C.R.S. Section 8-83-501
Legislative declaration

(1)

The general assembly hereby:

(a)

Finds that:

(I)

Coal provides more than half of Colorado’s net power generation. There were approximately one thousand three hundred workers employed in Colorado coal mines at the end of 2018, and half of the domestic consumption of Colorado’s mined coal is for power generation within the state.

(II)

Colorado’s power sector, and the nation’s, is moving away from coal as a fuel source based on consumer demand for cleaner power and the declining cost of natural gas and renewable resources. Electricity generated from renewable sources has doubled since 2010 to approximately twenty-five percent of Colorado’s power generation in 2017.

(b)

Determines that:

(I)

In addition to the changing economics of power generation, there is a scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions, which are primarily the result of fossil fuel combustion, must be reduced in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. These effects are already being experienced by Coloradans in forms that include more extreme weather, snow pack melt, and higher temperatures.

(II)

The effects of coal plant closures on workers and communities have the potential to be significant if not managed correctly. The closure of coal-fired plants nationwide is also likely to have a serious impact on employment in the state’s coal mines and the transportation and logistics supply chains that move coal from mine to market. Many of these jobs provide family-supporting wages and benefits. The communities that host retiring power plants may lose principal contributors to their tax base and revenue for vital local government services. The enactment of this part 5 will help alleviate these impacts.

(III)

While Colorado companies and policymakers have worked to drive new investment from the clean energy economy into transitioning communities and rural parts of the state, there does not exist at the state or federal level sufficient resources to assist workers and communities impacted by changes in Colorado’s coal economy, and there does not exist sufficient coordinated leadership within Colorado’s state government to align and deliver assistance to these coal communities and workers; and

(c)

Declares that:

(I)

A strong and comprehensive policy is also needed to invest new financial resources in coal communities that are seeking to diversify and grow their local and regional economies in a manner that is both sustainable and equitable; and

(II)

Colorado must ensure that the clean energy economy fulfills a moral commitment to assist the workers and communities that have powered Colorado for generations, as well as the disproportionately impacted communities who have borne the costs of coal power pollution for decades, and to thereby support a just and inclusive transition.

Source: Section 8-83-501 — Legislative declaration, https://leg.­colorado.­gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-title-08.­pdf (accessed Oct. 20, 2023).

8‑83‑101
Definitions 8‑83‑102
Division of employment and training created - director 8‑83‑103
Powers, duties, and functions - acceptance of money 8‑83‑104
State employment service 8‑83‑105
Personnel 8‑83‑106
Division - offer waiver of confidentiality for employment purposes 8‑83‑201
Short title 8‑83‑202
Legislative declaration 8‑83‑203
Definitions 8‑83‑204
Work force development program - legislative declaration - purposes 8‑83‑205
Work force development program - creation - administration - merit system - Wagner-Peyser funded employment services 8‑83‑206
Local elected officials - function - authority 8‑83‑207
Local work force development boards - authority - functions 8‑83‑208
Implementation - local plans 8‑83‑209
State work force development plan 8‑83‑210
Work force boards - membership 8‑83‑211
Functions of work force boards 8‑83‑212.5
Work force development board standing committees 8‑83‑213
Rural consortium work force development board 8‑83‑214
Rural consortium local elected officials board 8‑83‑215
Designation of local work force development areas 8‑83‑215.5
Designation of planning regions 8‑83‑216
Required and optional partners of work force boards 8‑83‑217
Memorandum of understanding - one-stop partners 8‑83‑218
Core services 8‑83‑219
Intensive services - training services - individual training accounts 8‑83‑220
Encouragement of in-demand programs - legislative declaration 8‑83‑221
Title I and Title III allocation 8‑83‑222
County distribution formula - use of money 8‑83‑223
Allocation process 8‑83‑224
State council - duties 8‑83‑225
Colorado department of labor and employment - functions 8‑83‑226
Responsibilities of governor 8‑83‑227
Additional funding for workforce development activities - state funding not subject to federal law limitations 8‑83‑308
Colorado state apprenticeship resource directory - collection of apprenticeship program information - promotion of public awareness - definitions 8‑83‑401
Definitions 8‑83‑402
Employment support and job retention services program - creation 8‑83‑403
Program purpose - duties of the director 8‑83‑404
Administration of the program 8‑83‑405
Reports required 8‑83‑406
Employment support and job retention services program cash fund - created 8‑83‑407
Repeal of part 8‑83‑501
Legislative declaration 8‑83‑502
Definitions 8‑83‑503
Just transition office - advisory committee - repeal 8‑83‑504
Just transition cash fund - transfer from general fund - transfer from account - definition 8‑83‑504.5
Additional coal transition workforce assistance program funding - coal transition workforce assistance program account 8‑83‑505
Utility workforce transition plans - reemployment of affected workers 8‑83‑506
Report - recommendations - repeal 8‑83‑601
Definitions 8‑83‑602
Work-based learning incentive program - creation - rules - appropriation 8‑83‑602.5
Teacher externship program - creation - rules - repeal 8‑83‑603
Statewide digital navigator program - office of future work - rules - appropriation 8‑83‑701
Construction registered apprenticeship grant program - created - reports - appropriation - definitions 8‑83‑702
Repeal of part 8‑83‑801
Definitions 8‑83‑802
Apprenticeship navigator pilot program - navigator positions - report 8‑83‑803
Rules 8‑83‑804
Repeal of part 8‑83‑901
Definitions 8‑83‑902
Workforce transitions study - report 8‑83‑903
Repeal of part
Green check means up to date. Up to date

Current through Fall 2024

§ 8-83-501’s source at colorado​.gov