restructure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or the ability of the business to fill gaps left by closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic;
• The financial losses or other impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic that may inhibit an entrepreneur from obtaining capital through traditional sources;
• Whether the applicant or the applicant's community faces other barriers to accessing capital from traditional sources; and
• The applicant's financial needs and the likelihood the applicant would need to be supported by a nontraditional lender.

If the administrator determines that an applicant would likely be eligible to receive a loan and may obtain more favorable terms from a traditional financial institution, the administrator must notify the applicant in a timely manner.

The office is required to work with the minority business office and other stakeholders to promote the program to businesses that are owned by women, minorities, and veterans and to businesses in rural and underserved communities. By September 1, 2021, the office is required to develop and administer a marketing initiative for the program in coordination with the minority business office and other stakeholders.

The act creates the Colorado startup loan program fund. The state treasurer is required to transfer $30 million from the general fund to the Colorado startup loan program fund on the effective date of the act. The money is continuously appropriated to the office for the program. In addition, $10 million is appropriated from the economic recovery and relief cash fund to the Colorado startup loan program fund. This money is continuously appropriated to the office to provide loans and grants through the program to respond to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, subject to the requirements in state and federal law.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes requirements for the creation and assignment of a health-care provider lien for a person injured in an accident. A health-care provider lien is a lien related to charges for health care provided to a person injured by the negligence or wrongful act of another person, which is asserted against money the injured person may receive from a personal injury claim or uninsured motorist claim.

A health-care provider or the health-care provider's assignee creating a lien must advise the injured person of their options for payment, including the use of benefits from an insurance plan. In addition, the provider or assignee must provide additional disclosures about the lien, including how the health-care provider's assignee is compensated and of any common ownership interests among the lien holder and the injured person's health-care providers or legal counsel. The injured person must also be advised that, except in the case of fraud or misrepresentation:

• If the injured person does not receive a judgment, settlement, or payment on the injured person's claim, the injured person is not liable for any amount of the lien;
• If the injured person receives a net judgment, settlement, or payment that is less than the amount of the lien, the injured person is not liable for any amount over the amount of the net judgment, settlement, or payment; and
• The lien holder cannot assign the lien to a collection agency.

The act requires that a health-care provider lien cannot include additional finance charges or interest and must be limited to the total of the usual and customary charges billed by health-care providers. In the absence of fraud or misrepresentation:

• If the injured person does not receive a judgment, settlement, or payment on the injured person's claim, the injured person is not liable for any amount of the lien;
• If the injured person receives a net judgment, settlement, or payment that is less than the amount of the lien, the injured person is not liable for any amount over the amount of the net judgment, settlement, or payment; and
• The lien holder cannot assign the lien to a collection agency.

A health-care provider or its assignee must comply with the provisions of the act to have a valid health-care provider lien. If a court determines that a health-care provider or its assignee knowingly failed to comply, the injured person may seek a ruling from the court concerning which portions of the lien, if any, the health-care provider or assignee cannot recover.

Except in an action under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code", when a lien is assigned, the amount paid for the assignment, the fact of the assignment, and the terms of the assignment are not admissible as evidence in the underlying personal injury action.

The holder of a health-care provider lien may file a record of the lien in accordance with the "Colorado Statutory Lien Registration Act". If more than one health-care provider lien has been asserted against an injured person's net judgment, settlement, or payment for the same accident or incident, a lien for which a record has been filed has priority for payment out of the injured person's net judgment, settlement, or payment over a lien for which no record is filed. If records are filed for more than one health-care provider lien for the same accident or incident, priority is determined by the date on which the record was filed, with the lien with the earliest date of filing having first priority. Filing a record is optional and does not waive any other provisions of the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Senate Bill 20-222, enacted in 2020, created a grant program financed through the federal "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act" to support small businesses suffering from the economic impacts of COVID-19 and related public health restrictions.

The act appropriates $15 million from the general fund to continue the grant program until the end of the 2021-22 state fiscal year, modifies the criteria pursuant to which grants are awarded, adds certain preferences for awarding grants, and establishes limits on the amount of a grant to an individual small business.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires a private college or university operating in the state to be institutionally accredited on the basis of an on-site review by a regional or national accrediting body recognized by the United States department of education (DOE). The act allows private colleges and universities and private occupational schools to be accredited by:

• Institutional or programmatic accrediting bodies recognized by the DOE; or
• Programmatic accrediting bodies that are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as having the ability to accredit freestanding, single-purpose institutions of construction education.

The act states it is a deceptive trade or sales practice for a private occupational school to advertise or otherwise represent that it is accredited unless the school is accredited by an accrediting body that is recognized by the DOE or is accredited by a programmatic accrediting body that is recognized by the CHEA as having the ability to accredit a freestanding, single-purpose institution of construction education.

The act allows an educational institution or educational service that is exempt from the requirements of the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981" to waive its exempt status in order to apply for authorization to operate a private occupational school, subject to certain conditions.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $98,796 to the department of higher education from the private occupational schools fund, $45,626 of which is for use by the division of private occupational schools for program costs and $53,170 of which is reappropriated to the department of law to use to provide legal services to the department of higher education.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 2 of the act requires CollegeInvest to provide the department of revenue (department) with a secure electronic report of CollegeInvest account holders who are also Colorado taxpayers who made distributions between January 1, 2017, and January 1, 2021. The department is required to examine a risk-based sample of such taxpayers to substantiate that the distribution was made for authorized purposes. The department is also required to regularly example a risk-based sample of distributions on or after January 1, 2021, and determine if the taxpayer paid the correct amount of income tax. The executive director of the department is required to provide a report of the examinations as part of the department's presentation to its legislative committee of reference.

Section 3 of the act modifies how taxable income is determined for individuals for purposes of the state income tax. Specifically, it:

• Extends the limit on the federal deduction allowed under section 199A of the internal revenue code;
• Imposes a cap for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes equal to or exceeding $400,000 on certain itemized deductions claimed under the internal revenue code;
• Requires individual taxpayers to add amounts of federal taxable income that are equal to the enhanced federal deductions for food and beverage in a restaurant for the 2022 income year (this is also required for corporate taxpayers in section 7 of the act);
• Repeals, for social security income earned by individuals who are 65 years of age or older that is included in federal taxable income only, the cap on the deduction for pension and annuity income received; and
• Adds an annually adjusted cap, per taxpayer per beneficiary, on the income tax deduction for contributions made to 529 plans, and requires CollegeInvest to provide the department with a secure electronic report containing specified information for the 529 plans account owners and third-party contributors necessary for the administration of the income tax deduction.

Section 4 of the act increases the earned income tax credit to 20% for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, but before January 1, 2023, and income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026. Section 3 also increases the earned income tax credit to 25% for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2026. Finally, section 4 of the act applies the lowered minimum age for individuals without a qualifying child in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" to the state credit for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022.

