The act amends employment discrimination laws, commonly referred to as the "Colorado Anti-discrimination Act" or "CADA", as follows: With regard to the jurisdiction of the Colorado civil rights commission (commission) over discrimination complaints, instead of allowing the commission 270 days to notice a hearing on the complaint and the ability to grant the parties an extension of up to an additional 180 days, allows the commission a total of 450 days to notice a hearing on the complaint or lose jurisdiction over the complaint; Expands the definition of "employee" to include individuals in domestic service and specifies that it is not a discriminatory or an unfair employment practice with respect to sex for a person to consider sex when hiring an employee to engage in child-care-related domestic services; Extends the time limit to file a charge with the commission from 6 months to 300 days after the alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice occurred; and Repeals the prohibition, applicable in age discrimination cases only, against the relief and recovery of certain damages so that the remedies available in employment discrimination claims are consistent, regardless of the type of discrimination alleged. The act appropriates $113,548 from the general fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the civil rights division to implement the act, with $98,718 allocated for personal services and $14,830 for operating expenses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Section 5 of the act prohibits a person, on or after January 1, 2024, from tampering with a motor vehicle's emission control system, conveying or offering to convey a motor vehicle with an emission control system that has been tampered with, or operating a motor vehicle with an emission control system that has been tampered with (anti-tampering provisions). Section 5 also: On and after July 1, 2025, provides a "safe harbor" from enforcement of the anti-tampering provisions for a period up to one year for a person that self-reports noncompliance with the anti-tampering provisions; Authorizes the air quality control commission to adopt rules as necessary to implement the anti-tampering provisions; Exempts motorcycles from the anti-tampering provisions; and Authorizes the department of public health and environment, on or before January 1, 2025, and on or before January 1 of each year thereafter, to report to the legislative committees that hear energy matters a summary of the complaints filed, enforcement actions taken, and penalties assessed for violations of the anti-tampering provisions. Section 1 authorizes the attorney general to bring a civil action to enforce the anti-tampering provisions, and sections 3 and 4 establish penalties for the anti-tampering provisions. Section 3 requires penalties collected to be credited to the catalytic converter identification and theft prevention grant program cash fund (fund), which fund is created in section 2 and is to be used for the catalytic converter identification and theft prevention grant program created in House Bill 22-1217, concerning measures to prevent catalytic converter theft, if that bill becomes law. Sections 2 and 3 take effect only if House Bill 22-1217 becomes law. Alternatively, if House Bill 22-1217 does not become law, section 4 takes effect and requires penalties collected to be credited to the AIR account in the highway users tax fund for the administration of the automobile inspection and readjustment program. Section 6 makes nonsubstantive changes to the definition of "motor vehicle". Section 7 extends the period during which a motor vehicle dealer remains liable to a consumer for a recently purchased motor vehicle's compliance with emissions standards from 3 business days after purchase to 5 business days after purchase. Section 8 authorizes the department of revenue to deny, suspend, or revoke a motor vehicle dealer's, wholesale motor vehicle auction dealer's, wholesaler's, buyer agent's, or used motor vehicle dealer's license for selling to a retail customer a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a properly functioning emission control system. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
No later than June 30, 2023, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department), in conjunction with the department of public health and environment, to develop a regulatory plan to establish formal oversight requirements for the program of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE). No later than March 1, 2024, the act requires the state department to establish, administer, and enforce minimum regulatory standards and rules for the PACE program. The act requires the state department to continually analyze the reimbursement methodology for PACE entities and provide an update to specified committees of the general assembly of any methodology requirements that incorporate encounter data and any associated costs to the state department in overseeing PACE entities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the division of insurance (division), on or before November 1, 2022, to retain by contract one or more entities that have experience in actuarial reviews, health-care policy, and health equity (contractors) for the purpose of performing actuarial reviews of legislative proposals that may impose a new health benefit coverage mandate on health benefit plans or reduce or eliminate coverage mandated under health benefit plans. The contractors, under the direction of the division, shall conduct an actuarial review of up to 6 such legislative proposals for each regular legislative session as follows: Up to 2 members of the majority party of the house of representatives may submit a request for an actuarial review; One member of the minority party of the house of representatives may submit up to one request for an actuarial