by Jerry Barry and Megan Waples

Last spring, in approving the study topics for the 2018 interim, the Legislative Council approved an interim committee to evaluate the findings and recommendations from the 2018 Legislative Workplace Study  requested by the Executive Committee in December of 2017. Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran chaired the committee, and Senator Beth Martinez Humenik was the vice chair. The other persons appointed to the committee were Senator Bob Gardner, Senator Dominick Moreno, Representative Kim Ransom, and Representative Faith Winter. The committee met five times over the course of the 2018 interim.

The primary charge of the Legislative Workplace Interim Study Committee (Study Committee) was to make recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council (Executive Committee) regarding the legislative workplace. Specifically, the Study Committee considered changes to the workplace harassment policy set forth in Rule 38 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives, the General Assembly’s workplace harassment policies, and the legislative human resources staffing and structure and looked at ways to promote cultural change regarding harassment in the workplace. Through the five meetings, the Study Committee heard testimony from experts in human resources, workplace harassment, and workplace culture and developed recommendations on each of these issues. Some recommendations were approved unanimously. In other areas, the Study Committee included alternative recommendations for the Executive Committee to consider.

The Study Committee unanimously recommended that an Office of Legislative Workplace Relations (new office), consisting of at least two full-time employees, be established in the Office of Legislative Legal Services. The Study Committee recommended that the new office have locations in both the State Capitol Building and in the Legislative Office Building at 1525 Sherman Street and that the offices have doors opening directly into a public hallway to help maintain the privacy of individuals entering the offices.

The Study Committee also recommended that Joint Rule 38 be amended to require the new office to recommend to the Executive Committee for its adoption a new Workplace Harassment Policy. The Study Committee recommended that the new Workplace Harassment Policy include:

• A new anonymous reporting tool, although one member objected to any anonymous complaints;
• A requirement that employees of the new office receive complaints under the policy;
• An informal complaint resolution process, with a goal of resolving informal complaints within 30 days after the parties agree to the informal process;
• A formal complaint resolution process that includes different paths depending on who the complaint is against;
• Provisions maintaining confidentiality for parties and witnesses; and
• Measures to prevent retaliation against persons involved in an investigation.

The members of the Study Committee proposed different structures for overseeing formal complaints against legislators and partisan staff. Some members recommended a joint committee composed of four legislators—one from each caucus—and three non-legislators. The non-legislative members would be appointed jointly by the leaders of each caucus and would have experience in human resources, victim advocacy, and employment law. Other members recommended establishing separate workplace harassment committees for each chamber consisting of three members from each caucus of the chamber. The committees would include only legislators and could solicit testimony from experts as needed.

The Study Committee made recommendations to amend the Colorado Open Records Act to protect documents related to complaints under the policy and recommended changes to the Open Meetings Law to protect the deliberations of the new workplace harassment committee or committees.

The Study Committee also recommended that the amended Joint Rule 38 direct the new office to develop a Workplace Expectations Policy, which would establish general expectations for a respectful workplace and address complaints related to those expectations. Complaints under this policy would be resolved through an informal complaint process similar to that included in the proposed new Workplace Harassment Policy.

In addition to the new policies, the Study Committee recommended adoption of an interim policy, which would incorporate into the existing workplace policy all recommendations that could be added without making changes to Joint Rule 38. These changes include requiring contacts to alert the human resources administrator to any complaints, allowing the human resources administrator to consult on issues related to workplace harassment, strengthening the anti-retaliation provisions, and clarifying record-keeping obligations.

The Study Committee adopted a report of its recommendations at its final meeting on October 11, 2018. The Executive Committee met on November 8, 2018, and unanimously adopted only the interim policy. The remaining recommendations, which require legislative action through resolutions or bills, will be submitted for consideration by the Executive Committee that consists of the new legislative leadership chosen by the caucuses after the 2018 election. The full report of the Study Committee, including the new interim policy, is available to the public on the Study Committee’s website.

As we shared last week, the Legislative Council met October 15, 2018, to consider interim committee bills recommended by eight of the 12 interim committees that met July through September. Two of the 12 interim committees were not required to submit their recommendations to the Legislative Council; the remaining two committees—the Pension Review Commission and the School Start Time Interim Study Committee—chose not to recommend legislation.

In last week’s article, we reported on the bills approved for four of those committees. Today, we summarize those approved for the remaining four committees.

Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal Justice System

The committee for the Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal Justice System recommended four bills, none of which were approved by the Legislative Council.

To review the bills recommended by the Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal Justice System committee, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Jane Ritter.

Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force

The Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force held four meetings during the 2018 interim. Briefings and presentations were made by the Office of Legislative Legal Services, Legislative Council Staff, the Colorado Department of Revenue, the Colorado Municipal League, the Council on State Taxation, the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Center for State Fiscal Reform, and members of the public on a wide range of topics, including:

• The current Colorado sales and use tax system, with an emphasis on use tax;
• Other states’ efforts to simplify their sales and use tax system;
• The Colorado Municipal League’s standardized definitions project;
• A request for information for an electronic sales tax system issued pursuant to House Bill 18-1022; and
• Implementation of online sales tax collections following the U.S. Supreme Court South Dakota v. Wayfair decision.

At the final meeting on September 27, 2018, the legislative members of the task force unanimously recommended one bill to the Legislative Council, which the Council approved.

