Pension Review Commission. The bill creates an income tax credit that is available for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023, but prior to January 1, 2025, for a qualifying public service retiree, which means a full-time Colorado resident individual who is:

• 55 years of age or older at the end of the 2023 or 2024 income tax year; and
• A retiree of a Colorado public pension plan administered pursuant to the Colorado Revised Statutes or a retiree of a public pension plan administered by a local government of the state of Colorado.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill prohibits state money from being used to further certain social, political, or ideological interests beyond what controlling state and federal law require. Sections 1 to 3 of the bill apply this prohibition to the public employees' retirement association (PERA) by requiring PERA to make investments solely on financial factors and prohibiting PERA from investing in an entity with a stated purpose to further certain social, political, or ideological interests beyond what federal and state law require (nonfinancial commitment). Section 1 also:

• Requires that PERA ensure that a designated agent commits to following guidelines that match PERA's obligation to act solely on financial factors prior to PERA entrusting member funds to the designated agent;
• Requires that a designated agent ensure that a proxy advisor or other service provider has committed to following guidelines that match PERA's obligation to act solely on financial factors prior to the designated agent following a recommendation of the proxy advisor or service provider; and
• Gives the attorney general the authority to enforce these investment requirements.

Section 2 requires PERA to invest solely in the financial interest of PERA members and beneficiaries. Section 3 clarifies that the fiduciary duties of PERA's board of trustees include the obligation to act in the financial interest of PERA members and benefit recipients.Section 4 requires a government contract to include a verification that a company entering into a government contract does not, and will not during the term of the contract, engage in an economic boycott of another company to further certain social, political, or ideological interests. Section 4 prohibits a person from penalizing a financial institution for complying with the non-economic boycott verification requirement. Section 4 also gives the attorney general the authority to enforce the newly created article.Section 5 requires the state treasurer to make investments solely on financial factors, prohibits the state treasurer from investing in entities with a stated nonfinancial commitment, and gives the attorney general authority to enforce these investment requirements.Sections 6 to 10 make conforming amendments.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law authorizes the board of the fire and police pension association (FPPA) to grant compounding cost of living adjustments (COLAs). The bill authorizes the board of FPPA, within certain limits, to also grant noncompounding COLAs.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Currently, a member of any public employee retirement association (member) and the member's ex-spouse can agree to divide the member's monthly retirement benefits under a defined benefit plan pursuant to a divorce. If the member and the ex-spouse agree to divide the monthly benefit payment between them, the ex-spouse is entitled to receive a share of the monthly benefits until the ex-spouse dies.

For a member who receives a defined benefit administered by the public employees' retirement association (PERA) on and after specified dates, the bill requires the PERA member and the ex-spouse to agree to terminate the ex-spouse's monthly PERA benefits if the ex-spouse remarries. The bill specifies certain information that must be included in the written agreement dividing the PERA member's benefits and specifies that the terminated monthly benefit will accrue to the retired PERA member.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law allows only specified employees to participate in the public employees' retirement association's (PERA) defined contribution plan. Employer and member contribution rates for PERA's defined contribution plan are fixed in statute and vary per division. Members of the school division or the Denver public schools (DPS) division of PERA are not able to enroll in the defined contribution plan and are enrolled in the defined benefit plan administered by PERA.

