The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the "Nurse Practice Act", under which nurses are regulated by the state board of nursing (board), as follows: Continues the regulation of nurses by the board for 7 years, until September 1, 2027; Authorizes the board to enter into a confidential agreement to limit practice with a nurse who has a health condition that affects the ability of the nurse to practice safely and modifies grounds for disciplining a nurse to specify that a nurse may be disciplined for failing to notify the board of a health condition that limits the nurse's ability to practice safely, failing to act within the limits imposed by the health condition, or failing to comply with the terms of a confidential agreement entered into with the board; Adds, as a ground for disciplining a nurse, engaging in a sexual act with a patient during the course of care or within 6 months after care is concluded; Requires licensees and insurance carriers to report malpractice settlements and judgments; Modifies the grounds for discipline relating to alcohol or drug use or abuse to clarify that the use or abuse need not be ongoing to trigger discipline; Requires a nurse to report an adverse action or the surrender of a license within 30 days after the action; Requires a nurse to report a criminal conviction within 30, rather than 45, days after the conviction; Repeals the standards of "willful" and "negligent" with regard to certain grounds for disciplining a nurse; Changes the title "advanced practice nurse" and the acronym "A.P.N." to "advanced practice registered nurse" and "A.P.R.N."; Eliminates the age limit and the requirement to be retired for a nurse to obtain a volunteer license; Repeals the requirement for the director of the division of professions and occupations to consult with the board before appointing an executive administrator and other personnel for the board; and Repeals the requirement for at least one board member to sit on the panel to interview candidates for the board executive administrator position. In addition to implementing the sunset recommendations, the act: Reduces the number of experience hours required for an A.P.R.N. to obtain prescriptive authority from 1,000 hours to 750 hours and includes a legislative declaration stating that the experience hours should not be adjusted downward before the next sunset review of the "Nurse Practice Act"; Eliminates the requirement that an A.P.R.N. seeking or who has obtained prescriptive authority develop, maintain, or update an articulated plan and that the board audit those plans; Adds definitions of "collaboration", "delegation of patient care", and "licensed health care provider" to the "Nurse Practice Act" for purposes of clarifying the ability of nurses to delegate nursing tasks to other providers and assistive personnel; and Modifies the definitions of "practice of practical nursing" and "practice of professional nursing".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 2 of the act increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2020-21 budget year by $132.08 to account for inflation of 1.9% for a new statewide base per pupil funding of $7,083.61. In addition, it sets the minimum statewide district total program funding amount for the 2020-21 budget at $7,230,448,891 and removes the requirement for the dollar amount of the budget stabilization factor to remain the same as during the 2019-20 budget year. Section 3 makes changes to budget procedures for school districts, charter schools, and local college districts for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Under current law, a proposed school district budget must be submitted to the local board of education 30 days prior to July 1, the beginning of the budget year. The act requires the proposed budget to be submitted on or before June 25, 2020. Further, the act requires publication of the notice not later than June 25, 2020. Notice of the budget shall be posted for at least 2 business days. Sections 4 and 5 repeal the required statutory appropriations of $250,000 for the 2020-21 budget year for both the school counselor corps grant program to assist students and families with completing state and federal financial aid forms and the computer science education grant program to increase enrollment or participation of traditionally underrepresented students in computer science education. Sections 6 and 7: Reduce the state fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund (assistance fund) for "Building Excellent Schools Today Act" program cash grants for public school capital construction from $160 million to $60 million; Transfer $100 million from the assistance fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020; and For FY 2020-21, divert revenue above the first $40 million received from the state retail marijuana excise tax from the assistance fund to the state public school fund. Sections 8 through 12 suspend the implementation of the K-5 social and emotional health pilot program and make conforming changes to the dates for selecting pilot program participants, the pilot program coordinator, maintenance of effort requirements for the pilot districts, and the initial and final pilot program evaluations. The department of education (department) shall implement the pilot program subject to available appropriations or gifts, grants, or donations for the 3-year term of the pilot program. Further, the general assembly is not required to appropriate money for the pilot program for the 2020-21 state fiscal year but authorizes the general assembly to