review; Up to two members of the majority party of the senate may submit a request for an actuarial review; and One member of the minority party of the senate may submit up to one request for an actuarial review. Each actuarial review performed by the contractors must consider the predicted effects of the legislative proposal during the 5 and 10 years immediately following the effective date of the proposed legislation, or during another time period following the effective date if such consideration is more actuarially feasible, including specifically described considerations. A request for an actuarial review and the final report resulting from such a request must be treated as confidential except by the member of the general assembly who made the request until the legislative proposal that is the subject of the actuarial review is introduced in the regular legislative session following the submission of the request for the actuarial review or, if no such legislative proposal is introduced, until after the end of the legislative session following the submission of the request. The division may not engage any contractor to perform an actuarial review unless the division determines that there are adequate resources available within existing appropriations to compensate the contractor for the actuarial review. In preparing a fiscal note for any legislative proposal that may impose a new health benefit mandate on health benefit plans, the legislative service agency charged with preparing the fiscal note shall include a statement that a report has been prepared by the contractors for the legislative proposal and an indication of how the report may be obtained in its entirety. The act is repealed, effective November 1, 2027. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $100,000 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance as follows: $50,000 for personal services; and $50,000 for operating expenses.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a pharmacy located within a hospice inpatient unit to register as a specialized prescription drug outlet for the purposes of providing drugs, devices, and pharmacist services to the residents of the hospice inpatient unit. $53,611 is appropriated from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of professions and occupations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Starting October 1, 2022, and by each March 1 thereafter, the act requires any person that is not authorized to engage in the business of insurance in this state but that offers or intends to offer a plan or arrangement to facilitate payment or reimbursement of health-care costs or services for Colorado residents to annually submit to the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) specified information and a certification that the information is accurate and complies with the requirements of the act. The submission must include information about the operation of the plan or arrangement in this state in the immediately preceding calendar year, including: The number of participants in the plan or arrangement and, if the person offers a plan or arrangement in other states, the total number of participants nationally; Any contracts the person has entered into with providers that provide health-care services to plan or arrangement participants; The total amount of fees, dues, or other payments collected from participants and the percentage of fees, dues, or other payments that the person retained; The total dollar amount of requests for reimbursement of health-care services submitted by participants or providers, the total dollar amount of requests for reimbursement that were determined to qualify for reimbursement, and the total dollar amount of requests for reimbursement that were denied; The total amount of payments made to providers or to reimburse participants for health-care services provided or received and the total amount of requests determined to qualify for reimbursement but not yet reimbursed as of the end of the preceding calendar year; The estimated number of participants the person anticipates in the next calendar year; The counties in which the person offers or intends to offer a plan or arrangement and any other states in which the person offers a plan or arrangement; A list of third parties associated with, or offering or enrolling participants in a plan or arrangement on behalf of, the person and a detailed accounting of commissions or other remuneration paid to a third party for services provided in promoting or administering the plan or arrangement; The total number of insurance brokers that are associated with or assist the person in offering or enrolling participants in the plan or arrangement, the total number of participants enrolled in the plan or arrangement through a broker, copies of training materials provided to a broker, and a detailed accounting of commissions or other remuneration paid to a producer for marketing, promoting, and enrolling participants in a plan or arrangement; and Contact information for an individual serving as the person's contact person in this state, a list of the person's officers and directors, and the person's organizational chart. Within 45 days after receipt, the commissioner is to determine whether a submission by a person is complete. Each year, the commissioner is to compile a report summarizing the information submitted by persons and post the report on the division of insurance (division) website. The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules to implement the act. If the commissioner determines that a person has failed to comply with the submission requirements, the commissioner must notify the person of the deficiency and allow the person 30 days to correct the deficiency. If a person fails to timely correct the deficiency, the commissioner may impose a fine not to exceed $5,000 per day, and