The bill creates the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the department of labor and employment (department) as a type 1 agency. The executive director of the department is required to appoint a director of the SAA (director). The purpose of the SAA is to:

• Serve as the primary point of contact with the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship concerning apprentices and registered apprenticeship programs; and
• Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration, required standards for registration, quality assurance, the promotion of apprenticeships, and the provision of technical assistance.

The director shall establish the state apprenticeship council (SAC) and an interagency advisory committee on apprenticeship (IAC). The governor and the director appoint the members of the SAC and the IAC. The SAC is charged with overseeing registered apprenticeship programs for the building and construction trades in this state and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws and standards. The IAC is charged with the same responsibilities for all other apprenticeships not in the building and construction trades.

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

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

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

Fiscal Note

Under current law, the requirements of the "Construction Bidding for Public Projects Act" (act) 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 act if the cost of the project is reasonably expected to exceed $150,000 for any fiscal year. The bill:

• Repeals the lower cost amount for CDOT projects, which means that the requirements of the act, 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 $500,000 for any fiscal year; and
• Increases from $50,000 to $100,000 the maximum cost for a CDOT project that is exempt from transportation commission approval.

The bill 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 $500,000.

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

Fiscal Note

The bill 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 bill 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 bill 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 .

(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.)

Fiscal Note

The bill requires the Colorado work force development council (council), in collaboration with local work force boards, the department of education, superintendents of local school districts, the state board for community colleges and occupational education, and other postsecondary partners, to design a career pathway for students in the energy sector using an existing statutory model for the design and implementation of career pathways.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

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

The contract may require lien waivers to be executed before payment is made.

The bill applies to:

• A contract that has a price of at least $150,000; and
• A subcontract or supply agreement to such a contract.

The bill does not apply to a single contract that governs:

• The building of:
• A single-family dwelling;
• A multifamily dwelling with 4 or fewer family dwelling units; or
• A contract with a public entity.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

The bill requires local governments, including school districts, with a procurement budget of a certain size to collect data regarding the participation of historically underutilized businesses in local government procurement for a 5-year period and requires the local government to annually report that data to the secretary of state. The bill requires the secretary of state to share summarized data with the department of local affairs. The bill further requires the department of local affairs to annually include the summarized data received from the secretary of state 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 bill 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 introduced.)

Fiscal Note

A recent Colorado supreme court case held that in a civil action when an employer admits liability for the tortious actions of its employee, the plaintiff cannot assert direct negligence claims against the employer arising out of the same incident. The bill allows a plaintiff to bring such claims against an employer or against a principal that admits liability for the actions of its agent.

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

Fiscal Note

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.)

Fiscal Note

The bill limits the definition of "overpayments" of workers' compensation benefits to include only benefits paid as a result of fraud or duplicate benefits that result from offsets that reduce disability or death benefits paid to a claimant. The bill also:

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

Fiscal Note

The bill updates the methods used to determine the cost-effectiveness of demand-side management (DSM) programs of public utilities selling natural gas at retail, including requiring that the calculation of future benefits reflects the avoided costs to ratepayers resulting from reduced consumption of natural gas. The bill specifies that the calculation must be based on reliable estimates and published scientific data and must include methane emissions. In addition, the bill adds savings targets and budget control mechanisms to the approval process for gas DSM programs, paralleling the existing process that applies to electric DSM programs.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Fiscal Note

The bill creates the stimulus investments in reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling workers program (program) as an initiative of the state work force development council (state council) to facilitate training for unemployed and underemployed workers in the state during times of substantial unemployment, defined as a statewide unemployment rate that exceeds 4%. The bill appropriates $25 million for the program and directs the state council to use the money to support individuals in need of:

• Reskilling, which supports unemployed and underemployed workers to change industries in order to return to work or obtain more appropriate work based on their skills;
• Upskilling, which assists workers in increasing skill levels to retain or advance in their employment; or
• Next-skilling, which supports workers in developing future-ready skills necessary for employment in the twenty-first century.