appropriate marijuana tax cash fund money for the pilot program in the future. The department may accept and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the pilot program. The repeal date of the program is extended by 10 years to allow for future implementation of the pilot program. Sections 13 through 17 repeal the grow your own educator program. Section 18 repeals the advanced placement incentives pilot program on July 1, 2020, instead of July 1, 2021. Sections 19 and 20 require the state treasurer to transfer to the state education fund on July 1, 2020, $3.5 million from the early literacy fund and $11,831 from the Colorado teacher of the year fund. Sections 21 through 23 repeal the school cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator training fund and the closing the achievement gap cash fund, which are inactive; requires the state treasurer to transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money in each of those funds to the state education fund; and makes conforming amendments. Sections 24 through 27 require the state treasurer to transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money credited to each of the following funds to the state education fund: The great teachers and leaders fund on July 1, 2020; The nonpublic school fingerprint fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2006, on July 1, 2020; The student re-engagement grant program fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2019, on July 1, 2020; The retaining teachers fund on July 1, 2020; and The full-day kindergarten facility capital construction fund on June 30, 2020. Section 28 requires the state treasurer to transfer any unexpended and unencumbered principal of the high-cost special education trust fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020. Section 29 transfers $2.5 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the state public school fund on July 1, 2020. Sections 30 through 32 delay certain provisions of the local school food purchasing program by one year, including delaying the start of reimbursements to October 2021; the first report to on or before December 1, 2022; and the repeal of the program to January 1, 2024. Sections 33 through 38 reset the total program mill levy for the 2020 property tax year for each school district as follows: If the school district has obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills necessary to fully fund the school district's total program; or the number of mills the school district would have levied in the preceding property tax year but for unauthorized reductions in the school district's mill levy after the school district received voter approval to retain excess revenue; or If the school district has not obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills levied in the preceding property tax year; or the number of mills that generates an amount of revenue that does not exceed the constitutional limit. For the 2021 property tax year and each property tax year thereafter, each school district must levy the lesser of: 27 mills; the number of mills levied in the preceding property tax year; the number of mills necessary to fully fund the school district's total program; or if the school district has not obtained voter approval to keep revenue that exceeds the constitutional limit, the number of mills that generates an amount of revenue that does not exceed the constitutional limit. In a property tax year in which a school district is required to levy more mills than it levied for the 2019 property tax year, the school district board of education must approve a tax credit in the amount of the increase in the number of mills. The amount of revenue attributable to the number of mills for which there is a tax credit is not included in calculating the school district's state share. Section 39 increases the maximum total annual amount of lease payments from $110 million to $125 million for FY 2020-21 and for each state fiscal year thereafter for lease-purchase agreements entered into by the state for public school facility capital construction projects under the "Building Excellent Schools Today Act". Section 40 requires the department, for the 2020-21 budget year only, to use student enrollment numbers for the 2018-19 budget year in calculating a local education provider's per-pupil intervention money under the READ Act. Section 41 clarifies that students enrolled part-time in a kindergarten program are counted for school formula funding as 0.58 of a full-day pupil. Section 42 authorizes 5-year-old first graders to receive full school finance formula funding. Section 43 requires the commissioner of education (commissioner) to convene education stakeholders to review the impact of the cancellation of assessments, accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluations for the 2019-20 school year and whether future modifications are needed for the accountability, accreditation, and educator evaluation systems as a result of, and in response to, the COVID-19 pandemic and possible further disruptions. Section 44 authorizes the commissioner to expend appropriations to correct the underpayment of state funding to a school district, board of cooperative services, the state charter school institute, or to a group care facility or home due to errors in information certified to the department of education for the determination of state funding. Sections 45 through 47 remove the requirement that the department determine the level of attainment on performance indicators achieved by each public school, each school