Bill A: Concerning an electronic sales and use tax simplification system, and, in connection therewith, requiring the department of revenue to conduct a sourcing method for the development of the system and establishing the implementation of the system for the acceptance of returns and processing of payments for the sales and use tax levied by the state and any local taxing jurisdictions.
The bill requires the department of revenue (department), within existing resources, to conduct a sourcing method in accordance with the applicable provisions of the procurement code, and any applicable rules, for the development of an electronic sales and use tax simplification system (system). The bill also requires the department to involve stakeholders to develop the scope of work. The bill specifies that on and after the date the system is online, the department is required to accept any returns and payments processed through the system for state sales and use tax and for any sales and use taxes that are collected by the department on behalf of any local taxing jurisdiction. The bill specifies that it is the General Assembly’s intent that a certain number of local taxing jurisdictions with home rule charters voluntarily use the system when the system comes online and that all local taxing jurisdictions with home rule charters voluntarily use the system within a specified number of years.

To review the bill recommended by the Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force, please visit the task force’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Esther van Mourik.

Transportation Legislation Review Committee

The Transportation Legislation Review Committee took a two-day tour this year to fulfill its duty to review transportation projects. This involved the following:

• Touring the project on Weld county Road 49;
• Meeting with stakeholders to discuss the State Highway 402–I-25 interchange;
• Reviewing the rebuilding US 34 repair and ground stabilization efforts after flooding washed away much of the road;
• Touring the Eagle Valley Biomass Plant;
• Reviewing the new overpass in Glenwood Springs;
• Touring the Aspen–Pitkin County Airport;
• Meeting with the fire command center in Basalt; and
• Meeting with the Roaring Fork Regional Transportation Authority.

The committee also met to propose and draft legislation. They ultimately recommended three bills to the Legislative Council, all of which were approved.

Bill A: Concerning the exemption of the department of transportation from existing reporting and transportation commission approval requirements when it acquires land needed for specified highway-related purposes by means other than condemnation.
Current law allows the department of transportation (CDOT) to acquire land in order to alter a state highway only after: (1) the chief engineer of CDOT provides a written report to the transportation commission that describes the project and all land to be acquired for the project, includes a map of the existing and future boundaries of the highway, and estimates the damages and benefits to each affected landowner; and (2) the commission determines that the project will serve public interest or convenience and adopts a resolution authorizing the chief engineer to offer affected landowners appropriate compensation.

The bill authorizes CDOT, acting through the chief engineer, to acquire land in such circumstances by purchase or exchange without the chief engineer providing the report or the commission making a determination of public interest or convenience or authorizing the payment of compensation to affected landowners. If, however, CDOT needs to acquire land through condemnation, the chief engineer must provide the report and the commission must make the determination of public interest or convenience and adopt a resolution authorizing CDOT to acquire the land through the filing of a petition in condemnation.

Bill B: Concerning the age requirement to drive a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce.
The bill authorizes the department of revenue to adopt rules allowing a person who is at least 18 years of age but under 21 years of age to be licensed to drive a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce if operation of a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce by the person is permitted under federal law.

Bill C: Concerning issuance of driving authorization documents to foster children who are under eighteen years of age.
The bill exempts a foster child from being required, when being issued a driver’s license, to have his or her foster parent or other legal guardian sign an affidavit of liability if the child holds evidence of financial responsibility in his or her own name. Under current law, a county must obtain the permission of a foster parent to help a foster child obtain an instruction permit without a responsible adult signing an affidavit of liability, but the county need not obtain this permission if the foster child is at least 17 1/2 years of age. The bill lowers this requirement to age 17. To be issued a driver’s license, current law requires a minor to submit driving logs showing 50 hours of instruction. The bill broadens this to allow any person who is at least 21 years of age and who holds a driver’s license to sign a foster child’s driving logs if the person provided the instruction and the foster child has provided proof of financial responsibility. Current law, with some exceptions, requires a person who is under 16 years of age and who was issued an instruction permit to be instructed in driving by the person who signed the affidavit of liability. The bill authorizes anyone who is at least 21 years of age and who holds a driver’s license to instruct a foster child with a driving permit. The bill directs the department of personnel to create a program that pools insurance of a child who has been in a foster home for at least one year with the insurance on the state fleet to make insurance less expensive for the foster child. The department of personnel must accept and expend gifts, grants, or donations to implement this program.

To review the bills recommended by the Transportation Legislation Review Committee, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Jery Payne or Jason Gelender.

Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission

The Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission met four times from July through October. They received an update from the Early Childhood Leadership Commission, heard reports on program implementation from several state agencies, and took testimony from several community and advocacy groups, concerning issues pertaining to child care and education for young children. The Commission requested that staff draft several bills, two of which were ultimately recommended to the Legislative Council. The Council approved one of those two bills.

Bill A: Concerning supporting high school students’ interest in early childhood education through the teacher cadet program
The bill clarifies that high school students who are interested in early childhood education may participate in the teacher cadet program.

To review the bills recommended by the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission, please visit the commission’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Brita Darling.

Since July, several legislative interim study committees met to hear testimony from experts and discuss policy issues that the Legislative Council prioritized for study last spring.  On Monday, October 15, the Legislative Council met to consider the bills recommended to them by these study committees. This week and next we will provide a summary of those bills that the Legislative Council approved.

