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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 3/7/2023 - 06 - Memorandum From Ginny Sawyer Re: Legislative Updates – February 21, 2023 City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com MEMORANDUM Date: March 2, 2023 To: Mayor and City Council From: Ginny Sawyer, Policy and Project Manager Thru: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager RE: Legislative Updates The Legislative Review Committee (LRC) met on February 21, 2023. A brief synopsis of bills discussed is attached. Legislative Review Committee (LRC) meetings are scheduled from 3:00-4:00PM in the CIC Room, 300 LaPorte Ave and via Zoom on the following dates: March 21 April 25 The Bill tracker can be found here: https://www.fcgov.com/citymanager/legislative.php DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 Fort Collins Legislative Update February 24, 2023 View this email in your browser GENERAL UPDATE Greetings from the Capitol – today is day 47 of 120. We have seen an uptick in activity at the Capitol as we get close to the “halfway mark” of the session. A total of 425 bills have been introduced. We have had more contentious bills debated in committees and in the chambers about rent control, medical debt collection, online ticket sales and fees, and horse slaughter. One bill that was heavily debated was HB 23-1118, Fair Workweek Employment Standards. The bill would provide consistency with employee scheduling and would require employers to compensate employees when they are not scheduled to work. The bill pitted service employees against business groups and restaurant owners. The bill ultimately passed its first committee. Yesterday, the Democrats unveiled a package of bills to address gun violence. The four bills will extend red flag notifications to certain licensed professionals, increase the age to purchase a gun, institute a three-day waiting period between purchasing and obtaining a gun, and hold firearms manufacturers liable for gun trafficking. We know that property taxes are a major issue for the legislature and the Governor and this week SB 23- 108 unexpectedly passed its first committee hearing. The bill allows local governments to temporarily reduce property taxes through temporary tax credits or a mill levy reduction. This bill could be the first attempt at providing property tax relief. The Joint Budget Committee has finished approving supplemental budget requests and are now diving into departmental “figure setting” for fiscal year 2023-2024, with the deadline of introducing the Long Bill on Monday, March 27. Lastly, we have the newest member of the House sworn in – Kyle Brown was appointed to fill Representative Burnett’s vacant seat in Longmont. UPDATE FOR FORT COLLINS Page 1 of 2Legislative Update 2/24/2023mhtml:file://C:\Users\GSawyer\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.O... DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 Some of the specific bills that will impact Fort Collins that will be heard this coming week: HB 23-1101 Ozone Season Transit Grant Program Flexibility, will be heard Monday in the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee. In addition, we are participating in stakeholder meetings on draft bills around the Colorado Open Records Act, micro trenching, public access to government meetings, and workers compensation benefits. Follow us on Twitter BCPA Website Copyright © 2019, Bowditch & Cassell Public Affairs, All rights reserved. P.O. Box 40844 Denver, CO 80204 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Fort Collins Bill Report This email was sent to gsawyer@fcgov.com why did I get this?unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Bowditch & Cassell Public Affairs · PO Box 40844 · Denver, CO 80204-0844 · USA Page 2 of 2Legislative Update 2/24/2023mhtml:file://C:\Users\GSawyer\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.O... DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 Bill/Bill Topic Introduced Y/N Prime Sponsors LRC Discussion Action Taken, Recommendation or Consensus from LRC HB23-1039 - “Electric Resource Adequacy Reporting” Y Rep. Bird Sens. Rodriguez and Winter CAMU and PRPA indicated that they are okay with this bill due to the incorporation of some language requested by PRPA. N/A HB23-1057 - “Amenities For All Genders In Public Buildings” Y Reps. Karen McCormick and Vigil Sen. Jaquez Lewis This bill requires that all new public facilities include gender neutral restrooms. The bill originally required restroom facility renovations of at least $10,000 to include the addition of a gender-neutral restroom. An amendment was made to remove the dollar amount for renovations to ensure that only major renovations are subject to the provisions of the bill, but the bill sponsor does not seem willing to budge much further than that. N/A HB23-1101 - “Ozone Season Transit Grant Program Flexibility” Y Reps. Vigil and Bacon Sen. Winter This bill is meant to increase the flexibility of grant dollars available through the ozone season transit grant program. The bill has passed the House and should be scheduled for hearing in the Senate soon. Based on conflicting information about whether Fort Collins would be eligible for grant funding given our fare free model, Jen and Ed will work on sharing our interest in clarification or a friendly amendment to ensure our eligibility with our delegation members. HB23-1115 - “Repeal Prohibition Local Residential Rent Control” Y Reps. Mabrey and Velasco Sen. Rodriguez Would remove the prohibition on local governments from enacting rent control for residential properties/units. The Governor has indicated concern over this bill. It passed its first N/A DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 committee. There are concerns from many regarding whether this bill would ultimately result in a long-term deterrent for developers to fix up properties or develop them to begin with. The Mayor indicated concern that this type of legislation seems intuitively appealing but could be destructive over the long term. HB23-1127 - “Customer’s Right to Use Energy” Y Rep. Winter Sen. Baisley No longer relevant – postponed indefinitely in House Committee on Energy & Environment. N/A HB23-1131 - “Majority of Unit Owners Required for Home Owners’ Association Budgets” Y Rep. Weinberg No longer relevant – postponed indefinitely in House Committee on Transportation, Housing & Local Government. N/A HB23-1134 - “Require Electric Options in Home Warranties” Y Reps. Joseph and Kipp Sen. Cutter This bill passed the House and was introduced in Senate last week. Its purpose is to allow electric appliance replacements. N/A HB23-1148 - “Temporary Prohibition on