district, the state charter school institute, and the state as a whole for the 2019-20 school year. In addition, the department shall not assign accreditation ratings for school districts or the state charter school institute, and shall not recommend improvement plans for public schools, for the 2020-21 school year. A school district, the state charter school institute, and schools shall continue to implement the plan type that was assigned for the 2019-20 school year. Section 48 extends the June 1 deadline for written notice of contract nonrenewal to June 26, 2020, for probationary teachers employed by a school district on a full-time basis during the 2019-20 school year, so long as the recommendation for contract nonrenewal is for reasons relating to budgetary shortfalls. Section 49 sweeps the revenue received by the state for the 2020-21 state fiscal year for natural resources purchased or extracted from state lands and the use of state lands that would otherwise go into the permanent school fund and instead places the revenue in the state public school fund for use for school finance. The act includes the following in reductions in appropriations to the department of education (department) in the 2020-21 long bill: $15,000,000 decrease in the appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund to provide additional spending authority for lease payments (section 50); Decreases in general fund appropriations by (section 51): $675,255 and 0.4 FTE for local school food purchasing programs; $250,000 for the counselor corps grant program; $250,000 for computer science education grants; $22,933 and 0.3 FTE for the grow your own education program; $100,000,000 decrease in the appropriation from the public school capital construction assistance fund for cash grants (section 51); $2,500,000 decrease in the appropriation from the marijuana tax cash fund, and 1.0 FTE, for the K-5 social and emotional health program (section 51); $2,500,000 decrease in the appropriation from the retaining teachers fund, and 1.0 FTE, for the retaining teachers grant program (section 50); $262,763 decrease in the appropriation from the state education fund, and 0.3 FTE, for the advanced placement incentives pilot program (section 51); and $721,579,451 decrease in the appropriation from the general fund (section 52) for the state share of districts' total program funding. Section 53 authorizes the use of up to $3,655,000 of appropriations to the department for ASCENT program funding for an estimated 500 pupils at a cost of $7,330 per pupil. Section 54 appropriates $2,200,000 from the state public school fund to the department for audit recoveries and payments relating to school finance. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes various changes and additions to the existing "Mobile Home Park Act" and "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program" (program). The act clarifies provisions relating to notices that the management of a mobile home park (management) is required to provide to a home owner in the mobile home park (home owner) when management intends to terminate the home owner's tenancy in the mobile home park (park). The time a home owner has to cure certain instances of noncompliance is increased from 30 days to 90 days, and this 90-day period to cure runs concurrently with the period to sell the mobile home or remove it from the premises, which is increased from 60 to 90 days. The act restates, with amendments, the permissible reasons for which management may terminate a home owner's tenancy and the notice requirements associated with a termination. Currently, management may terminate a home owner's tenancy if the homeowner's conduct constitutes an annoyance to other homeowners or interference with management. The act eliminates this as a permissible reason for termination of tenancy. When a landlord intends to change the use of the land on which a park sits, and the change will result in eviction of the home owners, the amount of prior notice that the landlord is required to provide to the home owners is increased from 6 months to 12 months. A notice to quit tenancy and a notice of nonpayment of rent must include language notifying a home owner of the home owner's right to file a complaint through the program. Currently, management may charge an amount up to 2 month's rent as a security deposit for a multiwide unit. The act reduces the amount to no more than one month's rent. The act clarifies management's duties concerning maintenance and repair of a park and creates new duties relating to the maintenance and repair of water, sewer, and other utility service lines or related connections. Management must annually provide certain information concerning water usage and billing to home owners and post the information in a clearly visible location in at least one common area of the park. If management charges home owners for water usage in the park, management must provide each home owner a monthly water bill showing the amount owed by the home owner, the total amount owed by all home owners in the park, the methodologies used to determine the amount billed to each home owner, and, if management purchases the water from a provider, the total amount paid by management to the provider. The act prohibits management from taking retaliatory action against a home owner who exercises any right conferred upon the home owner by law. An action by management is presumed to be retaliatory if the action was taken within 120 days after the home owner made an effort to secure or enforce the home owner's rights, and management