The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department) in its sunset review and report on the surgical assistants and surgical technologists registration program. Specifically, the act:Continues the registration of surgical assistants and surgical technologists for 7 years, until 2028; Requires a surgical assistant or surgical technologist whose registration is revoked or who has surrendered a registration in lieu of disciplinary action to wait 2 years before reapplying for registration and authorizes the director of the division of professions and occupations within the department (director) to issue letters of admonition and confidential letters of concern to surgical assistants and surgical technologists; Allows the director to enter into confidential agreements with surgical assistants or surgical technologists to limit practice based on an illness or other health condition that affects the ability to safely practice the profession; and Clarifies that a registrant may be disciplined for failing to notify the director of the limitations created by an illness or other health condition, act within such limitations, or act within the limitations imposed under a confidential agreement with the director to limit practice. The act also adds the following as grounds for discipline: Habitual or excessive use or abuse of alcohol, a habit-forming drug, or a controlled substance; Failing to notify the director within 30 days of any disciplinary action; Failing to respond to a complaint against the registrant in a materially responsive and timely manner within 30 days after receiving the complaint; Practicing outside the scope of the practice of a surgical assistant or surgical technologist; and Failing to satisfy generally accepted standards of practice as a surgical assistant or surgical technologist.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act enacts the "Uniform Collaborative Law Act". The act authorizes a collaborative law process for proceedings arising under family or domestic relations law whereby disputes are resolved without intervention by a court or other tribunal. The act specifies the requirements for a collaborative law participation agreement, including that both sides be represented and advised by collaborative law lawyers, and that communications made during the collaborative law process are confidential and may not be used in later proceedings except in specified situations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes it a deceptive trade practice for a person to knowingly or intentionally manufacture, import, distribute, sell, offer for sale, install, or reinstall a device intended to replace a supplemental restraint system component if the device is:A counterfeit supplemental restraint system component; A nonfunctional airbag; or Any object in lieu of a supplemental restraint system component that was not designed in accordance with federal safety regulations for the make, model, and year of the motor vehicle in which it is or will be installed. The act also prohibits a motor vehicle repair facility or any employee or contract laborer of the facility from installing or reinstalling any device that causes the motor vehicle's diagnostic systems to fail to warn that:The motor vehicle is equipped with a counterfeit supplemental restraint system component; The motor vehicle is equipped with a nonfunctional airbag; or No airbag is installed.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits a property owner from withholding from a contractor more than 5% of the price of completed work to ensure the work is satisfactorily completed. The contractor and subcontractors are also prohibited from withholding more than 5% from subcontractors and suppliers. The act also clarifies that these prohibitions do not apply to other types of contractual conditions made before payment is due.The contract may require lien waivers to be executed before payment is made.The act applies to:A contract between a property owner and a contractor that has a price of at least $150,000; and A subcontract or supply agreement to such a contract. The act does not apply to a single contract that governs:The building of: A single-family dwelling; A multifamily dwelling with 4 or fewer family dwelling units; or A contract with a public entity.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the "Uniform Principal and Income Act" and replaces it with the "Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act" (UFIPA), as drafted by the Uniform Law Commission, with Colorado-specific amendments.The UFIPA includes provisions concerning:Duties of fiduciaries; Judicial review of fiduciaries; Trusts in which the beneficiary receives a periodic payout of a percentage of the net value of trust assets, known as "unitrusts"; Allocation of trust receipts and disbursements; and Procedures followed at the termination of a trust or an income interest in a trust.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines "overpayments" of workers' compensation benefits as money received by a claimant that:Is a result of fraud; Is the result of an error due only to miscalculation, omission, or clerical error asserted in a new admission of liability; Is paid in error or in excess of an admission or order that exists at the time that the benefits are paid to a claimant; or Results in duplicate benefits as specified in the act. The act also:Clarifies that these limitations on overpayments do not prevent an insurance carrier or employer from receiving a credit against permanent disability benefits for temporary disability benefits paid beyond the date of maximum medical improvement and do not prevent the director of the division of workers' compensation or an administrative law judge from determining overpayments and requiring repayment of overpayments; and Prohibits the director or an administrative law judge from reopening an award of benefits paid to a claimant due to an overpayment except in limited, specific circumstances.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act states that a domestic stock insurer (dividing insurer) may divide into 2 or more resulting insurers pursuant to a plan of division. A plan of division must include:The name of the dividing insurer; The name of each resulting insurer created by the proposed division and, for each resulting insurer, a copy of proposed articles of incorporation and proposed bylaws; The manner of allocating assets and liabilities, including policy liabilities, between or among all resulting insurers; The manner of distributing shares in the resulting insurers to the dividing insurer or the dividing insurer's shareholders; A reasonable description of all liabilities and all assets that the dividing insurer proposes to allocate to each resulting insurer, including the manner by which the dividing insurer proposes to allocate all reinsurance contracts; All terms and conditions required by the laws of this state and the articles of incorporation and bylaws of the dividing insurer; and All other terms and conditions required by the division. A plan of division must include additional provisions, the nature of which depends on whether the dividing insurer will survive the division.A dividing insurer shall file a plan of division with the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) only after the plan of division has been approved in accordance with all provisions of the dividing insurer's articles of incorporation and bylaws. The commissioner shall approve the plan of division if, after considering certain criteria, the commissioner finds that certain requirements are met. If the commissioner approves a plan of division, an officer or duly authorized representative of the dividing insurer shall sign a certificate of division that sets forth certain information concerning the division.The act establishes procedures for amending and abandoning plans of division.The act provides for the protection of confidential information, documents, and materials that are submitted to, obtained by, or disclosed to the commissioner in connection with a plan of division or in contemplation of a plan of division.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $10,729 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the council of higher education representatives (council) and extends the repeal of the council for 10 years, to September 1, 2031. Prior to the repeal, the act requires the department of regulatory agencies to conduct a sunset review of the council.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the Colorado special education fiscal advisory committee until 2031.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law allows only a county department of human or social services or a child placement agency to certify foster homes. The act updates statute to allow for a federally recognized Indian tribe pursuant to applicable federal law to certify its own foster homes.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the "Traveling Animal Protection Act" (Act), which prohibits a person from causing the performance of specified animals, such as whales, dolphins, wild cats, marsupials, nonhuman primates, rhinoceroses, seals, elephants, large birds, penguins, and bears, in a traveling animal act. The Act exempts the use of livestock and alternative livestock.The Act also exempts the use of the specified animals by or at:Wildlife sanctuaries; Nonmobile, permanent institutions, facilities, zoos, and aquariums; Environmental education programs; Universities, colleges, laboratories, and other research facilities conducting research; Film and television productions; Rodeos; and County fairs. A person who violates the act commits a misdemeanor and is subject to a fine ranging from $250 to $1,000 per violation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends expenditure or appropriation deadlines from December 30, 2020, to December 31, 2021, for the following programs for which the departments have not yet expended all of their appropriation from the care subfund:Eviction legal assistance; Human services referral services; Low-income energy assistance; Behavioral health services; Immunization operating expenses; and Local public health agencies in rural areas. In some cases, related program repeal deadlines are also extended.The act also extends the exclusion of the care subfund expenditures from the calculation of the general fund reserve and delays a transfer of any unused money from the care subfund to the unemployment compensation fund from December 30, 2020, to December 31, 2021.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
