With regard to the involuntary discharge of residents from an assisted living residence (residence), the act: Requires a residence to provide written notice to the resident and other specified persons at least 30 days prior to the involuntary discharge, unless the reason for the involuntary discharge is because the resident needs a higher level of care than can be provided in the residence or the resident poses a harm to the resident or to other residents; If the involuntary discharge is due to a resident's nonpayment of monthly services and room and board, the residence may discharge the resident 31 days after the resident received the notice of discharge. Requires the residence to include certain information and documentation with the written notice; and Establishes a process for a resident or other specified persons to challenge an involuntary discharge, including the ability to file a grievance with the residence, a requirement that the residence respond to the grievance, the ability to appeal to the department of public health and environment (department), and the ability to request an administrative hearing, and establishes time frames for the grievance process. In addition, the act: Requires the state board of health (board) to promulgate rules establishing residence administrator standards that require all administrators, on and after January 1, 2024, to have at least one year of experience supervising the delivery of personal care services, or have equivalent experience or education, regardless of the date the administrator was hired, and establishing a fine for the residence if the residence's administrator or interim administrator fails to meet the standards. The act also authorizes the department to refuse to renew a license for a facility without a qualified administrator. Requires the residence owner or residence to obtain a check of the Colorado adult protective services data system for any employee providing direct care to residents; Requires the residence to comply with provisions concerning involuntary discharge of residents; and Establishes a range of fines for violations, including violations that result in harm or injury to residents. The department shall make recommendations to the state board concerning the range of fines after consulting with the statutory advisory committee relating to assisted living residences. The act removes the $2,000 annual cap on the amount of fines that may be imposed by the department as an intermediate restriction or condition on a residence licensee, replaces it with a fine not to exceed $10,000 per violation, and allows the department to impose a fine in excess of the $10,000 cap for an egregious violation that results in death or serious injury to a resident. The act also requires the department to impose a fine, in an amount determined by the department to deter further violations, for any violation resulting in actual harm or injury to a resident. The act also allows, but does not require, the department to suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a residence license if a resident is subject to mistreatment that causes injury to the resident, the residence's owner or administrator either directly caused the mistreatment or the mistreatment resulted from the administrator's failure to adequately train or supervise employees, and other measures to correct the violation have not been or are not expected to be effective. The act appropriates $74,508 from the general fund to the department to implement the act, and of that amount, $47,680 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2021, the general assembly authorized the broadband deployment board (board) to award money that the state received under the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (federal act) for broadband deployment projects. The act updates the requirements for awarding grant money pursuant to the federal act to require that applications comply with finalized federal regulations regarding use of money under the federal act. The act also: Reduces the notice and comment period for an interested party to review and comment on a grant application from at least 60 days to 45 days; Exempts a grantee from the requirement to complete an approved project in 2 years or less if the grantee demonstrates to the board that the project is delayed due to a relevant disruption in the supply chain; Requires the board to apply the updated requirements to previously denied applications that sought grant awards under the federal act; and Establishes a process and remedies for appeals of a board decision regarding a grant application.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to make the following transfers from the economic recovery and relief cash fund: $3,000,000 to the healthy forests and vibrant communities fund for projects that will help communities address the urgent need to reduce wildfire risks by supporting implementation of risk mitigation treatments that focus on promoting watershed resilience; $2,000,000 to the wildfire mitigation capacity development fund for wildfire mitigation and fuel reduction projects; $10,000,000 to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund for watershed restoration and flood mitigation grants; $2,500,000 to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund for the direct and indirect costs of providing assistance to political subdivisions and other entities applying for federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" money and other federally available money related to water funding opportunities; and $2,500,000 to the Colorado water conservation board construction fund for issuing grants to political subdivisions of the state for the hiring of temporary employees, contractors, or both that will assist those political subdivisions and other entities in applying for federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" money and other federally available money related to natural resource management. All of these transfers relate to essential government services and must comply with the relevant compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller. $15,000,000 is appropriated from the Colorado water conservation board construction fund to the department of natural resources for use by the Colorado water conservation board for watershed restoration and flood mitigation project grants. