My Legislation
Listed below are the the details of details & summaries regarding all 60 bills I passed and signed by the Governor in the 205, 2024, and 2023 legislative sessions, 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
Year Around Committees:
House 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 on such a vital committee that serves an essential role to our legislature.
House Energy & Environment
The House Energy & Environment Committee generally considers matters concerning energy and environment. In addition, the committee also has legislative oversight responsibility for divisions of the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Public Health and Environment, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Colorado Energy Office.
Aerospace and Defense Caucus Co-Chair
The Caucus consists of state legislators who advocates for the massive impact that the space and defense industries have on the state's economy within the state.
Interim Committees
Child Welfare System Study Committee
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 to better serve the state's children and families. The responsibility of examining a system that is designed to promote the well-being of our most vulnerable community members is one I do not take lightly.
American Indian Affairs Committee- Member
This is a newly founded committee. I was one of the legislators involved in spearheading the creation of this committee to foster better relations between the State of Colorado and Native Coloradans.
Serving as Vice Chair on the Finance Committee
2025
Legislation
Listed below are details & summaries regarding all 24 bills I spearheaded and signed by the Governor in the 2025 legislative session, organized by issue.
Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform
During this session, I passed 6 bills to support workers and organizations in the criminal justice system.
HB25-1117: Vehicle Immobilization Company Regulation
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Boesenecker, Senator Gonzales, Senator Weissman
Summary: The act strengthens regulations on vehicle immobilization ("booting") by requiring permits for any device that prevents normal vehicle operation and granting the Public Utilities Commission authority to deny or revoke permits for public interest concerns. It sets strict standards for documentation, identification, signage, and notice before immobilizing a vehicle on private property, and prohibits booting in certain situations—such as expired registration or inaccessible private property without consent. Companies must follow clear rules on payment, release times, and signage, and must retain evidence of compliance. Violations are considered deceptive trade practices and may be enforced by the attorney general or district attorneys. To read more, click here.
HB25-1238: Gun Show Requirements
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Camacho, Senator Kipp, Senator Danielson
Summary: The act requires gun show promoters to submit security plans to local law enforcement, carry liability insurance, enforce security measures, and verify firearm delivery after a 3-day waiting period. It restricts entry for minors and mandates posting notices. Vendors must be licensed, certified, and comply with strict safety and legal requirements, including conducting background checks without a capped fee. Violations lead to misdemeanor charges and potential bans from future gun shows. Gun collectors shows are exempt from these rules. To read more, click here.
HB25-1294: Court Costs Assessed to Juveniles
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Jackson, Representative Joseph, Senatot Exum, Senator Gonzales
Summary: Current law requires a court to vacate any court costs and fees assessed to a juvenile under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court prior to July 6, 2021, however, this requirement repeals on June 30, 2025. The act removes the June 30, 2025 repeal. To read more, click here.
SB25-009: Recognition of Tribal Court Orders
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Roberts, Senator Danielson, Representative Weinberg, Representative Joseph
Summary: The act requires state courts and law enforcement to recognize and enforce arrest warrants and behavioral health commitment orders issued by Tribal courts, treating them like equivalent state court orders. It also establishes procedures for extradition based on Tribal warrants and mandates that all relevant state agencies honor any Tribal court orders rescinding such commitments. To read more, click here.
SB25-061: Federally Recognized Tribes and Construction of Laws
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Simpson, Representative Weinberg, Reprepresentative Joseph
Summary: The act establishes that Colorado laws do not apply to the Southern Ute or Ute Mountain Ute Tribes unless explicitly stated, presuming new or amended laws do not apply within tribal reservations or to tribal entities unless clearly expressed, while preserving tribal sovereignty, the ability to request legislative inclusion, and legal rights for contesting laws. To read more, click here.
