Beginning when the higher federal match afforded through the federal "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" expires, the act reduces the adult dental benefit so that it does not exceed $1,000 per year for a participant. From the savings from the reduction of the adult dental benefit in the medical assistance program, the act transfers $1,139,402 from the unclaimed property trust fund to the general fund in the 2020-21 fiscal year and $2,278,804 in the 2021-22 fiscal year. Furthermore, the act requires $331,462 to be appropriated from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to offset general fund expenditures for the state medical assistance program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act appropriates $1.5 million from the species conservation trust fund for programs that are designed to conserve native species that state or federal law lists as threatened or endangered, that are candidate species, or that are likely to become candidate species as determined by the United States fish and wildlife service, allocated as follows: Native terrestrial wildlife conservation, $454,505; Native aquatic wildlife conservation, $295,495; Platte river recovery implementation program, $670,000; and Selenium management, research, monitoring, evaluation, and control, $80,000.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the state fiscal year 2020-21, the act reduces the amount of state sales and use tax revenue that is credited to the older Coloradans cash fund from $10 million to $8 million, with the difference credited to the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act addresses the authority of the state government to regulate perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Section 1 of the act addresses when PFAS may be used for firefighting foam system testing both in general and in certain aircraft hangars. Section 2 requires the solid and hazardous waste commission to promulgate rules for both a certificate of registration for any facility, fire department, or lessee subject to federal rules and regulations that uses or stores PFAS in its operations and for standards for the capture and disposal of PFAS. Section 3 prohibits the use of class B firefighting foam that contains intentionally added PFAS in certain aircraft hangars beginning January 1, 2023. The act appropriates $43,836 from the hazardous waste service fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the hazardous materials and waste management division. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the purpose of determining eligibility for workers' compensation benefits for a mental impairment caused by an accidental injury that consists of a psychologically traumatic event arising out of and in the course of employment, the act establishes that a worker's audible or visual and audible exposure to the serious bodily injury or death, or the immediate aftermath of the serious bodily injury or death, of one or more people as the result of a violent event, the intentional act of another person, or an accident is a "psychologically traumatic event". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act removes the requirement that the department of health care policy and financing and the department of human services implement high-fidelity wraparound services for children and youth at risk of out-of-home placement or in an out-of-home placement unless money is appropriated for the implementation of the services. The act removes the requirement that the department of public health and environment provide statewide training for primary care providers on the standardized screening tools unless money is appropriated for the training. The act reduces appropriations to the department of health care policy and financing and the department of human services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law authorizes the general assembly to appropriate money to the state historical society from the museum and preservation operations account of the state historical fund to pay for history Colorado certificates of participation. The act allows money to also be appropriated from the general fund or any other available fund. On October 1, 2019, the state treasurer transferred $1 million from the preservation grant program account in the state historical fund to the capital construction fund to repaint the interior of the dome of the state capitol building. The act transfers the unencumbered portion of that amount on July 1, 2020, from the capital construction fund to the museum and preservation operations account in the state historical fund. The state historical society is authorized to direct the state treasurer to transfer up to $1 million from the preservation grant program account in the state historical fund to the museum and preservation operations account for each of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act appropriates the following amounts from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects: Continuation of the satellite monitoring system operation and maintenance, $380,000 (section 1 of the act); Continuation of the Colorado floodplain map modernization program, $500,000 (section 2); Continuation of the weather modification permitting program, $350,000 (section 3); Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet project, $150,000 (section 4); Acquisition of LIDAR data, $200,000 (section 5); Continuation of the Arkansas river decision support system, $500,000 (section 6); Continuation of the Colorado decision support system operation and maintenance, $500,000 (section 7); Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $350,000 (section 8); Creation of the Colorado water loss control initiative, $1,000,000 (section 9); Continuation of the watershed restoration program, $4,000,000 (section 10); and Continuation of the alternative agricultural transfer methods grant program, $750,000 (section 11). The state treasurer will make the following transfers from the CWCB construction fund: Up to $2,000,000 on July 1, 2020, to the litigation fund (section 12); and $1,000,000 on July 1, 2020, to the fish and wildlife resources fund (section 13). Section 14 appropriates $7,500,000 to the CWCB to continue implementation of the state water plan from the CWCB construction fund to be used as follows: Up to $3,000,000 to facilitate the development of additional storage, artificial recharge into aquifers, and dredging existing reservoirs; Up to $1,000,000 for grant funding to implement long-term strategies for conservation, land use, and drought planning; Up to $500,000 for grants for water education, outreach, and innovation efforts; Up to $1,500,000 for agricultural projects; and Up to $1,500,000 for environmental and recreational projects. The CWCB is authorized to make loans from the severance tax perpetual base fund or the CWCB construction fund: In an amount up to $23,230,000 to the Pueblo conservancy district to bring levees up to federal emergency management agency standards (section 15); In an amount up to $17,250,800 to the Tunnel Water Company to rehabilitate the Laramie-Poudre tunnel (section 16); and In an amount up to $90,000,000 to the southeastern Colorado water conservancy district to provide nonfederal cost-sharing funding for the Frying Pan-Arkansas project. $10,000,000 is also transferred from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the CWCB construction fund and then appropriated from the CWCB construction fund for the 2020-21 state fiscal year to the CWCB to grant money to the southeastern Colorado water conservancy district for the Frying Pan-Arkansas project (section 17). Current law prohibits the CWCB from recommending treated water distribution systems to the general assembly, and section 18 removes the prohibition. Section 19 extends the CWCB's water efficiency grant program to June 30, 2030. Section 20 reduces the $1,700,000 appropriation made to the CWCB in the 2019-20 state fiscal year for stakeholder outreach and technical analysis regarding the development of a water resources demand management program to $833,258, which amount is available to the CWCB through the 2020-21 state fiscal year. Current law authorizes an annual, continuous appropriation of $150,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the Colorado water conservation board for the ongoing operations of a water education foundation, which is currently known as Water Education Colorado. Section 21 repeals the continuous appropriation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits a judgment creditor from initiating a new extraordinary collection action from the effective date of the act through November 1, 2020, except in accordance with the requirements of the act. An extraordinary collection action is defined as an action in the nature of a garnishment, attachment, levy, or execution to collect or enforce a judgment on a debt as defined under the "Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act" (FDCPA). Before initiating an extraordinary collection action, the judgment creditor must send a notice to the judgment debtor explaining that the judgment debtor can temporarily suspend the extraordinary collection action if the debtor is facing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. To exercise this right, the debtor is required to notify the judgment creditor that the debtor is experiencing hardship as a result of the crisis. The judgment debtor is not required to provide additional documentation to the judgment creditor. The use of an extraordinary collection action during the period of the prohibition constitutes an unfair and unconscionable means of collecting a debt under the FDCPA. The administrator of the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code" (administrator) is authorized to issue an order extending the prohibition through February 1, 2021, if the administrator finds that the extension is necessary to preserve the resources of state and local agencies or to protect the residents of Colorado from economic hardship as a result of the disaster emergency caused by COVID-19. From June 29, 2020, through February 1, 2021, up to $4,000 cumulative in a depository account or accounts in the debtor's name is exempt from levy and sale under a writ of attachment or execution. An attempt to collect amounts in excess of what is permitted under statutes limiting garnishment, attachment, and execution is an unfair or unconscionable debt collection practice for purposes of the FDCPA. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting in the 2021-22 fiscal year, the community college system must work with school districts, boards of cooperative services, the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, and charter schools to provide information to the parents of students enrolled in grades 6 through 8 concerning concurrent enrollment opportunities available in grades 9 through 12. The community college system may start creating and disseminating the information in the 2020-21 fiscal year if it determines it can do so within existing resources. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The office of economic development (office) currently contracts with a nonprofit entity that was designated by the federal defense logistics agency to provide procurement technical assistance statewide (nonprofit entity). The nonprofit entity helps small businesses in the state obtain and perform government contracts at the local, state, and federal level. This includes small businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans. The current 6-year contract between the office and the nonprofit entity will expire in September 2020. The act authorizes the office to renew the contract for up to 5 years. As part of the state's investment in the procurement technical assistance program (state's investment), current law specifies that the general assembly shall not contribute more than $200,000 from the general fund or any other source annually. The act specifies that for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years, the general assembly shall not provide more than $175,000 from the general fund for the state's investment, and that for the 2020-21 state fiscal year only, the office shall provide, within existing resources, the remaining $25,000 toward the state's investment. In addition, the act allows the general assembly to increase its contribution to the state's investment in any contract year so long as the nonprofit entity contributes a 100% match to the increased amount in the same contract year by soliciting gifts, grants, and donations. In addition, the nonprofit entity is required to obtain $200,000 in gifts, grants, or donations annually for part of the state's investment. In the 3rd through 6th contract year of the original contract, current law requires that at least 25% of the $200,000 be in the form of cash. The act extends this requirement for each year of the renewed contract. Current law also requires the state treasurer to annually transfer $220,000 from the general fund to the procurement technical assistance cash fund through the 2019-20 state fiscal year. The act extends the annual transfer through the 2024-25 fiscal year; except that for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 state fiscal years, the amount of the transfer is $175,000. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the prohibition on the general assembly appropriating the bulk of the money from the marijuana tax cash fund until the year following the year that the revenue is received by the state. The fund reserve is clarified in light of this change. The state treasurer is required to transfer $136,989,750 from the fund to the general fund on October 1, 2020. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