Before summarizing bills, we note that of the 13 prioritized committees, one – the Legislative Interim Committee on School Finance – is exempted by statute from the requirement to obtain approval of the Legislative Council to introduce its bills; and the Legislative Interim Workplace Study Committee must submit its recommendations to the Executive Committee. Accordingly, these committees met, but neither of them recommended bills to the Legislative Council.

Alternatives to the Gallagher Amendment Interim Study Committee

The Alternatives to the Gallagher Amendment Interim Study Committee met a total of five times over the 2018 interim, including one meeting in Glenwood Springs and one meeting in Pueblo. The committee had discussions with representatives of local fire, library, and water districts and county commissioners, as well as heard public testimony from the state’s small business community, regarding the impact of the Gallagher Amendment and the financial burden experienced as a result.

At its final hearing on October 3, 2018, the committee considered seven bills and recommended three of them to the Legislative Council. At the Legislative Council meeting on October 15, 2018, the Council voted to introduce Bill B only:

Bill B: Concerning the establishment of regional residential assessment rates.
In response to contrasting residential property values across the state, the bill establishes eight regions in the state (according to the regions managed by the regional offices within the division of local government in the department of local affairs as of January 1, 2019) that the property tax administrator is then required to determine the residential assessment rate for, as opposed to the state-wide residential assessment rate currently required by law.

To review the bills recommended by the Alternatives to the Gallagher Amendment Interim Study Committee, including those not approved by the Legislative Council, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Ed DeCecco.

Water Resources Review Committee

The Water Resources Review Committee met six times during the 2018 interim. At the September 27, 2018, meeting, the committee considered and voted on five bill drafts and two joint memorial drafts that committee members requested in August. Pursuant to section 37-98-103 (1), C.R.S., a two-thirds majority of the Water Resources Review Committee members must vote to report a bill draft to the Legislative Council. Although the committee voted to report both of the joint memorial drafts to the Legislative Council, only two of the five bill drafts were approved by the necessary two-thirds majority of the committee.

Bill A: Concerning the Republican river water conservation district, and, in connection therewith, expanding the boundaries of the district and adjusting the meeting schedule of the district’s board of directors.
The boundaries of the Republican river water conservation district are currently established by statute as certain counties and portions of counties that are within the Republican river basin. The bill expands the boundaries by including in the district areas where groundwater pumping depletes the flow of the Republican river as contemplated by applicable United States Supreme Court case law. The composition of the district’s board of directors is adjusted accordingly. Current law requires the Republican river water conservation district board of directors to conduct regular quarterly meetings in January, April, July, and October. The bill changes these months to February, May, August, and November.

Bill B: Concerning the methodology to distribute money in the severance tax operational fund after core departmental programs are funded without changing the transfers to the natural resources and energy grant programs.
Money in the severance tax operational fund (operational fund) is primarily used for two purposes. The general assembly annually appropriates money from the operational fund for several core departmental programs, which were previously described as “tier-one programs”. If money remains after these appropriations and after a reserve requirement for the core departmental programs is satisfied, then the state treasurer transfers money to an array of funds that support natural resources and energy grant programs, which were previously described as “tier-two programs”. There is also a requirement that the reserve include an amount equal to 15% of the maximum transfers to natural resources and energy grant programs required by law, and this reserve is used for the transfers, if necessary. The bill changes the distribution of the money in the operational fund as follows:

• Separates the reserve into the core reserve and the grant program reserve, while maintaining the overall purpose of each reserve;
• Increases the maximum grant program reserve to 100% of the maximum transfers to the natural resources and energy grant programs required by law, which currently is equal to $36,378,072;
• Requires the state treasurer to make the transfers to the natural resources and energy grant programs on August 15 after a fiscal year and to base the transfers on actual revenue as opposed to estimated revenue. Money from the grant program reserve may be used for these transfers; and
• If all of the appropriations and transfers have been made and both reserves are full, then the state treasurer is required to transfer any money remaining in the operational fund to the severance tax perpetual base fund.

Joint Memorial A: Concerning memorializing the United States Congress to fulfill the commitment of the federal government to provide funding for the Arkansas Valley Conduit project.
This Senate joint memorial asks the United States Congress to fulfill its commitment to provide funding for the Arkansas Valley Conduit project, which was authorized by Congress as part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project in 1962 as a means to address water quality and availability issues in the Arkansas River basin east of Pueblo but was never built, largely because of the inability of participants to repay construction costs.

Joint Memorial B: Concerning memorializing the United States Congress to enact legislation directing the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction and cooperation with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, to dredge a portion of the Arkansas River.
This Senate joint memorial asks the United States Congress to immediately enact legislation that directs the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction and cooperation with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, to dredge a portion of the Lower Arkansas River from below the Fort Lyons diversion to the John Martin Reservoir, including a “pinch point” through which the river passes as it traverses between the towns of La Junta, on the south bank, and North La Junta, on the north bank.

To review the bills and memorials recommended by the Water Resources Review Committee, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Thomas Morris, Jennifer Berman, or Richard Sweetman.