The bill requires the PERA board to establish and administer a flexible defined contribution plan and gives PERA members who are hired on or after January 1, 2024, and who are members of the school division or DPS division (eligible employees), the option to participate in the flexible defined contribution plan. If an eligible employee opts to participate in the flexible defined contribution plan, the eligible employee may determine the employee's contribution rate. Employers of eligible employees who opt into the flexible defined contribution plan are required to contribute an amount equal to 6.5% of the member's salary toward the member's account, and contribute an amount equal to 15% of the member's salary to the defined benefit plan.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Section 1 of the bill requires that, beginning in 2024, each insurance company issued a certificate of authority to transact insurance business that reports more than $100 million on its annual schedule T filing with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) must participate in and complete the NAIC's "Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey" or successor survey or reporting mechanism.Section 2 requires the public employees' retirement association (PERA) board, on or before June 1, 2024, to adopt proxy voting procedures that ensure that the board's voting decisions align with, and are supportive of, the statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals updates the powers and duties of the Colorado energy office, including requiring the office to make progress toward eliminating greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution from electricity generation, gas utilities, and transportation; support the implementation of clean heat plans, beneficial electrification, and sustainable land-use measures to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas pollution. Section 3 requires the public employees' retirement association ( PERA ) to include as part of its annual investment stewardship report, which report is posted on the PERA board's website, a description of climate-related investment risks, impacts, and strategies.Section 4 adds wastewater thermal energy equipment to the definition of "pollution control equipment", which equipment may be certified by the division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment (CDPHE). Similarly, section 5 6 adds wastewater thermal energy to the definition of "clean heat resource", which resource a gas distribution utility includes in its clean heat plan filed with the public utilities commission (PUC) .The air quality control commission (AQCC) is required to establish by rule a fee per ton of GHG based on GHG emissions reported through air pollution emission notices. Section 5 authorizes the fee to be based on other reporting that the commission requires of greenhouse gas-emitting entities regarding emissions.Section 6 7 updates the statewide GHG emission reduction goals to add a 65% reduction goal for 2035, an 80% a 75% reduction goal for 2040, and a 90% reduction goal for 2045 when compared to 2005 GHG pollution levels. Section 6 also increases the 2050 GHG emission reduction goal from 90% of 2005 GHG pollution levels to 100%.Section 7 8 gives the oil and gas conservation commission (COGCC) authority over class VI injection wells used for sequestration of GHG if the governor and COGCC determine, in accordance with a study that the COGCC conducted in 2021, that the state has sufficient resources to ensure the safe and effective regulation of the sequestration of GHG. If the governor and the COGCC determine there are sufficient resources, the COGCC may seek primacy under the federal "Safe Drinking Water Act" and, when granted, may issue and enforce permits for class VI injection wells. The COGCC shall require, as part of its regulation of class VI injection wells, that operators of the wells maintain adequate financial assurance until the COGCC approves the closure of a class VI injection well site.Sections 9 and 10 prohibit a homeowners' association from disallowing the use of a heat pump system on a residential property located within the common interest community governed by the homeowners' association.Section 8 11 establishes a state income tax credit in an amount equal to 30% of the purchase price for new, electric-powered lawn equipment for purchases made in income tax years 2024 through 2026. A seller of new, electric-powered lawn equipment that registers with the department of revenue as a qualified retailer (qualified retailer) and demonstrates that it provided a purchaser a 30% discount from the purchase price of new, electric-powered lawn equipment may claim the tax credit. The tax credit is refundable. Section 14 authorizes the department of revenue to provide advance payments of the income tax credit to qualified retailers .Current law requires an electric retail utility (utility) to offer a net metering credit as the means of purchasing output from a community solar garden (CSG) located within the utility's service territory and establishes the means of calculating the net metering credit. Section 9 maintains that calculation if the CSG indicates to the utility that the CSG's subscribers' bill credits change annually. If the CSG indicates to the utility that the CSG's subscribers' bill credits remain fixed, however, section 9 provides a different calculation for determining the net metering credit.Sections 12 and 13 extend a $5,000,000 appropriation made to the division of local government in the department of local affairs in state fiscal year 2020-21 for use for the renewable and clean energy initiative program to allow the division to use the appropriation until it is fully expended.Section 16 requires the PUC, when reviewing an electric utility's plan for the construction or expansion of transmission facilities, to consider the need for expanded transmission capacity in the state, including the ability to expand capacity through construction of new transmission lines, improvements to existing lines, or connections to an organized wholesale market. Section 17 increases the reserve margin for the Colorado electric transmission authority from 15% to 50%.Section 18 requires retail electric utilities to provide timely service to customers seeking interconnection of the customer's retail distributed generation resource to the utility's grid and requires the PUC to establish, as part of its interconnection rules, timelines for timely interconnection. The PUC, after a hearing on a complaint regarding an alleged violation of the requirements for timely interconnection of a customer's retail distributed generation resource, may fine a retail electric utility up to $2,000 per day for each day that the PUC determines that the violation continued. A retail electric utility may recover its prudently incurred costs to facilitate timely interconnection, including the costs of equipment needed for future upgrades for interconnection. Section 15 defines terms related to interconnection.Section 19 raises the maximum fee that the PUC may assess against a utility for a violation of the "Public Utilities Law" from $2,000 for each offense to $20,000 per offense for each day that the offense continues. Section 19 also establishes factors that the PUC is required to consider in assessing a penalty against a utility, including the size of the utility, the utility's previous history of any similar violations, remedial measures, and any factors that may mitigate the harm to the utility's customers.A gas distribution utility in the state is required to comply with clean heat targets by demonstrating the use of clean heat resources. Recovered methane, including biomethane, that meets a documented set of procedures and requirements that the AQCC establishes, is such a clean heat resource. Section 20 amends the definition of "biomethane" to include operations for dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry, swine, or sheep and the definition of "recovered methane protocol" to include a protocol that the AQCC adopts to include the use of manure from beef cattle operations.Sections 10 through 12 21 and 22 incorporate projects to renovate or recondition existing utility transmission lines into the "Colorado Electric Transmission Authority Act", allowing the Colorado electric transmission authority (authority) to finance and renovate, rebuild, or recondition existing transmission lines in order to update and optimize the transmission lines. Section 23 requires the authority to study the need for expanded transmission capacity, including the ability to expand capacity through construction of new transmission lines, improvements to existing lines, or connections to an organized wholesale market. The authority is required to present an initial report of its study to the PUC on or before September 1, 2024, and a final report to the joint committee of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters on or before January 31, 2025.Section 13 24 requires a local government to expedite , as practicable, its review of a land use application that proposes a project to renovate, rebuild, or recondition existing transmission lines.Section 14 25 makes a conforming amendment regarding the updated statewide GHG emission reduction goals set forth in section 6 7 .