Section 5 of the act funds the child tax credit for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, and allows a child tax credit in the state regardless of the federal requirement that a qualifying child must have a social security number for the federal child tax credit. Section 5 of the act also specifies that if the changes to the federal child tax credit in the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" are no longer in effect, the percentages of the state child tax credit are increased.

Section 6 of the act modifies the computation of the corporate income tax receipts factor to make it more congruent with combined reporting and also prevents corporations from using tax shelters in foreign jurisdictions for the purpose of tax avoidance.

Section 7 of the act functions to prevent corporations from using tax shelters in foreign jurisdictions for the purpose of tax avoidance and additionally modifies how taxable income is determined for C corporations for purposes of the state income tax. Specifically, it requires corporate taxpayers to add amounts of federal taxable income that are equal to the enhanced federal deductions for food and beverage in a restaurant for the 2022 income year.

Section 8 of the act limits the state subtraction for certain capital gains incurred by allowing the subtraction to a taxpayer who is required to file a Schedule F, profit or loss from farming, as an attachment to the taxpayer's federal income tax return for the tax year in which the net capital gains arise for the sale of real property, not tangible personal property, that is classified as agricultural land for property tax purposes.

Section 9 of the act creates a temporary income tax credit for a business for a percentage of the conversion costs to convert the business to a worker-owned coop, an employee stock ownership plan, or an employee ownership trust.

Sections 10 through 13 of the act address the avoidance of income tax by certain captive insurance companies.

Section 14 of the act adds an appropriation to:

• The office of the governor for use by the office of economic development for the administration of the income tax credit for a business converting to a worker-owned coop, an employee stock ownership plan, or an employee ownership trust; and
• The department of revenue for administration and support.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

To be deemed to maintain a home office or regional home office and pay the insurance premium tax at a rate of 1%, the act requires a company to have a minimum percentage of its total domestic workforce in the state. This percentage is 2% for 2022, 2.25% for 2023, and 2.5% for 2024 and thereafter. The act also narrows the tax exemption for annuities considerations. For the purpose of auditing a company's tax statement, the commissioner of insurance may appoint an independent examiner to conduct an examination on behalf of the commissioner.

For purposes of imposing the property tax, the act specifies that the actual value of real property reflects the value of the fee simple estate and the actual value of personal property is determined based on the property's value in use, which will be defined by the property tax administrator. The act also increases the per schedule exemption for business personal property from $7,900 to $50,000, adjusted for inflation, and the state is required to reimburse local governments for lost property tax revenue caused by the increase. Assessors are required to provide an estimate of the exempt business personal property along with the certifications to local governments.

The state sales and use tax is imposed on the sale and use of tangible personal property. The act codifies the department of revenue rule that the definition of "tangible personal property" includes "digital goods" and specifies that the state sales tax applies to amounts charged for mainframe computer access, photocopying, and packing and crating. Beginning January 1, 2022, a retailer whose total taxable sales were greater than $1 million for a filing period is not permitted to retain any portion of the sales and use tax collected as compensation for the retailer's tax-collection expenses.

The act limits the allowable deductions, which are used to determine the taxable amount of oil and gas subject to the severance tax, to direct costs actually paid or accrued by the taxpayer for those purposes. Beginning with the 2022 taxable year, the act phases out the quarterly exemption and the tax credits for the severance tax on coal. The additional revenue that results from changes to the coal severance tax is credited to the just transition cash fund.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The 2017 federal "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" placed a cap of $10,000 on the amount of state and local taxes paid that an individual can deduct on their federal taxes. This limitation did not apply to C corporations. Consequently, businesses organized as pass-through entities like S corporations and partnerships pay increased taxes on business profits compared to C corporations because pass-through entities pay taxes on business profits at the individual (partner or shareholder) level.

For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, the act allows pass-through entities to elect to pay their state income tax at the entity level so that the pass-through entity can claim an unlimited deduction at the federal level of state and local taxes paid; except that the election is only allowed in an income tax year where there is a limitation on the deductions allowed to individuals under section 164 of the internal revenue code.

While this reduces federal taxable income for the pass-through entity, it does not reduce Colorado taxable income because, under current law, the individual and the partnership are required to add back any state and local taxes deducted at the federal level.

The act adds an appropriation for the department of revenue to implement the taxpayer's election to pay their state income tax at the entity level.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act moves the COVID-19 relief program for minority-owned businesses from the minority business office to the Colorado office of economic development and expands the scope of the program to allow relief payments, grants, loans, and technical assistance and consulting support to small businesses disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the act extends the deadlines for allocating and distributing relief payments under the small business relief program.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act extends the time in which debtors experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 emergency may have extraordinary debt collection actions suspended. Existing law required a judgment creditor (creditor) to provide a notice to a judgment debtor (debtor) before instituting an extraordinary debt collection action, which includes an action in the nature of a garnishment, attachment, levy, or execution to collect or enforce a judgment. The debtor may suspend the collection action by notifying the creditor that the debtor is experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. The obligation to provide notice and the suspension of the collection action were effective through February 1, 2021. The act extends the effective period for the notice and the suspension to June 1, 2021. If a collection action has already been suspended by the debtor, the suspension is now effective through June 1, 2021.

In addition, under existing law, up to $4,000 cumulative in a depository account or accounts in a debtor's name is exempt from levy and sale under a writ of attachment or execution through February 1, 2021. The act extends that date to June 1, 2021.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits a third-party food delivery service from taking and arranging for the delivery or pickup of an order from a retail food establishment, other than grocery and convenience stores, without the retail food establishment's consent. A retail food establishment may bring an action against a third-party food delivery service that violates the act for damages, a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per violation, and injunctive relief, and the prevailing party in such action is entitled to reasonable attorney fees.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Beginning July 1, 2021, the act prohibits an employer from paying an employee whose earning capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental disability, or injury less than minimum wage if the employer does not hold a special certificate issued on or before June 30, 2021, by the United States department of labor that authorizes the employer to pay wages below minimum wage to those employees. The act phases out subminimum wage employment for employers that hold a special certificate and by June 30, 2022, requires each employer that holds a special certificate to submit a transition plan to the department of health care policy and financing (department) detailing how the employer plans to phase out subminimum wage employment by July 1, 2025. On and after July 1, 2025, an employer is prohibited from paying an employee with a disability less than minimum wage regardless of whether the employer was issued a special certificate.

The act requires the employment first advisory partnership in the Colorado department of labor and employment (partnership) to:

• Develop actionable recommendations to address structural and fiscal barriers to phasing out subminimum wage employment and successfully implementing competitive integrated employment; and
• Report the recommendations to specified committees of the general assembly.

The act also continues operation of the partnership, which was scheduled to repeal on July 1, 2021, indefinitely.

The act requires the department to seek federal approval to add employment-related services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities under the state's medicaid waiver services.

