The act grants bureau of animal protection agents the authority to conduct investigations related to certain complaints of animal cruelty. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the purpose of augmenting the amount of revenues 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 $4 million from the petroleum cleanup and redevelopment fund to the petroleum storage tank fund, which total amount will then be transferred to the general fund with 8 transfers of $500,000, beginning on October 15, 2020. On June 30, 2020, the state treasurer is required to transfer the following amounts to the general fund: $2 million from the petroleum cleanup and redevelopment fund; $1 million from the workers' compensation cash fund; $2 million from the unemployment revenue fund; $500,000 from the conveyance safety fund; $1 million from the school safety resource center cash fund; $771,204 from the waste tire market development fund, as it existed prior to its repeal in 2018; $5.6 million from the small communities water and wastewater grant fund; $180,000 from the vital statistics records cash fund; $433,728 from the construction sector fund; $500,000 from the public and private utilities sector fund; $483,535 from the water quality improvement fund; $422,411 from the hazardous waste service fund; $363,243 from the solid waste management fund; $5,372,415 from the waste tire administration, enforcement, market development, and cleanup fund; $1.4 million from the end users fund; $5 million from the off-highway vehicle recreation fund; $2.3 million from the local government permanent fund; and $1.6 million from the marijuana cash fund. On July 1, 2020, the state treasurer is required to transfer the following amounts to the general fund: $1,224,100 from the division of insurance cash fund; $370,795 from the division of banking cash fund; $267,521 from the prescription drug monitoring fund; $130,000 from the state archives and records cash fund; $4,908,395 from an account with the proceeds of sales of real estate that was acquired for military purposes; and $1,007,176 from the highway-rail crossing signalization fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A Colorado state credit union may open new branches in Colorado or in other states 30 days after providing written notice to the state commissioner of financial services. The state commissioner may enter into agreements with other state credit union regulators for the purposes of examination and supervision of out-of-state offices. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a competency report must include an opinion regarding whether the defendant can be restored to competency. In relation to that report and opinion: If a court within the previous 5 years has found that the defendant will not attain competency within the reasonably foreseeable future and the evaluator provides an opinion that there is a substantial probability of attaining competency within the reasonably foreseeable future, the act requires the evaluator to state why the defendant's circumstances are different from the prior court's finding; When the defendant is diagnosed with a moderate to severe intellectual or developmental disability, acquired or traumatic brain injury, or dementia that affects the defendant's ability to gain or maintain competency and the evaluator's opinion is that there is a substantial probability of attaining competency, the act requires the evaluator to state whether the evaluator believes there are unique or different services outside the standard competency restoration curriculum developed by the department that the defendant may need in order to be restored to competency within the reasonably foreseeable future; and When the defendant has been found incompetent to proceed 3 or more times over the previous 3 years in the current case or any other case and even if the defendant is later restored, the act requires the evaluator to specifically identify those instances of findings of incompetency in the report. When the defendant's evaluation includes one of the above situations, the court shall hold a hearing, within 35 days of receiving the report, on the issue of whether there is a substantial probability that the defendant will be restored to competency within the reasonably foreseeable future. At the hearing, there is a presumption that the defendant will not attain competency within the reasonably foreseeable future. A party attempting to overcome that presumption must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that there is a substantial probability that restoration efforts will be successful within the reasonably foreseeable future. Under current law, when a defendant is found incompetent to proceed and charged with certain offenses that are not victims' rights act crimes, the court may dismiss those charges. The act removes the victims' rights act crimes limitation. When the defendant is in custody on a misdemeanor, petty offense, or traffic offense, and is incompetent to proceed, the act requires the court to set a hearing on bond within 7 days of the defendant being found incompetent to proceed. At the bond hearing there is a presumption that the court shall order a personal recognizance bond. If the court does not order a personal recognizance bond, the court shall make findings of fact based on clear and convincing evidence that extraordinary circumstances exist to overcome the presumption of a release and the clinical recommendation for outpatient treatment. When a defendant is found incompetent to proceed or when civil commitment proceedings are initiated in a municipal case, the municipal court shall dismiss the case. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act redirects a portion of tobacco litigation settlement moneys (settlement moneys) to the general fund for state fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 by: Transferring $20 million of settlement moneys received during FY 2019-20 to the general fund and offsetting the $20 million reduction in the amount of such settlement moneys available for allocation in FY 2020-21 to the programs that receive settlement moneys by allocating to the programs in FY 2020-21 $20 million of settlement moneys to be received by the state in FY 2020-21 that would otherwise be allocated in FY 2021-22; Removing $2,000,130 of settlement moneys received in excess of projections during FY 2019-20 from the base amount used to calculate the statutory allocations of settlement moneys to various programs; Reducing the statutory allocations of settlement moneys: For the tobacco settlement defense account of the tobacco litigation settlement cash fund (litigation account) from 2.5% to 0.75% of the settlement moneys; and For the state dental loan repayment program by $160,717; Requiring all settlement moneys received during FY 2019-20 that are not allocated for state fiscal year 2020-21 under the modified statutory allocation formula to be transferred to the general fund on July 1, 2020; Requiring additional July 1, 2020, transfers to the general fund of settlement moneys previously credited to cash funds that receive statutory allocations of settlement moneys as follows: $8 million from the tobacco settlement defense account; $4,237,375 from the nurse home visitor program fund; and $3 million from the Colorado state veterans trust fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act: Continues the sales and use tax simplification task force for 6 years; Specifies that the task force will not meet during the 2020 interim; Includes a process for selecting a chair and vice-chair of the task force; Modifies the task force's duties; Requires the joint technology committee to seek regular updates from the office of information technology (OIT) and the department of revenue (DOR) regarding the development of the electronic sales and use tax simplification (SUTS) system, to monitor and encourage participation by businesses and home rule municipalities in the SUTS system, and to seek regular updates from OIT and DOR regarding the purchase and development of a geographic information system (GIS) database; and Removes the requirement that the task force undergo an evaluation by the department of regulatory agencies prior to the task force's repeal.