Bill Tracker

The state constitution allows a veteran who has a
service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim
a property tax exemption for a portion of the actual value of the veteran's
owner-occupied primary residence. The 100% permanent disability
requirement can only be changed through a constitutional amendment.
If, at the 2024 general election, the voters of the state approve a
constitutional amendment to expand eligibility for the exemption by
allowing a veteran who has individual unemployability status, as
determined by the United States department of veterans affairs, to claim
the exemption, the bill makes conforming statutory changes to reflect that
expansion of the exemption. In most cases, to have individual
unemployability status, a veteran must be unable to keep a steady job
because the veteran either has at least one service-connected disability
rated at 60% or more disabling or has 2 or more service-connected
disabilities with at least one disability rated at 40% or more disabling and
a combined rating of 70% or more disabling.
The bill also requires a veteran who has individual
unemployability status to be treated equivalently to a veteran who has one
hundred percent permanent disability when determining eligibility for any
state veterans benefit. Finally, to comply with an existing statutory
requirement that people first language be used in new or amended
statutes that refer to persons with disabilities, the bill also changes the
existing terms disabled veteran and disabled veterans to veteran with
a disability and veterans with a disability.

• January 23, 2023: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report

Most real property is reassessed every odd-numbered year. The bill
establishes a one-time exception by making the reassessment cycle
beginning on January 1, 2021, a 4-year cycle so that the next reassessment
cycle will begin in 2025 instead of 2023.
Under current law, for the 2023 property tax year, the actual value
used for purposes of valuation for assessment is reduced for commercial
real property by $30,000 and for residential real property by $15,000. The
bill eliminates these reductions.
The bill also sets the assessment rates for nonresidential real
property and multi-family residential real property for the 2024 property
tax year, so that they are the same rates as for the 2023 property tax year.
Lastly, the bill ensures that the actual value of property used for
purposes of valuation for assessment does not increase by more than 5%
between 2022 and 2025, for property that does not have an unusual
condition which results in an increase or decrease in actual value.

• March 09, 2023: House Finance Committee Report

Section 1 of the bill authorizes an individual to move from one
corner of public land to another corner of public land where 2 public
parcels meet 2 private parcels and share a common border, without being
liable for criminal or civil trespass, if:
  • 2 parcels of public land touch so that the individual can
reasonably step from one parcel of public land to the other
parcel of public land, or if there's a fence, could make the
step as if there were not a fence;
  • The individual moves over private land only as much as
necessary to cross from one parcel of public land to the
other;
  • The individual does not step on or stand on the privately
owned land or touch a fence on or other improvement to
the privately owned land, but the individual may use
mechanical means to move over the privately owned land;
and
  • The individual does not use a vehicle other than a
wheelchair to cross over the private land.
This authorization does not apply to the following:
  • Moving over an improvement to public land that is
designed to be occupied by individuals;
  • Entering public land to use it in a way that violates the law;
  • Moving over public land that the governing entity has
prohibited the general public from entering or has
controlled access to.
Section 1 also prohibits a landowner from erecting an
improvement to such a corner that is more than 54 inches high within 4
feet of the corner.
Section 2 requires a court to dismiss a trespass tort if the defendant
has complied with section 1. A successful defendant is awarded costs,
including attorney fees.
Section 3 instructs the parks and wildlife commission to
promulgate rules codifying the actions allowed in section 1. The division
of parks and wildlife will publicize the rules.

• March 13, 2023: House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee Report

Section 1 of the bill increases the limit on medical impairment
benefits based on mental impairment from 12 weeks to 36 weeks.
Section 2 removes language authorizing an employee to petition
the division of workers' compensation in the department of labor and
employment (division) prior to receiving a replacement of any artificial
member, glasses, hearing aid, brace, or other external prosthetic device,
including dentures.
Section 3 allows an employee to request a hearing when the
employee's temporary total disability benefits end based on an attending
physician's written release to return to regular employment.
Section 4 specifies that when a physician recommends medical
benefits after maximum medical improvement, the benefits admitted by
the insurer or self-insured employer are not limited to any specific
medical treatment.
Current law requires an insurance carrier to provide an
independent medical examiner and all other parties a complete copy of all
medical records in its possession pertaining to an injury. Section 5 limits
the medical records required to be provided to records relevant to the
injury. Section 5 also specifies how the division is required to determine
the amount and allocation of costs to be paid by the parties for an
independent medical examination.
Section 6 allows a prehearing administrative law judge to issue
interlocutory orders resolving disputes regarding the content and format
of the independent medical examiner's medical record packet, indigency
status, and the allocation of independent medical examiner costs.
Current law states that a contingent attorney fee exceeding 20% of
the amount of contested benefits is presumed to be unreasonable. Section
7 increases the amount to 25%.