$90,691 is appropriated to the department to implement the act. The department also expects to receive $409,885 in federal funds to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The 2020 general appropriation act is amended to balance and make adjustments to the total amount appropriated to the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and state planning and budgeting. The general fund and reappropriated funds portions of the appropriation are increased and the cash funds portion is decreased.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires that the Colorado broadband office (office), on or before January 1, 2022, contract with a nonprofit organization to develop a program to reimburse certain income-eligible households and households in critically unserved areas of the state for their costs to access broadband service. An eligible household may receive reimbursement for up to one-half of its costs for broadband service, not to exceed $600 per year.

The office and the nonprofit organization with which it contracts may use up to $5 million of the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" money transferred to the digital inclusion grant program fund pursuant to House Bill 21-1289, concerning broadband deployment, for the reimbursement program. All of the money for the reimbursement program must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and the act repeals on September 1, 2026. If the office does not find a nonprofit organization with which to contract, the reimbursement program will not be implemented and the office shall use the money allocated for implementation of the reimbursement program to award additional grants for telehealth services.

On or before February 1, 2022, and on or before each February 1 thereafter, the office is required to submit a written report to the governor and the legislative joint budget and joint technology committees about the office's implementation of the reimbursement program.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law allows an existing association consisting of multiple employers, referred to as a "multiple employer welfare arrangement" (MEWA), to offer health-care benefits to the association's members only if, among other requirements, the MEWA has been in existence continuously since at least January 1, 1983, and is engaged in substantial activities for its employer members other than the sponsorship of an employee welfare benefit plan.

The act allows a MEWA that does not meet these requirements to file an application for a waiver with the commissioner of insurance that, if granted, would enable the MEWA to offer health-care benefits to its members' employees. The act specifies the application requirements, substantive requirements that a MEWA must comply with to qualify for a waiver, and factors that the commissioner will consider in determining whether to grant a waiver. If a waiver is granted, the MEWA is subject to the division of insurance's full enforcement authority, and the MEWA may operate for 2 years. To operate past the 2 years, a MEWA must reapply for a waiver, but if the commissioner grants 5 consecutive waivers, a MEWA may continue to operate without again applying for a waiver.

The act also appropriates $13,352 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A board of county commissioners is authorized to require the registration of businesses in the unincorporated portions of the county.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act eliminates the requirement that the department of education and each division, board, or agency of the department of regulatory agencies verify the lawful presence of each applicant before issuing or renewing a license.

The act also specifies that lawful presence is not required of any applicant for any state or local license, certificate, or registration. The act is a state law within the meaning of the federal law that gives states authority to provide for eligibility for state and local public benefits to persons who are unlawfully residing in the United States.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act:

• Prohibits an agricultural employer from retaliating against any person, including an agricultural employee who is asserting protected rights, and allows an aggrieved person to assert a claim in district court or with the division of labor standards and statistics (division) in the department of labor and employment for alleged retaliation;
• Removes the exemption of agricultural employers and employees from the Colorado "Labor Peace Act" and authorizes agricultural employees to organize and join labor unions; engage in protected, concerted activity; and engage in collective bargaining;
• Removes the exemption of agricultural labor from state and local minimum wage laws;
• Establishes a separate minimum wage for agricultural employees engaged in the range production of livestock on the open range;
• Requires the director of the division to promulgate rules to establish the overtime pay of agricultural employees, to implement procedures concerning retaliation claims, to ensure access to key service providers, and for overwork protections for agricultural workers;
• Grants agricultural employees meal breaks and rest periods throughout each work period, consistent with protections for other employees;
• Requires agricultural employers to provide agricultural employees with access and transportation to key service providers;
• Authorizes agricultural employees to have visitors at employer-provided housing without interference from other persons;
• Requires agricultural employers to provide overwork and health protections to agricultural employees;
• Prohibits the use of the short-handled for agricultural labor except in specific circumstances;
• During a public health emergency, requires an agricultural employer to provide extra protections and increased safety precautions for agricultural employees;
• Creates rights, remedies, and enforcement actions for aggrieved agricultural employees, whistleblowers, and key service providers; and
• Creates the agricultural work advisory committee to study and analyze agricultural wages and working conditions.

$474,657 is appropriated from the employment support fund to the department of labor and employment to implement the act, of which amount $38, 282 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to the department of labor and employment. Additionally, $193,882 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of agriculture for use by the plant industry division to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that if a small employer has been issued a health benefit plan subject to small group insurance laws and rules, and then following the issuance date subsequently employs more than 100 employees, the small group insurance laws and rules continue to apply to the plan as long as the employer renews the current health benefit plan. If the employer opts to renew its current plan, the act requires an insurance carrier to offer the employer the same small group health benefit plan or, if the same plan is no longer available, a similar plan that the carrier offers to other small employers.

The act requires an insurance carrier to notify the employer that the small group insurance laws and rules will no longer apply if the employer fails to renew the current plan or elects to enroll in a different health benefit plan.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, a seller, lessor, or company issuing a credit or charge card is prohibited from imposing a surcharge against a person who elects to pay for a sales or lease transaction by using a credit or charge card. The act:

• Repeals the prohibition; and
• Limits the maximum surcharge amount per transaction to 2% of the total cost to the buyer or lessee for the sales or lease transaction or the merchant discount fee, which is defined as the actual fee that a seller or lessor (merchant) pays its processor or service provider to process the transaction.

A merchant is required to display notice regarding the surcharge on the merchant's premises or, for online purchases, before an online customer's completion of the sales or lease transaction.

The act clarifies that a merchant is prohibited from applying the surcharge to cash or check payments, debit card payments, or payments made by redemption of a gift card.

If a merchant imposes a surcharge in violation of the act, the merchant is subject to liability as a creditor under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code".

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act amends the high school innovative learning pilot program (ILOP) that authorizes school districts, district charter schools, and institute charter schools (local education providers) to count as full-time students high school students participating in innovative learning opportunities regardless of whether they meet the number of teacher-pupil instruction and contact hours for full-time enrollment. The act allows a school of a school district to participate in an ILOP with a district or independently and requires all applicants to demonstrate how their innovative learning plan disproportionately benefits underserved students.

In selecting applicants to participate in the pilot program, the act requires the department of education (department) and the state board of education (state board) to consider whether the innovative learning plan includes opportunities for students to participate in registered or unregistered apprenticeships, internships, and technical training or skills programs through an industry provider, teacher training opportunities, concurrent enrollment, and industry certificates.

Further, subject to available appropriations, the state board is encouraged to select up to 20 applicants and is not limited to choosing applicants that had part-time students in the prior year and that enroll fewer than 5,000 students.

The act creates the fourth-year innovation pilot program (pilot program) in the department of higher education to disburse state funding to postsecondary education and training programs on behalf of low-income students who graduate early from a high school participating in the pilot program prior to enrolling in the fourth year of high school or prior to enrolling in the second semester of their fourth year in high school.

