Rep. Lang Sias

The bill creates a sales and use tax exemption for aircraft used or purchased for use in interstate or intrastate commerce by an on-demand air carrier. The bill specifies that a statutory town, city, or county may exempt the same items only by express inclusion of the exemption in its initial sales tax ordinance or resolution or by amendment thereto. The bill requires any special district or other limited purpose governmental entity that is authorized by law to levy sales tax upon all transactions or incidents with respect to which the state levies sales tax to levy a tax on the same items. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill creates the teacher residency expansion program (program) in the department of education (department). The goal of the program is to identify and communicate to school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services that operate public schools (local education providers) the best practices, effective strategies, and critical components of effective teacher residency programs and thereby facilitate expansion of the effective teacher residency programs across the state. To implement the program, the department will contract with an institution of higher education (institution) and an alternative teacher program (alternative program), each of which is currently operating an effective teacher residency program with a local education provider. The institution and alternative program will expand their respective teacher residency programs with other local education providers as pilot programs that must include specified components. The institution and alternative program will share the specified components with the department, which will share them with other local education providers, institutions, and alternative programs that are not participating in the pilot programs. After the pilot programs have operated for a year, and annually thereafter, the department will evaluate the success of the pilot programs based on specified criteria. The department will submit a report concerning the evaluation to the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, the executive director of the department of higher education, the governor's office, and the education committees of the general assembly. The department will also post the report on its website. The department will distribute to the institution and alternative program that contract with the department an amount to offset a portion of the costs of implementing the pilot program. The institution and alternative program must agree to provide matching funds equal to 100% of the amount distributed to the institution and alternative program by the department. The program is repealed in 5 years. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill changes the criteria that the department of education (department) must consider in assigning an accreditation category to a school district or the state charter school institute (institute) or in recommending the type of performance plan that a public school must implement. The bill clarifies that a school district or the institute, on its own behalf or on behalf of one of its public schools, may request reconsideration of the initial accreditation category or performance plan assignment. The bill specifies criteria the department may apply as part of the reconsideration. The bill directs the department to make training in governance and turnaround best practices available to the directors of the board of education of a school district that is accredited with improvement plan or lower or that includes a public school that is required to implement a priority improvement or turnaround plan and to make materials and training available to parents, school personnel, and school district and school accountability committees. The bill allows, rather than requires, the commissioner of education (commissioner) to assign the state review panel to evaluate a school district's, the institute's, or a public school's turnaround plan. And the commissioner may require the state review panel to conduct one or more on-site visits as part of the evaluation. In the third year in which a school district or the institute is accredited with priority improvement plan or lower, or earlier at the school district's or institute's request, the school district or institute must hold a parent and community meeting. Department personnel must attend the meeting. The bill specifies the information that must be provided at the meeting and the requirements for providing notice of the meeting. A school district or the institute, as appropriate, must also hold a parent and community meeting for a public school that is in the third year of implementing a priority improvement or turnaround plan, or earlier, and must combine the parent and community meeting with the public meeting required under existing law. Department personnel must attend the meeting. The department may require a school district or an institute charter school to provide proof of compliance with other public meeting requirements that apply to adoption of a priority improvement or turnaround plan. Under current law, if a school district or the institute is accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for 5 consecutive years, the department may recommend that the state board of education (state board) remove the school district's or institute's accreditation. The bill changes the time period, beginning with the 2018-19 school year, by providing that, if a school district or the institute performs at a level that results in being accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for 2 consecutive years followed by 3 additional years, consecutive or nonconsecutive, for a total of 5 years, the state board must require the school district or institute to take action as provided in statute. But if the school district or institute performs at a level that results in being accredited at a level higher than priority improvement plan for 2 consecutive years after the first 2 of the 5 years, then the 5 years stop accumulating. This change to calculating the 5 years also applies to a public school that performs at a level that results in being required to adopt a priority improvement or turnaround plan. While the 5 years are accumulating, the school district, institute, or public school is on performance watch. For the fourth year in which a public school, a school district, or the institute is on performance watch, the priority improvement or turnaround plan adopted by the public school, school district, or institute must include a description of how it would implement the actions that the state board may direct at the completion of 5 years on performance watch. The bill also changes the consequences for completing 5 years on performance watch. Under the bill, the commissioner must assign the state review panel to evaluate the school district's or the institute's performance and recommend one or more of several specified actions, which may include removal of accreditation. After considering the recommendations, the state board must determine the appropriate actions and direct the school district or institute accordingly. The school district or institute then goes on a 2-year cycle of evaluation by the state review panel, which may result in additional directions from the state board to the school district or institute. The school district or institute remains subject to the 2-year cycle until it performs at a level that results in being accredited with improvement plan or higher for 2 consecutive years. A comparable requirement for a 2-year cycle of review by the state review panel applies to a public school that completes 5 years on performance watch. The bill clarifies that the state board, at the request of a school district or the institute, may direct the school district or institute to take one of the specific actions, for itself or for a public school, before the school district, institute, or public school completes the 5 years on performance watch. The bill makes several changes to implementation of the performance indicators for measuring the performance of public schools, school districts, the institute, and the state, including: Repealing the specific details for calculating performance of the achievement and longitudinal growth indicators and directing the state board to specify calculations in rule; Specifying a performance indicator that measures growth to standards; Changing the terminology for describing a student's performance on the statewide assessments; and Removing the performance indicator concerning closing the achievement gaps and requiring the department to disaggregate performance by student groups in each of the remaining performance indicators and separately account for the performance of each student group on each performance indicator. The bill requires the school district accountability committees to meet quarterly to discuss whether school district leadership, personnel, and infrastructure are advancing or impeding school district performance. The bill requires the annual performance reports for public schools, school districts, the institute, and the state to specify the percentage of students enrolled by each public school, school district, or the institute who score at each of the performance levels on the statewide assessments. The bill identifies additional innovations that a public school may adopt if the state board directs that a school district convert the public school into a school of innovation. The bill changes the existing school turnaround leaders development program to the school transformation grant program. Under the school transformation grant program, in addition to awarding grants for the development of school turnaround leaders, the state board must award grants to applying school districts, the institute, and charter schools for educator professional development and to implement instructional transformation in the public schools. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Current law has separate collateral relief sections for when a court orders an alternative sentence, probation, or community corrections. The bill combines collateral relief provisions into one section and authorizes a court to enter an order for collateral relief at the time of conviction of a defendant or any time thereafter. The bill requires a fingerprint-based criminal history record check only if the hearing is held after sentencing. The bill adds the authority for a juvenile court to enter an order for collateral relief using the same process as criminal courts. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

