Currently, the board of trustees (board) of the public employees' retirement association (PERA) is composed of the following 15 trustees: The state treasurer; 3 elected members of the state division; 4 elected members of the school division; One elected member of the local government division; One elected member of the judicial division; 2 elected retirees; and 3 trustees appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate who are not PERA members or retirees and who are experts in certain fields. There is also one ex officio trustee from the Denver public schools division. The bill modifies the composition of the board by: Eliminating one elected member trustee position from the state division; Eliminating 3 elected member trustee positions from the school division; Requiring both elected members from the state division and the members from the school division, the local government division, and the judicial division to be at least 20 years from retirement eligibility; and Adding 4 more trustees appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate who are not PERA members or retirees and who are experts in certain fields to replace the eliminated elected member trustee positions. The additional appointed trustees must have significant experience and competence in investment management, finance, banking, economics, accounting, pension administration, or actuarial analysis. The bill does not change the inclusion on the board of the state treasurer, the elected members from the local government division and the judicial division, or the ex officio trustee from the Denver public schools division. In addition, PERA's nonstatutory governance manual permits a trustee of the board to make reasonable requests for information from PERA when the information is necessary for the purposes of fulfilling the trustee's duties as a member of the board. The governance manual also includes limitations on the nature of requests for information that a trustee can make. The bill authorizes a trustee, in his or her capacity as a member of the board and in furtherance of his or her fiduciary duties and obligations to the members and benefit recipients of PERA, to review all records or information within the custody and control of PERA. Upon request of a trustee, the executive director of PERA or the board is required to provide access to any records or information requested. Neither the executive director nor the board may deny a trustee's request for records or information based on the expenditure of staff time or the need to use outside resources to fill the request, or any other reason. A trustee is prohibited from using any records or information provided for personal use and PERA is required to keep certain information confidential when providing requested records or information to a trustee. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill requires hospitals, other than critical access hospitals, that are exempt from state or local taxes to report information about the tax benefits they receive and the community benefits they provide. The bill creates a hospital community benefits advisory council within the department of health care policy and financing to accept and analyze hospital reports. The executive director of the department is required to adopt rules, in consultation with the advisory council, specifying when hospitals are to submit the reports, the form and manner of reporting the required data, the categories of community benefits they provide and the services that constitute a community benefit, and related matters. Upon analyzing hospital data, the advisory council is to: Make recommendations to the executive director regarding any modifications needed to the hospital reporting requirements as specified in rules; and Provide annual reports to specified legislative committees regarding the hospital data and any legislative recommendations. The advisory council and hospital reporting requirements are subject to sunset review in 2021, with repeal of the advisory council and hospital reporting requirements scheduled for September 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill enacts the 'Regulatory Reform Act of 2018'. Section 2 of the bill makes legislative declarations about the importance of businesses with 100 or fewer employees to the Colorado economy and the difficulty these types of businesses have in complying with new administrative rules that are not known or understood by these businesses. Section 3 defines 'new rule' as any regulatory requirement in existence for less than one year prior to its enforcement by a state agency, and 'minor violation' as any violation of a new rule by a business with 100 or fewer employees where the violation is minor in nature, involving record-keeping or other issues that do not affect the safety of the public. Section 3 provides exceptions from the definition of 'minor violation' for certain types of rules. For the first minor violation of a new rule by a business of 100 or fewer employees, section 4 requires a state agency to issue a written warning and engage the business in educational outreach as to the methods of complying with the new rule. Section 3 requires state agencies to make information on new rules available and allows this information to be made available in electronic form.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill repeals the authorization for the state, a county, a city and county, or a municipality to use automated vehicle identification systems (including red light cameras) to identify violators of traffic regulations and issue citations based on photographic evidence and creates a prohibition on such activity. The bill repeals the authorization for the department of public safety to use an automated vehicle identification system to detect speeding violations within a highway maintenance, repair, or construction zone.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee. The bill: Specifies that hospitals may be used as clean syringe exchange sites ( section 1 ); Provides civil immunity for participants of a clean syringe exchange program ( section 1 ); Creates a supervised injection facility pilot program in the city and county of Denver and provides civil and criminal immunity for the approved supervised injection facility ( sections 2 through 4 ); Allows school districts and nonpublic schools to develop a policy by which schools are allowed 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 ( sections 5 through 11 ); and Requires the commission on criminal and juvenile justice to study certain topics related to sentencing for opioid-related offenses ( section 12 ).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
