CCUSL Recommends Five Uniform Acts for Introduction in 2017

by Thomas Morris

The Uniform Laws Commission (ULC) consists of commissioners appointed by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The ULC meets each year to consider and promote laws that could become more uniform. Colorado’s delegation to the ULC, the Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws (CCUSL), may recommend bills for introduction during a legislative session that are exempt from the five-bill limit imposed on legislators. Serving as commissioners for 2017-18 are Senator Robert Gardner, Claire Levy, Anne McGihon, Brandon Shaffer, Pat Steadman, and Representative Cole Wist.

The CCUSL meets each year at the annual summer ULC conference to adopt a preliminary agenda for consideration by the Colorado General Assembly at its next legislative session. In addition, the CCUSL typically hosts one or more open meetings at the State Capitol to discuss proposed legislation and to finalize its legislative agenda. CCUSL meetings are posted on the CCUSL website and are open to the public. For more information on the ULC and CCUSL please see this series of LegiSource articles from 2015, posted on Aug. 6, Sept. 17, and Nov. 5.

At its November 18, 2016, and January 27, 2017, meetings, CCUSL voted to introduce the following five bills as its 2017 legislative agenda:

  • SB 17-023, Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act. This act, which would have repealed and reenacted Colorado’s law regulating athlete agents, was postponed indefinitely by the Senate committee on State, Veterans, and Military Affairs on January 25, 2017.
  • SB 17-131, Uniform Wage Garnishment Act. Current law governing the garnishment of earnings is a mix of statutory law, covering both employees and independent contractors, and case law. The act codifies the law governing the garnishment of employees’ earnings.
  • SB 17-132, Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. The bill facilitates electronic records; promotes uniformity among state laws regarding notarial acts; enhances the integrity of the notarial process; and provides for the recognition of notarial acts performed in this state, in other states, under the authority of a federally recognized Indian tribe, under federal authority, and in foreign jurisdictions. The bill postpones the sunset review of the notaries law from July 1, 2018, to September 1, 2022.
  • SB 17-154, Uniform Unsworn Declarations Act. Current law allows an unsworn declaration that has been signed under penalty of perjury by a person outside of the United States to be used in a state court. The bill allows the use in a state court of an unsworn declaration regardless of the location of the person who signed the declaration.
  • Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (to be introduced later in session). This act would repeal and reenact Colorado’s law that governs how holders of unclaimed property must account for the property when that property is deemed to be abandoned and how the proceeds must be distributed.

The CCUSL’s next meeting is scheduled to occur during the ULC annual meeting in San Diego, which will take place July 14 to 20, 2017.

Information about uniform acts, drafting projects, committees, meetings, and legislation is available on the ULC website.

For information on Colorado’s ULC connection, visit CCUSL’s website.

You can subscribe to the CCUSL mailing list to receive e-mail notifications about CCUSL meetings and upcoming meeting agendas.