This week at the legislature …
This week at the legislature …
Legislators are considering the “long bill”, otherwise known as the budget, to fund the operations of state government. Colorado requires state lawmakers to balance their budget and given the fiscal outlook this year it required the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) to make some tough choices to close a nearly $700 million dollar shortfall.
After a ten hour floor debate, the Senate passed the $26.8B budget today on a 30-5 vote. The bill heads next to the House who will debate the bill next week. The Senate deliberated on several amendments but ultimately only adopted eight. These amendments supported using marijuana revenue to support affordable housing for those with behavioral health needs and address chronic homelessness.
Other amendments secured funding for the Healthy Kids Survey, implementing Proposition 106 (Medically assisted end of life approved on the ballot last November), and Connect for Health Colorado (the state’s health insurance exchange). This year’s budget reflects a seven percent increase in discretionary spending, but even in spite of cash funds being used to help balance the budget several areas are taking a big hit: transportation (only $79 million discretionary funding to fix crumbling infrastructure); K-12 schools (increasing the negative factor by $48 million causing the shortfall for required state school funding to grow to $879 million); and hospitals ($275 million cut).
One sole bright spot included a 1.75 percent salary increase for state employees. For more information on the budget debate, click here and here.
Senate Bill 17-215: Sunset Licensed Real Estate Brokers & Subdivision Developers
SB17-215, sponsored by Senator Kevin Priola (R-Henderson) and Representative Matt Gray (D-Westminister) passed the Senate with only one no vote. The bill is now scheduled in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee for April 18th 2017. This bill continues the division of real estate, the real estate commission, and the regulation of real estate brokers and subdivision developers until 2026.
The bill directs the Real Estate Commission to establish, by rule, the number of transactions that a broker must have completed before becoming an employing broker and amends the current provisions on referral fees to conform to the requirements of federal law. It further consolidates the various cash funds used for several licensing functions and programs administered by the division of real estate into a single cash fund.
Additionally, the bill would allow broker licenses to expire uniformly on December 31 rather than requiring licensees to apply for renewal at various times throughout the year on their individual anniversary dates and defines “conviction” to include deferred judgments and deferred sentences, in provisions listing factors the commission may consider when determining whether to discipline a licensee.
Moreover, the bill modifies the composition of the commission to require that one of the three licensee members be a broker with experience and an active practice in property management. Finally, the introduced bill was amended in committee to remove the property manager license endorsement section (Section 6), retain the license reinstatement fees at their current level, and change the effective date of the bill to June 30, 2017.
CAR supports this bill and has been actively involved in the process since the beginning of the legislative session to define the components of the legislation that will continue to regulate our members in the future. Continue reading future editions of the Capitol Connection to stay apprised about the Sunset Bill and CAR’s work on your behalf.
House Bill 17-1220: Prevent Marijuana Diversion to Illegal Market
Today HB17-1220, Prevent Marijuana Diversion to Illegal Market sponsored by Majority Leader KC Becker (D-Boulder), Assistant Minority Leader Cole Wist (R-Centennial), and Senators Bob Gardner (R-Colorado Springs) and Senator Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora) passed the Senate on March 29th. Today, the House voted to concur with the Senate’s amendments. The next stop is the governor’s desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law.
The bill limits the total number of medical or recreational use marijuana plants that can be possessed or grown on a residential property to 12 plants. Unless authorized by local law, a medical marijuana patient or primary caregiver is prohibited from possessing or cultivating more than 12 plants on a residential property and must locate his or her cultivation operation on a non-residential property and comply with any applicable local law requiring disclosure of the cultivation operation. Cultivation operations are subject to any county and municipal building and public health inspection required by local law.
In addition, for those local jurisdictions that do not have a local plant count limit, medical marijuana patients and caregivers may grow up to 24 plants if the patient registers with the state licensing authority, provides notice to that local jurisdiction and follows any local jurisdiction disclosure and inspection requirements pertaining to their cultivation of marijuana plants. Finally, all marijuana cultivations must comply with local laws, regulation, and zoning and use restrictions. A person who violates the provisions of the bill is subject to a petty offense for a first offense, a level 1 drug misdemeanor for subsequent offenses involving 12-24 plants, and a level 3 drug felony for subsequent offenses involving more than 24 plants.
