Licensing of controlled substances act - continuation under sunset law. The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the "Colorado Licensing of Controlled Substances Act" (controlled substances licensing act) by: Continuing the controlled substances licensing act for 7 years and subjecting it to sunset review prior to its repeal on September 1, 2026; Repealing references to research as a regulated activity in the controlled substances licensing act; Requiring the department of human services (department) to develop and implement a formal, simple, accurate, and objective system to track and categorize complaints made against a licensee and disciplinary actions taken pursuant to the controlled substances licensing act; and Directing the department to develop a secure online central registry for licensed opioid treatment programs to submit information to the department. The department is required to develop a policy that separates the administration of the controlled substances licensing act from the performance of its duties relating to approved treatment facilities that receive public funds. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Substance abuse prevention - pharmacy enhanced dispensing fee - health care providers with prescriptive authority - required training - receipt of benefits for prescriptions prohibited - access to prescription drug monitoring program - appropriation to address opioid and other substance use disorder priorities - office of behavioral health grant programs created - center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies program created - perinatal substance use date linkage project created - report - appropriations. The act: Allows a pharmacy that dispenses an opioid to receive an enhanced dispensing fee if the pharmacy provides counseling concerning the risk of opioids to the patient; Prohibits a physician, physician assistant, or an advanced practice nurse from accepting any direct or indirect benefits for prescribing a specific medication; Requires the state board of pharmacy to promulgate rules that require a prescription for an opioid for outpatient use to bear a warning label; Allows medical examiners and coroners access to the prescription drug monitoring program under specified circumstances; Authorizes the department of human services to conduct research that relates to the definition of "abuse" concerning the incidence of prenatal substance exposure and related newborn and family health and human services outcomes as the result of a mother's lawful and unlawful intake of controlled substances; Requires specified state departments to report to the health committees of the general assembly by December 31, 2019, the amount of federal funds that each is receiving or is eligible to receive for use in testing for hepatitis and HIV and the number of individuals currently and anticipated to be tested. The departments are also required to share eligibility standards for treatment with primary care providers. Creates the Charlie Hughes and Nathan Gauna opioid prevention grant program to improve young lives in the office of behavioral health in the department of human services (office) for the purpose preventing opioid use among the state's youth population. Requires the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies (center) to develop and implement a program to increase public awareness about the safe use, storage, and disposal of opioids, and about the availability of antagonist drugs. The general assembly is required to annually appropriate until the 2023-24 fiscal year $750,000 to the center from the marijuana tax cash fund to implement the program. Allows the center, in partnership with an institution of higher education and the state substance abuse trend and response task force to conduct a statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project; Requires the center to hire additional staff to assist local communities in applying for grants; Creates the maternal and child health pilot program in the office to provide grants to obstetric and gynecological health care clinics and to treatment facilities that provide substance use disorder or medication-assisted treatment; and Requires podiatrists, dentists, advanced practice nurses, optometrists, and veterinarians to complete substance use disorder training as part of continuing education required to renew the provider's license if the health care provider has prescriptive authority. $1,192, 367 is appropriated to the department of human services, $1,100,000 is appropriated to the department of higher education, and $2 million is appropriated department of public health and environment, all from the marijuana tax cash fund, to implement the act. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Recovery from substance use disorders - housing vouchers - recovery residence standards and requirements - recovery residence certification grant program - creation of the opioid crisis recovery funds advisory committee - appropriation. The act: Expands the housing voucher program currently within the department of local affairs to include individuals with a substance use disorder; Establishes standards for recovery residences for purposes of referrals and title protection and prohibits a facility from using the terms "recovery residence", "sober living facility", or "sober home" unless the facility meets specified conditions; Creates the recovery residence certification grant program; and Creates the opioid crisis recovery funds advisory committee to advise and collaborate with the department of law on uses of any custodial funds the state receives as settlement or damage awards resulting from opioid-related litigation. To implement the act: $1,000,000 is appropriated to the department of local affairs; $2,620 is appropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology; and $50,000 is appropriated to the department of human services for use by the office of behavioral health.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Charitable organizations - tax exempt sales. Under current law, up to $25,000 of the funds raised by a charitable organization through occasional sales are exempt from state sales tax. The act increases that amount to $45,000; removes the requirement that these sales by charitable organizations take place for no more than 12 days, whether consecutive or not, during any calendar year; and allows these sales to cover the sale of tangible personal property, commodities, or services otherwise subject to tax under the state sales and use tax.