Wildfire Matters Review Committee

The Wildfire Matters Review Committee held four hearings during the 2018 legislative interim. During these hearings, the committee heard from public and private agencies and organizations on the front lines of wildfire prevention and mitigation in Colorado, including the Division of Fire Prevention and Control within the Department of Public Safety, the United States Forest Service, the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS), the Colorado Division of Insurance, public utilities, the Colorado State Fire Chiefs, and the Colorado Sheriff’s Association. Over the course of its hearings, the committee heard presentations on such topics as the use of drones in fire suppression, the role of forest management in mitigating wildfire risk, the condition of the state’s timber industry, incentives from insurers and local governments to assist in fire mitigation efforts, the effects of the Gallagher Amendment on local fire-fighting resources, the efforts of utilities to make their systems more resistant to natural disasters, and partnerships the CSFS has entered into with other stakeholders to improve wildfire fighting and mitigation efforts.

At its final meeting, the committee voted to recommend four bills to the Legislative Council, three of which were approved.

Bill A: Concerning development of a system to patrol the airspace above wildland fires.
This bill requires the center of excellence for advanced technology aerial firefighting, subject to available appropriations, to study and, if feasible, implement a system to patrol the airspace above a wildland fire.

Bill B: Concerning measures to mitigate the effects of wildfires within wildland-urban interface areas, and, in connection therewith, creating a state grant program to promote forest management fuels reduction projects in such areas.
This bill creates a state grant program that the CSFS will administer to fund proactive forest management fuels reduction projects to reduce the impacts to life, property, and critical infrastructure caused by wildfires. Groups of individual landowners whose land is in an area covered by a community wildfire protection plan are eligible to apply for a grant award. The bill specifies requirements pertaining to the evaluation of grant proposals. The CSFS must select the proposals that will receive funding, administer the grant program, and develop procedures by which applicants will apply for grants. The bill imposes a monetary limit on the amount of a grant and requires a grant applicant to demonstrate an available amount of matching funds to be awarded a grant. The bill requires the CSFS to report annually to the general assembly on the number, location, and benefits of all projects for which a grant award is made.

Bill D: Concerning the power of a county to restrict the use of fireworks during the period between May 31 and July 5 of any year.
Under current law, a county may prohibit or restrict by ordinance the sale, use, and possession of fireworks, including permissible fireworks (fireworks restrictions), for a period that does not exceed one year in length within all or any part of the unincorporated areas of the county; except that the county may not have such an ordinance in effect between May 31 and July 5 of any year unless the ordinance includes an express finding of high fire danger, based on competent evidence. The bill specifies that such an ordinance is in effect for the period between May 31 and July 5 of any year only if the county adopts by resolution such fireworks restrictions for such period, which resolution includes an express finding of high fire danger, based on competent evidence.

The bill also adds as a source of competent evidence justifying a finding of high fire danger predictions of future fire danger such as those issued by the national interagency coordination center or any successor entity.

To review the bills and memorials recommended by the Wildfire Matters Review Committee, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Bob Lackner or Megan Waples.

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee

The Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee met five times over the interim and heard from state agencies and officials and stakeholders representing all aspects of the substance use disorder crisis. The committee also held several stakeholder meetings to discuss potential legislation. The committee requested the drafting of five bills and voted to advance all five bills to Legislative Council. Of the five bills recommended, the Legislative Council approved two:

Bill B: Concerning supports for persons recovering from substance use disorders, and, in connection therewith, expanding a program in the department of local affairs that provides vouchers for housing assistance to certain individuals, requiring each recovery residence operating in Colorado to be licensed by the department of public health and environment, and creating the opioid crisis recovery fund.
The bill:

• Expands the housing voucher program currently within the department of local affairs to include individuals with a substance use disorder and appropriates $4.3 million each of the next 5 fiscal years to support the program;
• Requires each recovery residence operating in Colorado to be licensed by the department of public health and environment; and
• Creates the opioid crisis recovery fund for money the state receives as settlement or damage awards resulting from opioid-related litigation.

Bill E: Concerning treatment of individuals with substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal justice system, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.
The bill:

• Requires the Colorado commission on criminal and juvenile justice to study and make recommendations concerning:
  • Alternatives to filing criminal charges against individuals with substance use disorders who have been arrested for drug-related offenses;
  • Best practices for investigating unlawful opioid distribution in Colorado; and
  • A process for automatically sealing criminal records for drug offense convictions.
• Requires the department of corrections (DOC) to allow medication-assisted treatment to be provided to persons who were receiving treatment in a local jail prior to being transferred to the custody of the DOC. The DOC may enter into agreements with community agencies and organizations to assist in the development and administration of medication-assisted treatment.
• Contains a legislative declaration that the substance abuse trend and response task force should formulate a response to current and emerging substance abuse problems from the criminal justice, prevention, and treatment sectors that includes the use of drop-off treatment services, mobile and walk-in crisis centers, and withdrawal management programs as an alternative to entry into the criminal justice system for offenders of low-level drug offenses.
• Directs the department of health care policy and financing to seek federal authorization under the Medicaid program for treatment of substance use disorders for persons confined in jails.
• Creates a simplified process for sealing convictions for level 4 drug felonies, all drug misdemeanors, and any offense committed prior to October 1, 2013, that would have been a level 4 drug felony or drug misdemeanor if committed on or after October 1, 2013. A defendant may file a motion to seal records three years or more after final disposition of the criminal proceedings. Conviction records may be sealed only after a hearing and upon court order.
• Requires jails that receive funding through the jail-based behavioral health services program to allow medication-assisted treatment to be provided to individuals in the jail. The jail may enter into agreements with community agencies and organizations to assist in the development and administration of medication-assisted treatment.
• Provides an appropriation, including for the following programs funded through the annual long appropriations act:
  • Increasing from four to 10 the number of the law-enforcement-assisted diversion pilot programs; and increasing corresponding funding for criminal justice diversion pilot programs in the office of behavioral health in the department of human services.