The state funding awarded to a student graduating prior to enrolling in the fourth year of high school is equal to the greater of 75% of the average state share amount of the statewide average per-pupil funding for public elementary and secondary schools for the 2021-22 budget year, as calculated during the 2021 legislative session, or $3,500. The state funding for a student graduating prior to the second semester of their fourth year in high school is equal to the greater of 45% of the average state share amount of the statewide average per-pupil funding for public elementary and secondary schools for the 2021-22 budget year, as calculated during the 2021 legislative session, or $2,000. The state funding is disbursed to the postsecondary program on behalf of the eligible graduate and may be used for the eligible graduate's cost of attendance for the postsecondary program, as determined by the department of higher education. The local education provider from which the student graduated early prior to the fourth year of high school receives a portion of the state savings for school finance obligations due to the early graduation. An eligible graduate must enroll in a postsecondary program within 18 months after graduating or the state funding is forfeited.

The act requires the department of higher education to report annually to the department, the governor's office of state planning and budgeting, the joint budget committee, and the education committees of the general assembly concerning certain information specified in the act relating to the pilot program. The act creates the fourth-year innovation pilot program fund for the pilot program. The pilot program repeals, effective December 31, 2027.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates:

• $220,115 and 0.3 FTE to the department of education for the high school innovative learning pilot program; and
• $44,222 and 0.6 FTE to the department of higher education to implement the for the fourth-year innovation pilot program .
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

$30 million is transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund to provide additional funding for the department of transportation's revitalizing main streets and safer main streets programs.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The career development success program provides financial incentives for participating school districts and participating charter schools to encourage pupils enrolled in grades 9 through 12 to enroll in and successfully complete qualified industry-credential programs; qualified internship, residency, or construction industry pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs; and qualified advanced placement courses (programs and courses). The act amends the list of qualified programs by removing residency programs and expanding pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to include any industry program, not just construction industry programs.

The act expands the definition of a qualified industry-credential program to include a career and technical education program that, upon completion, results in an industry-recognized credential with labor market value aligned with a high-skill, high-wage, in-demand job.

Current law requires the work force development council (council) to identify the qualified programs and courses by identifying the jobs included in the Colorado talent report with the greatest regional and state demand, including jobs in in-demand industries. The act requires the council to consult with relevant industries to identify the programs and courses by identifying high-skill, high-wage jobs in in-demand industries that have labor market value. Any programs and courses the council determines do not demonstrate labor market value may be removed from the council's website.

Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, and each school year thereafter, the department of education (department), in coordination with the department of labor and employment, the department of higher education, the Colorado community college system, and employers from in-demand industries, shall identify the top 10 industry-recognized credentials that may be awarded to high school students. For each identified credential, the department shall specify how the courses taken to earn the credential align with the state academic standards.

The act requires each participating school district, each nonparticipating school district on behalf of its participating charter schools, and the state charter school institute on behalf of each participating institute charter school to report to the department the total number of pupils who successfully complete a program or course, disaggregated by each student's race, ethnicity, and gender, and whether each student is a student with a disability, an English language learner, or eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Current law requires each participating school district and each participating charter school to regularly communicate to all high school students the availability of programs and courses and the benefits a student receives as a result of successfully completing one of the programs or courses. The act expands this requirement to all middle school students and the students' families.

The act requires each participating school district and each participating charter school to communicate how industry-recognized credentials and guaranteed-transfer pathways courses that are included in such credentials are aligned with postsecondary degrees and high-skill, high-wage, in-demand jobs, and the top 10 industry-recognized credentials identified by the department. The communications must be provided in a language that the students and the students' families understand.

The act updates the department's annual reporting requirements to the general assembly to include:

• Whether the students participating in the programs and courses enlisted in the military or entered the workforce after graduation;
• How money received under the career development success program was used to promote the availability of programs and courses; and
• How the participating school district or participating charter school determined which programs and courses to offer, including how the programs and courses are aligned with local workforce needs.

No later than July 1, 2022, the department, in collaboration with the Colorado community college system, shall publish and disseminate materials through existing and relevant platforms used to engage with districts that include, at a minimum, the top 10 industry-recognized credentials and a sample communications plan for how a participating school district or participating charter school may communicate the value of credentials and experiences to students and families.

The act requires participating school districts and participating charter schools to utilize program funding to promote access to programs and courses.

The act requires the return on investment report to include information specifically identifying the number of high school students enrolled and the number of degrees and certificates awarded through the career development success program.

The act appropriates $20,000 from the general fund to the department of education to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act states that the department of health care policy and financing (department) may expand the Canadian prescription drug importation program (program) to allow a manufacturer, wholesale distributor, or pharmacy from a nation other than Canada to export prescription drugs into the state under the program if certain conditions are met. If, upon the satisfaction of these conditions, the department decides to expand the program, the executive director of the department shall notify the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and specified legislative committees of the department's intent to do so.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, any person may ask the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies or the executive director's designee (executive director) to require a rule-making agency to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of a draft rule or draft amendment to a rule (proposed rule) for which the agency has filed a notice of proposed rule-making (notice). The bill extends the time period for which such request may be made from up to 5 days after the notice has been filed to up to 15 days before the scheduled rule-making hearing or, if the rule-making hearing is scheduled only 20 days after the notice was filed, up to 10 days after the notice was filed. The agency is required to complete the cost-benefit analysis at least 5 days before the scheduled rule-making hearing.

The bill also specifies the following regarding a cost-benefit analysis:

• If the executive director determines that the proposed rule would likely have materially disparate effects on different regions of the state, the agency must include in the cost-benefit analysis a determination of the anticipated benefits, costs, and adverse effects of the proposed rule on different regions of the state;
• If the executive director determines that the proposed rule would have a negative economic or noneconomic impact, the executive director shall inform the public by either making a public presentation about the negative impact and any counterbalancing positive impact at the rule-making hearing or publishing a written report summarizing the impacts;
• The executive director, upon request of any party to the rule-making or member of the general assembly or upon the executive director's own motion, may require an agency to update a cost-benefit analysis to reflect material changes made to the proposed or adopted rule either before, during, or after the rule-making hearing;
• A member of the general assembly, no earlier than one year after a rule has been adopted, may request that the adopting agency conduct a cost-benefit analysis regarding the rule's implementation; and
• The public utilities commission, the department of natural resources, or the department of public health and environment, with regard to any cost-benefit analysis conducted by that agency, shall present the cost-benefit analysis at the rule-making hearing and allow public testimony at the hearing regarding the cost-benefit analysis.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act prohibits an insurer from:

• Unfairly discriminating based on an individual's race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression in any insurance practice; or
• Pursuant to rules adopted by the commissioner of insurance (commissioner), using any external consumer data and information source, algorithm, or predictive model (external data source) with regard to any insurance practice that unfairly discriminates against an individual based on an individual's race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression.

