My Legislation
Listed below are details & summaries regarding all 19 bills passed and signed by the Governor in the 2023 legislative session, organized by issue. To keep the most up to date with the status of my bills, please check out my General Assembly website.
Committee Assignments
Finance Committee - Vice Chair
Finance is the foundation of the state. The House Finance Committee generally considers matters related to a broad range of public finance proposals including legislation that affects the state's revenue and tax structure. I am honored to serve as the Vice Chair of such a vital committee that serves an essential role to our legislature.
Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee - Member
Child Welfare is an area that deeply impacts so many Coloradans lives in direct and meaningful ways. This interim committee will be taking a holistic look at Colorado's child welfare system to address the major factors facing the system in order to better serve the state's children and families. The responsibility of examining a system that is designed to promote the wellbeing of our most vulnerable community members is one I do not take lightly.
Serving as Vice Chair on the Finance Committee
Increasing Access to Justice
During this session, I passed three bills that will help those in the criminal justice system and those facing charges.
HB23-1033: Alternate Defense Counsel Contracts
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Sharbini, Representative Joseph, Senator Gonzales
Summary: Current law directs the office of alternate defense counsel to contract with attorneys and investigators to provide legal representation to clients who are indigent. The bill directs the office of alternate defense counsel to also contract with other persons who are necessary to provide legal services to persons who are indigent. The bill requires that the legal services provided by attorneys and other persons must be commensurate with the legal services that persons who are not indigent receive.
Rep. Sharbini and I presenting HB23-1033 to the
House Judiciary Committee.
HB23-1086: Due Process Asset Forfeiture Act
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative DeGraaf, Representative Joseph, Senator Baisley, Senator Winter
Summary: The bill requires that a report related to a seizure and forfeiture includes the estimated value and new equity of the property and information on the outcome of the forfeiture proceeding.
HB23-1280: Colorado Access To Justice Commission
Session : 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Soper, Senator Roberts, Senator Gardner
Summary: The bill codifies the Colorado Access to Justice Commission. The governor, legislative leadership, supreme court of Colorado, and Colorado legal organizations are to appoint the 17- to 20-member commission. Additionally, the Colorado supreme court justice liaison, the executive director of Colorado legal services, the executive director of the legal aid foundation of Colorado, and a representative of the Colorado attorney general serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the commission.
The bill directs the commission to make recommendations regarding legislative and regulatory changes that could help improve access to justice for all Coloradans.
Governor Polis signing HB23-1280 into law.
Keeping Children in School
I passed two bills that focused on keeping children in school, especially those with disabilities.
HB23-1168: Legal Representation And Students With Disabilities
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Sharbini, Representative Joseph, Senator Winter
Summary: The bill requires the department of education to enter into a service agreement with a nonprofit organization to create and maintain a list of attorneys qualified to represent a parent in a due process complaint filed by an education provider concerning issues disputed in a state complaint in which the parent prevailed. The service agreement is for 5 years.
The bill requires the department to include information on attorney appointments in the procedural safeguard notice and in materials distributed to parents describing due process complaint procedures.
Lt. Governor Primavera signing HB23-1168 into law.
HB23-1291: Procedures For Expulsion Hearing Officers
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Gonzales-Gutierrez, Senator Winter, Senator Fields
Summary: The bill clarifies the school expulsion hearing process and provides more regulation and training for hearing officers. With this bill, a school district has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a student violated state law and the school district's policy. School districts are also required to provide all records that the school district intends to use as supporting evidence for expulsion or denial of admission to the student or the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian at least 2 business days in which school is in session prior to the hearing. Additionally, hearing officers are required to consider specific factors in determining findings of fact and recommendations at the conclusion of a hearing.
The bill requires the board of education of each school district to adopt a policy that states a student must not be expelled or denied admission unless the school district considers whether alternative remedies are appropriate and whether excluding the student from school is necessary to preserve the learning environment.
Rep. Gonzales-Gutierrez and I with testifiers for
HB23-1291 after the House Education Committee hearing.
Housing & Renters Protection
Housing is a major issue impacting Coloradans. During the session, I passed two bills to protect those facing eviction and help provide more middle income housing.