To review the bills and memorials recommended by the Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Kristen Forrestal, Yelana Love, or Brita Darling.

By Jessica Wigent

In the three years since its (re)creation in 2016, the Statutory Revision Committee (codified in part 9 of article 3 of title 2, C.R.S.) has, in accordance with its charge, introduced and passed more than 50 bills to modify or eliminate antiquated, redundant, or contradictory rules of law to harmonize the statutes with modern conditions. In 2018, these modifications included modernizing Dickensian references to “paupers” (HB 18-1142).

Since we last checked in with LegiSource, the SRC met five times: Three times in the 2017 interim (with a particularly memorable interruption during the August meeting—the total solar eclipse) and twice in the 2018 legislative session. During these lively hearings, committee members heard the presentation of memos and testimony on subjects as far-ranging as obsolete provisions relating to oaths and bonds of public officials to the need to address outdated terminology in statute related to the “legitimacy” of children.

Overall, hundreds of pages of statutory text have been repealed or brought into the 21st century through SRC-recommended legislation.

Membership
The SRC consists of eight legislators (two appointees by the majority and minority leadership in each house) and two nonlegislator, nonvoting attorneys appointed by the Committee on Legal Services. The current appointees are:

• Senator Dominick Moreno, Chair
• Senator Beth Martinez Humenik, Vice-chair
• Representative Jeni Arndt
• Representative Edie Hooton
• Representative Hugh McKean
• Senator Jack Tate
• Representative Dan Thurlow
• Senator Rachel Zenzinger
• Patrice Collins
• Brad Ramming

Under the SRC’s statute, House and Senate leadership and the Committee on Legal Services will appoint new SRC members in January of 2019. Current SRC members may be reappointed to another term.

Attending to the Antiquated, Obsolete, and Anachronistic

In 2018, the SRC introduced, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed more than 20 bills, including legislation:

• • Eliminating references to the Proposition AA Refund Account—repealed in 2017—which were still littered about the statutes (HB 18-1369);
  • Adding, at the request of attorneys from the judicial branch, a cross-reference in the crime of failure to register as a sex offender (§18-3-412.5, C.R.S.) to the requirement that the offender must file a cancellation form when he or she moves out of state (§16-22-108, C.R.S.) (HB 18-1356);
  • Modernizing outdated references to “mental retardation” in statute, after being made aware of the issue by an advocate in the disability community (SB 18-096);
  • Removing descriptions of children as “legitimate” or “illegitimate” in statute, a practice abandoned decades ago, as the state considers all children legitimate, regardless of the marital status of a child’s parents (SB 18-095); and
  • Cleaning up inaccurate references to “early childhood care and education councils”. They’re just “early childhood councils,” as former Senator Evie Hudak testified after bringing attention to the inaccuracy through her participation on an interim education committee (HB 18-1141).

How an SRC Idea Becomes a Bill

Executive department agencies, the judicial branch, interested Colorado residents, and nonpartisan staff from a number of agencies in and around the Capitol, as well as legislators themselves, have brought issues for the SRC to consider. Initially, staff considers these requests and whether they fall within the charge of the SRC and then prepares a memo detailing the requested change, often with a bill draft attached for the SRC to consider.

In addition, the statutory charge of the SRC includes examining “current judicial decisions.” To that end, the SRC has asked staff to review current statutes that are found by an appellate court to be unconstitutional. Staff annually prepares memos for the SRC to bring attention to these provisions.

An affirmative vote from at least five of the legislative SRC members is needed to introduce proposed legislation, and the SRC regularly considers more draft bills than it approves. In 2018, the SRC rejected multiple proposals it determined were outside its charge. All proposed drafts are publicly available on the SRC’s website and in the annual report submitted to the General Assembly each November 15th. You may also email staff for more information.

The SRC meets next in October, though they are still finalizing the date and the issues to be considered. Join the SRC mailing list and be notified when the details are available.

Know of any antiquated, redundant, or contradictory laws? Please contact the SRC staff via email:  statutoryrevision.ga@coleg.gov
All meetings are public, and anyone and everyone is encouraged to attend or to propose issues to the SRC staff.

by Thomas Morris and Patti Dahlberg

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) is a national body consisting of commissioners appointed by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The ULC promotes uniformity for state laws when uniformity is desirable and practicable by developing proposed uniform legislation for state legislature consideration.

In Colorado, legislative leadership appoints commissioners pursuant to section 2-3-601, C.R.S. Under Joint Rule 24 (b)(1)(D), the Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws (CCUSL) may recommend bills for introduction during a legislative session of the General Assembly. The CCUSL meets during the annual summer ULC conference each year to adopt a preliminary legislative agenda for the upcoming regular session. It then typically meets at least once before the regular session to finalize the agenda.

The CCUSL will meet at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, August 13, 2018, in Room 0112 for a preliminary discussion of this year’s legislative agenda. The meeting is open to the public and will be broadcast live over the internet.