After a stakeholder process, the commissioner shall adopt rules for specific types of insurance, by insurance practice, which rules establish means by which an insurer may demonstrate that it has tested whether its use of an external data source unfairly discriminates based on an individual's race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression. Any such rules shall not become effective until January 1, 2023, at the earliest, for any type of insurance. The rules must require each insurer to:

• Provide information to the commissioner concerning the external data sources used by the insurer in the development and implementation of algorithms and predictive models for a particular type of insurance and insurance practice;
• Provide an explanation of the manner in which the insurer uses external data sources for the particular type of insurance and insurance practice;
• Establish and maintain a risk management framework that is reasonably designed to determine, to the extent practicable, whether the insurer's use of external data sources unfairly discriminates against individuals based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or gender expression;
• Provide an assessment of the results of the risk management framework and actions taken to minimize the risk of unfair discrimination, including ongoing monitoring; and
• Provide an attestation by the insurer's chief risk officer that the insurer has implemented the risk management framework appropriately on a continuous basis.

The rules adopted by the commissioner must include provisions establishing:

• A reasonable period of time for insurers to remedy any unfairly discriminatory impact in an external data source; and
• The ability of insurers to use external data sources that have been previously assessed by the division of insurance (division) and found not to be unfairly discriminatory.

Documents, materials, and other information in the possession or control of the division that are obtained by, created by, or disclosed to the commissioner or any other person pursuant to the new requirements are recognized as proprietary and containing trade secrets. The commissioner may use the documents, materials, or other information in furtherance of any regulatory or legal action and make the data publicly available in an aggregated or de-identified format.

The commissioner may examine and investigate an insurer's use of an external data source in any insurance practice.

In the department of regulatory agencies' annual "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" report to the legislative committees of reference, the division shall include:

• Information concerning any rules adopted pertaining to this act;
• Information concerning any changes in insurance rates that have resulted from the prohibitions described in the act; and
• A summary of the stakeholder process, including a description of data sources insurers may use to comply with this act.

The requirements described in the act do not apply to:

• Title insurance;
• Bonds executed by qualified surety companies; or
• Insurers of exempt commercial policyholders.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act addresses the following items related to landlord and tenant rights in residential rental agreements:

• After a complaint is filed by a landlord, the clerk of the court or the attorney for the plaintiff shall issue a summons, including information concerning filing an answer and legal aid. A court shall not enter a default writ of restitution before the close of business on the date upon which an appearance is due.
• Provides additional details regarding the defendant's answer, including that a defendant does not waive any defense related to proper notice by filing an answer; that the court shall set a date for trial no sooner than 7, but not more than 10, days after the answer is filed, unless the defendant agrees to waive this provision and schedule the trial for an earlier date, except that a court may extend beyond 10 days if either party demonstrates good cause for an extension or if the court otherwise finds justification for the extension. In the time after an answer is filed and before a trial occurs, the court shall order that the landlord or tenant provide any relevant documentation that either party requests.
• A landlord who provides a tenant with proper notice of nonpayment shall accept payment of the tenant's full amount due according to the notice, as well as any rent due under the rental agreement, at any time until a court has ordered a writ of restitution;
• Eliminates the bond requirement for the warranty of habitability and allows the

tenant to assert an alleged breach of the warranty of habitability as an affirmative defense;

• Establishes allowable court procedures and remedies in cases of an alleged breach of warranty of habitability;
• Bans unreasonable liquidated damage clauses that assign a cost to a party stemming from a rental violation or an eviction action;
• Prohibits rental agreements that contain one-way fee-shifting clauses that award attorney fees and court costs only to one party; and

The act prohibits a landlord of a mobile home park or a residential premises (landlord) from:

• Charging a tenant or mobile home owner (tenant) a late fee for late payment of rent unless the rent payment is late by at least 7 calendar days;
• Charging a tenant a late fee in an amount that exceeds the greater of:
• $50; or
• 5% of the amount of the rent obligation that remains past due;
• Requiring a tenant to pay a late fee unless the late fee is disclosed in the rental agreement;
• Removing, excluding, or initiating eviction procedures against a tenant solely as a result of the tenant's failure to pay one or more late fees;
• Terminating a tenancy or other estate at will or a lease in a mobile home park because the tenant fails to pay one or more late fees to the landlord;
• Imposing a late fee on a tenant for the late payment or nonpayment of any portion of the rent that a rent subsidy provider, rather than the tenant, is responsible for paying;
• Imposing a late fee more than once for each late payment;
• Requiring a tenant to pay interest on late fees;
• Recouping any amount of a late fee from a rent payment made by a tenant; or
• Charging a tenant a late fee unless the landlord provided the tenant written notice of the late fee within 180 days after the date upon which the rent payment was due.

A landlord who commits a violation must pay a $50 penalty to an aggrieved tenant for each violation. Otherwise, a landlord who commits a violation has 7 days to cure the violation, which 7 days begins when the landlord receives notice of the violation. If a landlord fails to timely cure a violation, the tenant may bring a civil action to seek one or more of the following remedies:

• Compensatory damages for injury or loss suffered;
• A penalty of at least $150 but not more than $1,000 for each violation, payable to the tenant;
• Costs, including reasonable attorney fees if the tenant is the prevailing party; and
• Other equitable relief the court finds appropriate.

In an action for possession or collection based upon nonpayment of rent, the tenant may assert, as an affirmative defense the landlord's alleged breach of the warranty of habitability, provided that the landlord had previously received notice of the alleged breach of the warranty of habitability. If a county or district court is satisfied that the defendant is unable to deposit the amount of rent specified into the registry of the court because the defendant is found to be indigent, as described in the act, the defendant shall not be required to deposit any amounts to raise warranty of habitability claims as an affirmative defense and the claim will be perfected.

For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $15,756 to the judicial department. This appropriation is from the general fund and is based on an assumption that the department will require an additional 0.2 FTE. To implement this act, the department may use this appropriation for trial court programs.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Colorado prescription drug affordability review board (board) in the division of insurance (division) in the department of regulatory agencies as an independent unit of state government, requires the board to perform affordability reviews of prescription drugs, and authorizes the board to establish upper payment limits for prescription drugs the board determines are unaffordable for Colorado consumers. The board is also required to promulgate rules as necessary for its purposes.

The board shall determine by rule the methodology for establishing an upper payment limit for a prescription drug. An upper payment limit applies to all purchases of and payer reimbursements for the prescription drug dispensed or administered to individuals in the state in person, by mail, or by other means. Any savings generated for a health benefit plan as a result of an upper payment limit established by the board must be used by the carrier that issued the health benefit plan to reduce costs to consumers, prioritizing the reduction of out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs.

On and after January 1, 2022, the act prohibits, with certain exceptions, any purchase or payer reimbursement for a prescription drug at an amount that exceeds the upper payment limit established by the board for that prescription drug.

A person aggrieved by a decision of the board may appeal the decision within 60 days. The board shall consider the appeal and issue a final decision concerning the appeal within 60 days after the board receives the appeal. Final board decisions are subject to judicial review.

Any prescription drug manufacturer (manufacturer) that intends to withdraw from sale or distribution within the state a prescription drug for which the board has established an upper payment limit must notify, at least 180 days before the withdrawal:

• The commissioner;
• The attorney general; and
• Each entity in the state with which the manufacturer has contracted for the sale or distribution of the prescription drug.