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the Colorado energy office (office), in collaboration with the department of local affairs (department) and the Colorado resiliency office (resiliency office), to develop a grid resilience and reliability roadmap (roadmap) for improving the resilience and reliability of electric grids in the state (grid), which roadmap must include guidance on how microgrids may be used to harden the grid, improve grid resilience and reliability, deliver electricity where extending distribution infrastructure may not be practicable, and operate autonomously and independent of the grid, when necessary. In developing the roadmap, the office, department, and resiliency office are required to engage interested persons throughout the state in stakeholder meetings and consider stakeholder input. The roadmap may identify: The potential benefits of developing microgrids, including whether and how developing microgrids improves grid resilience and reliability; The critical facilities and infrastructure and the high-risk communities that should be prioritized for microgrid projects (projects); and Recommendations regarding potential legislative or administrative changes needed to help facilitate projects, including needed statutory or rule changes, key factors to consider regarding the safety, development, maintenance, and deployment of microgrids, metrics for evaluating the costs and benefits of microgrids, financial and technical support for microgrid deployment, and education and outreach programs, including apprenticeship programs. The office is required to post a draft of the roadmap on its website on or before July 1, 2024, and the office and department are required to post the completed roadmap on their websites. The office is also required to submit a copy of the roadmap to the public utilities commission (commission), and, on or before March 1, 2025, in collaboration with the department, present the roadmap to the legislative committees of reference with jurisdiction over energy matters. On a periodic basis at least every 5 years, the office, department, and resiliency office are required to review the roadmap and, if necessary, update it. If the roadmap is updated, it must be posted on the office's and department's websites and submitted to the commission and the legislative committees of reference with jurisdiction over energy matters. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $22,470 is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office to develop the roadmap. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, facilities that provide long-term nursing, rest, and assisted living services, where residents reside for more than 30 days, are classified as residential properties. However, facilities that provide short-term convalescent care and rehabilitation services, where patrons visit the facility periodically or temporarily reside there for less than 30 days, are valued and classified as nonresidential property. The act defines a nursing home as a licensed nursing care facility, including a nursing care facility that provides convalescent care and rehabilitation services. The act specifies that land on which a nursing home is situated and any improvements affixed to that land for the use of the nursing home are classified and assessed as residential real property, regardless of a resident's length of stay. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a property tax exemption for mobile homes, which includes manufactured homes, that have an actual value of $28,000 or less. The act also eliminates the requirement that a county treasurer publish a notice in a newspaper of a sale of a mobile home, which includes a manufactured home, due to property taxes owed if: A distraint warrant has been delivered to the owner of the mobile home or to his or her agent; and The county treasurer publishes a notice of the sale on the treasurer's website. The act appropriates $833,193 from the general fund for the state share of districts' total program funding to offset the reduction in property tax revenue to school districts as a result of the property tax exemption. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the microgrids for community resilience grant program (grant program) to be administered by the division of local government (division) in the department of local affairs (department), in collaboration with the Colorado resiliency office in the division and the Colorado energy office. A cooperative electric association or a municipally owned utility (utility) may apply to the division for a grant award to finance the purchase of microgrid resources in eligible rural communities within the utility's service territory that are at significant risk of experiencing severe weather or natural disaster events and in which one or more community anchor institutions, which institutions are important community, educational, health care, or other institutions, are located. The microgrids, which can be connected to or be disconnected from, and work independent of, the utility's electric grid, can increase an eligible rural community's ability to avoid or remediate interruptions to the electric grid, such as those caused by severe weather or natural disaster events. On an annual basis commencing in 2023, the division is required to: Report on the progress of the grant program, including information on the number of grants awarded and the amount of money awarded for each grant; Submit copies of the report to the house of representatives energy and environment committee and the senate transportation and energy committee, or their successor committees; and Publish the report on the department's website. For state fiscal year 2022-23, the bill appropriates from the general fund: $3,500,000 to the department for use by the division for implementation of the grant program; and $20,713 to the office of the governor for use by the Colorado energy office for grant program administration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2025, any purchaser of an air-source heat pump system, ground-source heat pump system, water-source heat pump system, or variable refrigerant flow heat pump system (heat pump system) or a heat pump water heater that installs a residential or commercial heat pump system or a residential or commercial heat pump water heater into real property in the state is allowed an income tax credit in an amount equal to 10% of the purchase price of the heat pump system or heat pump water heater. For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2025, any purchaser of an energy storage system that installs the energy storage system in a residential dwelling in the state is allowed an income tax credit in an amount equal to 10% of the purchase price of the energy