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The bill amends the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" (act) to clarify that a plaintiff in an individual action may be awarded damages equal to the sum of $500 per violation. The bill also amends the act to clarify that, under the act, a class action may be brought and damages may awarded to the class. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
Current law allows heat, light, gas, water, power, and telephone utilities to establish a graduated scale of charges known as tiered rates. The bill directs the legislative investor-owned utility review interim study committee to study the effects of tiered electric rates and allows the committee to hold 4 meetings during the 2019 interim. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
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The bill establishes requirements for the creation of a healthcare provider lien. A healthcare provider lien is a lien related to charges for medical care provided to a person injured by the negligence or wrongful act of another person, which is asserted against money the injured person may receive from a personal injury claim or uninsured motorist claim. A healthcare provider or healthcare provider's assignee creating a lien must advise the injured person of their options for payment, including the use of benefits from an insurance plan or other payer of benefits, before or at the time of creating the lien. Before a person signs an agreement creating a healthcare provider lien, the healthcare provider or its assignee is required to disclose to the injured party that the healthcare provider is not a health insurer or payer of benefits, that unlike a health insurer or payer of benefits the lienholder is entitled to receive the full amount of the lien even if the injured party is not fully compensated from a settlement or judgment, that the lienholder is not required to contribute to the injured party's legal fees or costs, that the lienholder's compensation is based on the difference between the total amount of the medical bills and the negotiated amount, and of any business interests between the lienholder and the injured party's legal counsel or healthcare providers. The lienholder is required to provide notice to the injured party of the amounts billed under the lien as they are accrued, to the extent practicable, and to provide a final itemized statement that includes a summary of treatment provided, the amounts billed, and the total amount due and owing. The lien amount cannot include any additional amounts over the amount of the charges for services provided, billed at the provider's usual and customary rates. Except in the event of fraud by the injured party, the lienholder may only assign to a collection agency or debt collector an amount equal to the total amount actually paid to healthcare providers. A healthcare provider may assign a lien to another person or entity. The fact of the assignment, its terms, and the amount paid by the assignee is not discoverable or admissible as evidence in any third-party or first-party action, except in an action under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code". The provisions of the bill do not apply to hospital liens. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
The bill requires the department of public health and environment (department) to: Develop a standardized form and submission process to claim a medical exemption to an immunization; and Develop a standardized form and submission process to claim a religious or personal belief exemption to an immunization. The department is: Required to develop educational materials regarding immunizations to distribute to health care providers and facilities; Required to present immunization exemption information during its annual SMART Act hearing; and Required to use the existing immunization tracking system. The state board of health is: Required to promulgate rules adopting the medical exemption recommendations from the advisory committee on immunization practices of the centers for disease control and prevention in the federal department of health and human services, or any successor entity (ACIP); Required to promulgate rules adopting the the hepatitis A, rotavirus, and meningococcal immunizations; and Allowed to promulgate rules establishing the timing by which schools, parents, legal guardians, and students must demonstrate compliance with immunization requirements. Concerning the immunization tracking system, the bill: Requires a licensed physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse to inform a parent or legal guardian who is claiming a medical exemption that he or she may choose to exclude the student's immunization information from the immunization tracking system before the student's immunization data is sent to the immunization tracking system; Requires the department or local or county, district, or municipal public health agency to inform a parent, legal guardian, or student who is claiming a religious or personal belief exemption that he or she may choose to exclude the student's immunization information from the immunization tracking system before the student's immunization data is sent to the immunization tracking system; and Requires a practitioner who is a licensed physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice nurse to submit immunization and medical exemption data to the immunization tracking system. However, the practitioner is not subject to a regulatory sanction for noncompliance.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
The federal "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act", which became law in December 2017, added distributions for elementary or secondary school expenses as qualified distributions from a qualified state tuition program, also known as a 529 account, thereby allowing, on the federal level, income tax-free distributions for elementary and secondary school expenses in addition to already authorized income tax-free distributions for higher education expenses. The bill amends Colorado law to ensure that a taxpayer may not claim a deduction for contributions to qualified state tuition programs for elementary or secondary school expenses and clarifies that such expenses are not qualified distributions. The bill also requires Colleginvest to provide the department of revenue with available information related to distributions that are not used to pay qualified higher education expenses. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