CAR supports this bill and testified in the Senate Judiciary Committee about the ability of a homeowner to grow potentially hundreds of medical marijuana plants within their residence, which creates an opportunity for property uses that are wholly inconsistent with basic concepts of zoning and appropriate property use. In many cases, these “residential” grow operations are effectively “commercial” uses that are immediately adjacent to or, in some cases, attached to, the places our fellow Coloradans call “home.”
These large residential marijuana grows and the manufacturing operations they often bring with them have many consequences including obvious health and safety concerns, an increase of both human and automobile activity that is inconsistent with many residential neighborhood environments, extensive odors related to marijuana growth and harvest, and potential stigmatization of adjacent properties.
Taken together these consequences can interfere with a homeowner’s quiet enjoyment of their most sacred place… their home. Further, the current medical marijuana grow regulations do not respect the financial investment residential property owners have made in what is often their single largest investment… their home.
Invest in RPAC
The purpose of RPAC is to support candidates that support REALTORS®. Our goal is to get pro-REALTOR® candidates elected at the local, state, and federal levels – candidates that share our support for homeownership, protect property rights, and who will listen to our concerns. Investing in RPAC is one of the easiest things you can do to protect your business. Our goal in 2017 is to raise $600,000 to continue to support our REALTOR ® champions and ensure we achieve the policy outcomes necessary to protect property rights. Click here to invest today!
CALLING ALL RPAC MAJOR INVESTORS! Enter to win a $500 Southwest Airlines Gift Card!
If you invest at least $300 of your 2017 Major Investment by April 10th with a pledge to complete your 2017 Major Investment by CAR Fall Conference, you will be entered in a drawing for a $500 Southwest Airlines Gift Card!! The winner will be announced during RPAC Drinking for Diamonds at CAR Spring Conference on April 26th! They do not have to be present to win. The Major Investor levels start at $1,000 a year! Investing in RPAC is one of the easiest things you can do to protect your business! Reminder: To be entered, you must invest at least $300 with a pledge to complete your Major Investment before CAR Fall Conference by April 10, 2017! To make a one-time investment, click here! To set up a recurring payment plan, click here! Please share this drawing with any potential RPAC Major Investors! If you have already made your 2017 Major Investment, thank you! You are already entered in the drawing! Please contact Madeline (mcain@coloradorealtors.com) if you have any questions.
Sign up for REALTOR® Party Mobile Alerts
More than 50,000 REALTORS® from across the country have already signed up for REALTOR® Party Mobile Alerts – have you? Text CO REALTORS to 30644 to stay up to date on REALTOR® issues! You’ll be among the first to know about NAR Calls for Action and more! Click here for more information.
Colorado Project Wildfire
Developed by the Colorado Association of REALTORS®, Project Wildfire is designed to help reduce the destruction of land, property, and lives. Working in partnership with other like-minded fire prevention organizations across the state, local REALTOR® associations are bringing education and awareness, as well as access to resources, directly to residents in their local communities. To learn more about Colorado Project Wildfire, click here.
Colorado Wildland Fire Conference
The Colorado Association of REALTORS® is a proud sponsor of the 2017 Colorado Wildland Fire Conference. Please plan to attend this event on April 19th-21st at the Pueblo Convention Center (320 Central Main Street, Pueblo, CO). This year’s conference will expand on the Fire Adapted Communities concept, providing the framework for moving from awareness to action. Anyone wishing to learn more about how they can reduce their community’s vulnerability to wildfire is welcome to attend. CE opportunities for REALTORS® will be also be available. For more information and to register, click here.
NAR Midyear Meetings in Washington, DC: May 15-20, 2017
The REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo is where NAR members take an active role to advance the real estate industry, public policy, and the association. REALTORS® come to Washington, DC, for special issues forums, committee meetings, legislative activities, and the industry trade show. Registration opens on February 15, 2017. Click here for more information.