storage system. For the heat pump system and heat pump water heater income tax credit and for the energy storage system income tax credit, the purchaser may assign the income tax credit to the seller of the heat pump system, heat pump water heater, or energy storage system (seller) at the time of purchase. If the purchaser assigns the credit, the seller must compensate the purchaser for the full nominal value of the tax credit. The act specifies the requirements of the purchaser, seller, and the department of revenue in connection with the assignment of either income tax credit. Beginning July 1, 2024, all sales, storage, and use of eligible decarbonizing building materials are exempt from state sales and use tax. "Eligible decarbonizing building materials" are building materials that have a maximum acceptable global warming potential as determined by the office of the state architect (office) and that are on a list of eligible materials maintained by the office. Manufacturers may submit the environmental product declaration of an eligible material to the office for the office's review. The office is required to compile a list of eligible materials and the manufacturers of those materials based on the information voluntarily submitted to the office by the manufacturers. Beginning January 1, 2023, all sales, storage, and use of heat pump systems or heat pump water heaters that are used in commercial or residential buildings are exempt from state sales and use tax. To be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption under certain circumstances, the purchaser of the heat pump system or heat pump water heater is required to certify that all necessary mechanical, plumbing, and electrical work performed in connection with the installation of the heat pump system or heat pump water heater will be performed by a certified contractor on a certified contractor list created pursuant to current law or by employees of a utility, subject to state licensing requirements and all applicable state and local rules, codes, and standards. Beginning January 1, 2023, all sales, storage, and use of energy storage systems that are used in a residential dwelling are exempt from state sales and use tax. A statutory town, city, or county may exempt the same items that are exempt from state sales and use tax pursuant to the act only by express inclusion of the exemption in its initial sales tax ordinance or resolution or by amendment thereto. After January 1, 2023, an investor-owned gas utility may apply to the public utilities commission for approval to measure the amount of use for billing purposes in either fuel commodity units or for energy services provided. The public utilities commission is required to approve, deny, or modify the utility's application. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a new program to regulate a subset of air pollutants, referred to as "toxic air contaminants", which are defined as hazardous air pollutants, covered air toxics, and all other air pollutants that the air quality control commission (commission) designates as a toxic air contaminant. In implementing the program, the commission has the authority to adopt rules that are more stringent than the corresponding requirements of the federal "Clean Air Act". The division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment (department) will publish an initial list of toxic air contaminants by October 1, 2022. Beginning no later than September 30, 2030, and at least every 5 years thereafter, the commission will review the list of existing toxic air contaminants and determine whether to designate any additional air pollutants as toxic air contaminants. On or before June 30 of each year, beginning on June 30, 2024, owners and operators of certain sources of pollution will submit to the division, and the division will make available to the public, an annual toxic emissions report that reports the levels of toxic air contaminants that were emitted by the source in the preceding calendar year, beginning with January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. The division will also conduct a study and prepare a report for the commission on the types of information reported to the division regarding toxic air contaminants, and, no later than April 30, 2025, the commission may require additional types of information to be included in annual toxic emissions reports submitted for calendar year 2025 and each calendar year thereafter. Beginning no later than January 1, 2024, the division will develop a monitoring program to determine the concentration of toxic air contaminants in the ambient air of the state. The monitoring program will establish at least 6 long-term monitoring sites covering urban and rural areas of the state. No later than July 1, 2025, and by July 1 of each year thereafter, the division will provide public notice of and an opportunity to comment on the monitoring program. On or before October 1, 2025, and by each October 1 thereafter, the division will prepare a report summarizing the findings of the monitoring program, post the report on its website, and submit the report to the general assembly. The division will also report on the need for any additional monitoring sites during the hearings held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" prior to the 2027 legislative session. No later than April 30, 2025, the commission will identify by rule up to 5 toxic air contaminants that may pose a risk of harm to public health (priority toxic air contaminants). No later than April 30, 2026, the commission will propose health-based standards for priority toxic air contaminants for approval by the general assembly. On or before September 30, 2029, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, the commission will: Determine whether to identify any additional priority toxic air contaminants; Determine whether to propose revisions to the general assembly to any existing health-based standards; and No more than 12 months after identifying any additional priority toxic air contaminants, propose to the general assembly health-based standards for any additional priority toxic air contaminants. No later than April 30, 2026, the commission will adopt emission control regulations to reduce emissions of each priority toxic air contaminant. For new emission sources of priority toxic air contaminants, the commission will adopt more stringent emission control regulations than those adopted for existing emission sources of priority toxic air contaminants. No later than September 30, 2030, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, the