Expand Sales And Use Tax Exemption For Food

The cost of groceries has grown noticeably over the last year (10.5% by some estimates). Additionally, our local restaurants have suffered due to COVID-19 restrictions and shutdowns. The bill expands the state sales and use tax exemption for food, which currently exempts most food for domestic home consumption, by also exempting from state sales and use tax most food that is not for domestic home consumption and is instead prepared for on-site consumption at a restaurant, grocery store, or other establishment or to be carried out and consumed without additional preparation. Learn More >>

Income Tax Deduction on Rent Paid & Keep Rental Property Owners Whole

This bill creates an income tax deduction for rent paid by the taxpayer to a landlord for a principal residence located in Colorado for that tax year. For individuals with taxable income below $40,000 or head-of-household/married with taxable income below $75,000, there will be a 100% deduction of rent paid but not to exceed $17,500. It also creates a tax deduction for rental property owners who did not have rent paid to them due to COVID-19 eviction moratoriums. Rents have increased from 14% (Denver) to 22% (Colorado Springs) over the last year and this measure will provide relief to those renters who have struggled to make ends meet. Learn More >>

Ratchet Down Mechanism for Income Tax Rate

When a TABOR refund is large enough to temporarily reduce the income tax, this bill will permanently reduce the rate by 0.05%. For example, because a TABOR refund is forecasted in 2022, the income tax rate would be permanently reduced by .05%. Learn More >>

Property Ownership Fairness Act

The bill requires local governments to compensate property owners for regulatory takings arising from restrictive zoning ordinances that don’t relate to public health or safety. It would also ban the use of “anti-growth” ordinances by local governments. Learn More >>

Incentivize Home Use for Renters

The bill creates a grant program for homeowners to make residential space available to renters. The grant program is established to provide state assistance in the form of a one-time grant award of $500 to eligible recipients who make residential space available within their homes for the use of individuals seeking long-term rental housing. Seniors will be incentivized to open their homes to others to co-habitate, increasing income for seniors, and decreasing housing costs for others. Learn More >>

Restore Unemployment Insurance Fund Balance

This bill will restore the UITF balance to what was in the fund on January 27, 2020, which will save employers money on their unemployment premiums, allowing them to utilize funds to expand their business and hire more employees. Learn More >>

Expand Senior & Veteran Property Tax Exemptions

Currently, qualifying seniors and veterans with a disability may exempt up to $200,000 of their home value from property taxes. This bill expands the exemption up to $400,000. Learn More >>

Vehicle Registration Penalty Forgiveness

This bill will hold harmless an individual who has not been able to register his or her vehicle during the pandemic. The pandemic has slowed down the operation of the DMV, and individuals do not need to be assessed fines for failing to register a vehicle in these tough economic times. Learn More >>

Hospital Provider Fee Transparency

Right now, when you stay at a hospital you’re charged a fee that hospitals are not legally allowed to show you on your receipt (this is formally called the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Fee). The fee is a percentage of each hospital’s net patient revenue and last year it collected $1.026 billion. This bill reverses course and requires that the fee be shown. Learn More >> 

Modify Calculation of Federal Taxable Income for State Income Tax Purposes

For state income tax purposes, this bill creates a newly calculated Standard Deduction, which is based on: Consumer Price Index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood plus 0.15% for every 10% that Motor Fuel Index increases are greater than core inflation for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood. This formula is a way to account for higher rates of inflation experienced by rural areas. It would also decouple Colorado from the Federal Standard Deduction, which allows the state to consider inflation that Coloradans experience. Learn More >>

Rebate Equivalent to the Value of ARPA Funds

This bill will would provide a rebate to taxpayers of $1,846,400,000 to provide relief instead of keeping this money as a surplus above the statutory reserve. Learn More >>