Section 1 of the bill authorizes payments from an existing fund for administrative expenses of the public utilities commission (PUC) to defray the costs incurred by the department of public health and environment and any other state agencies in reviewing clean energy plans submitted under section 3 of the bill. Section 2 repeals laws that allow an electric utility to own, as rate-based property, new eligible energy resources without competitive bidding if certain conditions are satisfied. Section 3 supplements the existing renewable energy standards statute by establishing targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by utilities serving more than 500,000 customers, with the opportunity for other utilities to opt in. The targets are: By 2030, an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emission levels compared to 2005 levels; and For 2050 and thereafter, a goal of a 100% reduction in carbon dioxide emission levels. Section 3 also directs qualifying retail utilities to submit plans to the PUC as part of their ongoing resource acquisition planning process to address the clean energy targets. A clean energy plan must detail the actions and investments the utility intends to undertake, including specifying the new resources and infrastructure proposed to be used; the anticipated effects of the plan on the safety, reliability, and resilience of the overall electric system; the methods proposed for measuring carbon dioxide reductions; and the costs of implementation, which must be reasonable. The approval process also includes participation by the division of administration within the department of public health and environment regarding the measurement of carbon dioxide emission reductions and predictions as to whether the clean energy plan will achieve the desired reductions. A utility implementing a clean energy plan may recover its costs of implementation through rates, as approved by the PUC, and own any generating resources and infrastructure necessary to effectuate the plan. The utility is required to use a competitive bidding process to fill the cumulative resource need identified in its next electric resource plan that includes a clean energy plan filed after January 1, 2020. Each utility that receives approval of a clean energy plan is required to report to the governor, the general assembly, the PUC, and the air quality control commission on a list of matters, including its progress in implementing the plan and in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. To address Colorado's relative lack of seamless integration into the national energy grid, the PUC is directed to open an investigatory proceeding to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with regional transmission organizations, energy imbalance markets, joint tariffs, and power pools. Section 4 strengthens an existing provision requiring electric resource acquisition decisions to be made with consideration of "best value" employment metrics and the use of Colorado labor by requiring a utility to obtain and provide to the PUC relevant documentation on these topics, including the availability of apprenticeship programs registered with the United States department of labor. Section 5 establishes a qualified right for a retail electric utility customer to generate, consume, store, and export to the grid any electricity produced from customer-sited renewable sources, also known as distributed generation. Section 6 adopts the "Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act" under which electric utilities may finance the retirement of fossil-fuel-powered generation facilities and the transition to renewable energy sources by issuing low-cost corporate securities. These securities, known as Colorado energy impact bonds or "CO-EI bonds," are subject to PUC approval and required to have a rating of at least AA or AA2, must have a scheduled maturity date of 32 years or less, and are repayable through rates as part of the costs of implementing a clean energy plan.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
The bill refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2019 statewide election for the following tax increases: To increase the cigarette tax by 8.75 cents per cigarette; To increase the tobacco products tax by 22% of the manufacturer's list price; and To create a tax on nicotine products that is equal to 62% of the manufacturer's list price, which is the same total tax as the tax levied on tobacco products with the increase. If voters approve the tax, then the state will have the authority to impose these taxes and retain and spend the revenue as a voter-approved revenue change, and the remainder of the bill takes effect upon approval. The new nicotine products tax is modeled after the tobacco products tax. Nicotine products are products that contain nicotine and that are ingested into the body, which at this time is typically through vaping with an electronic cigarette. The excise tax is levied on the sale, use, consumption, handling, or distribution of all nicotine products in the state, and it is imposed on a distributor at the time the product is brought into the state, made here, or shipped or transported to retailers in the state. If a distributor fails to pay the tax, then any person or entity in possession of the nicotine products is liable for the tax. To be a distributor of nicotine products, a person must have a license. The license costs $10 per year and requires that the distributor must have a tax license and comply with all of the laws relating to the collection of the tax. Distributors are required to file quarterly returns, and the department of revenue (department) may require electronic fund transfers of the taxes paid. Licensees are required to maintain certain records, and retailers are likewise required to maintain records about nicotine products it purchases from a licensed distributor. The department may share the names and addresses of persons who purchased nicotine products for resale with the department of public health and environment and county and district public health agencies. To account for the increased taxes per cigarette, the discount percentage on cigarette stamps that a cigarette wholesaler may retain for its collection costs is reduced from 4% to .4% and the similar discount for a tobacco products distributor is reduced from 3.33% to 1.6%. A nicotine products distributor will