• February 02, 2023: House Business Affairs & Labor Committee Report

The bill creates a state income tax credit for employers who make
a monetary contribution to an employee for use by the employee in
purchasing a primary residence. The amount of the credit allowed is 5%
of an employer's contribution to an employee, but the credit is capped at
$5,000 per employee per year and an employer cannot receive a credit of
more than $750,000 for all contributions made in a year to employees.
The employee must use the money contributed for eligible expenses
which include a down payment and closing costs, including fees for
appraisals, mortgage origination, and inspections. An employee may
authorize their employer to withhold a specified amount of the employee's
earnings as an employee contribution into the savings account established
by the employer that holds the employer contribution. If an employee
ends their employment with the employer or if the employee intends to
use the employee contribution in a manner that is not consistent with an
eligible expense, the employee forfeits any unexpended amount of the
employer contribution and the amount of the credit allowed to the
employer for the employer contribution is subject to recapture. In such an
occurrence, the employee is entitled to the employee contribution, plus
any interest earned. The credit is not refundable but may be carried
forward by the employer for a period of not more than 5 years. The
amount contributed by the employer may be subtracted by the employee
from the employee's federal taxable income for the purpose of
determining their state taxable income; except that, if an employee
forfeits the employer contribution, then the amount that the employee had
subtracted from their federal taxable income is added back to their federal
taxable income for the purpose of determining their state taxable income
for the subsequent tax year. The executive director of the department of
revenue may promulgate rules related to the implementation of the credit.

• February 27, 2023: House Finance Committee Report

The bill creates a right of first refusal of a local government to
match an acceptable offer for the sale of a residential or mixed-use
multifamily property (property). The right to the purchase of the property
by the local government is subject to the local government's commitment
to using the property as long-term affordable housing. The local
government may assign its right of first refusal to the state, to any
political subdivisions, or to any housing authority in the state subject to
the limitation that the assignee make the same commitment to using the
property as long-term affordable housing.
The bill requires notices to be given by the seller to local
governments and by local governments to the seller and to residents of the
property. Upon receiving notice of intent to sell or of a potential sale of
property, a local government has 14 business days to preserve its right of
first refusal and an additional 90 business days to make an offer and must
agree to close on the property within 180 business days of the execution
of an agreement for the sale and purchase of the qualifying property.
The bill allows certain sales of property to be exempt from the
right of first refusal and the requirements established by the bill for the
right of first refusal. The bill also allows the local government to waive
its right of first refusal to purchase a property if the local government
elects to disclaim its rights to any proposed transaction or for any duration
of time or if there is a third-party buyer interested in purchasing the
property with the same commitment to preserving or converting the
property for long-term affordable housing and if the third-party buyer
enters into an agreement with the local government concerning the
third-party buyer's commitment to long-term affordable housing.
If the local government, its assignee, or a third-party buyer who
has committed to preserving or converting the property for long-term
affordable housing has acquired the property and maintained the property
for long-term affordable housing for 50 years, the property may be
converted to another use if the following conditions are met:
  • Notice is given to residents prior to the conversion;
  • Any displaced residents are provided with compensation
for relocation; and
  • The local government, its assignee, or a third-party buyer
who has committed to preserving or converting the
property for long-term affordable housing guarantees the
development or conversion of an equal or greater amount
of units within the boundaries of the local government for
long-term affordable housing and offers the units first to
any residents displaced by the conversion of the property.
The bill also provides that the attorney general's office has
responsibility to enforce the provisions of the bill and that the attorney
general's office, a local government, or a mission-driven organization has
standing to bring a civil action for violations of the bill.