may rebut a presumption of retaliation with sufficient evidence that an action was taken against the home owner for a nonretaliatory purpose. The act allows management to add or amend rules and regulations only after acquiring the consent of each home owner or after providing written notice of the amendment to each home owner at least 60 days before the amendment becomes effective. A home owner may file a complaint challenging a rule, regulation, or amendment pursuant to the program within 60 days after receiving the notice. If a home owner files a complaint, and the new or amended rule or regulation will increase a cost to the home owner in an amount equal to or exceeding 10% of the home owner's monthly rent obligation under the rental agreement, management may not enforce the rule, regulation, or amendment unless and until the parties reach an agreement concerning the rule, regulation, or amendment or the dispute resolution process concludes with a written determination that the rule, regulation, or amendment may be enforced. The act requires management to respect the privacy of home owners. Management has a right of entry to the land upon which a mobile home is situated for the maintenance of utilities and to ensure compliance with applicable codes, statutes, ordinances, administrative rules, rental agreements, and the rules of the community. A landlord shall not make entry in a manner that interferes with a home owner's peaceful enjoyment of the land except in the case of an emergency. Except when posting notices that are required by law or by a rental agreement, management shall make a reasonable effort to notify a home owner of management's intention to make entry at least 48 hours before making entry. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The secretary of state currently charges uniform commercial code filing fees. The filing fee is transferred for deposit in the Colorado identity theft and financial fraud cash fund to support activities of the Colorado fraud investigators unit. The current fee is $4 and is set to be reduced to $3 in 2020. The act extends the $4 fee and an associated report to the general assembly until 2024. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act aligns Colorado statutes on hemp with federal law, including adopting federal definitions; requiring authorized samplers to collect samples from each lot; changing the appointing authority for the industrial hemp advisory committee to the state agricultural commission; requiring that all key participants provide a criminal history record check from the federal bureau of investigation; eliminating authority to grow hemp for research and development purposes but authorizing a separate registration and waiver requirement; creating new reporting requirements; specifying unlawful acts and creating civil penalties for violations; and giving the commissioner of agriculture investigatory and subpoena authority. The act appropriates $55,620 to the department of public safety from the Colorado bureau of investigation identification unit fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the public utilities commission (PUC) to exercise its existing authority to require information from regulated public utilities in the areas of: The number of utility customers who are exempted from tiered rates due to a medical condition or the use of medical equipment requiring higher amounts of electricity than other customers, and the efforts the public utilities are taking to ensure that customers entitled to the exemption are able to do so; and Disconnections and delinquencies, including the number of disconnections and a narrative analysis of any trends or inconsistencies revealed by the data. The act also raises the income threshold for eligibility for a medical exemption from tiered electricity rates from 250% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to 400% of the FPL. The act directs the PUC, on or before September 1, 2020, to open rulemaking proceedings to prescribe standard practices for disconnection due to nonpayment, including the provision of resources to support customers in multiple languages, as appropriate to the geographic areas served; standard terms for repayment plans to cure delinquencies; and a prohibition on remote disconnection without a reasonable attempt to make contact with the customer of record by telephone or engaging in a personal, physical visit to the premises. For any change in a public utility's rate design approved on or after September 1, 2020, the act requires that the change of design be revenue-neutral and creates a presumption that a change of design that has a disproportionate impact on low-income residential customers compared to other residential customers is presumed to be contrary to the public interest. The act appropriates $16,545 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the PUC. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the certification of nurse aides by the state board of nursing (board) as follows: Continues the regulation of certified nurse aides by the board for 7 years, until 2027; Combines the laws regulating the practice of certified nurse aides with the "Nurse Practice Act"; Modifies the grounds for disciplining a certified nurse aide regarding the excessive use or abuse of alcohol or drugs; Eliminates an inconsistency regarding the waiting period to apply for a new certification following the revocation or surrender of a nurse aide certification; Repeals the requirement that the board send communications regarding disciplinary actions by certified mail; and Modifies the exception to uncertified nurse aide practice in a medical facility to allow an uncertified individual to practice for up to 4 months if the practice is within the scope of employment and is part of an approved training program prior to certification and the certification is not by endorsement. Additionally, the act permits a certified nurse aide, if deemed competent by a registered nurse to do so, to: Place into a minor client's mouth medication that has been sorted by the minor's parent or guardian; and Administer oxygen and change ostomy bags.