The commissioner may impose a penalty of up to $500,000 on a manufacturer that fails to comply with the notice requirement. The board is directed to adopt rules regarding notice to consumers of a manufacturer's intent to withdraw a prescription drug from sale or distribution in the state.

Beginning in the 2022 calendar year, for all prescription drugs dispensed at a pharmacy and paid for by a carrier during the immediately preceding calendar year, the act requires each carrier and each pharmacy benefit management firm acting on behalf of a carrier to report certain information to the all-payer health claims database.

The act creates the Colorado prescription drug affordability advisory council to provide stakeholder input to the board.

The board must submit an annual report to the governor and to subject matter committees of the general assembly summarizing the activities of the board during the preceding calendar year, and the chair of the board must present to those committees information concerning any prescription drug for which the board established an upper payment limit during the preceding calendar year. Upon approval of a majority of the committee members, any member of the committees may pursue legislation to discontinue the upper payment limit for a particular prescription drug, and the legislation does not count against the limit on the number of bills the member may introduce in a regular legislative session.

The board and its functions are repealed, effective September 1, 2026, following a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies.

For the 2021-2022 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $730,711 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies. Of this amount, $325,297 is appropriated for use by the division for personal services, $22,650 is appropriated for use by the division for operating expenses, and $382,824 is appropriated for the purchase of legal services, which amount is reappropriated to the department of law for providing legal services.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the bill enacts the "Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act", which:

• Continues the Colorado civil rights division (division) and the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) indefinitely;
• Directs the division to include "harassment" as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism;
• Allows an employment discrimination claim to be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county or district where the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; and allows an individual to file a civil action, without otherwise exhausting administrative proceedings and remedies, as long as the individual either files a charge with the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) or serves a written demand for the relief on the individual's employer and allows the employer 14 days to respond;
• Directs the division to develop and provide to employers, free of charge, training and education programs regarding the prevention of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, bystander intervention, and workplace civility;
• Expands the definition of "employee" to include individuals in domestic service individuals who perform a service for a price, including independent contractors, subcontractors, and their employees; and individuals who offer services or labor without pay and specifies that an individual performing services for pay for another is deemed an employee unless, by a preponderance of the evidence, it is proven that the individual satisfies the conditions under the state wage law for a determination that the individual is not an employee;
• Adds a requirement that a written, electronic, or oral agreement or contract under which a person performs services for another must require that the person for whom the services are performed shall not engage in any discriminatory or unfair employment practice with respect to the individual performing the services ;
• Adds new definitions of "caregiver", "care recipient", "child", "minor child", and "harass" or "harassment" "hostile work environment", and "independent contractor" and repeals the current definition of "harass" that requires creation of a hostile work environment;
• Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their "marital status" or "caregiver status";
• Specifies that in harassment claims, the alleged conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or unfair employment practice, and an employer has an affirmative defense to the claim if the employer demonstrates that, when the employer knew or should have known of the harassment, the employer took prompt, reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action to end the harassment, deter future harassers, and protect employees;
• Specifies that it is a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to fail to initiate an investigation of a complaint or fail to take prompt , reasonable, and, if warranted, remedial action; if appropriate;
• Specifies the requirements for an employer to avoid liability when an employee proves that a supervisor unlawfully harassed that employee;
• Prohibits certain preemployment medical examinations, imposes limitations on inquiries and examinations about an employee's disability during employment, and specifies that violations of these prohibitions and limitations constitute discriminatory or unfair employment practices;
• Expands the time limit to file a charge with the commission from 6 months to 300 days after the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred;
• Repeals the limits on remedies in cases involving age discrimination;
• Limits the ability of an employer to require confidentiality of claims once a charge is filed with the commission Specifies requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and employee to be enforceable; voids a nondisclosure provision if a party makes a material misrepresentation; and requires the division to provide to a charging party other charges filed with the division against the same respondent; and
• Requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide and maintain records of training and education to all employees regarding harassment and discrimination prevention, bystander intervention, and workplace civility, encourages other employers to provide the training and education, and authorizes the division director to impose penalties on employers that fail to comply with the training and recordkeeping requirements.

The bill appropriates the following amounts to the following departments to implement the bill:

• $539,292 and 6.0 FTE to the department of corrections;
• $71,905 and 0.8 FTE to the department of education;
• $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the office of the governor;
• $22,471 and 0.5 FTE to the department of health care policy and financing;
• $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the department of human services;
• $449,410 and 5.0 FTE to the judicial department;
• $107,858 and 1.2 FTE to the department of labor and employment;
• $401,180 and 2.5 FTE to the department of law;
• $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of natural resources;
• $630,465 and 1.5 FTE to the department of personnel;
• $125,835 and 1.4 FTE to the department of public health and environment;
• $161,788 and 1.8 FTE to the department of public safety;
• $652,879 and 9.7 FTE to the department of regulatory agencies;
• $134,823 and 1.5 FTE to the department of revenue; and
• $269,646 and 3.0 FTE to the department of transportation.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill prohibits a foreign-influenced corporation from making an electioneering communication or a regular biennial school electioneering communication.

The bill also expands the group of persons and entities currently prohibited from expending money on an independent expenditure in connection with an election in the state to include a foreign-influenced corporation. An independent expenditure committee is prohibited from knowingly accepting a donation from any foreign-influenced corporation.

The bill prohibits an independent expenditure committee from knowingly accepting a contribution, donation, or transfer from a covered organization if all or part of the contribution, donation, or transfer includes money received by the independent expenditure committee from a foreign-influenced corporation.

The bill prohibits any person from using funds from a foreign-influenced corporation to make either an electioneering communication or a regular biennial school electioneering communication.

A for-profit corporation that is authorized to make a contribution or donation is required to affirm in writing under penalty of perjury that it is not a foreign-influenced corporation before it makes any permissible contributions or donations. The bill prohibits any person from accepting a permissible contribution or donation from a nonprofit corporation unless the written affirmation is provided before the contribution or donation is received by the recipient. The recipient of the contribution or donation is required to retain the written affirmation for not less than one year following the date of the end of the election cycle during which the contribution or donation is received. An affirmation statement is not required if the for-profit corporation has previously provided a statement to the recipient in the 3-month period prior to the date on which it makes the permissible contribution or donation.

The bill defines the terms "foreign-influenced corporation", "foreign owner", and "widely held diversified fund".

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

With regard to event ticket sales and resales, the bill repeals provisions prohibiting certain restrictions on ticket resales and instead limits a reseller from advertising, offering for sale, or contracting to resell tickets or accepting payment for a resale ticket unless the reseller has possession of the ticket or has a written contract to obtain the ticket from the person who possesses it and the ticket matches the advertised description of the ticket. The bill also specifies that terms or conditions on the original sale of a ticket, including limits on transferability, are permissible.