HB23-1120: Eviction Protections For Residential Tenants
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Ortiz, Senator Fields, Senator Winter
Summary: The bill requires a landlord and residential tenant to participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives supplemental security income, federal social security disability insurance, or cash assistance through the Colorado works program, barring certain exceptions. Failure to comply with mandatory mediation is an affirmative defense.
Rep. Ortiz and I with testifiers for HB23-1120 after the
House Judiciary Committee Hearing.
SB23-035: Middle-income Housing Authority Act
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Bridges, Senator Moreno, Representative Herod, Representative Joseph
Summary: Under current law, the Middle-income Housing Authority has the power to make and enter into contracts or agreements with public or private entities to facilitate public-private partnerships. The bill clarifies this power of the authority to enter into public-private partnerships.
Protecting Us & Our Environment
This session, I worked to pass legislation that would protect our communities from wildfires and strengthen our commitment to combating climate change.
HB23-1075: Wildfire Evacuation And Clearance Time Modeling
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Snyder, Representative Joseph, Senator Exum
Summary: The bill requires the Office of Emergency Management to study the efficacy and feasibility of local or inter-jurisdictional emergency management agencies with jurisdiction in a wildfire risk area to integrate evacuation and clearance time modeling into the emergency management plans that such an agency is required to adopt for its area. The report must be completed on or before December 1, 2023, and the office must report the findings of the study to specific committees of the general assembly during the 2024 legislative session.
HB23-1134: Require Electric Options In Home Warranties
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Kipp, Senator Cutter
Summary: The bill requires that, on and after January 1, 2024, every home warranty service contract that provides coverage for the replacement of any of certain gas-fueled appliances must include certain terms. These terms allow the homeowner to replace the gas-fueled appliance with a similar device of the homeowner's choosing that operates on electricity rather than gas. A home warranty service contract may require a homeowner to pay any additional cost to replace a gas-fueled appliance with an appliance that has a retail cost that exceeds the cost of replacing the gas-fueled appliance with another gas-fueled appliance under the terms of the home warranty service contract.
Presenting HB23-1134 to the House Energy & Environment Committee
HB23-1242: Water Conservation In Oil And Gas Operations
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Boesenecker, Representative Joseph, Senator Cutter, Senator Priola
Summary: The bill requires an oil and gas operator in the state, on or before January 1 , 2024, and quarterly thereafter, to report information to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission regarding the operator's use of water entering, utilized at, or exiting each of the operator's oil and gas locations, including information on the recycling and reuse of produced water.
The bill requires a statewide reduction in fresh water usage and a corresponding increase in recycled water usage in oil and gas operations.
The bill creates the Colorado Produced Water Consortium in the Department of Natural Resources to make recommendations to state agencies and the general assembly regarding the recycling and reuse of produced water, develop guidance documents to promote best practices for in-field recycling and reuse of produced water, and analyze and report on existing produced water infrastructure, storage, and treatment facilities; the volume of produced water in different oil and gas basins available for recycling and reuse; and additional infrastructure, storage, and technology needed to achieve different levels of recycling and reuse of produced water throughout the state.
Rep. Boesnecker and I presenting HB23-1242 to the House Energy & Environment Committee.
HB23-1272: Tax Policy that Advance Decarbonization
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Weissman, Representative Joseph, Senate President Fenberg, Senator Cutter
Summary: This bill extends tax credits for the purchase or lease of electric vehicles. The bill also creates tax credits for industrial facilities to implement greenhouse gas emissions reduction improvements, for expenditures made in connection with geothermal energy projects, for production of geothermal electricity generation and for the deployment of heat pump technology.
In addition to vehicle sales, the bill creates tax credits for retail sales of electric bicycles and for construction of sustainable aviation fuel production facilities. The bill also creates a temporary specific ownership tax rate reduction on a portion of the sale of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks and temporarily decreases the severance tax credit for oil and gas production, requiring the revenue that is attributable to the decrease be deposited in the Decarbonization Tax Credits Administration cash fund, and creates the Decarbonization Tax Credits Administration cash fund cash fund.
HB23-1273: Creation Of Wildfire Resilient Homes Grant Program
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Snyder, Representative Joseph, Senator Roberts
Summary: The bill creates the Wildfire Resilient Homes Grant Program within the Division of Fire Prevention and Control. The program allows homeowners to apply to receive a grant for retrofitting or improving a house or other structure on the homeowner's property with strategies and technologies for structure hardening in order to make the house or structure more resilient to the risk of wildfire.