The CCUSL has included the first six of the seven new acts listed below in its proposed legislative agenda for the 2019 legislative session. The proposed agenda also includes four acts previously approved by ULC:  the Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act, the Revised Athlete Agents Act (2015), the Revised Unclaimed Property Act, and the Voidable Transactions Act Amendments (2014).

The seven new uniform acts approved by the ULC in July at its annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky were:

• Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act. The act creates a cause of action for unauthorized disclosure of private, intimate images and outlines procedures enabling victims to protect their identity in court proceedings. In addition, the act provides various remedies for victims, including actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
• Uniform Criminal Records Accuracy Act. Intended to improve the accuracy of the criminal history records used for law enforcement purposes and frequently used in determining a person’s eligibility for employment, housing, credit, and licensing, the act requires the governmental law enforcement agencies and courts that collect and use criminal history records to ensure the accuracy of collected information. It allows individuals to see and correct errors and includes a mistaken identity prevention registry.
• Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act. An updated version of the Uniform Principal and Income Act (adopted in 47 jurisdictions, including Colorado), this act provides modern accounting standards for fiduciaries to allocate receipts and disbursements between principal and income and to adjust those allocations as appropriate. It includes flexible rules on unitrust conversion, which were not part of the most recent version of the act but have since become popular in states.
• Uniform Nonparent Custody and Visitation Act. The act addresses the rights to custody of or visitation with a child for parties other than parents. The act recognizes a right to seek custody or visitation for two categories of individuals: (1) nonparents who have served as consistent caretakers of a child without expectation of compensation; and (2) other nonparents who have a substantial relationship with a child and who demonstrate that denial of custody or visitation would result in harm to the child.
• 2018 Amendment to Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA). The 2018 Amendment to RULONA authorizes notaries public to perform notarial acts for remotely located individuals using audio-visual communication technology regardless of where the individual may be located. The amendment is not limited to foreign located individuals; it extends the authority to any remotely located individuals. It was prepared in response to a rapidly emerging trend among the states to authorize the performance of notarial acts by means of audio-visual technology. Colorado adopted RULONA in 2017.
• Uniform Supplemental Commercial Law for the Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act. The act addresses the commercial law rights of virtual-currency businesses that have control over their customers and their customers’ virtual currency by providing to those businesses and customers duties and rights comparable to those enjoyed by customers of securities intermediaries under Article 8, Part 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code. This act is a companion to the 2017 Uniform Regulation of Virtual-Currency Businesses Act.
• Amendments to UCC Articles 1, 3, 8 and 9. The act is drafted to provide the substantive commercial law rules to support a national electronic registry for residential mortgage notes with minimal displacement of state laws. Until the federal National Mortgage Note Repository Act referred to in the Amendments is enacted, the Amendments are not part of the official text of the UCC, and states should not undertake to introduce or enact these amendments.

 

See also:

• The Uniform Law Commission Works to Promote Uniformity of Law Among the States, posted August 6, 2015.
• The Uniform Law Process Takes its Time, posted September 17, 2015.
• The “C” in Uniform Law Commission, posted November 5, 2015.

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

LegiSource is still on hiatus, but we’re making an exception this week to bring you an update on the Title 12 Recodification Project. Regular postings will resume July 12. 

By Jessica Wigent

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending,” and we in the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS), along with our many stakeholder partners, certainly embrace the sentiment as the massive undertaking that is the Title 12 Recodification Project enters its final phase.

Since 2016, the OLLS staff have worked with stakeholders to draft 26 bills, all passed by the General Assembly. The first phase, during the 2016 interim and 2017 legislative session, involved relocating, in a series of 14 bills, provisions relating to subjects as varied as cemeteries, dance halls, fireworks, and anatomical gifts to their more appropriate titles in the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.). In addition, the OLLS recommended, based on stakeholder feedback, a bill to modify the rule-making procedure under the “State Administrative Procedure Act” to allow state agencies to correct statutory citations in the Code of Colorado Regulations without going through the formal rule-making process.

Most recently, the General Assembly passed nine bills in the 2018 legislative session that created a new Title 44 and relocated, without substantive change, another 13 articles and parts under the regulatory authority of the Department of Revenue from Title 12 to this shining new tome. The bills also relocated a final few provisions from Title 12 to their more organic titles and incorporated feedback from stakeholders to extend the timeline, from August to October, for state departments and agencies to update citations in their rules, forms, and guidelines to reflect the new statutory citations for relocated statutes.

For a detailed comparison of where the provisions in Title 12 were relocated, click here. In addition to these relocation bills, the OLLS recommended and the General Assembly passed a bill to extend the Title 12 Project, originally slated to end in 2018, for one additional year. The complexity of the remainder of the project, which entails reorganizing and restructuring the remaining articles in Title 12 that are administered by the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), necessitated this extension to ensure that Title 12 is fully reorganized into a more coherent whole.

You might be wondering, “You’ve relocated hundreds of pages of law from Title 12 to other statutes, what’s left of Title 12?” Only the sections governing DORA’s Real Estate Division and the Division of Professions and Occupations. And a large number of repealed articles, whose numbers (including the number 1, for instance), as of right now, cannot be reused.