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the current provision that directs the state treasurer to transfer the unexpended money from the appropriation to pay counties for the amount of money lost due to exemptions from property taxes to the senior services account (account) of the older Coloradans cash fund (fund) and to the veterans assistance grant program cash fund. The act directs the state treasurer to transfer any money remaining in the account to the fund and repeals the account. The act directs the state treasurer to deduct $13 million from the fund and transfer it to the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In the "Colorado Marijuana Code", the act changes the term "accelerator licensee" to "social equity licensee" and alters the qualifications. A social equity licensee may participate in the accelerator program on the premises of a retail marijuana licensee whereby the social equity licensee receives assistance from an experienced retail marijuana licensee. The act expands the accelerator program to include a retail marijuana store licensee. A retail marijuana licensee participating in the accelerator program and a social equity licensee may be entitled to incentives from the department of revenue or the office of economic development and international trade. Under current law, before the governor is allowed to pardon any person, the application must include a certificate from the superintendent of a prison where the person was held and be submitted to the judge who sentenced the person, the district attorney for the judicial district, and the attorney who prosecuted the person for their comments. The act authorizes the governor to pardon a class of persons convicted of possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana without the certificate or submitting the application to anyone else. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $1,000,000 from the general fund to the capital construction fund for use by the department of natural resources to develop infrastructure to open a state park on the property surrounding Fishers Peak. The parks and wildlife commission is instructed to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public sources for the purposes of developing and improving Fishers Peak state park. By December 1, 2020, the commission will submit a report to the general assembly detailing state park funding needs and shortfalls. The general fund appropriation made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2020-21 state fiscal year to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology for applications administration is decreased by $1,000,000, thus enabling the transfer of $1,000,000 from the general fund to the capital construction fund. The act appropriates $1,000,000 from the capital construction fund to the department of natural resources for use by the division of parks and wildlife for capital construction related to infrastructure development projects, including conducting any necessary cultural and natural resource studies, at the new Fishers Peak state park in Las Animas county. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the purpose of augmenting the revenue in the state general fund, the act requires the state treasurer to make specific transfers to the general fund. On June 30, 2020, the state treasurer is required to transfer the following amounts to the general fund: $3,176 from the employment verification fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2016; The unexpended and unencumbered balance from the fund state employee reserve fund; $7.9 million from the Fort Logan land sale account in the capital construction fund; $8,381,753 from the indirect costs excess recovery fund; $1,887,116 from the state supplemental security income stabilization fund; $1 million from the veterans assistance grant program cash fund; $167,463 from the Moffat tunnel cash fund; and $10 million from the multimodal transportation options fund. On July 1, 2020, the state treasurer is required to transfer: $45.5 million from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the general fund; and $43 million from the unclaimed property trust fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the peace officers standards and training (P.O.S.T.) board to establish a scholarship program for law enforcement agencies in rural and smaller jurisdictions with limited resources due to their size or location to assist the agencies with the payment of tuition costs for peace officer candidates to attend an approved basic law enforcement training academy. A peace officer who received a scholarship for a training academy tuition must be employed for at least three years by a law enforcement agency in a rural and small jurisdiction after attending the approved basic law enforcement training academy or the peace officer shall reimburse the cost of attending the basic law enforcement training academy to the P.O.S.T. board. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