if the person fails to correct the deficiency within 30 days after the initial fine is imposed, the commissioner may issue an emergency cease-and-desist order against the person. The act appropriates $84,568 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies to implement the act as follows: $39,097 for use by the division for personal services; $6,875 for use by the division for operating expenses; $19,714 for legal services, which amount is reappropriated to the department of law to provide the legal services; and $18,882 for information technology services, which amount is reappropriated to the office of information technology in the office of the governor to provide information technology services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department), as specified in the department's sunset review of the state board of optometry (board), with modifications, by: Continuing the board and the regulation of optometry for 11 years, until September 1, 2033; Adding certain treatments and procedures to the scope of the practice of optometry; Removing the exemption for optometrists from the requirement to notify the board in the event that the optometrist is unable to treat patients with reasonable skill and safety; Removing references to the "National Board of Examiners in Optometry" and clarifying that the board may designate any national standardized examination that tests the applicant's ability to practice optometry as a requirement for licensure; and Requiring an optometrist licensed by the board to complete certain education, examination, and reporting requirements to perform laser procedures or treat ocular adnexa.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires supplemental health-care staffing agencies (staffing agencies) to complete initial and annual certification with the division of unemployment insurance in the department of labor and employment (department) prior to operating the staffing agency. A staffing agency that fails to comply with the certification requirements commits a civil infraction and may be assessed fines by the department. On or before September 1 of each year, the department of public health and environment and the department of health care policy and financing shall provide the department with a list of all known names of and the contact information for staffing agencies operating in the state. No later than October 1, 2022, each staffing agency shall begin maintaining detailed data necessary for required reporting to the department that includes, in part: A detailed listing of the average amount charged during each quarter of the reporting period to a health-care facility for each category of health-care worker providing services to the health-care facility; and A detailed listing of the average amount paid during each quarter of the reporting period to health-care workers for their services for each category of health-care worker providing services. Commencing April 30, 2023, each staffing agency shall submit biannual reports to the department with the required data. The act includes fines for staffing agencies that submit late or noncompliant biannual reports. The department shall provide copies of the staffing agencies' biannual reports to the department of public health and environment and to the department of health care policy and financing for purposes of analyzing the information provided by the staffing agencies and determining the need for regulation of staffing agencies. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year: $427,591 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of labor and employment for use by the division of labor standards and statistics to implement the act. The appropriation is based on an assumption that the division will require an additional 2.0 FTE; $39,358 is appropriated to the department of public health and environment for use by the health facilities and emergency medical services division for administration and operations and to purchase information technology services. The appropriation is based on an assumption that the division will require an additional 0.3 FTE. $15,545 is appropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services to the department of public health and environment. This appropriation is from reappropriated funds received from the department of public health and environment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a state sales and use tax exemption commencing January 1, 2023, for all sales, storage, use, and consumption of incontinence products and diapers and period products. The act further provides that counties and municipalities may choose to adopt either or both exemptions by express inclusion in their sales and use tax ordinance or resolution. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act increases election security measures for the secretary of state's office, election officials, candidates for elective office, and voters. Section 4 of the act requires the district court and the supreme court, if applicable, to expedite scheduling and the issuance of any orders in connection with an enforcement action brought by the attorney general or the secretary of state to enforce the provisions of the election code to ensure that a final ruling is made within specified periods. Section 5 requires a designated election official for a county, a coordinated election official for a county, and employees in the election division of the department of state (department), at the discretion of the secretary of state, to complete a certification program for election officials provided by the secretary of state (certification program). The secretary of state is strongly encouraged to complete the certification program. Employees, designated election officials, and coordinated election officials are required to complete the certification program within a specified period