Rep. Junie Joseph

Not later than September 1, 2023, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to initiate a stakeholder process to promote the expansion and utilization of doula services for pregnant and postpartum medicaid recipients (recipients). The act requires the state department to work with a maternity advisory committee to create a report detailing the findings and recommendations from the stakeholder process and submit the report to the general assembly during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing. Not later than July 1, 2024, the act requires the state department to seek federal authorization for medicaid providers to provide doula services for pregnant and postpartum people. The act creates a doula scholarship program to provide financial support to eligible individuals to pursue doula training and certification. To be eligible for a scholarship, individuals must agree to enroll as a doula provider and provide doula services to recipients. The act requires the division of insurance (division) to contract with an independent entity to study the potential health-care costs and benefits of providing coverage for doula services in health benefit plans. The act requires the division to submit a report to the general assembly during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing detailing the results and recommendations from the study during state fiscal year 2024-25. The act appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the state department for use by the other medical services division for the doula scholarship program. 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 to use for personal services. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 30, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law entitles a parent, guardian or legal custodian of, or entity with educational decision-making authority for (parent), a student with a disability, or a student who may be eligible for special education services, to file a state complaint in the event of a dispute with an administrative unit or a state-operated program (education provider). If the parent prevails in a state complaint decision, the education provider may file a due process complaint against the parent regarding the issues disputed in the state complaint. The act requires the department of education (department) to enter into a service agreement with a nonprofit organization (organization) to create and maintain a list of attorneys qualified to represent a parent in a due process complaint filed by an education provider in response to a state complaint filed by the parent in which the parent prevailed. The service agreement is for 5 years. A parent may contact the organization for an attorney appointment. The act requires the department to include information on attorney appointments in the procedural safeguard notice and in other materials distributed to parents describing due process complaint procedures. The act requires the organization to report to the department on or before September 1, 2024, and each September 1 through September 1, 2028, on the number of attorneys appointed to parents in due process complaint cases, the costs associated with each due process complaint case, and the amount of unspent money the organization retains at the end of each budget year. The act requires the department to annually provide the organization $20,000 to pay attorneys and to create, maintain, and administer the list of attorneys. The act appropriates $33,260 from the general fund to the department for legal representation for due process complaints. APPROVED by Governor May 25, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 25, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of public health and environment (department) to study the impacts, benefits, and feasibility of requiring diversion of organic materials from landfills. The organics diversion study (study) must: Incorporate and utilize data contained in the statewide organics management plan and other existing Colorado studies and research from other states; Explore how to leverage existing organics diversion projects in Colorado to inform implementation of broader organics diversion projects across the state; Evaluate the environmental benefits of diversion of organic materials from landfills; Review and identify the infrastructure needed to enable diversion of organic materials from landfills and create a plan for infrastructure development; Create actionable parameters for local governments to use to determine if, where, and what types of organics processing infrastructure is needed and basic toolkits to help local governments build the infrastructure; Outline and recommend policies and regulations that would enable diversion of organic materials from landfills; Assess informational resources necessary to enable diversion of organic materials from landfills; and Identify opportunities for end-market development of organic materials diverted from landfills. On or before August 1, 2024, the department is required to submit a report of the study's research and findings to specified legislative committees of reference. The act authorizes the use of money in the front range waste diversion cash fund and the recycling resources economic opportunity fund to pay for costs associated with conducting the study. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 17, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the office of emergency management (office) to study the efficacy and feasibility of local or interjurisdictional emergency management agencies with jurisdiction in a wildfire risk area to integrate evacuation and clearance time modeling into the emergency management plans that such an agency is required to adopt for its area. The report must be completed on or before December 1, 2023, and the office must report the findings of the study to specific committees of the general assembly during the 2024 legislative session. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $45,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public safety for program administration related to the office of emergency management. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 12, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the wildfire resilient homes grant program (program) within the division of fire prevention and control (division). The program allows homeowners to apply to receive a grant for retrofitting or improving a house or other structure on the homeowner's property with strategies and technologies for structure hardening in order to make the house or structure more resilient to the risk of wildfire. The act also creates the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund (fund) for use by the division to award grants and to promote best practices for structure hardening, and on August 15, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $100,000 from the general fund to the fund. The division is required to annually report to the wildfire matters review committee on expenditures made from the fund and grants that are awarded pursuant to the program. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $100,000 is appropriated from the wildfire resilient homes grant program cash fund to the division of fire prevention and control for the wildfire resilient homes grant program. APPROVED by Governor May 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill requires the center of excellence for advanced technology aerial firefighting (center of excellence) in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to establish one or more remote camera technology pilot programs. The program may include the use of artificial intelligence technologies. The center of excellence must acquire or contract for a system of remote pan-tilt-zoom cameras and associated tools to provide a live feed of information that can detect, locate, and confirm ignition in the wildland-urban interface. The center of excellence may acquire or contract for artificial intelligence technologies to assist in the detection, containment, and monitoring of wildfires. The center of excellence must report to the wildfire matters review committee on the system's effectiveness and potential for more widespread use in the state. The bill appropriates $2 million $720,368 from the general fund to implement the program. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The length of the bill summary for this bill requires it to be published on a separate page here: https://leg.colorado.gov/hb23-1272-bill-summary APPROVED by Governor May 11, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 11, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill establishes a domestic relations judicial training advisory committee (advisory committee) to develop a domestic relations training program (training program) for judges, magistrates, and court personnel to improve decision-making in domestic relations cases. In carrying out its duties, the advisory committee shall seek input from judges and magistrates from each judicial district, the state court administrator's office, and other stakeholders. The advisory committee is repealed September 1, 2027, and is subject to a sunset review prior to its repeal. The training program must satisfy training standards established by the chief justice of the Colorado supreme court (chief justice). The state court administrator must begin providing the training program no later than July 1, 2024, and may contract with a third party to provide the training. The training program must include both initial training and continuing training. The bill requires the general assembly to fund development of the training program and requires the judicial department to include in its annual budget request an amount necessary to ensure that judicial officers who hear domestic relations cases and domestic relations court personnel may attend the training program at no cost. The bill requires the advisory committee to collaborate with the chief justice and state court administrator on the development of the training standards. If the chief justice does not establish training standards by November 30, 2023, the advisory committee establishes the standards. The state court administrator shall coordinate with the advisory committee to a establish an ongoing review process to measure outcomes of the training program. The bill requires the state court administrator to study strategies for increasing opportunities for judicial officers to attend domestic relations judicial training. The general assembly encourages the chief justice and the chief judges of each judicial district to establish dedicated domestic relations dockets in each district and to assign to those dockets judges, magistrates, and court personnel who have completed the training program. The general assembly further encourages each judicial district nominating commission and the governor, when nominating and appointing replacements for domestic relations judges, to consider candidates who have substantial experience in domestic relations litigation, have attended the domestic relations program as a private attorney, and who demonstrate willingness to serve on a domestic relations docket. Under existing law, a child or youth who has special needs that create a barrier to the child or youth's adoption is eligible for adoption benefits. To be eligible for adoption benefits, the child or youth must be legally available for adoption. The bill expands this requirement to make a child or youth eligible for adoption benefits if the child or youth has been legally available for adoption within 90 days before the application for the benefits. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act enacts the "Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act" (act), drafted by the uniform law commission. The act applies to the parent, guardian, or custodian of a child, or an individual with whom a child has been placed for adoption, who wishes to terminate the parent-child relationship and is not transferring custody to family or friends. The act prohibits soliciting or advertising to transfer custody or transferring custody of a child by means other than a legal adoption or guardianship proceeding, a judicial award of custody, other judicial or tribal action, or Colorado's safe haven law. The act applies to the placement for adoption of a child who has been or is in foster care or institutional care, has previously been adopted, or is in the process of being adopted. The act requires child placement agencies facilitating an adoption to: Provide prospective adoptive parents with general information about adopting children, specific information about the prospective adoptee, and guidance and instruction on meeting the needs of the adoptee; and Upon the request of a child placed for adoption or the child's adoptive parents, provide information on accessing certain post-placement and post-adoption support services to the adoptee and parent to help preserve the adoption. APPROVED by Governor April 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 17, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires a school district to implement additional procedural safeguards for an expulsion hearing (hearing). A school district is required to provide all records that the school district intends to use as supporting evidence in a hearing to the student or the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian at least 5 business days prior to the hearing. If a school district intends to present written statements or oral testimony from witnesses during the hearing, the student and the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian must be notified at least 5 business days prior to the hearing of the contents of the written statement or oral testimony provided to the school district. The student and the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian have the right to cross-examine adverse witnesses who provide a written statement or oral testimony to the school district. During the hearing, the school district has the burden of presenting clear and convincing evidence to demonstrate that the student violated state law and the school district's policy, and that excluding the student from the learning environment through expulsion or denial of admission is necessary. Following the hearing, the executive officer or designee acting as a hearing officer is required to report findings of fact, findings regarding mitigating factors, and recommendations. Current law permits a student to be suspended, expelled, or denied admission for behavior on or off school property that is detrimental to the welfare or safety of other students or school personnel. The bill requires a school district or enrolling school district to demonstrate that a student's behavior off school grounds poses an imminent threat to other students or school personnel by establishing a direct and substantial nexus between the student's alleged conduct committed off school grounds and the risk of physical harm to other students or school personnel. Behavior that occurs off school grounds that results in delinquency or criminal charges and is unrelated to a school-sponsored event is not automatic grounds for suspension, expulsion, or denial of admission. For a hearing concerning a student whose alleged conduct occurred off school grounds, the executive officer or designee acting as a hearing officer is required to report findings of fact that establish a direct and substantial nexus between the student's behavior and the risk of physical harm to other students and school personnel. Current law allows a school district board of education (board) to delegate its power to its executive officer or to a designee who serves as a hearing officer to expel or deny admission to a student. The bill requires the individual who serves as the board's hearing officer to agree to recusal if a conflict of interest occurs that interferes with the individual's duty to act as an impartial hearing officer. An executive officer, a designee, or any individual acting as a hearing officer is also required to participate in an annual training on state and federal school discipline laws. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)