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The bill establishes a primary care payment reform collaborative in the primary care office in the department of public health and environment. To facilitate the collaborative's work, the administrator of the all-payer health claims database is to report data on primary care spending by private health insurers, insurers providing state employee health benefit plans, and the department of health care policy and financing under the state medicaid program and the children's basic health plan.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More

The bill requires each state agency to conduct an analysis of noncompliance with its rules to identify rules with the greatest frequency of noncompliance, rules that generate the greatest amount of fines, how many first-time offenders were given the opportunity to cure a minor violation, and what factors contribute to noncompliance by regulated businesses. The analysis will guide each department on how to improve its education and outreach to regulated businesses on compliance with the department's rules. Each state agency is required to forward that analysis to the department of regulatory agencies, which shall compile and summarize those analyses into one combined analysis of noncompliance to be presented at the department of regulatory agencies' 'State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act' hearing. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Under existing law, private occupational schools and certain private degree-granting schools are required to provide a bond or other form of surety that is used to facilitate transfer or to provide tuition and fee reimbursement for students in the event that the school closes. When a private occupational school closes, that school's records must be maintained by the private occupational school board in the division of private occupational schools. The department of higher education (department) takes possession of the records from private degree-granting schools. The bill allows the department to make a claim on a surety bond for reimbursement of actual administrative costs associated with a school closure. After the surety bond has been used to facilitate transfer or provide tuition and fee reimbursement for students, the department may retain any remaining amount as reimbursement for administrative costs associated with the school closure. In the instance of a closed private occupational school, the bill clarifies that the school's records may be maintained by the division of private occupational schools at any location. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill establishes a test for determining whether a marketplace contractor is considered an 'employee' under the 'Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado' and whether services provided by a marketplace contractor are considered 'employment' under the 'Colorado Employment Security Act'. The bill defines a 'marketplace contractor' as a person that enters into a written agreement with a marketplace platform to use the platform's online-enabled application, software, website, or system to receive services requests from third parties seeking the types of services offered by the contractor. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

Section 2 of the bill requires an off-campus location of a hospital to apply for, obtain, and use on claims for reimbursement for health care services provided at the off-campus location a unique national provider identifier, commonly referred to as 'NPI'. The off-campus location's NPI must be used on all claims related to health care services provided at that location, regardless of whether the claim is filed through the hospital's central billing or claims department or through a health care clearinghouse. Section 3 requires all medicaid providers that are entities to obtain and use a unique NPI for each site at which they deliver services and for each provider type that the department of health care policy and financing has specified. Entity medicaid providers must use on all claims the unique NPI that identifies both the site where the services were provided and the provider type rendering the services, regardless of whether the claim is filed through the entity's central billing or claims department or through a health care clearinghouse.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More