Rule-making After Rule Adopted” Y Rep. Evans Sen. Pelton Councilmember Canonico indicated some curiosity about this bill, and Ed shared that it shouldn’t make it out of the House Committee on State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs. N/A HB23-1161 - “Environmental Standards For Appliance” Y Reps. Kipp and Willford Sen. Cutter Has been introduced in the house but not yet heard in committee. Would update standards for certain appliances and fixtures sold in the state. N/A HB23-1166 - “Repeal Retail Delivery Fees” Y Rep. Pugliese Sen. Will No longer relevant – postponed indefinitely in House Committee on Transportation, Housing & Local Government N/A HB23-1169 - “Limit Arrest For Low-level Offenses” Y Rep. Bacon This bill would prohibit law enforcement from arresting people based on petty offenses. CML and many municipalities are paying attention to this bill The group directed Jen and Ed to share our opposition with members of our DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 since it violates home rule authority/local control and may cause concerns related to public safety. delegation, and they said they would write up fact sheets and do so. HB23-1190 - “Affordable Housing Right of First Refusal” Y Reps. Boesenecker and Sirota Sen. Winter Would create a right of first refusal for local governments or their agents to purchase multi- family dwelling units to use for affordable housing. Rep. Boesenecker has indicated that he is planning to respond to feedback on deadlines related to exercising this right by narrowing the timelines in the first published draft. The bill may be heard in committee week of 02/27. N/A SB23-011 - “Minor Driver’s Education Requirements” Y Sen. Winter Reps. Boesenecker and Lindsay Would provide a tax credit for parents of minors who take a driver’s ed program, good for up to $1000. N/A SB23-016 - “Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures” Y Sen. Hansen Reps. McCormick and Sirota Would require local government to expedite the process to install new transmission lines. It also includes increased GHG reduction goals at smaller intervals (every five versus ten years). When the bill was discussed at CAMU, it was suggested to keep a lot of the content but remove language related to adding new goals since the state hasn’t completed a GHG inventory in some time and will be doing so later this year. N/A SB23-035 - “Middle Income Housing Authority Act” Y Sens. Bridges and Moreno Rep. Herod Clarifies powers of the existing middle-income housing authority and expands the number of people on the board of directors. N/A SB23-058 - “Job Application Fairness Act” Y Sens. Danielson Would prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s age, date of birth, or transcripts N/A DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 and Jaquez Lewis Reps. Willford and Young that indicate date of graduation from an education institution on an employment application. SB23-097 - “Motor Vehicle Theft and Unauthorized Use” Y Sens. Zenzinger and Gardner Reps. Bird and Soper Would eliminate value differentiation in auto theft cases so that any auto theft regardless of the value of the vehicle is classified as a felony. N/A SB23-143 - “Retail Delivery Fees” Y Sens. Fenberg and Van Winkle This bill would allow businesses to assume retail delivery fees from a purchaser, potentially simplifying itemized receipts and point of sales systems for businesses. N/A SB23-150 - “Require Labeling Disposable Wipes” Y Sens. Roberts and WIll Reps. Froelich and Frizell Would require producers of pre-moistened wipes to put on the packaging language to the effect of “do not flush, these products will clog sewer lines.” N/A CORA Bill N Sen. Hansen In its current draft, the bill would create a differentiation in fees for CORA requests based upon a requestor’s status as a member of the media. There are quite a few concerns regarding this bill’s attempt to define “the media” for the purposes of CORA requests. N/A Microtrenching Bill N Rep. Titone CML still vehemently opposes this bill. The second draft still requires local governments to allow micro-trenching, and the only way we would be able to reject an application is if it is in the interest of health and safety, which many perceive as too narrow of an exception criterion. Our engineering staff has concerns about maintenance liability over time. The City generally opposes microtrenching as a concept or procedure for broadband installation and did not use it for Connexion. Access to Government Meetings N Rep. Ortiz While the bill has not yet been introduced, the current draft requires that all elected officials be able to access facilities N/A DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 regardless of physical (dis)ability. Additionally, every meeting of a local government or school district would need to be fully accessible/streamed where there is public comment. Ed shared that they are hoping to tighten the definition of “public meeting” for the purposes of the bill, and Tyler shared that we would like to see a clear definition of “streaming” as well. Worker’s Comp Bill N Rep. Boesenecker While the bill is not yet introduced, the most recent draft would remove the worker’s comp impairment rating schedule and replace it with the whole person schedule. Inherently, benefits are greater in the whole person schedule, so costs of plans would go up quite dramatically. N/A Water Bill Idea N Unknown The Mayor shared an idea for a bill related to water sharing among adjacent districts. At water congress a few weeks ago, the Assistant State Engineer indicated support. The Mayor and Eric Potyondy will get something set up offline to strategize about bringing it forward and the best way to do that. N/A DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6 Land Use Bill N Originating from the Governor’s Office, sponsors TBD We may see a copy in March. While an initial rough draft may exist, no one has seen it yet. There aren’t any substantive updates to share on this bill at this juncture. The group discussed that several portions of the bill as introduced may address policy goals held by City Council, but home rule authority is also our baseline foundation for evaluating proposals from the General Assembly. Domestic Violence in County vs. Municipal Courts N Unknown The Mayor shared that Judge Heuser opposes any bill that takes power from the municipal court regarding its ability to hear domestic violence cases. We are open to requirements regarding Victims’ Assistance programming for municipal courts hearing DV cases, but we do not support any attempt to remove authority from municipal courts. DocuSign Envelope ID: 47E89EC4-6A5A-486E-A7FD-6A27772A47F6