The bill encourages school districts, public schools, charter schools, and institute charter schools (schools) to develop and adopt a student suicide prevention policy (prevention policy) and to designate a staff person to serve as a student suicide prevention coordinator for the school. Each school may select the type of training and programs to use that best suit its individual needs, but schools are encouraged to include in prevention policies: A tiered training approach for school personnel; Life skills, social emotional learning, and resiliency training for students that is integrated throughout all areas of the curricula, to the extent possible; Training for students to effectively educate their peers about suicide risk factors, signs, and symptoms, as well as the importance of reaching out to a trusted adult when needed; Parent education about suicide; and The use of curricula and professional development materials, training, and other resources from the office of suicide prevention (OSP) in the department of public health and environment (department), the school safety resource center in the department of public safety, and the Colorado parent and teacher association. The student suicide prevention grant program for schools (grant program) is created in the department, to be administered by the department. The purpose of the grant program is to provide financial assistance to schools in the development and implementation of prevention policies. The grant program may authorize up to 25 grants per year, ranging between $5,000 and $10,000. The state board of health shall promulgate rules concerning the guidelines and criteria for the grant program. An advisory board is created in the OSP to work in collaboration with the department to make recommendations concerning guidelines and criteria, assist with reviewing grant applications, and make recommendations concerning grant awards. The student suicide prevention grant program for schools fund is created and authorized to accept appropriations from the general assembly, as well as gifts, grants, and donations. The department is required to post on its website available evidence-based best practices and other resources for persons involved in student suicide prevention. The bill makes conforming amendments that authorize the existing office of suicide prevention in statute. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
Current law prohibits driving a motor vehicle in a careless manner. The bill makes it a class 1 misdemeanor when this behavior injures or kills a vulnerable road user; requires a violator to attend a driver improvement school and perform community service; and subjects a violator to a restitution order and license suspension. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
Current law prohibits a health care provider who receives reimbursement through the state's medical assistance program (medicaid) from making referrals for medical services to an entity owned or controlled by the provider or an immediate family member of the provider. The bill extends this prohibition to include all health care providers, not only those who receive reimbursement through medicaid. Sections 2 and 3 of the bill make the prohibited referrals a deceptive trade practice under the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act', entitling any person harmed by the violator's conduct to damages, including treble damages in a case involving bad-faith conduct. In addition to these private remedies, the Colorado attorney general is authorized to seek injunctions and civil penalties, require reimbursement of charges collected, and refer violators for investigation of insurance fraud. Section 4 allows insurers to withhold payment of questionable charges pending investigation pursuant to the prompt payment statute.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill: Prohibits a pharmaceutical manufacturer or wholesaler from price gouging on sales of essential off-patent or generic drugs; Makes the practice of price gouging a deceptive trade practice under the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act'; and Requires the state board of pharmacy and the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing to report suspected price gouging to the attorney general. The attorney general is authorized to seek subpoenas and file lawsuits with the appropriate district courts.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
Section 1 of the bill authorizes a consumer to require a consumer reporting agency to obtain the consumer's consent: Before furnishing a consumer report concerning the consumer to a third party, except where the consumer reporting agency furnishes the consumer report in response to a court order; or To sell, provide a copy of, or otherwise furnish to a third party any information in the file that the consumer reporting agency has on the consumer. The consumer reporting agency must provide notice to the consumer of the consumer's right to require such consent. Section 2 requires a consumer reporting agency to develop procedures by which a consumer, whose consumer or personal information has been hacked, altered, or otherwise compromised as a result of a security breach that occurred on or after January 1, 2017, at the consumer reporting agency, may request that the consumer reporting agency, free of charge: Turn over to the consumer the consumer's file and any consumer reports that the consumer reporting agency has developed in relation to the consumer; Purge from its physical and electronic records any information in the consumer's file and any consumer reports developed in connection with the consumer; and No longer record and retain any information related to the consumer. Section 2 further provides that the procedures a consumer reporting agency develops would not apply to publicly available information in a consumer's file and may include procedures for handling third-party requests for credit scoring, creditworthiness, or other information related to the consumer. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
Counties are currently authorized, with prior voter approval, to levy a county lodging tax for the purpose of advertising and marketing local tourism. The bill eliminates the requirement that the lodging tax be used for advertising and marketing local tourism. If a county already has a lodging tax that is limited to advertising and marketing local tourism, then the county would need prior voter approval to begin using the lodging tax revenues for any other purpose. The requirement that election costs be reimbursed from a county lodging tax tourism fund, which will no longer be the sole depository of the county tourism tax revenue, is discontinued.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill makes failure to report child abuse or neglect one of the crimes in which the statute of limitations begins to run upon discovery of the criminal act or the delinquent act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