Reduce State Income Tax Rate

For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2022, the bill reduces both the individual and the corporate state income tax rates from 4.55% to 4.4%. The bill also exempts the rate reductions from the existing statutory requirements that tax expenditure legislation include a tax preference performance statement in a statutory legislative declaration and a repeal after a specified period of tax years. Learn More >>

Customer Right To Use Energy

The bill prohibits a state agency, local government, and common interest community from limiting or prohibiting the use of natural gas, propane, solar photovoltaics, micro wind turbines, or small hydroelectric power for electricity generation, cooking, hot water, or space heating in residences, units, or businesses. Learn More >>

Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program

The bill creates the safe neighborhoods grant program to provide $50 million in grants to local law enforcement agencies to provide critical incident training to their officers. Learn More >>

Infection Control Programs in Long-term Care Facilities

Current law directs the departments of public health and environment and health care policy and financing to consider allocating money in the nursing home penalty cash fund for grants to be approved for measures that will benefit residents of nursing facilities by fostering innovation and improving the quality of life and care at the facilities. The bill adds to the list of possible measures eligible for grant funding projects aimed at infection prevention and control. Learn More >>

Pretrial Release for Repeat and Violent Offenders

This bill prohibits a court from releasing a person accused of repeat or violent offenses on any unsecured personal recognizance bond. The bill adds to persons accused of repeat or violent offenses a person who is accused of committing a crime of violence and the court finds probable cause to believe that the person has committed the offense. Learn More >>

School Resource Officer Grant Program

This bill eastablishes a $5 million grant program for public school districts, boards of cooperative services, charter schools, and institute charter schools to provide financial assistance to hire more school resource officers. Learn More >>

Proactive Policing

This bill will create a grant program for local governments to hire more police officers and ensure their retention.

529 Plans

This bill helps fight rising student loan debt by allowing 529 accounts to be used to pay for student loans. Learn More >>

Elimination of Budget Stabilization Factor & Hope Scholarship Program

The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $723 million from the general fund to the state education fund for the 2022-23 budget year, fully repealing the budget stabilization factor starting in the 2023-24 budget year, and for each budget year thereafter.

The bill also creates the Hope Scholarship Program, which will allow students to pursue alternative educational opportunities outside of traditional government schools. Learn More >>

Learning Pods for Home School Programs

The bill allows a child who is participating in a nonpublic home-based educational program to receive the program by participating in a learning pod, which is defined as a group of children who receive educational services delivered by an adult who is selected by the parents of the participating children. If a child who receives a hope scholarship is participating in a learning pod, the child’s parent may use the money received to pay the costs of participating in the learning pod. Learn More >>

Parents’ Bill of Rights

This resolution explains Republicans’ commitment to value a parent’s right to have a say his or her child’s future.

Parental Involvement in Low-Performing Schools

This bill allows parents to vote to convert a failing neighborhood school to a charter school, as well as to petition to create reforms in safety protocols and curriculum. Learn More >>

School Supplies Tax Credit

This bill creates a refundable state income tax credit for a Colorado teacher or classroom paraprofessional (eligible educator) for their classroom expenses. An eligible educator cannot claim the credit for an expense that the educator claims as a federal educator expense deduction for purposes of the educator’s federal income tax, and the maximum amount of the credit is $500. Learn More >>

Concerning Public Employees’ Retirement Association Employment after Retirement Limitations

Under current law, the public employees’ retirement association (PERA) limits the number of days that retired teachers can work as substitute teachers. The bill temporarily waives these limits during the COVID-19 pandemic while there are teacher shortages. This was a major hurdle for teachers who had already retired, but wanted to come back and help due to the shortages. Learn More >>

Voucher for Students Leaving Failing Public Schools

If a school has been required to have a turnaround plan for 5 consecutive years, a student can take $5,000 of their per-pupil funding and go to a private or charter school.