• February 28, 2023: House Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee Report

No later than September 1, 2023, the bill requires the department
of health care policy and financing (state department) to engage in a
stakeholder process to address concerns and identify viable solutions
related to individuals who receive long-term services and supports.
No later than January 2025, the bill requires the state department
to report on the stakeholder process, including identifying any
administrative resources needed to address any concerns identified during
the stakeholder process.

• March 21, 2023: House Health & Insurance Committee Report

The bill directs the office of future of work (office) in the
department of labor and employment to create an apprenticeship
navigator pilot program (program) with 2 full-time apprenticeship
navigators, with each apprenticeship navigator assigned to a different
school district selected by the office. The purpose of the program is to
increase awareness of registered apprenticeship programs among
graduating high school students in the selected school districts.
The bill also directs the office to promote apprenticeship programs
to high school students by creating and maintaining a web-based job
board of apprenticeships and incorporating apprenticeships in the state's
career planning tools.

Current law requires an individual applying for the property tax
exemption for a veteran with a disability to submit the application to the
division of veterans affairs (division) in the Colorado department of
veterans and military affairs. The bill instead requires an individual to
submit an application to the individual's county tax assessor. When
submitting an application, the bill requires an individual to include proof
of qualifying veteran with a disability status, which the bill defines as
documentary evidence from the United States department of veterans
affairs that the individual is a qualifying veteran with a disability. The bill
further requires the division to develop guidance that specifies the
documentary evidence from the United States department of veterans
affairs that must be included with an application. The bill eliminates the
requirement that the division determine whether an individual is a
qualifying veteran with a disability.
To comply with an existing statutory requirement that people first
language be used in new or amended statutes that refer to persons with
disabilities, the bill also changes the existing terms disabled veteran and
disabled veterans to veteran with a disability and veterans with a
disability.

• March 16, 2023: House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee Report
• February 17, 2023: Senate Appropriations Committee Report
• February 02, 2023: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

The bill modifies the closing and settlement procedure for real
estate transactions to ensure that the funds intended to be used at closing
have been:
  • Received and deposited into a trust account at least one
business day before the scheduled closing; and
  • Confirmed as deposited and available for immediate
disbursement upon the settlement and closing of the real
estate transaction.
The bill takes effect September 1, 2024.

• February 09, 2023: Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee Report

For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023, the
bill specifies that a senior is deemed to be a 10-year owner-occupier of a
primary residence that the senior has owned and occupied for less than 10
years and therefore qualifies for the senior property tax exemption for the
residence if:
  • The senior would have qualified for the senior property tax
exemption for the senior's former primary residence but a
medical necessity required the senior to stop occupying the
former primary residence;
  • The senior has not previously received the exemption for a
former primary residence on the basis of medical necessity;
and
  • The senior has not owned and occupied another primary
residence since the senior first stopped occupying the
senior's former primary residence due to medical necessity.
Medical necessity is defined as one or more medical conditions
of a senior that a physician licensed to practice medicine in Colorado has
certified on a form developed by the state property tax administrator as
having required the senior to stop occupying the senior's prior primary
residence.
When applying for an exemption on the basis of medical necessity,
a senior must provide the form establishing proof of medical necessity.
For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023,
but before January 1, 2028, the bill increases the maximum amount of
actual value of the owner-occupied residence of a qualifying senior or
veteran with a disability that is exempt from property taxation from
$200,000 to $300,000.
For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2028, the
bill increases the maximum amount of actual value of the owner-occupied
residence of a qualifying senior or veteran with a disability that is exempt
from property taxation from $300,000 to $500,000.

• February 09, 2023: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report

The bill allows a local government to provide temporary property
tax relief through temporary property tax credits or mill levy reductions
and later eliminate the credits or restore the mill levy. The bill clarifies
that a local government may temporarily reduce property taxes due by
providing for tax credits or reducing the mill levy and later eliminate the
tax credits or restore the mill levy.

• February 23, 2023: Senate Finance Committee Report
• February 09, 2023: Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee Report