For health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, the act requires a health insurer or pharmacy benefit manager to include in the calculation of a covered person's contributions toward cost-sharing requirements, including any annual limitation on a covered person's out-of-pocket costs, any payments made by or on behalf of the covered person for a prescription drug if: The prescription drug does not have a generic equivalent or, for a biological product, a biosimilar drug or interchangeable biological product; or The prescription drug has a generic equivalent, a biosimilar drug, or an interchangeable biological product, but the covered person is using the brand-name drug after obtaining prior authorization, complying with a step-therapy protocol, or otherwise receiving approval from the carrier or pharmacy benefit manager if those utilization management processes are not otherwise prohibited by law. The commissioner of insurance is authorized to adopt rules necessary to implement the act. The act applies to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 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.)
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If the adult or juvenile parole board decides to discharge a parolee early, the act requires the parole boards to set the date of discharge at least 15 days after notice is provided to the victim of the discharge or at least 15 days after the decision to grant early discharge if the victim chose not to receive victim notifications. The act requires victim notifications to be communicated in plain and easy-to-understand language and in a manner intended to increase the likelihood of the victim's attention to the notice. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)
The Colorado crime victim services fund and the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund are scheduled for repeal in 2027. The act continues both funds indefinitely and clarifies that the money in each fund that originated from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund must comply with the requirements in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" and related state law. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $3 million from the general fund to the state domestic violence and sexual assault services fund on July 1, 2023. APPROVED by Governor May 25, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 25, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the accountability, accreditation, student performance, and resource inequity task force (task force) to study academic opportunities, inequities, promising practices in schools, and improvements to the accountability and accreditation system. The act requires the speaker and minority leader of the house of representatives, the president and minority leader of the senate, the governor, and the department of education (department) to appoint members to the task force no later than July 1, 2023. The task force consists of 26 members, including members who represent statewide education organizations, the department, the state board of education (state board), school district board of education members, charter schools, superintendents, principals, and teachers. The act requires the department to enter into a contract with a facilitator to guide the work of the task force no later than August 15, 2023. The act requires the department to enter into a contract with a third party to draft an interim report and final report. The task force is required to submit an interim report by March 1, 2024, and a final report by November 15, 2024, reflecting its findings and recommendations to the education committees of the house of representatives and senate, the governor, the state board, the commissioner of education, and the department. The act appropriates $300,709 from the general fund to the department to implement the task force. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For income tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2025, a taxpayer who makes a monetary contribution to promote child care in the state is allowed an income tax credit that is equal to 50% of the total value of the contribution. The act extends the credit for 3 years. The act requires the department of revenue to consult with the early childhood leadership commission, the public-private collaboration unit in the department of personnel, and the department of early childhood to develop recommendations for measuring the effectiveness of the tax credit and recommendations for improving and expanding the tax credit. The act also requires the state auditor to prepare the tax expenditure evaluation report for the credit that the law periodically requires in the income tax year commencing January 1, 2026. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $78,254 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue to implement the act and $10,881 of the appropriation is reappropriated to the department of personnel to provide document management services for the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 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.)
The act creates the closed landfill remediation grant program (grant program) to help eligible local governments pay the costs of environmental remediation efforts and landfill management. On and after July 1, 2024, the department of public health and environment (department) is required to administer the grant program in accordance with rules promulgated by the solid and hazardous waste commission (commission) in the department. The department, in consultation with a 5-person advisory committee created in the act, may award grants from money in the closed landfill remediation grant program fund (fund), which fund is also created in the act. On or before February 1, 2026, and on or before each February 1 every 3 years thereafter, the commission must evaluate the current and future financial needs of the grant program and make written recommendations to the general assembly regarding funding. Additionally, the department must prepare and post on its public website an annual report that summarizes the use of all grant money awarded under the grant program in the preceding fiscal year. The grant program is repealed, effective September 1, 2033, subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $15,000,000 from the general fund to the fund for use by the department. Of this amount, $170,702 is reappropriated to the department for the solid waste control program. Of this reappropriated amount, $87,976 is appropriated to the department of law to pay for legal services provided to the department. APPROVED by Governor May 19, 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.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies, as specified in the department's sunset review of the "Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts" (law), as follows: Continues the law for 9 years, until September 1, 2032; Repeals the requirement that a certificate evidencing a notarial act performed by a notary public indicate the date of expiration of the notary public's commission; and Increases the maximum statutory fees from $5 to $15 for each document attested by a person before a notary public and from $10 to $25 for the notary public's electronic signature. The act also: Establishes requirements and limitations for the use of interpreters in the facilitation of notarial acts, including a prohibition against the use of an interpreter who has a disqualifying interest, as described in the act, in the transaction for which a notarial act is being performed; Limits the liability of a notarial officer for errors in interpretation made in the facilitation of a notarial act; and Appropriates $96,568 for the 2023-24 state fiscal year from the department of state cash fund to the department of state. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE May 17, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE September 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the state board of community colleges and occupational education (board) to administer the in-demand short-term credentials program (program) to support the expansion of the number of available and qualified professionals who are able to meet Colorado's in-demand workforce needs. Under the program, the board is required to allocate funds to community and technical colleges, area technical colleges, local district colleges, and Colorado Mesa university to provide assistance to students for eligible expenses that support their enrollment in eligible programs. If unexpended resources exist, the funds must be used to pay for a student's housing, transportation, child or dependent care, or food expenses. The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education to submit a report regarding the program to the house of representatives and senate education committees during its annual "SMART Act" hearing. The act requires the office of future work (office) to provide grants to registered apprenticeship programs that provide training in the building and construction trade at no cost to apprentices (grant program). The act requires the office to submit a report regarding the grant program to the house of representatives business affairs and labor committee and senate business, labor, and technology committee during its annual "SMART Act" hearing. In the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly appropriated $10 million to the department of public health and environment (department) for the purpose of recruitment and re-engagement efforts with health-care professionals with licenses and staffing. The act extends the authority for the department to use the appropriation through December 30, 2024. In the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly appropriated $3 million to the department for the school nurse grant program, which provides grants for hiring school nurses for public schools. The act extends the authority for the department to use the appropriation through December 30, 2024. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $43,600,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education, of which: $38,600,000 for the program; and $5,000,000 to establish 2 new short-term degree nursing programs at community or technical colleges. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $1,400,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of labor and employment for the grant program. APPROVED by Governor May 16, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 16, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of education (department), by January 2024, to offer free optional trainings in evidence-informed practices in mathematics, including a training specifically designed for elementary school educators and a training specifically designed for secondary school mathematics educators. Each training must include instruction on interventions for students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics, children with disabilities, and students who are English language learners. Trainings must be available to relevant staff of school districts, related administrative units, district charter schools, institute charter schools, boards of cooperative services, and community-based organizations. School district boards of education and institute charter schools are strongly encouraged to adopt procedures for schools to provide support to students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade and their families to improve mathematics outcomes. Procedures may include: Identifying students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics based on academic assessments; Notifying the parents, guardians, or legal custodians if a student is below grade level or struggling in mathematics; Providing parents, guardians, or legal custodians with a list of interventions and acceleration strategies to assist with mathematics at home, including a state-advisory list of curricula, referrals for tutoring, or other intervention opportunities, if applicable; Publishing mathematics curricula annually, including supplemental curricula or interventions; and Implementing train-the-trainer or train-the-parent framework plans to improve mathematics achievements for students. The act creates the Colorado academic accelerator grant program (grant program). The purpose of the grant program is to create community learning centers that: Provide opportunities for free academic enrichment and support, which must include tutorial services to help students meet rigorous academic standards and to increase proficiency in mathematics outcomes; and Offer families opportunities for engagement in students' education. Eligible entities that apply to the grant program are selected for a grant that runs for a period of 3 years. The department shall prioritize eligible entities that: Adopt intervention strategies; Use evidence-informed programs that build student skills in STEM and mathematics; Use digital math accelerator programs; Serve high-needs students, as determined by the department; Have an established presence and relationship in the community; and Demonstrate in the application how they will meet the needs of diverse student populations. The act requires school districts, public schools, the state charter school institute, and institute charter schools that are on an improvement plan, priority improvement plan, or a turnaround plan to identify strategies to address the needs of students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics and set or revise, as appropriate, ambitious but attainable targets that the public school shall attain in reducing the number of students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics to increase the number of students who achieve grade-level expectations in mathematics. The act adjusts the ninth-grade success grant program to prioritize applicants that propose programming focused on evidence-informed mathematics skills, acceleration strategies, and intervention strategies, including a focus on students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics and have academic achievement levels in mathematics that are consistently ranked the lowest for public high schools in the state, as determined by the department. The act includes a requirement that candidates for an elementary education endorsement, a middle school mathematics endorsement, or a secondary mathematics endorsement be trained in evidence-informed practices in mathematics, including interventions to help students who are below grade level or struggling in mathematics, children with disabilities, and students who are English language learners. The act adds developmentally appropriate early numeracy to continuing professional development requirements for teachers employed by a preschool, and requires the department of early childhood to include developmentally appropriate early numeracy as a subject matter area in the resource bank of preschool curricula for use by preschool providers. The act appropriates $26,694,530 from the general fund to the department as follows: $594,530 for math educator training and improvement planning; $24,500,000 for the grant program; and $1,600,000 for the ninth-grade success grant program. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 15, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)