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Mobile Home Park Act - enforcement powers of local governments - added protections for mobile home owners - dispute resolution and enforcement program - powers of division of housing. The act provides protections for mobile home owners by: Granting counties and municipalities the power to enact certain ordinances for mobile home parks; Extending the time period between the notice of nonpayment of rent and the termination of any tenancy or other estate at will or lease in a mobile home park; and Extending the time a mobile home owner has to vacate a mobile home park after a court enters an eviction order. The act also creates the "Mobile Home Park Act Dispute Resolution and Enforcement Program" (program). The program authorizes the division of housing in the department of local affairs to: Register mobile home parks; Collect a registration fee from mobile home parks; Collect and annually report upon data related to disputes and violations of the "Mobile Home Park Act"; Produce and distribute educational materials concerning the Mobile Home Park Act and the program; Create and maintain a database of mobile home parks; Create and maintain a database to manage the program; and Take complaints, conduct investigations, make determinations, impose penalties, and participate in administrative dispute resolutions when there are alleged violations of the Mobile Home Park Act. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $22,073 is appropriated from cash funds received by the department of local affairs to the department of law and $130,065 is appropriated from cash funds received by the department of local affairs to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Consumer protection - violations based on recklessness - increased penalties for certain violations - calculation of damage awards. The act: Adds "recklessly" as a culpable mental state for certain violations of the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act"; Increases the potential penalty for a violation brought by the attorney general or a district attorney from $2,000 to $20,000 per violation and from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation if committed against an elderly person; and Specifies the calculation of potential damage awards in a private civil action.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Substance use disorders - school districts, nonpublic schools, and specified public persons may obtain and administer opiate antagonists - definition of drug paraphernalia - hospitals as clean syringe exchange sites - opiate antagonist bulk purchase fund - household medication take-back program - identity verification for individuals initiating into treatment - appropriation. The act: Allows school districts and nonpublic schools to develop policies by which schools are authorized to obtain a supply of opiate antagonists and school employees are trained to administer opiate antagonists to individuals at risk of experiencing a drug overdose; Allows a prescriber to prescribe or dispense and a pharmacist to dispense an opiate antagonist to law enforcement agencies, schools, or specified public persons; Removes from the definition of "drug paraphernalia" equipment, products, and materials used in testing or analyzing a controlled substance; Specifies that a licensed or certified hospital may be used as a clean syringe exchange site; Creates the opiate antagonist bulk purchase fund to facilitate bulk purchasing of opiate antagonists at a discounted price; Expands the household medication take-back program in the department of public health and environment (department) for the purpose of allowing the safe collection and disposal of needles, syringes, and other devices used to inject medication; Authorizes a public person or entity that makes an automated external defibrilator available to the public to also make an opiate antagonist available to the public; and Requires the department of health care policy and financing to establish a policy on how a substance use disorder treatment program must verify the identity of individuals initiating into detoxification, withdrawal, or maintenance treatment for a substance use disorder. $659,472 is appropriated to the department to implement the act. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Child support commission recommendations - changes to the Colorado child support guidelines - administrative lien and levy - child support enforcement services fee - appropriation. The act makes changes to child support provisions recommended by the Colorado child support commission, including: Allocating "mandatory school fees", as defined in the act; Adding required federal factors that a court or delegate child support enforcement unit must consider when determining potential income of a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed; Reducing from 30 months to 24 months the length of time after birth that a custodial parent has before income is imputed to that parent, and changing how income is imputed for a parent sentenced to incarceration for 180 days or more or for a noncustodial parent who is attending postsecondary education; Increasing the self-support reserve for purposes of calculating child support from $1,100 to $1,500; Creating a $10 minimum order for noncustodial parents with income under $650 and making adjustments to the child support guidelines for parents with a combined, adjusted gross income up to $3,450; Requiring the noncustodial parent to notify the custodial parent if a child is eligible for dependent benefits based on the noncustodial parent's retirement or disability and establishing time frames for the custodial parent to apply for dependent benefits; Clarifying that the Colorado child support commission is required under federal law to consider child support guidelines at least once every 4 years and shall report to the general assembly; Requiring a verified copy of a support judgment to be provided to all parties upon filing with the court; Authorizing the state child enforcement agency to issue a notice of administrative lien and levy to any financial institution holding an obligor parent's account for an obligor who is past due on child support owed to a child for whom the obligee is receiving support enforcement services from the state; and Increasing the fee charged for child support enforcement services from $25, after the first $500 is collected, to $35 after the first $550 is collected, and creating a cash fund for the department of human services (department) to allow the department to spend a portion of the state share of the fee on program operations. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $143,650 from the child support deficit reduction act fee cash fund to the department of human services, office of self sufficiency, for the automated child support enforcement system. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Legal investment of public funds - definitions. The act defines a nationally recognized statistical rating organization as a credit rating agency that is registered with the U.S. securities and exchange commission's office of credit ratings and defines a negotiable certificate of deposit as an unsecured noncollateralized obligation of a bank to pay the holder of a negotiable certificate of deposit specified principal, plus interest, upon a particular maturity. The act also modifies statutes governing the legal investments of public funds as follows: Modifies and standardizes the credit rating requirements for securities invested in by public entities; Requires money market funds invested in by public funds to have an investment policy or objective that seeks to maintain a stable net asset value of one dollar per share; Requires rating requirements to first apply to the security being purchased by a public entity and, if there is no such rating, to then apply to the issuer; Clarifies that negotiable certificates of deposit are a legal investment and not deposits subject to the limitation of the "Public Deposit Protection Act"; Includes the secured overnight financing rate, the federal funds rate, or other reference rates that are similar to the United States dollar London interbank offer rate, the secured overnight financing rate, and the federal funds rate as permissible reference rates; and Allows public entities to invest in local government investment pools.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Estate planning documents - abandoned documents - preservation. The act creates the "Colorado Electronic Preservation of Abandoned Estate Planning Documents Act", which provides a procedure for determining whether an original will document (original document) is abandoned and, if so, the process for creating an electronic estate planning document (electronic document) of the abandoned original document, filing the electronic document with the state court administrator within the judicial department, and destruction of the original document. A will document includes, but is not limited to, wills, codicils, documents purporting to be wills, and other testamentary documents. The state court administrator is permitted to enter into an interagency agreement with another state agency to maintain electronic documents. The act establishes a process for the state court administrator to provide access to electronic documents and sets requirements for the storage and deletion of electronic documents. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Automated external defibrillator - placement of AED in public place - acceptance of donated AED - appropriation. The act encourages any person that owns, operates, or manages a public place or public school to place functional automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in sufficient quantities to ensure reasonable availability for use during perceived sudden cardiac arrest emergencies. Any public place or public school is required to accept any gift, grant, or donation of an AED that meets federal standards. If a public place or public school accepts a donated AED but the public place or public school does not want to accept responsibility for AED training, installation, or maintenance, the public place or public school is not required to accept the AED unless the donating party agrees to be responsible for AED training, installation, and maintenance. If the donating party accepts responsibility but can no longer provide maintenance, the public place or public school may remove the AED from the public place or public school. The public place or public school is allowed to decide who will be trained, the frequency of training, and when the AED training and installation will take place. On or before September 1, 2019, the department of public health and environment shall award a $15,000 contract to a nonprofit organization for the purpose of acquiring and distributing AEDs to public places. The act makes an appropriation of $15,000 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the health facilities and emergency medical services division for the state EMS coordination, planning, and certification program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Automobile insurance policy disclosures - liability - appropriation. The act requires an insurer that provides or may provide commercial automobile or personal automobile liability insurance coverage that pays all or a portion of a pending or prospective claim to provide to a claimant via mail, facsimile, or electronic delivery, within 30 calendar days after receiving a written request from the claimant, a statement setting forth the following information with regard to each known policy of insurance of the named insured, including excess or umbrella insurance: The name of the insurer; The name of each insured party, as the name appears on the declarations page of the policy; The limits of the liability coverage; and A copy of the policy. An insured party, upon written request of a claimant or a claimant's attorney, shall disclose to the claimant or claimant's attorney the name and coverage of each known insurer of the insured party. An insurer that violates the disclosure requirement is liable to the requesting claimant for damages in an amount of $100 per day, beginning on and including the 31st day following the receipt of the claimant's written request. The penalty accrues until the insurer provides the information required. An insurer that fails to make a required disclosure is also responsible for attorney fees and costs incurred by a claimant in enforcing the penalty. The claimant and any attorney of the claimant shall not disclose the disclosed information to any party; except that the claimant and an attorney of the claimant may discuss the information with the claimant's insurer. The act appropriates $12,599 to the department of regulatory agencies from the division of insurance cash fund to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