and may not serve as the designated election official for a county or the coordinated election official for a county without completing the certification program. Section 6 requires that the certification program curriculum include courses in voter registration and list maintenance, accessibility, coordinated elections, mail ballot and in-person voting processes, voting systems testing, risk-limiting audits, and canvass. Section 7 specifies that a person is ineligible to serve as a designated election official for a county or as a coordinated election official if the person has been convicted of an election offense or of committing or conspiring to commit sedition, insurrection, treason, conspiracy to overthrow the government, or another similar federal offense. Section 8 requires the secretary of state to invoice any county that uses a voting system in an instant runoff voting election for its share of the cost as a proportion of the number of registered active voters in all participating municipalities in that county compared to the total number of registered active voters in all participating municipalities in the state as determined by the secretary of state. Section 9 modifies the prohibition for certain elected officials or candidates for elective office from preparing, maintaining, or repairing any voting equipment or device that is to be used in an election to apply to any contact with the voting equipment or device, rather than just physical contact. In a political subdivision with a population of 100,000 or more, section 9 also prohibits any elected official, any candidate for elective office, and the secretary of state from having key card access to or being present in a room with components of a voting system without being accompanied by one or more persons with authorized access. Section 10 requires that for elections conducted under the "Uniform Election Code of 1992", the governing body of any political subdivision is required to adopt an electronic or electromechanical voting system to be used for tabulating votes at all elections held by the political subdivision. This requirement does not apply to counties with fewer than 1,000 active electors at the date of the last general election. Section 11 prohibits a county from creating, permitting any person to create, or disclosing to any person an image of the hard drive of any voting system component without the express written permission of the department. Section 12 specifies that if a software or hardware malfunction makes it impossible to count all or a part of the ballots with electronic vote-tabulating equipment, the secretary of state, after consultation with the designated election official, may permit the designated election official to direct that such ballots be counted manually. Section 13 requires a designated election official to keep all components of a voting system in a location where entry is controlled by use of a key card access system and that is under video security surveillance recording. The designated election official is required to ensure that records in connection with access to the location of the voting system and video recordings of the location are created and maintained for specified periods. Section 3 defines terms in connection with these requirements. Section 13 also directs the general assembly to appropriate the following amounts for the 2022-23 state fiscal year: One million dollars from the general fund to the department to administer a grant program, which is created by the act, to provide assistance to counties in complying with the security requirements of the act; and $117,000 from the department of state cash fund to the department to assist the state and counties with assessing potential risks to the proper administration of elections. In addition, section 13 requires the general assembly to make appropriations for the 2023-24 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter from the department of state cash fund to the department to assist the state and counties with assessing potential risks to the proper administration of elections. Section 14 states that if a majority of a canvass board in a county is unable to or does not certify the abstract of votes for any reason by the applicable deadline, the secretary of state is required to review the noncertified abstract of votes and other evidence provided by the canvass board. If, after review, the secretary of state determines that the noncertified abstract of votes is sufficiently explicit in showing how many votes were cast for each candidate, ballot question, or ballot issue, the secretary of state is required to certify the results for the county and proceed to certifying state results. Section 15 specifies that in addition to complying with certain existing rules of the secretary of state when carrying out the duties of the secretary of state, a person is also required to comply with other policies of the secretary of state, including the acceptable use policy for the statewide voter registration system, when carrying out such duties. Section 15 also specifies that any person who willfully interferes with a person in notifying or obstructs a person from notifying the department of a potential violation or retaliates against a person for providing such notice is subject to current penalties for election offenses. Section 16 prohibits a person from accessing electronic voting equipment or an election-night reporting system without authorization and specifies that a person who accesses such equipment or system is guilty of a class 5 felony. Section 16 also specifies that an authorized person who knowingly publishes or causes to be published passwords or other confidential information relating to a voting system will immediately have their authorized access revoked and is guilty of a class 5 felony. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)