Bill Tracker

When the voters in counties and cities approve ballot measures that allow the local government to retain revenues that are in excess of TABOR limits for fiscal year spending or property tax revenue, those approvals are basically permanent and do not have any expiration date.  HB 1026 would have required local governments that passed spending limit waiver questions prior to 2020 to resubmit the question to the voters by 2029 in order to guarantee that current voters still want those spending limit waivers.  

While CCI understood the sponsor’s concerns, the fiscal impact on county governments could have beeen significant if local voters decided to not renew spending limit waivers.  

HB 1100 would require that beginning in November of 2024, the coroner in any county with population greater than 150,000 has to be either a forensic pathologist or a death investigator certified by and in good standing with the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. 

It appears that the majority of coroners in counties with population greater than 150,000 already meet this requirement.  The bill has been signed by the Governor.

HB 1114 would have required all county animal shelters to contact every other shelter in the state prior to euthanizing a pet animal, in order to see if any other shelter could take possession of the pet animal in question.  Shelters must then wait an additional three to five days before euthanizing a pet animal to assess if there is another shelter available and possibly arrange for pick-up.  There are exemptions for animals that are suffering and for dogs that are dangerous or have a history of biting.

While it was difficult to assess how many animals would be affected by this new requirement, it would add additional costs for county-funded animal shelters.  Several county shelters were also concerned about the loss of local control and the decision-making ability of their veterinarians.

HB 1168 would have required that by July 1, 2025, all public meetings must be accessible by live streaming video or audio that is recorded and accessible to individuals with disabilities.  Individuals with disabilities must also have been allowed to make comment during the meetings.  These requirements would not have applied to geographic locations that are unserved by broadband.

It would be difficult for smaller boards and commissions to comply with the legislation.  There were also concerns about the strict liability provisions in the bill.  The bill proponents drafted a strike-below amendment (basically a new bill to replace the introduced bill) that addresses a number of the concerns raised by various local government associations and schools. That strike-below amendment was added in the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee, but ultimatley was unable to garner sufficient funding. 

HB 1177 would have required that all counties with population of 70,000 or more go to a five-member board of county commissioners and that at least three of those commissioners be elected only by the voters in their district.  This change would have to happen by 2032.

Current statute already allows voters to move to this governance structure either through a referred/initiated measure or by drafting a home rule charter.  This legislation would have carried a significant unfunded fiscal impact.  CCI thanks Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, Jenny Willford, Lindsey Daugherty and Minority Leader Rose Pugliese for their defense of county governments and the voice of local voters during the floor debate on the bill.

HB 1260 would allow employees to opt out of attending mandatory political or religious meetings during work hours and prohibit employers from retaliating against those employees.  The bill also allows employees who were terminated because of these actions to bring a lawsuit for reinstatement plus fines.

Some of the definitions in the legislation are vague and could lead to unintended problems.  Stakeholders have been working with the proponents on some clarifications on the definitions and an amendment was put on the bill in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee that addressed a number of these concerns. 

The bill requires employers, including local governments, to implement protections for workers who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the worksite, including temperature mitigation measures, rest breaks, and temperature-related injury and illness prevention plans.

HB 1296 would have made changes to the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) in order to provide protection against “vexatious requesters” (individuals who are misusing CORA to harass records custodians).  The bill provides longer timeframes for response to these kinds of requests and allows local governments to recoup full costs for record requests that are being conducted for pecuniary gain by the requester.  

CCI had some initial concerns with the legislation, but these concerns were addressed through several amendments that were added in committee and on the House floor.  

CCI Priority

 HB 1454 provides a one-year extension (to July 1, 2025) of immunity from liability for all public entities who can demonstrate good faith efforts in working toward compliance with the web/technology accessibility standards required by HB21-1110.  These “good faith” efforts must include a progress report that is updated quarterly that demonstrates the public entity’s progress and an easy-to-find process for requesting a reasonable accommodation from the public entity.

Fact Sheet: https://ccionline.org/download/FACT-SHEET-HB24-1454.pdf

Currently, restaurants are allowed to provide alcoholic beverages on a to-go basis.  This authority was set to expire in 2025.  SB 20 would continue this authority in perpetuity.  Local government authority to enact a local permitting process on this practice is preserved.

In current statute, county clerks must make best efforts to coordinate with the sheriff’s office to facilitate voting for all confined eligible electors.  SB 72 would take a further step by requiring every county to establish a temporary voter service and polling center (VSPC) in their county jail or detention center and keep it open for at least six hours.  The bill also adds additional requirements for the sheriffs’ offices to educate and assist confined eligible electors. Failure to comply with the requirements of this legislation opens a county up to litigation and a fine of $5,000. The bill was amended in the Senate to allow a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to allow confined electors who are confined outside their own county to cast just a statewide ballot, and to allow the operation of a VSPC to be postponed if the jail is on lockdown. 

While counties agree that every eligible elector must be able to cast a ballot, establishing a VSPC in every county jail would be expensive and logistically impossible in some of the smaller county jails.  

SB 76 is an omnibus cleanup bill being put forward by the marijuana industry.  The bill allows local governments to extend the duration of delivery permits for transporter licenses from one year to two years, allows electronic manifest systems for transportation of cannabis, simplifies some of the fingerprinting requirements for background checks and requires the state to share fingerprinting records with local licensing authorities upon request. 

CCI has reached out to local licensing jurisdictions around the state and there does not appear to be any issues of concerns for counties.

SB 138 would adjust the salary categorizations for the counties of Elbert, Fremont, Hinsdale and Rio Grande counties. 

SB 181 would have created a new enterprise and grant program to provide funding to providers who are treating alcohol and substance use disorders, including prevention, early intervention, driving while impaired, and harm reduction recovery services and programs across the state.  The funding for the enterprise and grant program would come from a new impact tax on alcohol manufacturers and distributors.  The bill also creates a new board that would review grant applications and make funding decisions.

While CCI supports behavior health programs and treatment for substance abuse, commissioners had concerns that the fees being placed upon alcohol manufacturers will not be used explicitly for treatment of alcohol abuse (the bill provides grants for drug abuse treatment as well).  There were also concerns about accountability and whether the dollars in the grant program will get to those who need it most. 

SB 198 aims to enhance the new licensing program for natural medicine facilitators by the addition of educational and training components created by the state.  The bill also allows an individual to operate a natural medicine testing facility at the same location as a regulated marijuana testing facility.

SB 210 is an omnibus election law bill that has been brought forward by the county clerks and other election advocates.  The bill makes a wide number of changes to election law, including lowering the age for qualification and registration of electors, allowing smaller counties to petition to lower the number of voter service and polling centers, repealing obsolete provisions regarding recounts and certificates of election and granting the clerk and recorder the authority to set the hours of the clerk and recorder’s office.

Commissioners had concerns about the authorization for county clerks to set the hours of operation in the clerk and recorder’s office and an amendment was negotiated with the Clerks Association to have that authorization sunset on January 31, 2025 - allowing the clerks to get through the presidenital election this fall.