Roughly halfway through the session, lawmakers have introduced 450 bills and around 60 bills have been postponed indefinitely or killed.
This week, Colorado legislators introduced a bill that defines the term “assault weapon” and would prohibit a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell or transferring ownership of one. The bill would also prohibit a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator, with various exceptions like members of the U.S. military, peace officers or authorized carriers like government officers.
Also introduced this week was a bill that would prohibit homeowners’ associations from banning the use of astroturf or nonvegetative turf in the backyards of a unit owner’s property.
Bill Number: SB23-180
Title: Restore Current Pay Periods For State Employees
Introduced: March 6
Sponsors: L. Cutter, M. Baisley, B. Titone, R. Weinberg
Summary: The majority of state employees who are paid through the state’s payroll system are paid based on a monthly pay period and some state employees are paid biweekly. In 2015, in anticipation of the implementation of a new payroll system for state employees, the general assembly enacted a bill to require all state employees be paid twice a month for pay periods that began on or after July 1, 2017, but the new payroll system was never implemented. The bill would repeal the requirement state employees be paid twice a month and would restore the monthly and biweekly pay periods.
Bill Number: SB23-178
Title: Water-wise Landscaping In Homeowners’ Association Communities
Introduced: March 4
Sponsors: S. Jaquez Lewis, P. Will, K. McCormick
Summary: Under current law, a unit owners’ association of a common interest community may not prohibit the use of xeriscape, nonvegetative turf grass or drought-tolerant vegetative landscapes as ground cover to a property for which a unit owner is responsible – but it can limit the use of such plants. The bill wouldn’t allow an association to prohibit the use of nonvegetative turf grass in the backyard of a unit owner’s property, unreasonably require the use of hardscape on more than 20% of the landscaping area of a unit owner’s property or prohibit vegetable gardens in the front, back or side yard of a unit owner’s property. Among other things, the association would need to allow a unit owner an option that consists of at least 80% drought-tolerant plantings.
Bill Number: HB23-1229
Title: Amending Terms Consumer Lending Laws
Introduced: March 3
Sponsors: M. Weissman, J. Mabrey, J. Gonzales
Summary: Among other things, the bill would amend the Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code to change the terms and interest rates a lender can charge in a consumer credit transaction.
Bill Number: HB23-1230
Title: Prohibit Assault Weapons In Colorado
Introduced: March 3
Sponsors: E. Epps, R. Fields
Summary: The bill defines the term “assault weapon” and would prohibit a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell or transferring ownership of one. The bill would also prohibit a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator. A violation is a class 2 misdemeanor. There are various exceptions like the bill wouldn’t apply to members of the U.S. military, peace officers or authorized carriers like a government officer.
Bill Number: HB23-1226
Title: Hospital Transparency And Reporting Requirements
Introduced: March 2
Sponsors: M. Soper, C. deGruy Kennedy, D. Roberts, P. Will
Summary: Current law requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to prepare a written hospital expenditure report annually. Among other things, the bill would add specific information each hospital needs to report and would authorize the department to impose enforcement mechanisms against a hospital that doesn’t provide all the information required. No later than July 1, 2024, the bill would require each hospital to provide specified information to the state department for previous fiscal years.
Bill Number: HB23-1227
Title: Enforce Laws Against Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Introduced: March 2
Sponsors: I. Jodeh, D. Ortiz, P. Will
Summary: Under current law, pharmacy benefit managers are required to perform certain acts and are prohibited from engaging in certain acts. Among other provisions, the bill would specify the commissioner of insurance has the power to enforce these prohibitions and requirements and impose penalties on PBMs for failing to comply.
Law Week’s legislative tracking is done through State Bill, a product of our publisher, Circuit Media.