SB25-082: Enactment of CRS 2024
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Gonzales, Senator Frizell, Representative Joseph, Representative Soper
Summary: The bill enacts the softbound volumes of the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, the subsequent changes approved by the voters at the statewide election on November 5, 2024, and the 2024 Colorado Second Extraordinary Session Supplement as the positive and statutory law of the state of Colorado and establishes the effective date of said publication. To read more, click here.
Environmental Justice
During this session, I passed 8 bills to support our environment and work towards a cleaner Colorado.
HB25-1009: Vegetative Fuel Mitigation
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Mauro, Representative Joseph, Senator Cutter, Senator Hinrichsen
Summary: The act allows fire protection and metropolitan districts to create programs requiring the removal of dead or dry vegetation on private property to reduce wildfire risk. These programs exclude agricultural land, utility-managed areas, and land near irrigation ditches. Districts must give written notice and cannot enter private property without permission or use drones for enforcement. Any collected funds must support fuel removal, with priority for low-income, senior, or disabled residents. Programs must be publicly approved and posted before taking effect. To read more, click here.
HB25-1175: Smart Meter Opt-In Program
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Leider, Representative Joseph, Senator Rodriguez
Summary: The act requires large investor-owned utilities installing smart meters after September 1, 2025, to submit a customer communication plan by December 31, 2025, detailing how they will inform customers of installation timelines, opt-out rights, and meter alternatives. Utilities must give multiple advance notices, maintain a public website and phone line with information on customer rights and data privacy, and ensure smart meters comply with federal radio frequency standards. To read more, click here.
HB25-1215: Redistribution of Lottery Fund
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Taggart, Representative Joseph, Sensator Bridges, Senator Kirkmeyer
Summary: The act creates two new cash funds to support outdoor recreation management and economic development, redistributes lottery funds to support these efforts, and sets new priorities for how lottery money is allocated based on total availability. It directs specific fund transfers to the development fund in 2025 and appropriates over $723,000 for the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, with unspent funds available through 2028. To read more, click here.
HB25-1292: Transmission Lines in State Highway Rights-of-Way
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Boesenecker, Representative Joseph, Senator Winter
Summary: The act allows transmission developers to co-locate high voltage lines within state highway rights-of-way following rules set by the Department of Transportation, including providing reports on route selection and impact mitigation. Developers must prioritize existing utility corridors and rights-of-way but are not required to use them. Projects on tribal lands require tribal consent. The Colorado Electric Transmission Authority will study highway corridors for potential transmission development and report findings. The act also updates the definition of real estate appraiser to align with federal law. To read more, click here.
SB25-026: Adjusting Certain Tax Expenditures
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Mullica, Representative Marshall, Representative Joseph
Summary: The act updates various tax credits and exemptions, extends deadlines for energy storage and biotechnology tax credits, clarifies purposes for certain tax benefits, exempts some agricultural products from sales tax, and appropriates funds for implementation. To read more, click here.
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Danielson, Representative Joseph, Representative Velasco
Summary: The act classifies bison as big game wildlife—making hunting them illegal without authorization—while excluding livestock and tribal-owned bison; it sets hunting license fees at $374.22 for residents and $2,756.74 for nonresidents, and imposes fines and penalties for illegal possession, killing, or capturing of bison. To read more, click here.
SB25-055: Youth Involvement in Environmental Justice
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Winter, Senator Marchman, Representative Joseph, Representative Bacon
Summary: The act expands the environmental justice advisory board to include youth members aged 14 to 21 and requires the Colorado energy office to develop and regularly update best practices for adopting and financing clean energy resources in schools, posting them online by December 31, 2025. To read more, click here.
SB25-321: Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspection Facilities
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Kirkmeyer, Senator Rodriguez, Representative Joseph, Representative Gonzalez
Summary: The act removes limits on vehicle emissions testing contracts and lets the state set fees up to $30–$50. It requires emissions testing for certain vehicles and creates a fund to help low-income drivers pay inspection fees and repairs, using fines from air quality violations. To read more, click here.
Housing Reform
During this session, I passed 2 bills to support equity within Colorado's housing crisis.
HB25-1030: Accessibility Standards in Building Codes
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Stewart, Sensator Cutter, Senator Winter
Summary: The act requires local governments, regional building departments, the Division of Fire Prevention and Control, and the State Housing Board to ensure that any major updates to building codes meet or exceed the accessibility standards in the International Building Code and are not less protective than the federal ADA. This does not apply to energy-efficient code updates or to one- and two-family homes and townhomes that meet equivalent residential code standards. To read more, click here.
HB25-1240: Protections for Tenants with Housing Subsidies
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Froelich, Senator Winter, Senator Wallace
Summary: The act requires landlords to follow federal notice rules when evicting tenants using housing subsidies and mandates reimbursement for rent overpayments due to habitability violations, regardless of payment source. It prohibits landlords from unfairly delaying or obstructing rental assistance applications and increases damages to at least $5,000 for discrimination based on housing subsidy use. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission may also impose a minimum $5,000 penalty for such unfair housing practices. To read more, click here.
Early Childhood and Education
During this session, I passed 4 bills to support our children and education.
HB25-1159: Child Support Commission Recommendations
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative English, Representative Joseph, Senator Mullica, Senator Bright
Summary: The act adopts recommendations from the Child Support Commission by updating the child support guidelines schedule, expanding eligibility for low-income adjustments, and replacing the existing parenting time credit with a new formula that accounts for all overnight stays with each parent. It also allocates $137,250 to the Office of Information Technology to support the Department of Human Services. To read more, click here.
HB25-1204: Colorado Indian Child Welfare Act
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Majority Leader Duran, Representative Joseph, Senator Danielson
Summary: The act codifies the federal "Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978" into state law as the "Colorado Indian Child Welfare Act" (CO-ICWA) and provides additional protections for Indian children and children known or determined to be Indian children under state law. To read more, click here.
SB25-017: Measures to Support Early Childhood Health
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Cutter, Senator Jodeh, Representative Joseph, Representative Zokaie
Summary: The act establishes the Pediatric Primary Care Practice Program within the Department of Early Childhood to fund and support pediatric medical practices in integrating specialists focused on whole-child and whole-family health. An implementation partner will develop and oversee an evidence-based, team-based care model for children birth to age three, select participating practices, assess community health needs, and provide training and support. The department’s executive director may adopt rules to implement the program. To read more, click here.
SB25-027: Trauma-Informed School Safety Practices
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Marchman, Representative Joseph, Representative Gonzalez
Summary: The act requires the Office of School Safety to form a work group by September 1, 2025, funded entirely by donations, to develop trauma-informed best practices for school safety drills and personnel training, with recommendations due about a year after funding is secured; if $50,000 in funding isn’t received by mid-2027, any funds will be transferred to the state education fund. To read more, click here.
LBGTQIA Rights, Immigration, and Reproductive Justice
During this session, I passed 4 bills to support LBGTQIA Rights, Immigration Reform, and Reproductive Justice.
HB25-1153: Statewide Government Language Access Assessment
Session: 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Velasco, Representative Joseph, Senator Jodeh
Summary: The act requires the Department of Personnel, in partnership with the Office of New Americans, to assess how well state agencies (excluding the departments of State, Treasury, and Law) are meeting language access standards. The assessment will review current practices, identify gaps, and make recommendations to improve linguistically accessible services, including exploring technology solutions. A final report is due by December 31, 2026, and the findings must be shared with legislative committees in 2027. $100,000 is appropriated to support this work. To read more, click here.
HB25-1234: Utility Consumer Protection
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Ricks, Representative Joseph, Senator Winter, Senator Wallace
Summary: The act prohibits the Department of Human Services from requiring or sharing applicants’ citizenship or immigration status for the low-income home energy assistance program unless legally required. If an application is denied for incomplete documentation, the applicant must be notified and given 60 days to fix it, during which the utility must hold off on disconnecting their service for up to 60 days. To read more, click here.
SB25-001: Colorado Voting Rights Act
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Gonzales, Representative Bacon, Representative Joseph
Summary: The act establishes the Colorado Voting Rights Act to prevent voter suppression and dilution based on race, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, or jail confinement, allowing civil suits and enforcement by the attorney general. It improves tribal voting access, requires political parties to offer equal remote voting options, and extends electioneering restrictions to drop boxes. The act mandates voting notices in disability care facilities, updates recount procedures, expands multilingual ballot requirements to certain municipalities, and requires comprehensive election data collection. Funding is provided for implementation, with the law effective for elections from January 2026 onward. To read more, click here.
SB25-129: Legally Protected Health-Care Activity Protections
Session : 2025 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Senator Cutter, Senator Winter, Representative Joseph, Representative McCormick
Summary: The act protects legally protected health-care activities—such as gender-affirming care and reproductive services—by ensuring out-of-state telehealth rules don’t limit patient rights, allowing prescription labels to show only the health-care practice name, restricting subpoenas tied to liability investigations, providing a private right to challenge out-of-state legal actions, exempting from warrantless arrests for such activities, limiting public resource use in out-of-state probes, and keeping pregnancy termination data confidential, all enforced by the attorney general. To read more, click here.
2024
Legislation
Listed below are details & summaries regarding all 17 bills I spearheaded and signed by the Governor in the 2024 legislative session, organized by issue.
Courts and Judiciary
During this session, I passed 2 bills to support workers and organizations in the criminal justice system.
HB24-1291: Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative English, Representative Joseph, Senator Roberts, Senator Gardner
Summary: This bill approved the licensure of legal paraprofessionals to represent clients and perform certain legal services related to domestic matters. This bill ensures access to justice for indigent families. To read more, click here.
HB24-1286: Equal Justice Fund Authority
Session : 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Lindsay, Senator Roberts, Senator Priola
Summary: This bill creates the equal justice fund authority as a special purpose authority to administer the equal justice fund for the purpose of providing monetary support to local organizations that provide legal representation and legal advice to low-income individuals. The bill requires certain court filings to incur an additional $20 filing fee that must be annually deposited into the equal justice fund. The bill prohibits a judge from requiring indigent parties to pay the docket fee for a civil action. To read more, click here.
Children and Domestic Matters
I passed 6 bills that focused on ensuring that children have access to the childcare and resources they need.
HB24-1009: Bilingual Childcare Licensing Resources
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅| Sponsors: Representative McLachlan, Representative Joseph, Senator Ginal, Senator Rich
Summary: The bill creates the bilingual licensing unit within the the Department of Early Childhood, which requires the Department to offer services in prevalent languages (i.e., Spanish) for those wishing to work in childcare services. To read more, see here
HB24-1170: Rights for Youth Division of Youth Services Facilities
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Ortiz, Senator Gonzalez, Senator Michaelson Jenet
Summary: This bill establishes a detailed bill of rights for incarcerated youths with special provisions for to protect and promote the rights of LGBTQ+ Youths. To read more, see here.
HB24-1031: Accessibility for Persons in Child Welfare Matters
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Bradley, Senator Kirkmeyer, Senator Michaelson Jenet
Summary: This bill concerns measures to increase language access to persons involved in the child welfare system. To read more, see here.
SB24-113: Safer Youth Sports
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Wilford, Senator Exum, Senator Coleman
Summary: The bill mandates that nonprofit and for-profit youth sports organizations adhere to certain requirements, in order to protect children and youth from child abuse in sports.To read more, see here.
SB24-200: Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in Child Welfare
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Bacon, Senator Coleman, Senator Michaelson Jenet
Summary: The bill mandates the Department of Human Services to annually update its equity, diversity, and inclusion report, addressing data challenges and training progress in child welfare, strengthen DEI training. To read more, see here.