commission will: Adopt emission control regulations for any additional priority toxic air contaminants identified by the commission; and Determine whether to revise existing emission control regulations. No later than December 31, 2025, the division will conduct an assessment to determine the needs of the division to administer an air permitting program to regulate new, modified, and existing stationary sources that emit priority toxic air contaminants. The division will provide public notice and hold at least 2 public meetings at which members of the public have an opportunity to comment on the assessment. The division will report on the assessment during the hearings held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" prior to the 2026 legislative session. For the 2022-2023 state fiscal year,$3,135,853 is appropriated from the general fund to the department to implement the act, of which: $73,928 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to the department; and $597,228 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services to the department.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the functions of the Colorado resiliency office in the department of local affairs until September 1, 2037, pursuant to the provisions of the sunset law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the Colorado rural health-care workforce initiative (initiative) to expand the number of health-care professionals practicing in Colorado's rural or frontier counties. As part of the initiative, an institution of higher education (institution) is authorized to establish and operate a health-care professionals rural track within any health-care professional education program offered by the institution. A rural track must set aside seats in its health-care professional education program for students who express an interest in studying and working in a rural or frontier county, offer didactic curriculum related to practicing the health-care discipline in rural or frontier counties, place students in rural or frontier counties for hands-on instruction and training, and award scholarships to students in the rural track. In order to receive a scholarship, a student must commit to working as a health-care professional in a rural or frontier county for 2 years after completing education and training. The rural office at the university of Colorado's school of medicine (rural program office) provides technical assistance to the institutions operating a rural track regarding recruiting and admitting students committed to working in rural areas and identifying rural or frontier counties in which students may be placed for clinical training. The rural program office also facilitates, arranges, or advises an institution about arranging housing for students placed in a rural or frontier county. The rural program office must provide, without charge, to institutions operating a rural track, didactic curriculum related to practicing in rural or frontier counties. The act requires the rural program office to annually evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative and report to the general assembly's education committees about the initiative. The act requires the department of higher education (department) to enter into limited purpose fee-for-service contracts to provide funding for the rural program office to carry out its duties related to the initiative. The department is also required to enter into limited purpose fee-for-service contracts with institution governing boards to operate a rural track in programs specified in the act. The department is required to allocate money to Colorado mountain college to establish a rural track in its nursing program. The act appropriates $1,200,000 to the department from the general fund for fee-for-service contracts and allocations for the initiative. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates 2 state grant programs: The local investments in transformational affordable housing grant program (affordable housing grant program), administered by the division of housing (DOH) in the department of local affairs (department); and The infrastructure and strong communities grant program (strong communities grant program), administered by the division of local government (DLG) in the department. The affordable housing grant program provides grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations to enable such entities to make investments in their communities or regions of the state in transformational affordable housing and housing related matters. The strong communities grant program provides grants to eligible local governments to enable local governments to invest in infill infrastructure projects that support affordable housing. The strong communities grant program requires a multi-agency group, comprised of DLG, the state energy office, and the department of transportation, with the assistance of stakeholders, to develop a list of sustainable land use best practices that will accomplish the goals of the grant program and improve a local government's viability in being considered for a grant award. The act requires both DOH and DLG to develop policies, procedures, and guidelines governing the administration of the respective grant programs. The act specifies how grant funding is to be prioritized and eligible uses of grant money awarded under the grant programs. The act creates 2 funds in the state treasury: The local investments in transformational affordable housing fund and the infrastructure and strong communities grant program fund. The act specifies requirements pertaining to the administration of these funds. The affordable housing grant program is initially funded by a transfer to the local investments in transformational affordable housing fund of $138 million of money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund that originated from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund. The strong communities grant program is initially funded by a transfer to the infrastructure and strong communities grant program fund of $40 million of money from the affordable housing and home ownership cash fund that originated from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund. Both grant programs are subject to reporting requirements specified in the act, and both grant programs are repealed, effective December 31, 2026. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $431,985 is appropriated from various sources to the governor's office to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