The state council, in collaboration with the department of labor and employment, is directed to allocate funding to local work force development areas and to develop a grant program to award grants to other partners to provide reskilling, upskilling, and next-skilling supports to eligible individuals for up to 13 months.

Starting in 2022, as part of the Colorado talent report, the state council is directed to report on the activities and outcomes resulting from the program. The program repeals on June 30, 2024.

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

Section 3 of the bill defines "disproportionately impacted community".Section 4 requires the air quality control commission to promote outreach to and engage with disproportionately impacted communities by creating new ways to gather input from communities across the state, using multiple languages and multiple formats, and transparently sharing information about adverse effects resulting from its proposed actions.Section 5 creates the environmental justice action task force (task force) in the department of public health and environment (department), the goal of which is to propose recommendations to the general assembly regarding practical means of addressing environmental justice inequities. The task force will:

• Hold meetings to solicit public comment concerning the development of a state agency-wide environmental justice strategy and a plan to implement that strategy, including ways to address data gaps and data sharing between state agencies and the engagement of disproportionately impacted communities;
• Evaluate and propose recommended revisions to the definition of "disproportionately impacted community" and the state agencies and their proposed actions that are subject to section 3; and
• File a final report by November 14, 2022, regarding its recommendations.

The department will report on the task force during the department's "SMART Act" presentations.

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

The bill concerns the concept of "community choice energy" (CCE), under which a community, or group of communities, may choose to purchase their electricity from a wholesale supplier other than the local investor-owned electric utility. The bill declares that CCE has the potential to enable communities to meet their renewable energy goals and to reduce their electricity rates by allowing wholesale competition and local control over the energy supplier and energy mix without changing the local utility's current status as sole supplier of electric transmission, distribution, billing, and customer service functions.

To lay the groundwork for evaluating the potential adoption of CCE in Colorado, the bill proposes an investigatory proceeding at the public utilities commission that would invite testimony and documentation from interested stakeholders, utilities, the public, invited subject-matter experts, and persons with firsthand knowledge of CCE operations, including regulators from states in which CCE has been implemented. The proceeding would address a series of questions and topics that are specified in the bill, with the goal of better understanding CCE in the Colorado context and identifying best practices that would allow CCE to function well in Colorado if adopted. The bill does not change current statutes and regulations governing the electricity system.

The bill directs the commission to submit a report summarizing the investigatory proceeding to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters by December 15, 2022.

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

For purposes of addressing discriminatory or unfair employment practices pursuant to Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, the bill:

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

Fiscal Note

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.)

Fiscal Note

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 bill transfers $10 million from the general fund to the public school capital construction assistance fund (assistance fund) for the purpose of providing "Building Excellent Schools Today Act" (BEST) grants to fund public school air quality improvement projects. The public school capital construction assistance board (board) is authorized to make the grants and is required to prioritize grant awards based on grant applicants' existing calculated local match requirements for BEST grants, with applicants with the lowest matching money requirements having the highest priority and applicants with the highest matching money requirements having the lowest priority. The board is also required to submit a report about the grants to the general assembly during the department of education's 2022 "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentation to legislative committees of reference. Notwithstanding the use of existing calculated local match requirements for grant prioritization purposes, the grants are exempted from existing matching money requirements for BEST grants. The bill makes an appropriation of $10 million from the assistance fund to the board.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Joint Budget Committee. 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 bill:

• 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;
• Eliminates the 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 bill to the unemployment compensation fund; and
• Repeals the assessment for the technology fund on June 30, 2031.

(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.)

Fiscal Note

The bill directs the state treasurer to make an immediate, one-time transfer of $40 million from the general fund to the energy fund administered by the Colorado energy office (CEO). The CEO may use the money for its ongoing programs plus the following enumerated purposes:

• Making grants to the Colorado Clean Energy Fund and the Colorado new energy improvement district totaling up to $30 million and $3 million, respectively;
• Increasing the amounts available through residential energy upgrade loans by up to $2 million; and
• Providing up to $5 million in additional funding to the charge ahead Colorado program administered by the CEO.