This next and last phase of the Title 12 Project involves identifying redundant and duplicative (or nearly so) provisions and combining them into common provisions (i.e., single sections of general applicability that contain provisions setting forth definitions or administrative procedures). The consolidation of these provisions into a general or common provisions article or articles could, when appropriate, apply broadly to many of the professions and occupations in Title 12.

The OLLS staff have begun preliminary meetings and plans to conduct further stakeholder outreach during the following months. The goal is to reach consensus in time to formally request, before the 2019 regular session, approval from the Committee on Legal Services for the introduction of one or more bills.

How can you be involved? The OLLS staff strive to make the Title 12 Project as inclusive, transparent, and thoughtful as possible. To that end, we will once again conduct public meetings during the interim to solicit feedback from stakeholders and interested persons.

Meeting announcements, agendas, minutes, and audio of stakeholder meetings, when available, will be posted here.

To sign-up for the Title 12 mailing list, please click here.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Christy Chase or Tom Morris.

by Thomas Morris

Progress Through 2017

In 2016, the General Assembly enacted S.B. 16-163, which directs the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) to study an organizational recodification of Title 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) governing the regulation of professions and occupations and to bring recommendations, including any legislative proposals to recodify the title, to the Committee on Legal Services (COLS). During the 2017 legislative session, in furtherance of the study recommendations, the General Assembly enacted 14 bills proposed by the COLS to relocate 21 articles to more appropriate titles in the C.R.S. (See the Title 12 Recodification Project’s website for links to these bills). The General Assembly also enacted a bill, H.B. 17-1006, to allow agencies that need to correct statutory citations in the code of Colorado regulations because of these relocations to do so without the notice, comment, and hearing that usually accompany rule making by submitting to the secretary of state a specific, written determination by the attorney general.

During the 2017 interim, the OLLS staff solicited feedback from stakeholders, drafted and distributed numerous relocation bills, and provided the COLS with updates regarding the project’s progress. During the COLS’s December meeting, the OLLS recommended, and the COLS approved, introducing for the 2018 legislative session 10 additional relocation bills. Nine of the relocation bills create a new Title 44 in the C.R.S. to which the bills will move current articles and parts in Titles 12 and 24 that are administered by the Department of Revenue. The tenth relocation bill relocates three articles and one part from Title 12 to other appropriate titles in the C.R.S.

Because of the complexity of the remainder of the project, which entails reorganizing and restructuring the articles administered by the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DoRA) that remain in Title 12 and the need for more stakeholder meetings and in-depth discussions with the department and the regulated community, the OLLS recommended, and the COLS approved, introducing a bill to extend the Title 12 Recodification Project for one additional year.

2018 Regular Session Legislation

Members of the COLS are sponsoring the Title 12 Recodification Project bills in the 2018 legislative session. With the exception of the bill to extend the project, the bills simply relocate a particular set of statutes from one location in the C.R.S. to another location with minor technical updates and do not make any substantive changes to the law. Half of the relocation bills and the project extension bill were introduced in the Senate and the other half of the relocation bills were introduced in the House of Representatives. Here’s a list of the 11 bills introduced so far this session.

Bill  No	Prime Sponsors	Status as of 1/18/18	Subject	Law Being Relocated
SB18-030	Sens. Holbert & Kagan Reps. Foote & Willett	Senate second reading	Motor vehicle dealers	Article 6 of title 12
SB-18-031	Sen. Gardner; Rep. Foote	Senate Appropriations committee	Extends Title 12 Project
SB18-032	Sens. Gardner & Cooke; Reps. Foote & Herod	Senate second reading	Parental notification Firearms dealers Gun show background checks Unsworn declarations	Article 37.5 of title 12 Article 26 of title 12 Article 26.1 of title 12 Part 3 of article 55 of title 12
SB18-034	Sens. Cooke & Guzman Reps. Wist & Lee	Senate second reading	Limited gaming Tribal-state gaming compact	Article 47.1 of title 12 Article 47.2 of title 12
SB18-035	Sens. Gardner & Cooke Rep. Wist	Senate second reading	Gambling payment intercepts	Part 6 of article 35 of title 24
SB18-036	Sen. Kagan Rep. Wist	Senate second reading	Tobacco sales to minors	Part 5 of article 35 of title 24
HB18-1023	Rep. Herod Sen. Gardner	House Judiciary Committee hearing, 1/23/18 at 1:30 pm	Medical marijuana Retail marijuana	Article 43.3 of title 12 Article 43.4 of title 12
HB18-1024	Rep. Lee Sen. Kagan	House Judiciary Committee hearing, 1/23/18 at 1:30 pm	Racing	Article 60 of title 12
HB18-1025	Rep. Herod Sens. Gardner & Cooke	House Judiciary Committee hearing, 1/23/18 at 1:30 pm	Colorado Beer Code Colorado Liquor Code Special event permits	Article 46 of title 12 Article 47 of title 12 Article 48 of title 12
HB18-1026	Rep. Herod Sens. Gardner & Cooke	House Judiciary Committee hearing, 1/23/18 at 1:30 pm	Liquor enforcement division cash fund	Part 4 of article 35 of title 24
HB18-1027	Rep. Wist Sen. Kagan	House Judiciary Committee hearing, 1/23/18 at 1:30 pm	Lottery	Part 2 of article 35 of title 24

 

During the stakeholder process that the OLLS conducted during the 2017 interim, some interest was expressed in not only relocating but also reorganizing both the marijuana laws and the laws governing automobile dealers and power sports dealers. Staff have distributed draft bills to accomplish these reorganizations to stakeholders, but there was insufficient time to develop consensus on them before the beginning of the 2018 regular session. The OLLS therefore did not recommend the introduction of these bills to the COLS; if consensus is reached later there is still a possibility that one or both of these bills could be introduced in the 2018 regular session.