With regard to online ticket sales, the bill adds the following as deceptive trade practices:

• Using or causing to be used a website to display a trademarked or copyrighted URL, title, image, or other symbol without written consent; or
• Using or causing to be used a website to display text, images, web designs, or internet addresses, which website is substantially similar to another website, without written consent.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act creates personal data privacy rights and:

• Applies to legal entities that conduct business or produce commercial products or services that are intentionally targeted to Colorado residents and that either:
• Control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers per calendar year; or
• Derive revenue from the sale of personal data and control or process the personal data of at least 25,000 consumers; and
• Does not apply to certain specified entities including state and local governments and state institutions of higher education, personal data governed by listed state and federal laws, listed activities, and employment records.

The act defines a "controller" as a person that, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. A "processor" means a person that processes personal data on behalf of a controller. Consumers have the right to opt out of a controller's processing of their personal data; access, correct, or delete the data; or obtain from a controller a portable copy of the data.

The act:

• Specifies how controllers must fulfill duties regarding consumers' assertion of their rights, transparency, purpose specification, data minimization, avoiding secondary use, care, avoiding unlawful discrimination, and sensitive data;
• Requires controllers to conduct a data protection assessment for each of their processing activities involving personal data that present a heightened risk of harm to consumers, such as processing for purposes of targeted advertising, profiling, selling personal data, or processing sensitive data; and
• Specifies that a violation of its requirements is a deceptive trade practice for purposes of enforcement, but the act may be enforced only by the attorney general or district attorneys.

Local governments are preempted from adopting laws that govern the processing of personal data by controllers or processors. The attorney general may promulgate rules to administer the act and is required to adopt rules detailing technical specifications for a universal opt-out mechanism that controllers must use.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill provides injured workers control over the selection of the primary treating physician in workers' compensation cases, allowing them to choose from any level I or level II accredited physician through the division of workers' compensation. The bill creates the mechanism by which the injured worker may select the treating physician, and requires the employer or insurer to choose the physician when an injured worker is unable or unwilling to select the treating physician.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law requires the air quality control commission (AQCC) to adopt rules that will result in the statewide reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, as compared to 2005 emissions. Section 2 of the bill supplements these requirements by:

• Directing the AQCC to:
• Consider the social cost of GHG emissions;
• Require GHG reductions on a linear or more stringent path; and
• Finalize its implementing rules by March 1, 2022, including specific net emission weight limits for various emission sectors, subject to modification by the AQCC, including through the use of a multi-sector program;
• Directing each wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative to file with the public utilities commission a responsible energy plan that will achieve at least an 80% GHG reduction by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels and specifying that if a plan is not filed, the cooperative must achieve at least a 90% GHG reduction by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels; and
• Directing each retail, wholesale, and municipal electric utility and cooperative electric association to reduce its GHG emissions by at least 95% between 2035 and 2040 and by 100% by 2040.

Section 3 adds GHG to the definition of "regulated pollutant", prohibits the AQCC from excluding GHG emissions from the requirement to pay annual emission fees that are based on emissions of regulated pollutants, gives the AQCC rule-making authority to set the GHG annual emission fee, and authorizes the use of these fees for outreach to and engagement of disproportionately impacted communities. Section 4 requires the AQCC's GHG reporting rules to establish an assumed emission rate representing the average regional fossil fuel generation emission rate for electricity generated by a renewable energy resource for which the associated renewable energy credit is not retired in the year generated.Section 5 creates an environmental justice ombudsperson position and an environmental justice advisory board in the department of public health and environment. The ombudsperson and the advisory board will work collaboratively to promote environmental justice in Colorado. Sections 2 and 5 specify processes for soliciting and facilitating input from disproportionately impacted communities regarding proposed AQCC rule changes and departmental decision-making.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act appropriates $5 million to the department of local affairs (department) to use for the rural economic development initiative (REDI) grant program, and permits the department to use up to 3.75% of the appropriation for any direct and indirect administrative expenses related to the grants awarded from the appropriation.

If the department determines that a rural community needs resources or assistance because it has been impacted by a significant economic event or an anticipated event that has been announced, the department may use all or a portion of the money appropriated for the REDI grant program for the purposes of the "Rural Economic Advancement of Colorado Towns (REACT) Act". The act repeals the sunset of the REACT Act.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, revenue from an assessment on employers' unemployment insurance premiums, not to exceed $10 million per year and not to exceed cumulative revenue of $100 million, is allocated to the employment and training technology fund (technology fund) in the division of unemployment insurance (division) in the department of labor and employment to fund employment and training automation initiatives established by the director of the division. Any amount of revenues from the assessment that exceeds the $10 million annual cap or the $100 million cumulative revenue cap is allocated to the unemployment compensation fund. Additionally, if the balance in the unemployment compensation fund falls below $100 million, the balance in the technology fund is allocated to the unemployment compensation fund.

The act:

• Eliminates the allocation of the technology fund balance to the unemployment compensation fund when the unemployment compensation fund balance falls below $100 million;
• Eliminates the $10 million cap on annual allocations to the technology fund and adds a new $7 million annual cap starting July 1, 2023;
• Adds a cap of $31 million on cumulative revenue to the technology fund until June 30, 2023;
• Transfers any amounts credited to and remaining in the technology fund between July 1, 2020, and the effective date of the act to the unemployment compensation fund; and
• Repeals the assessment for the technology fund on June 30, 2031.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the rural jump-start zone grant program (grant program) and authorizes the Colorado economic development commission (commission) to issue grants, subject to available appropriations, as follows:

• Up to $20,000 to new businesses to establish operations;
• Up to $40,000 to new businesses to establish operations in a tier one transition community;
• Up to $2,500 to new businesses for each new hire; and
• Up to $5,000 to new businesses for each new hire who is hired for operations established in a tier one transition community.

The act also authorizes the commission to issue grants, at its discretion and subject to available appropriations, not to exceed $30,000 per applicant, to a state institution of higher education or an economic development organization that collaborates with a new business in order to support the new business in meeting the requirements for the business under the grant program.

The act creates the rural jump-start zone grant fund account in the Colorado economic development fund, which consists of any money appropriated to the fund by the general assembly, and may be used:

• By the commission to issue grants; and
• For the direct and indirect costs that the Colorado office of economic development incurs, not to exceed a specified amount, to administer the grant program.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act appropriates $15,000,000 from the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund and the federal coronavirus recovery fund to the department of higher education for the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative's displaced workers grant.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the executive director of the department of labor and employment (executive director), in partnership with the director of the division of unemployment insurance, the office of the governor, and either the new American advisor in the department or the director of the office of new Americans (ONA), if established, to study the feasibility of establishing a contract with a nonprofit, third-party entity to administer a wage replacement program for individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own and who are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits due to their immigration status. The executive director and the new American advisor or director of the ONA are required to submit recommendations to the governor and to the senate business, labor, and technology committee and the house of representatives business affairs and labor committee.

$75,000 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for the wage replacement program study.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the small business accelerated growth program (program) administered by the Colorado office of economic development (office). The program provides business development support to small businesses with 19 or fewer employees. The office is required to develop a marketing initiative for the program in coordination with the minority business office, the small business development center, and local and regional economic development entities to promote the program. The businesses selected to participate in the program have one year to use the business development support offered by the program, and $1,350,000 in grants from the Colorado startup loan fund are for participants demonstrating need and success under the program.