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act: Repeals the state regulatory program concerning the registration, fees, record keeping, violations, and rules regarding waste grease; and Reduces the cash funds appropriation from the solid waste management fund made in the 2020-21 general appropriation act (long bill) by $100,890 and reduces the related FTE by 0.7 FTE.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act acknowledges the challenges to the state's health care systems caused by the COVID-19 virus, which has resulted in hospitals, in their efforts to keep patients and employees in a safe environment and minimize the risk of spreading the virus, limiting patients' ability to have loved ones visit them during hospitalizations. The act encourages hospitals to follow infection prevention protocols and identify ways to improve patient visitation policies. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning March 1, 2021, the act requires a health care provider (provider) to disclose to patients if the provider has been convicted of a sex offense or has been subject to final agency action resulting in probation or a limitation on practice when the discipline is based in whole or in part on the provider's sexual misconduct. The act specifies the content of the disclosure and requires the provider to obtain the patient's signed agreement to treatment and acknowledgment of receipt of the disclosure before rendering services to the patient. The disclosure requirement ends when a provider has satisfied the requirements of probation or other limitations on the provider's ability to practice. Additionally, a provider is not required to make the disclosure before providing professional services to a patient who is unconscious or otherwise unable to comprehend or sign the disclosure and for whom a guardian is unavailable; who seeks care at an emergency room or freestanding emergency department or at an unscheduled visit; who is unknown to the provider until immediately before the start of the patient visit; or with whom the provider does not have a direct treatment relationship or direct contact. Failure to comply with the requirements of the act constitutes unprofessional conduct or grounds for discipline under the practice act that regulates the provider's profession but does not create a private right of action. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes revisions to the higher education funding provisions creating a new higher education funding allocation model (new funding model). The new funding model begins in the 2021-22 state fiscal year and includes new provisions for calculating fee-for-service contracts for institutions and makes related changes to the calculation of state funding to support specialty education programs, area technical colleges, and local district colleges. Under the new funding model, fee-for-service contracts for institutions are based on 3 components: Ongoing additional funding, performance funding, and temporary additional funding. The Colorado commission on higher education (commission), in conjunction with the department of higher education (department) and in collaboration with the institutions, shall calculate and make funding recommendations to the joint budget committee for these components as part of the annual budget request process. Ongoing additional funding is base building and may be awarded to an institution to make progress toward the commission's master plan goals, which may include addressing base funding disparities or funding priorities not addressed through performance funding metrics. An institution may also receive ongoing additional funding through a formula set forth in the act to recognize an institution's additional costs associated with educating and providing services to first-generation undergraduate students. Performance funding is calculated based on an institution's change over time in performance on each performance funding metric compared to other institutions' change in performance and adjusted based on each institution's share of funding in the previous state fiscal year. The performance funding metrics include: Resident student full-time equivalent enrollment; Credential completion; Resident Pell-eligible student population share; Resident underrepresented minority student population share; Retention rate; One-hundred-percent-of-time graduation rate; One-hundred-fifty-percent-of-time graduation rate; and Resident first-generation undergraduate student population share. The joint budget committee determines the amount of funding allocated to each performance funding metric for a fiscal year after considering recommendations from the commission and department that are developed in collaboration with the institutions. Finally, temporary additional funding, which is not base building, may be awarded to an institution for a specified period of time to address commission master plan goals or other areas the commission identifies. Under current law and the new model, minimum funding for specialty education programs, local district colleges, and area technical colleges is based on their previous year's funding, increased or decreased by the average percentage change in state funding for all institutions (percentage change). However, the act modifies how the percentage change is calculated so that it does not include amounts awarded to institutions for ongoing additional funding or temporary additional funding in the applicable state fiscal year. The act requires the annual budget request that the commission and the department submit relating to the new funding model to include detailed information and funding recommendations. The act also requires the commission, in conjunction with the department and in collaboration with the institutions, to identify and make recommendations to the joint budget committee by July 1, 2022, concerning ways to better measure success for students who are not first-time, full-time students. This may include a recommendation for a statutory change to the calculation of one of the graduation rate performance funding metrics. The act repeals fiscal limits, reporting requirements, and budget provisions that do not apply to the new funding model. The act amends statutory references to reflect the creation of a new higher education funding model. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Effective January 1, 2021, the act transfers the function of issuing permits for the transportation of hazardous materials and nuclear materials by motor vehicle from the public utilities commission to the department of transportation. The act also reduces state fiscal year 2020-21 cash fund appropriations from the public utilities commission motor carrier fund to the public utilities commission for personal services and operating expenses by a total amount of $20,918. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Certain employers of firefighters are currently required to maintain insurance to provide benefits to a firefighter if he or she has a heart and circulatory malfunction in connection with a stressful or strenuous activity related to an emergency response activity. In addition, certain employers of firefighters may make contributions into a multiple employer health trust established to provide benefits to volunteer firefighters diagnosed with certain covered cancers. The act adds the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety (division) to the definition of "employer" for the purpose of providing benefits for a heart and circulatory malfunction and to the definition of "employer" for the purpose of providing benefits for certain covered cancers. In addition, the act expands the definition of "state trooper" for purposes of the public employees' retirement association to include all current and future employees of the division that are classified as a firefighter I through firefighter VII class titles. For the 2020-21 state fiscal year, various amounts are appropriated from the general fund, cash funds, federal funds, and reappropriated funds to the department of health care policy and financing, the department of public health and environment, and the department of public safety for the implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