So, what’s left?

Actually, the whole point of the project – to reorganize Title 12. If all of the 2018 legislation is enacted, the only laws left in Title 12 will be those administered by DoRA. But they will still be in their preexisting form – with lots of duplicative or nearly duplicative requirements scattered throughout Title 12 and without the benefit of one or more common provisions articles that would apply broadly throughout Title 12. Additionally, there are several laws administered by DoRA relating to professions and occupations that are codified outside of Title 12 (primarily in Title 24) that would benefit from being codified along with the rest of DoRA’s Title 12 authorities.

The plan is for the OLLS to conduct more stakeholder outreach during the 2018 interim, distribute draft reorganization bills, and try to reach consensus on those bills by November. The OLLS would then present its recommendations to the COLS for the introduction of the consensus Title 12 reorganization legislation for the 2019 regular session. Stay tuned!

by Kate Meyer

As we informed you last year, the General Assembly recreated the Statutory Revision Committee (SRC) through legislation enacted in 2016. Generally, the SRC makes an ongoing examination of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) to discover and—via legislation—rectify defects and anachronisms in the law. The SRC recommenced meeting during the 2016 interim and has had a very productive year.

2017 session
In the 2017 legislative session, the SRC recommended for introduction 26 bills, all of which the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed into law.  By way of comparison, this figure falls within the range of bills previously recommended by the SRC’s predecessor entity (also known as the “Statutory Revision Committee,” this entity existed from 1977-1985), which annually recommended between 12 and 39 bills.

The majority (i.e., 18 of the 26) of the SRC’s 2017 bills conformed existing reporting requirements with the language in section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), C.R.S., which imposes an automatic three-year repeal of reports to the General Assembly from executive branch agencies and the judicial branch. In consultation with the reporting entities and the Joint Budget Committee, the SRC bills aligned statutory reporting requirements with the automatic repeal. In some cases, the SRC bills repealed reports that were no longer necessary due to lack of funding, expired programs, lack of information to report, redundant information included in other reports, etc.

Other SRC-sponsored bills:

• Eliminated out-of-date and unintelligible descriptions of congressional and state House and Senate boundaries (HB17-1074 and HB17-1025, respectively);
• Removed redundant sections in Title 25, C.R.S., that resulted from an incorrect technical amending clause contained in a 2016 bill (SB17-018);
• Updated various obsolete and outdated laws relating to the state auditor’s office (HB17-1005);
• Relocated the Commission on Family Medicine laws to a more appropriate title of the C.R.S. (HB17-1024);
• Repealed an antiquated duty of the state treasurer and controller to physically post lists of all uncashed warrants and uncashed checks (SB17-046);
• Rectified incorrect references in Title 22, C.R.S. (SB17-052); and
• Corrected out-of-date references to American National Standards Institute standards for accessible housing (HB17-1067).

Overall, more than 30 pages of statutory text were repealed or modernized through SRC-recommended legislation.

Current committee composition and activity
The committee consists of four legislators (two appointees from the majority and minority leaderships in each house) and two nonlegislator, nonvoting attorneys appointed by the Committee on Legal Services. The current appointees are: Senator Beth Martinez Humenik (Chair), Senator Dominick Moreno (Vice-Chair), Representative Jeni James Arndt, Representative Edie Hooton, Representative Dan Nordberg, Senator Jack Tate, Representative Dan Thurlow, Senator Rachel Zenzinger, Patrice Bernadette Collins, and Brad Ramming.

The SRC met in June 2017 and requested staff to draft two bills: One to reorganize without substantive change the state sales tax exemption for certain drugs and medical and therapeutic devices; and one to repeal the odometer reading requirement for VIN verifications. The committee meets again on Monday, August 21, 2017, to decide whether to recommend those bills, which requires an affirmative vote from at least five of the legislative committee members, and to hear staff presentations on another 13 potential bills. The items slated to be addressed during the August 21 meeting encompass a wide breadth of subjects, including:

• An apparent statutory conflict over whether deputy sheriffs must be certified by the Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Board;
• Various laws held to be unconstitutional relating to sexually explicit materials harmful to children, same-sex marriage, interest on damages in § 13-21-101 (1), C.R.S., and per-signature pay of ballot issue petition circulators;
• Antiquated or ambiguous terms, such as “pauper,” “husband and wife,” or “mother and father;” and, with respect to children, “legitimate/illegitimate;”
• Unfunded department of human services programs; and
• Outdated and inconsistent state officials’ bonds and oaths requirements.

The bill drafts, memoranda, and assorted documents for the August 21 meeting are all available through this link: http://leg.colorado.gov/publications/meeting-agenda-statutory-revision-committee-20170821 and the audio from the meeting can be live-streamed here: http://leg.colorado.gov/committee/granicus/933566.

The SRC expects to meet in October 2017 as well—date to be determined.

Know of any antiquated, redundant, or contradictory laws? Please feel free to contact SRC staff via email: StatutoryRevision.ga@coleg.gov.