The act makes an appropriation.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act directs the public utilities commission (PUC) to establish energy savings targets and approve plans under which investor-owned electric utilities will promote the use of energy-efficient electric equipment in place of less efficient fossil-fuel-based systems. This directive would substantially follow the model of existing demand-side management (DSM) policies established by the PUC.

Section 1 of the act declares that DSM has provided substantial economic and environmental benefits, and the PUC's administration of DSM has successfully carried out legislative intent; therefore, the PUC is directed to implement beneficial electrification programs and plans using the same approach.

Sections 3 and 5 specify the parameters for these programs and plans, including the types of systems and appliances that are eligible for installation, the criteria to be considered when the PUC evaluates plan proposals, the implementation of plans, utility cost-recovery mechanisms, and performance incentives. Section 5 also requires that any installation, upgrade, or new construction under a beneficial electrification program must be performed either by utility employees or by qualified, Colorado-licensed contractors. For large projects, contractors must be selected from a list, maintained by the Colorado department of labor and employment, of contractors that participate in apprenticeship programs registered with the United States department of labor.

Section 2 adds heat pumps to the list of energy efficiency measures that cannot be prohibited under the covenants of a homeowners' association.

Section 4 directs the PUC to apply current standards for measurement of the social cost of carbon emissions, including methane, in evaluating the cost, benefit, or net present value of utility plans and proposals for beneficial electrification.

The act appropriates $168,448 to the department of regulatory agencies, for use by the PUC, and $73,351 to the department of labor and employment, for use by the division of employment and training, to implement the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/sb21-260-bill-summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes various changes to statutory provisions to promote transparency for special districts. Specifically:

• Under current law, the designated election official is required to provide notice by publication of a call for nominations for a regular local government election. Except for metropolitan districts organized after January 1, 2000, the act requires that notice be made exclusively by publication and by any one of 4 additional means.
• In the case of any metropolitan district that was organized after January 1, 2000, the act requires the notice of the call for nominations to be made by emailing the notice to each active registered elector of the metropolitan district as specified in the registration list provided by the county clerk and recorder as of the date that is 150 days prior to the date of the regular local government election. Where the active registered elector does not have an e-mail address on file for such purpose with the county clerk and recorder as of that date, the public notice must be made by mailing the notice, at the lowest cost option, to each address at which one or more active registered electors of the metropolitan district resides as specified in the registration list provided by the county clerk and recorder as of that date.
• In addition to the means of providing public notice of the call for nominations that is required under the act, the designated election official must also provide public notice by any one of 4 alternate means specified in the act;
• The act exempts inactive special districts from new requirements under the act concerning maintenance of a district's website and a district's annual report;
• The act requires a metropolitan district, by a certain date, to establish, maintain, and annually update an official website in a form that is readily accessible to the public that contains information that is specified in the act;
• The act adds to existing statutory requirements regarding the annual report to be filed by a special district and, among other things, supplements the type of information to be included in the annual report;
• The act prohibits a metropolitan district from exercising its power of dominant eminent domain within a municipality or the unincorporated area of a county, other than within the boundaries of the jurisdiction that approved its service plan, without a written resolution approving the exercise of dominant eminent domain by the governing body of the municipality in connection with property that is located within an incorporated area or by the board of county commissioners of the county in connection with property that is located within an unincorporated area; and
• The act requires, on and after January 1, 2022, each owner of real property that sells real property that includes a newly constructed residence that is located within a metropolitan district, concurrently with or prior to the execution of a contract to sell the property, to provide to the purchaser of the property certain information or statements specified in the act relating to the finances of the metropolitan district, including information about the debt obligations of the district and an estimate of property taxes applicable to the property at the time of the sale.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

On July 1, 2021, the state treasurer is required to transfer $124 million from the general fund to the state highway fund.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

By enacting House Bill 19-1240 in 2019, concerning sales and use tax administration, the state codified the department of revenue's destination sourcing rule for state sales and use tax collection for sales and use taxes imposed by any statutory incorporated town, city, or county and for special districts. That bill allowed small retailers to source their sales to the business' location regardless of where the purchaser receives the tangible personal property or service until 90 days after a geographic information system provided by the state is online and available for the retailer to determine the taxing jurisdiction in which an address resides. On April 1, 2021, the department of revenue issued a notice that the geographic information system is online and meets the requirements. Therefore, under current law, the small retailer exception to the sales tax destination sourcing rules will repeal on June 30, 2021.

This act allows small retailers to source their sales to the business' location regardless of where the purchaser receives the tangible personal property or service until February 1, 2022.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, common carriers and contract carriers may use independent contractors for transportation services. The contract must provide for coverage under either workers' compensation or an occupational accident insurance policy that provides "similar coverage" to that available under workers' compensation. "Similar coverage" must meet or exceed standards set by the division of insurance and is defined to require benefits that are at least comparable to the benefits offered under the workers' compensation system. The bill amends the definition of "similar coverage" by repealing this "comparable benefits" requirement.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act repeals a moratorium on changing a ratio for valuation for assessment (assessment rate), which is the percentage applied to a property's actual value to determine the taxable amount upon which a mill levy is imposed and classifies agricultural property, lodging property, and renewable energy production property as new subclasses of nonresidential property for purposes of the valuation for assessment. The assessment rate for agricultural property and renewable energy production property is temporarily reduced from 29% to 26.4% for the next 2 property tax years. The law is restructured so that, if an initiated measure to reduce the assessment rate for nonresidential property is approved by voters, then it would only apply to lodging property.

Multi-family residential real property is classified as a new subclass of residential real property. The law is restructured so that, if an initiated measure to reduce the residential assessment rate is approved by voters, then it would only apply to multi-family residential real property. If the initiated measure fails or is not on the ballot, then, the assessment rate for multi-family residential real property is temporarily reduced from 7.15% to 6.8% for the next 2 property tax years. The assessment rate for all residential real property other than multi-family residential real property is temporarily reduced from 7.15% to 6.95% for the next 2 property tax years.

The property tax deferral program is expanded to allow any person to defer the payment of the portion of real property taxes that exceed the tax-growth cap, which is an amount equal to the average of the person's real property taxes paid for the preceding 2 property tax years for the same homestead, increased by 4%. The minimum amount a taxpayer may defer at one time under this authorization is $100, and the total taxes that a taxpayer may defer is $10,000. The taxpayer is treated like a person called into military service for purposes of surviving-spouse eligibility and the equity the person must have in the homestead to qualify for a deferral.

The governor's office, in consultation with the treasurer, is required to commission a study on the property tax deferral program and make recommendations for possible changes to the general assembly by January 1, 2022.

Assessors are required to include information about the assessment rates that apply to the various classes of property, which is prepared by the property tax administrator, along with the notices of valuation that are sent in 2022 or make this information available on the assessor's website.

Finally, the act makes conforming amendments related to the new classifications or assessment rates.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)