The bill requires the CEO to periodically report on its expenditures to the office of state planning and budgeting and the general assembly.

The bill appropriates $40 million from the energy fund to the CEO to be used for the specified purposes.

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

Fiscal Note

The bill establishes the left-behind workers program (program) in the division of unemployment insurance (division) in the department of labor and employment (department) for the purpose of providing unemployment assistance relief payments to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own, who meet specified criteria, and who are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits due to their immigration status. The bill requires the department to contract with a third-party administrator to administer the program. The third-party administrator must provide outreach to unemployed individuals who may be eligible to receive unemployment assistance relief payments, screen applicants for eligibility, and make payments to eligible individuals.

The bill establishes the left-behind workers fund (fund) as part of the enterprise that is administered by the division. The fund consists of a percentage of the premium currently assessed by the division and paid by employers.

The bill includes the employment support fund as part of the enterprise that is administered by the division.

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

The bill creates the front range passenger rail district (district) for the purpose of planning, designing, developing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining an interconnected passenger rail system (system) along the front range. The district is specifically required to work collaboratively with the regional transportation district (RTD) to ensure interconnectivity with any passenger rail system operated by or for the RTD and with Amtrak on interconnectivity with Amtrak's Southwest Chief, California Zephyr, and Winter Park Express trains, including but not limited to rerouting of the Amtrak Southwest Chief passenger train. If deemed appropriate by the board of directors of the district and by the board of directors of RTD, the district may share with RTD capital costs associated with shared use of rail line infrastructure in the northwest rail line corridor for passenger train service.

The area that comprises the district extends from Wyoming to New Mexico and includes:

• The entirety of the city and county of Broomfield and the city and county of Denver;
• All areas within Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, El Paso, Huerfano, Jefferson, Larimer, Las Animas, Pueblo, and Weld counties that are located within the territory of a metropolitan planning organization (MPO);
• All areas within Huerfano, Las Animas, and Pueblo counties that are not located within the territory of a MPO and are located within a county precinct that is located wholly or partly within 5 miles of the public right-of-way of interstate highway 25; and
• All areas within Larimer and Weld counties that are not located within the territory of a MPO and are located within a county precinct that is north of the city of Fort Collins and is located wholly or partly within 5 miles of the public right-of-way of interstate highway 25.

The district is governed by a board of directors composed of appointees of transportation planning organizations that have jurisdiction within the territory of the district, the governor, and the executive director of the department of transportation (CDOT), as well as a nonvoting representative of RTD, and, if the respective governors and chief executive officers choose to make appointments, nonvoting representatives of the BNSF Railway, the Union Pacific Railroad, Amtrak, and communities in Wyoming and New Mexico. Of the directors appointed by the governor, one must be a representative of organized labor and one must be a representative of a conservation organization with expertise in transit-oriented land use planning. The board must be fully appointed by April 1, 2022, with an earlier appointment deadline for some appointees. The board must convene for its initial meeting not later than May 15, 2022, and on that date, the existing southwest chief and front range passenger rail commission is terminated and any remaining commission funds are transferred to the district.

The district is authorized to exercise the powers necessary to plan, design, develop, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the system including but not limited to:

• The power, subject to the approval of the voters of the district and other specified limitations, to levy a sales and use tax and to exercise specified taxing authority common to special districts within the district and to issue bonds;
• The power, subject to the approval of the owners of property within a 2-mile radius of any existing or proposed passenger rail station, to create a station area improvement district with the authority to levy additional sales and use tax, special assessments on real property, or both, to cover the costs of construction, operation, and maintenance of the station;
• The power to enter into public-private partnerships; and
• The power to employ its own personnel or contract with public or private entities, or both, for the operation and maintenance of the system.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)