SB23-191: Colorado Department Of Public Health And Environment Organics Diversion Study
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Cutter, Representative Joseph, Representative Kipp
Summary: The bill requires the Department of Public Health and Environment to study the impacts, benefits, and feasibility of requiring diversion of organic materials from landfills. The organics diversion study must accomplish certain tasks. It must incorporate and utilize data contained in the statewide organics management plan and other existing Colorado studies and research from other states, explore how to leverage existing organics diversion pilot projects in Colorado to inform implementation of broader organics diversion projects across the state and evaluate the environmental benefits of diversion of organic materials from landfills.
The study is also required to outline and recommend policies and regulations that would enable diversion of organic materials from landfills, assess informational resources necessary to enable diversion of organic materials from landfills, and identify opportunities for end-market development of organic materials diverted from landfills.
Improving Quality of Life for All Coloradans
There are three bills that I passed that focus on worker benefits, gun safety, and healthcare
SB23-017: Additional Uses Paid Sick Leave
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Winter, Representative Willford, Representative Joseph
Summary: The bill expands the use of paid sick leave. It allows an employee to use accrued paid sick leave when the employee needs to care for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected occurrence or event that results in the closure of the family member's school or place of care.
Sick leave can be used to grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member.
The bill also expands sick leave to cover the evacuation of the employee's place of residence due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected occurrence or event that results in the need to evacuate the employee's residence.
Rep. Willford and I presenting SB23-017 to the House Committee on Business Affairs & Labor
SB23-279: Unserialized Firearms And Firearm Components
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Fields, Senator Hansen, Representative Boesenecker, Representative Joseph
Summary: This bill prohibits knowingly possessing or transporting an unfinished firearm frame or receiver, unless it has been imprinted with a serial number as required by federal law.
Under this bill, a person cannot knowingly sell, offer to sell, or transfer a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number. Finally, the bill prohibits manufacturing or causing to be manufactured a firearm, or frame or receiver of a firearm; unless the manufacturer is a federally licensed firearm manufacturer.
Governor Polis signing SB23-279 into law.
SB23-288: Coverage for Doula Services
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Rhonda Fields, Senator Janet Buckner, Representative English, Representative Joseph
Summary: The bill requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to initiate a stakeholder process to promote the expansion and utilization of doula services for pregnant and postpartum medicaid recipients. The bill requires the department to seek federal authorization for medicaid providers to provide doula services for pregnant and postpartum people.
The bill creates a doula scholarship program to provide financial support to eligible individuals to pursue doula training and certification. To be eligible for a scholarship, individuals must agree to enroll as a doula provider and provide doula services to recipients.
Lt. Governor Primavera signing HB23-1168 into law.
Helping Children and Families
Child support and custody were major focuses of mine during this session.
HB23-1027: Parent And Child Family Time
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Weissman, Senator Winter
Summary: The bill defines "family time", changes the term "visitation" to "family time" in various places in statute, creates new requirements for determinations in dependency and neglect court proceedings, and requires the task force on high-quality family time to commission and evaluate a state study.
Myself and the mothers who came out to testify for HB23-1027 to the House Judiciary Committee.
HB23-1157: Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Weinberg, Senator Exum, Senator Gardner
Summary: The bill prohibits transferring custody of a child by means other than a legal adoption or guardianship proceeding, a judicial award of custody, other judicial or tribal action, or Colorado's safe haven law; and soliciting or advertising to transfer custody of or locate a child in a manner that violates the requirements of the act or to facilitate such a transfer.
The bill requires child placement agencies facilitating the adoption to provide prospective adoptive parents with general information about adopting children with health or behavioral issues, specific information on the physical and psychological health of the prospective adoptee, and guidance and instruction on dealing with the potential challenges that may arise in raising the adoptee. The bill also requires the agencies provide information on accessing certain post-placement and post-adoption financial assistance and supportive services to the adoptee and parent to help preserve the adoption.
SB23-173: Colorado Child Support Commission Recommendations
Session: 2023 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Senator Felds, Senator Liston, Representative Bradley, Representative Joseph
Summary: The bill enacts recommendations from the state Child Support Commission.
After SB23-173 passed unanimously in the Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee