Bills that passed, ones that failed. The Post looks back on
the important legislation during the 2018 session.
Colorado lawmakers introduced more than 700 bills in the 2018 legislative session covering a wide range of topics — from transportation to taxes and school safety to health care.
The majority of the legislation was not controversial and offered minor tweaks to current law, but the debate on dozens of bills came down to the final hours before the General Assembly adjourned Wednesday.
If you’re wondering what you missed, here’s a look at a sample of bills that passed or failed in the 120-day term. Gov. John Hickenlooper still needs to act on many of them.
Education PASSED
In their final year of training, teachers-to-be could receive a $10,000 stipend as part of a fellowship program that seeks to recruit them to rural school districts experiencing educator shortages.
Community colleges can seek approval to offer a fouryear bachelor’s degree in nursing.
A $500,000 pot of money would provide grants to school personnel and first responders for research and training in how to respond to school shootings and other emergencies.
Teachers could apply for a stipend of up to $6,000 to pursue professional development, so long as they commit to spending three years at a rural school.
A $29.5 million program would provide grants to schools for security upgrades,
possibly including metal detectors, and training in threat assessments.
FAILED
Teachers would have been prohibited from striking, and those who did could have faced jail time or fines, under a short-lived measure that came in response to school walkouts.
A $400,000 grant program would have helped schools develop suicide prevention policies and training programs.
Transportation PASSED
The state would spend $645 million in the next two years on road improvements and might ask voters in 2019 for permission to issue a $2.34 billion bond for additional transportation needs.
The passage of a bipartisan measure to streamline the renewal process and boost the eligible applicant pool for Colorado’s long-hobbled immigrant driver’s license program marked the end of years-long gridlock hampering efforts to improve the initiative.
Local governments in Colorado will be able to adopt regulations letting bicyclists safely pass through stop signs without actually stopping under a bill passed by the legislature that also gives them a framework to put such laws into place.
FAILED
House Democrats rejected legislation that would have repealed thousands of dollars in tax credits for people who purchase electric vehicles under a 1993 state law.
Taxes and fees PASSED
A 50 percent tax credit for donations to child care facilities would continue another five years until 2025. The donations can be used to hire and pay staff, upgrade facilities or reduce tuition costs.
Boaters who enjoy Colorado’s waters will pay more under a new law that increases fees by $25 to $50 to help pay for a program that fights invasive mussels.
The current income tax credit for child care expenses would be adjusted to allow residents with federal adjusted income of $60,000 or less to receive a state tax break equal to 50 percent of the federal credit.
FAILED
An effort to place a 25-cent tax on purchases involving the use of at least one plastic bag would have raised money for an affordable-housing grant fund.
Colorado parents would have been prohibited from using their 529 savings plans for the cost of K-12 education, as allowed under a change to federal tax law.
Marijuana PASSED
A prescription drug that contains cannabidiol and receives approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration would be legal if dispensed at a pharmacy.
A marijuana retailer could open a “tasting room” location to allow customers to consume pot, except that smoking is prohibited.
Autism spectrum disorders would be added to the list of conditions eligible to receive medical marijuana.
A school nurse or designee could give medical marijuana to a student at school if certain conditions are met.
FAILED
The creation of a pilot program that would have allowed the delivery of marijuana in certain jurisdictions.
A move to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana instead of opiates for patients experiencing pain failed in the Senate.
Criminal Justice PASSED
New Colorado truckers will have to undergo a human trafficking awareness course as part of an effort to draft them into helping law enforcement.
Under what’s called a civil rape shield law, the defendant facing a civil lawsuit for sexual assault cannot use the accuser’s sexual history against them except in limited cases, a move that mirrors criminal law.
A measure to strengthen the state’s revenge-porn law will add more protections to prevent explicit images from being used against someone.
A victim of domestic violence would have at least six years to seek damages in a civil lawsuit, an increase from the current oneyear statute of limitations.
Making a false report that involves an imminent threat, such as a bomb scare or claim of an active shooter, would be a Class 1 misdemeanor under a bill meant to address so-called “swatting” incidents. The measure also would create separate offenses, including potential felonies, if false reports prompt an evacuation, injury or death.