be permitted to retain 1.1% of the taxes collected. In general, 50% of the revenue from the new nicotine products tax and the additional cigarette and tobacco products taxes (new tax revenue) is allocated for purposes related to health care, and 50% is allocated for preschool programs and expanded learning opportunities. Specifically, the new tax revenue is deposited in the old age pension fund and then credited to the general fund in accordance with the state constitution. The state treasurer is then required to transfer 50% of the new tax revenue from the general fund to the behavioral health and health care affordability and accessibility cash fund (behavioral health fund). The state treasurer is further required to transfer money in the behavioral health fund as follows: 19%, up to $30 million, to the tobacco education programs fund, which is primarily used for tobacco education, prevention, and cessation programs, which are expanded to include nicotine products; and 9.5%, up to $15 million, to offset the decreased revenue from the existing taxes that may result from the voter-approved rate increases, and of this amount, 73% is further allocated to the tobacco tax cash fund and 27% to the general fund. For fiscal years that begin prior to July 1, 2023, the general assembly is required to appropriate the remainder of the money in the behavioral health fund as follows: 66% to make health care more affordable and accessible; and 34% to improve the provision of behavioral health services for children and youth. Thereafter, the specific allocation no longer applies and the only limitation on appropriating for these 2 purposes is that each purpose must receive at least 20% of the fund remainder. The state treasurer is required to transfer the other 50% of the new tax revenue to the newly created preschool programs cash fund, from which money is appropriated to the department of education to improve the availability, affordability, and quality of voluntary early childhood education, and to the Colorado expanded learning opportunities cash fund, from which money is used for the Colorado expanded learning opportunities program. The allocation of the new tax revenue between the 2 funds is as follows: For the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, 35% to the preschool programs cash fund and 15% to the Colorado expanded learning opportunities cash fund; For the 2021-22 fiscal year, 30% to the preschool programs cash fund and 20% to the Colorado expanded learning opportunities cash fund; and For the 2022-23 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, 27.5% to the preschool programs cash fund and 22.5% to the Colorado expanded learning opportunities cash fund. The state auditor is required to annually conduct a financial audit of the use of the new tax revenue. The bill also creates the Colorado expanded learning opportunities program, which is established to allow eligible students to participate in out-of-school learning experiences. The Colorado expanded learning opportunities agency, which is an independent agency in the department of education, through an administering nonprofit, pays providers for eligible students to participate in such experiences. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
Current law requires an individual who wishes to have a document notarized to appear personally before the notary public. The bill authorizes notaries public to perform a notarial act on behalf of an individual who is not in the notary's physical presence, but only with respect to an electronic document. To perform a "remote notarization", a notary must use an electronic system that conforms to standards established by rules of the secretary of state, including using real-time audio-video communication. The bill establishes the standards that a notary must comply with to have satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual seeking the remote notarization. A notary and the operator of a remote notarization system are prohibited from using personal information collected during a remote notarization for any purpose other than completing the notarial act or as necessary to effect, administer, enforce, service, or process the notarized document for its intended purpose. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
The bill creates the health and wellness through comprehensive quality physical education instruction pilot program (pilot program) in the department of education (department). The purpose of the pilot program is to allow a school or a school district, as defined in the bill, serving any of grades K-8, to apply for grant money to implement a pilot program in a school or in schools of a school district. The pilot program must be implemented in all K-8 grades in the school or school district. Subject to available appropriations, pilot program grants are for 3 academic years and are awarded to up to 15 eligible schools or school districts for a total of not more than $3 million awarded annually, including department administrative expenses. Pilot program grants are awarded in February prior to the first academic year to allow grantees to create a 3-year plan for the use of the grant money. The bill includes application deadlines and criteria for the award of grants. The department will review grant applications and make recommendations to the state board of education for the award of the pilot program grants. Grant money awarded through the pilot program can be used only to implement comprehensive quality physical education instruction, as described in the bill. The bill lists the components that must be included in a comprehensive quality physical education instruction program. The department shall contract with a program evaluator for purposes of completing a program evaluation of the pilot program at the end of the 3-year grant period. The bill lists program evaluation criteria. First priority shall be given to a vendor proposal from a state-supported institution of higher education that has the expertise necessary to assess the impact of the pilot program. The bill requires annual reporting to the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the bill requires the general assembly to appropriate $1.1 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department to implement the pilot program. Unspent appropriations are further appropriated for the remainder of the pilot program to implement the pilot program. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More
