Section 2 of the bill defines 'health care prescriber board' to mean the following boards in the department of regulatory agencies: The Colorado podiatry board; the Colorado dental board; the Colorado medical board; the state board of nursing; the state board of optometry; and the state board of veterinary medicine. Section 2 also: Requires each health care prescriber board to: Within 15 days after receipt of a complaint, provide the complainant with a written notice providing contact information for the board and a summary of the regulatory and statutory procedures, timelines, and complainant and respondent rights that apply to the processing and resolution of complaints, including, if the complainant is the patient of the licensee who is the subject of the complaint, a notice of the patient's right to receive from the licensee a copy of his or her patient records; Provide the complainant, within 30 days after the action, with written notice of the action taken by the board if an investigation was initiated by a complaint and the board took public formal action regarding the alleged misconduct; Notify the complainant that the complaint remains pending, subject to applicable restrictions in the board's governing law, if a complaint is still pending after 6 months; and Update its website at least monthly to list the status of each licensee subject to the applicable board's governing law; Requires the licensee to provide the board with the patient records within 30 days after the board requests the records; and Requires the department to include in its annual SMART act presentation a performance report prepared by the division of professions and occupations regarding changes to the boards' processes and procedures. Section 1 requires health insurance companies to update their provider directories at least monthly, based on information on the department's health care prescriber boards' websites, to remove a provider whose license has been suspended or revoked.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the aviation special license plate. In addition to the standard motor vehicle fees, the plate requires 2 one-time fees of $25. One of the fees is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other to the licensing services cash fund. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill specifies that, if a student enrolled in kindergarten or one of grades one through 3 is an English language learner, the school district or charter school in which the student is enrolled will decide whether the student takes the reading assessments in English or in the student's native language if there is an approved assessment available in the student's native language. If the student takes the assessments in his or her native language, the school district or charter school may also administer the assessments in English if requested by the student's parent. If a student who is an English language learner takes the reading assessments in his or her native language, the school district or charter school must determine the level of English proficiency at which the student will take the reading assessments in English and communicate that proficiency level to the student's parent. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The secretary of state currently charges uniform commercial code (UCC) filing fees. Of this fee, $3 is transferred for deposit in the Colorado identity theft and financial fraud cash fund to support activities of the Colorado fraud investigators unit. Legislation enacted in 2014 increased the portion of the UCC filing fee that is transferred to the Colorado identity theft and financial fraud cash fund from $3 to $4, which increase is scheduled to repeal in 2017. The bill extends the scheduled repeal date for the increased fee, and for an associated report to the general assembly, until 2018. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Section 1 of the bill amends the definition of 'capital construction' used for purposes of the 'Building Excellent Schools Today Act' (BEST) to include 'technology', as defined in section 3. Section 3 defines the term 'technology' for purposes of BEST to include hardware, devices, or equipment necessary for individual student learning and classroom instruction, including access to electronic instructional materials, or necessary for professional use by a classroom teacher. Section 2 incorporates the new definition of 'technology' into the existing requirement that the BEST board's public school facility capital construction guidelines address technology. Section 3 also clarifies that the public school capital construction assistance board (BEST board) may provide financial assistance to public schools in the form of technology grants and requires the BEST board to annually notify potential applicants for financial assistance that it will accept applications for technology grants. Section 4 requires the project lists in the BEST board's annual report to include sublists of technology projects for which financial assistance has been awarded or applied for and denied.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill eliminates certain mandatory conditions of parole while preserving the discretion of the state board of parole (board) and parole officers to impose such conditions. Specifically, the bill removes the requirement that: The board fix the manner and time of payment of restitution as a condition of every parole; Every parolee obtain the knowledge and consent of his or her community parole officer before changing residence, instead requiring a parolee to notify his or her parole officer before any change of residence; Every parolee submit to urinalysis or other drug tests; Every parolee not associate with any other person on parole, on probation, or with a criminal record or with any inmate of a correctional facility without the permission of his or her community parole officer; and The board require every parolee at the parolee's own expense to submit to random chemical testing of a biological substance sample from the parolee to determine the presence of drugs or alcohol.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill amends provisions related to the continued collection of fees related to wholesale food manufacturing and storage. Specifically, the bill: Establishes an across-the-board annual application fee of $100; Specifies that a nonprofit facility, grain storage facility, brewery, brew pub, winery, or distiller of spirituous liquors is required to pay only the annual $100 application fee; Provides that wholesale food manufacturers or storage facilities with gross annual sales of less than $150,000 are required to pay the annual $100 application fee plus an additional registration fee of $60; Provides that wholesale food manufacturers or storage facilities with gross annual sales of $150,000 or more are required to pay the annual $100 application fee plus an additional registration fee of $300; and Increases the fee for a certificate of free sale from the existing $128 to $150. The bill also removes the repeal date from statute. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Under existing law, each local education provider must administer the state assessments in math and English language arts to ninth-grade students and must administer a state-selected assessment to tenth-grade students. The bill repeals the requirement to administer the state assessment to ninth-grade students. Instead, local education providers must administer a state-selected ninth-grade assessment that is aligned with the ninth-grade content standards and the assessment administered to tenth-grade students. The department of education must ensure that, under the testing schedule, ninth-grade students take the state-selected assessment in the spring semester. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Current law provides that the department of human services low-income energy assistance fund, the energy outreach Colorado low-income energy assistance fund, and the Colorado energy office low-income energy assistance fund receive conditional funding from the severance tax operational fund through the state fiscal year commencing July 1, 2018. The bill extends the conditional funding through the state fiscal year commencing July 1, 2023. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Under current law, a defendant may petition a court to have a municipal offense or petty offense sealed if the person was not charged or convicted of another crime within 3 years after the discharge of the municipal or petty offense. The bill allows sealing of a municipal offense that did not involve domestic violence or a petty offense if the person had a single nonfelony conviction that did not involve domestic violence, unlawful sexual behavior, or child abuse during that 3-year period and no other convictions for 10 years after the subsequent offense. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the criminal offense of posting a private image by a juvenile. The offense can be committed in 2 ways. The first way is if a juvenile, through digital or electronic means, knowingly distributes, displays, or publishes to the view of another person a sexually explicit image of a person other than himself or herself who is at least 14 years of age or is less than 4 years younger than the juvenile: Without the depicted person's permission; or When the recipient did not solicit or request to be supplied with the image and suffered emotional distress; or When the juvenile knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private. The second way is if the juvenile knowingly distributes, displays, or publishes, to the view of another person who is at least 14 years of age or is less than 4 years younger than the juvenile, a sexually explicit image of himself or herself when the recipient did not solicit or request to be supplied with the image and suffered emotional distress. The offense is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that it is a class 1 misdemeanor if: The juvenile committed the offense with the intent to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or otherwise cause emotional distress to the depicted person; or The juvenile had previously posted a private image and completed a diversion program or education program for the act pursuant to the provisions of the bill or had a prior adjudication for posting a private image by a juvenile; or The juvenile distributed, displayed, or published 3 or more images that depicted 3 or more separate and distinct persons. The bill creates the criminal offense of possessing a private image by a juvenile that prohibits a juvenile, through digital or electronic means, from knowingly possessing a sexually explicit image of another person who is at least 14 years of age or is less than 4 years younger than the juvenile without the depicted person's permission. It is not an offense if the juvenile: Took reasonable steps to either destroy or delete the image within 72 hours after initially viewing the image; or Reported the initial viewing of such image to law enforcement or a school resource officer within 72 hours after initially viewing the image. The offense is a petty offense; except that it is a class 2 misdemeanor if the unsolicited possessor of the image possessed 10 or more separate images that depicted 3 or more separate and distinct persons. The bill creates a civil infraction of exchange of a private image by a juvenile if a juvenile, through digital or electronic means: Knowingly sends a sexually explicit image or images of himself or herself to another person who is at least 14 years of age or is less than 4 years younger than the juvenile, and the image or images depict only the sender and no other person and the sender reasonably believed that the recipient had solicited or otherwise agreed to the transmittal of the image or images; or Knowingly possesses a sexually explicit image or images of another person who is at least 14 years of age or is less than 4 years younger than the juvenile, and the image or images depict only the sender and no other person and the juvenile reasonably believed that the depicted person had transmitted the image or images or otherwise agreed to the transmittal of the image or images. The civil infraction can be punished by participation in a program designed by the school safety resource center or other appropriate program addressing the risks and consequences of exchanging a sexually explicit image of a juvenile or a fine of up to $50, which may be waived by the court upon a showing of indigency. If a juvenile's conduct is limited to the elements of the petty offense of possession of a private image by a juvenile or limited to the elements of the civil infraction of exchange of a private image by a juvenile, then the juvenile cannot be charged with sexual exploitation of a child. If a juvenile is charged with posting a private image by a juvenile, he or she cannot be charged with sexual exploitation of a child. The bill allows a juvenile to petition the court to not impose sex offender registration if he or she is charged with sexual exploitation of a child and the juvenile's conduct satisfies posting a private image by a juvenile or possession of a private image by a juvenile. It is an affirmative defense to the two criminal offenses and the civil infraction if a juvenile is coerced, threatened, or intimated into distributing, displaying, publishing, possessing, or exchanging a sexually explicit image of a person under 18 years of age. The court must order the records of any of the 2 criminal offenses or civil infraction expunged within 42 days of completion of the sentence or program. The bill requires the school safety resource center to make available a sexting curriculum for school districts to use. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill updates language regarding the use of money from the high cost support mechanism (HCSM) for broadband deployment grant applications approved by the broadband deployment board to have money transferred directly from the HCSM to approved broadband deployment grant applicants. The public utilities commission is directed to determine the amount of HCSM money available for broadband deployment and related administrative costs, and the bill requires that amount to be held in a separate account. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