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

To recompense the public employees' retirement association (PERA) for the cancellation of a previously scheduled July 1, 2020, direct distribution of $225 million, House Bill 22-1029 required an additional direct distribution to PERA. However, the additional direct distribution did not fully recompense PERA for the cancellation of the previously scheduled direct distribution. To fully further recompense PERA, the bill requires the state treasurer to issue a warrant to PERA in an amount equal to $35,050,000. The bill requires the warrant to consist that consists of the balance of the PERA payment cash fund , and any remaining amount must be plus $10 million paid from the general fund. The bill repeals the PERA payment cash fund, effective July1, 2023.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

In 2009, the general assembly enacted legislation to merge the Denver public schools retirement system into the public employees' retirement association (PERA), effective January 1, 2010. The merger legislation created a Denver public schools (DPS) division within PERA and set the employer and member contribution rates for that division. The merger legislation also required PERA to calculate a true-up beginning January 1, 2015, and every fifth year thereafter, to determine whether the DPS employer contribution rate must be adjusted to assure the equalization of the DPS division's ratio of unfunded actuarial accrued liability over payroll to the PERA school division's ratio of unfunded actuarial accrued liability over payroll at the end of the 30-year period that began on January 1, 2010 (equalization of the 2 divisions). If necessary, the PERA board is required to recommend that the general assembly adjust the DPS total employer rate to assure the equalization of the 2 divisions.

The general assembly enacted the last true-up for the equalization of the 2 divisions in 2015. In furtherance of the true-up for the equalization of the 2 divisions, beginning on July 1, 2023, the bill reduces the total employer contribution rate for the DPS division from 10.4% to 7.15% of salary. The bill does not alter the employer or member contribution rate for any other division of PERA.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Statutory Revision Committee. House Bill 22-1034 merged 3 retirement plans administered by the fire and police pension association, the statewide defined benefit plan, the statewide hybrid plan, and the social security supplemental plan, into a single statewide retirement plan. House Bill 22-1034 accomplished the merger in part by repealing several statutes and relocating some of the substantive provisions of those statutes into new statutes. In doing so, certain statutory cross references were not properly updated to reflect the repeals and relocations. The bill updates the obsolete statutory cross references.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)