Policy Corner, July 2020
June was a busy month for policy in Colorado, and several new measures were signed into law.
HB20-1009 Suppressing Court Records of Eviction Proceedings
- Mandates suppressing Court Records of an Eviction if the Eviction is not completed
- Status: Signed into Law on March 20, 2020
- Support: tenants should not have an eviction on their record if the eviction never took place
SB20-108 Landlord Prohibitions Tenant Citizenship Status
- Prohibits landlords from discriminating based on citizenship status
- Status: SB 108 was PI; bill was reintroduced as SB 224 and it passed.
SB20-217 Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity
- Limits excessive use of force, removes qualified immunity, and requires the use of body cams and the recordings must be released to the public
- Status: Passed, various effective dates
HB 20-1410 COVID Related Housing Assistance
- Transfers $20 million from CARE general fund subaccount, to two cash funds
- $19, 650,000 to Housing Development Grant Fund for mortgage and rent assistance
- $350,000 to Eviction Legal Defense Fund for matters arising between March 1st, 2020 and December 30th, 2020
- Status: Passed, effective upon signature of Governor
Ballot Measures to watch:
- a state statute to increase tobacco taxes and create a new e-cigarette tax to fund various health and education programs
- This new tax also provides for housing development
- Constitutional Amendments:
- This measure submits a question to voters in November 2020 repealing several constitutional provisions regarding property taxes, commonly referred to as the Gallagher Amendment. Specifically, it repeals the 29 percent assessment rate in the constitution for most nonresidential property, the calculation of the target percentage, and the requirement that the General Assembly adjust the residential assessment rate to maintain the target percentage.
- Beginning with the 2020 property tax year, this bill places a moratorium on changing the assessment rate for any class of property. The bill takes effect only if voters approve the repeal of constitutional provisions related to the ratio of valuation for assessment for residential property and nonresidential property, collectively known as the Gallagher Amendment, and set forth in Senate Concurrent Resolution (above)