Families of Colorado State Patrol troopers and other state workers who die on the job will be able to collect benefits for up to a year after a loved one’s death.
FAILED
An attempt to allow for the concealed carry of weapons on school grounds failed in the House.
A Republican state representative brought a bill that would have made it a crime to not call 911 when someone is in need of emergency assistance. The measure quickly died, however, by an 11-0 vote in its first hearing before a House committee.
A proposed ban on bump stocks, like the ones used by the Las Vegas gunman, was rejected in the Senate.
Elections PASSED
Two measures will go before voters on the 2018 ballot to overhaul how Colorado draws state legislative and congressional districts by creating independent commissions with representation from Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters, among other changes.
Anyone who facilitates a vote trade — using a website or phone app, for instance — would commit a Class 2 petty offense with a fine of up to $1,000 per each swap they helped make happen.
FAILED
This bill would have allowed an employee to take leave from work to vote, register as a voter, get a ballot or obtain documents or identification needed to vote.
Health care PASSED
The state would spend $2.5 million in marijuana tax dollars on programs to prevent opioid abuse and offer intervention to those addicted to prescription drugs.
The state’s Medicaid program could request federal approval to expand inpatient substance abuse treatment, boosting the spending and options available for opioid addicts.
A pharmacist is free to disclose information about a drug’s cost and cheaper alternatives, and the pharmacy cannot charge a copayment if it’s more expensive than the price of the drugs.
Most new opioid prescriptions would be restricted to a seven-day supply with one refill, but would exempt patients with chronic pain, cancer or those receiving palliative or hospice care.
Freestanding emergency rooms need to better inform potential patients about the steep costs of seeking treatment at the facility and more information about the cost of procedures.
FAILED
Pharmaceuticals companies would have been required to provide 90 days notice when increasing the price of a drug by more than 10 percent, in a measure that also would have required more transparency from manufacturers and insurers about drug prices.
A “red flag” bill that would have allowed Colorado judges to order the seizure of guns from people considered a “significant risk” to themselves or others was rejected by Senate Republicans.
A pilot program would have allowed Denver to open a facility where drug users could inject under the supervision of those with medical training.
Energy and environment PASSED
The Colorado Energy Office would need to promote all types of energy, including solar, wind, nuclear and traditional energy sources, as well as energy storage.
All new underground gas lines, cables and other facilities installed after 2019 would need to be electronically locatable, but the information would not be available to the public.
FAILED
More stringent rules for reporting oil and gas incidents and making the information available to the public were rejected.
Tougher standards were proposed for disposal and storage of radioactive waste in Colorado, which is a destination for out-ofstate dumps.
Other issues PASSED
Under a bipartisan measure, companies and the government would be required to delete people’s gathered personal information once it’s no longer needed and protect the information that is kept. Entities would also need to notify people within 30 days if their personal information has been compromised in a hack.
“Games of skill” arcades would be outlawed under a bill that closes a legal gap that allows such operations to surface outside of the three Colorado cities where gambling is legal.
A grant program will direct more money toward the development of broadband lines in rural areas of the state that do not have high-speed internet.
A tax break for developers who build affordable housing will continue through 2024, instead of expiring at the end of 2019.
The Colorado lottery is extended through 2049, a 25-year extension of the program.
Colorado would regulate companies that sell human body parts and prohibit anyone who owns more than a 10 percent stake in a funeral home or crematory from owning a body broker business.
FAILED
A measure that would have limited apartment rental application fees charged by landlords to the costs of background and credit checks died in the Senate.
The Senate rejected a proposed state program to issue a “purple card” to people living in the U.S. unlawfully so that Colorado employers could hire those immigrants without violating federal laws.
An effort to streamline how Colorado’s colleges and universities respond to and prevent campus sexual assault was rejected by a Senate committee following debate about due process concerns.
Lobbyists and others who frequent the Capitol would have been able to pay $250 or more to bypass metal detectors and security.