Curriculum & Materials Posted Online

This bill will require that each school district post all its materials, curriculum, etc. on its website before the beginning of the semester. This will allow parents the ability to see what their students are being taught. Learn More >>

Alternative Energy Sources (Nuclear/Hydro)

The bill requires the director of the office of economic development or the director’s designee to conduct or cause to be conducted a study regarding the feasibility of using small modular nuclear reactors as a carbon-free energy source for the state. In addition, current law defines recycled energy as energy produced by a generation unit with a nameplate capacity of not more than 15 megawatts. For pumped hydroelectricity generation only, the bill specifies that the energy be produced by a generation unit with a nameplate capacity of not more than 400 megawatts. Learn More >>

Equal Treatment of Geothermal and Solar

This bill will reclassify geothermal energy to match solar energy in an effort to incentivize Coloradans to use this alternative green energy source. Learn More >>

Tax Credit For Recycling An Old Vehicle

This bill allows a $750 income tax credit to any taxpayer that purchases a new motor vehicle and at the same time trades in an old motor vehicle (12+ years old) for recycling. The purchase of the new motor vehicle and the trade in for recycling of the old motor vehicle are required to occur through the same licensed motor vehicle dealer. Learn More >>

Incentives Promote CO Timber Industry

This bill will focus on the management of our neglected forests. The bill will generate revenue through timber sales to fund prescribed burns and other wildfire prevention measures. Learn more >>

Adding Hydrogen Energy to State Renewable Energy Definition

The bill includes green hydrogen as a renewable energy resource that certain retail electric service providers (providers) may use to meet standards requiring that a certain percentage of the provider’s electricity sales be from an eligible energy resource. Learn More >>

Universal Licensure Recognition

This bill will allow professionals licensed in another state to operate in Colorado so long as they are in good standing and demonstrate intent to become a resident of this state. This helps get people back to work quickly and avoid the expense of applying for a Colorado-specific license. Learn More >>

Scholarships for Building Trade Education

This bill will create a $650,000 scholarship program for those seeking an education in a building trade, such as construction, plumbing, and electrical work. Learn More >>

Two-Thirds Voting Requirements for Bills with Fees

This will require a 2/3 vote of the Legislature for the creation or increase of any fee. This proposal will ask the voters of Colorado to approve.

SMART Act Hearing for Office of Saving People Money on Health Care

The “State Measurement For Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act” (SMART Act) establishes a performance management system to better allow the public, the general assembly, the governor, and state departments to assess, manage, and improve the administration and performance of state programs. The bill adds the office of saving people money on health care, created within the governor’s office by executive order, to the list of departments that are required to comply with the requirements of the SMART Act. Learn More >>

Reform Emergency Procurement Powers

The bill requires state agencies to seek informal bids and describe in writing the need to exercise emergency procurement powers. These reforms are needed in light of CDPHE’s mismanagement of a contract for faulty COVID tests that resulted in deaths in nursing homes. Learn More >>

If the bill is approved by the voters of the state at the November 2022 general election, the transportation commission will change from being appointed by the Governor to being elected by the people of Colorado to 4-year terms. Learn More >>>

Transportation Project Procurement Monitoring

This bill requires that a fairness monitor reviews the procurement process for transportation projects before CDOT uses an “alternate delivery” form of contracting (rather than the “design build” form of contracting). It was recently discovered that CDOT is giving most of its big construction projects to an out-of-state company, rather than go through the design-build process. Learn More >>

Create a Sunrise/Sunset Committee

This bill brings back the sunrise/sunset committee that was in charge of confirming all new regulatory boards and commissions, as well as studying the consumer cost for new regulations. The bill will also require that any bill that creates a new board or commission will be required to go through this newly created committee during session. Learn More >>

Change State Transparency Website

This bill will require vendor names to be disclosed on the state transparency website or an explanation for the redaction. Learn More >>

Elections for PUC Members, AQCC Members, and Insurance Commissioner

This bill will require elections for Public Utilities Commission members, Air Quality Control Commission members, and the Insurance Commissioner. Learn More >>