SB24-202: Assignment of Child Support Foster Youth
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Epps, Senator Fields
Summary: The bill eliminates the requirement for a court order to impose fees on parents who are going through the child welfare system. To read more, see here.
Fiscal Policy and Taxes
This session I passed 2 bills pertaining to taxes, a key issue to the finances of my constituency.
HB24-1142: Reduce Income Tax Social Security Benefits
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Holtorf, Senator Winter, Senator Pelton
Summary: The bill expands the current income tax subtraction for social security benefits. Current law allows any individual who is 65 years of age or older at the close of a taxable year to subtract the total amount of social security benefits that the individual received from the individual's federal taxable income, to the extent those benefits were included in federal taxable income, when determining the individual's state taxable income. The bill expands this subtraction to an individual who is 55 years of age or older but less than 65 years of age and whose adjusted gross income for the applicable tax year is less than or equal to $75,000 if filing individually or $95,000 if filing jointly. The bill requires the department of revenue to collect information necessary to measure the effectiveness of the income tax subtraction. To read more, see here.
HB24-1240: AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Subtraction
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Weinberg, Senator Rich, Senator Exum
Summary: The bill creates an income tax subtraction for the next 3 income tax years between 2026 to 2033 for the amount of any Segal AmeriCorps Education Award received by a taxpayer for service in the AmeriCorps national service program. To read more, see here.
Ensuring Healthy Communities
These are 2 bills that will promote our access to healthcare and a sustainable environment.
HB24-1449: Environmental Sustainability Circular Economy
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Lindsay, Senator Cutter, Senator Priola
Summary: the Bill repealed and replaced existing waste management programs, and created the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise to provide grants and technical assistance to those organizations working in the circular economy industry, along with establishing a statewide voluntary sustainability program. To read more, see here.
HB24-1115: Prescription Drug Label Accessibility
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Young, Senator Fenberg
Summary: The bill requires pharmacies to provide patients who have difficulty seeing or reading standard printed labels with a method to access to prescription drug label information. Pharmacies must, upon request, provide patients and a patient’s caretaker with:
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an electronic label that transmits information to an external accessible device;
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a prescription drug label in braille or large print;
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a prescription drug reader; or
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any other means identified as a best practice by the U.S. Access Board. To read more, see here.
Elections and Good Governance
These bills relate to structural aspects of our state government - maintaining the integrity of out our election system and ensuring the efficacy of our leadership.
HB24-1147: Candidate Election Deepfake Disclosures
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Titone, Senator Hansen, Senator Buckner
Summary: The bill creates a statutory scheme to regulate the use of deepfakes produced using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in communications about candidates for elective office.
To read more, see here.
HB24-1118: Authority of Attorney General to Operate District Attorney's Office
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Marshall, Senator Roberts, Senator Gardner
Summary: This bill gives the Attorney General (AG) the authority to manage and operate a district attorney's office in specific circumstances. To read more, see here.
SB24-216: Standards for Decisions Regarding Library Resources
Session: 2024 | Status: SIGNED ✅ | Sponsors: Representative Joseph, Representative Hamrick, Senator Cutter, Senator Michaelson Jenet
Summary: The bill mandates public library boards to create and publicly post policies for acquiring, retaining, and potentially removing materials, prohibiting removal based on the author's demographics or partisan disapproval, and protecting library staff from retaliation for adhering to these policies, while requiring removal requests to come from local patrons and be treated as open records.
To read more, see here.
2023 Legislation
Listed below are details & summaries regarding all 19 bills I spearheaded and signed by the Governor in the 2023 legislative session, organized by issue.
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: PASSED ✅ | 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.
To read more, see here.
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 2 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 and 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.
Presenting HB23-1134 to the House Energy & Environment Committee
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.
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.
Helping Children and Families
Child support and custody were major focuses of mine during the 2023 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
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.