Rep. Shannon Bird

The Colorado housing and finance authority (CHFA), under the Colorado affordable tax credit program, may allocate income tax credits in an annual aggregate amount of up to $10 million for the years beginning on January 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2024. The bill extends this period to December 31, 2031. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the director of the division of professions and occupations (director) in the department of regulatory agencies to complete, on or before June 1, 2023, an audit of the regulated professions and occupations and the regulation of various professions and occupations by regulators of a specific profession or occupation (regulator) to determine what barriers exist for licensing, certification, and registration of individuals with criminal history records and, on or before July 1, 2023, to report the findings to the general assembly. The act limits the authority of a regulator to deny a license, certification, or registration based on an applicant's criminal history record on by requiring the hearing and mediation process established in current law. A regulator is required to document the grounds for the denial of the license, certification, or registration in writing to the applicant. The act clarifies that a regulator may grant a conditional license, certification, or registration to an applicant with a criminal history record consistent with the process established in current law. The director is required to compile de-identified information regarding the reasons why a license, certification, or registration was denied and make this information available to the public on the division's website. The act requires state and local agencies responsible for issuing occupational or professional credentials (occupational agency), before making a final determination that an applicant's criminal conviction disqualifies the applicant from receiving a license, certification, permit, or registration, to provide a written notice to the applicant specifying the reason for the disqualification and the right of the applicant to submit additional evidence for the occupational agency to consider before making a final determination. A final determination to disqualify an applicant based on a criminal conviction must be issued in writing and include notice of the applicant's right to appeal the determination and the earliest date on which the applicant may reapply. The act appropriates $11,036 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.)

Under current law, common carriers and contract carriers may use independent contractors for transportation services. The contract must provide for coverage under either workers' compensation or an occupational accident insurance policy that provides "similar coverage" to that available under workers' compensation. "Similar coverage" must meet or exceed standards set by the division of insurance and is defined to require benefits that are at least comparable to the benefits offered under the workers' compensation system. The act changes the definition of "similar coverage" to an occupational accident insurance policy that provides a minimum aggregate policy limit of $1,500,000 for all benefits paid for the benefit of the operator. The act also defines "commercial vehicle" and "operator" for the purpose of occupational accident insurance required by independent contractors of carriers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For 7 years beginning on January 1, 2023, the bill creates a sales and use tax exemption for the sale, storage, use, or consumption of an aircraft used or purchased for use in interstate or intrastate commerce by an on-demand air carrier. An on-demand air carrier is an entity authorized by the federal aviation administration to operate an aircraft to transport people or property in compliance with the administration's certification and operations requirements. The aeronautics division in the department of transportation is required to provide the state auditor with any available information that would assist the state auditor's measurement of the effectiveness of the exemption. 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 and also that the exemptions do not apply to the tax imposed by a special district or other limited purpose governmental entity. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

With regard to health-care services, section 1 of starting January 1, 2024, the bill requires a health insurance carrier (carrier) or private utilization review organization (organization) , as applicable, to offer a qualified provider with at least a 95% approval rate of prior authorization requests over the prior 12 months an alternative to prior authorization requirements, including an exemption from the requirements or incentive awards or other innovative programs to reward provider compliance designed by the carrier or organization that reduce patient wait times or administrative burdens to receiving the requested health-care service . To be a "qualified provider", a provider must: Be, and have been continuously for at least the immediately preceding 12 months, a participating provider; and Have, over the immediately preceding 12 months: At least a 95% approval rate on prior authorization requests submitted for the same health-care service; and submitted at least 24 prior authorization requests for the same health-care service. A carrier or organization is required to inform a provider of the provider's status as a qualified provider and, at least annually, to reevaluate whether a provider satisfies the requirements of a qualified provider.With regard to drug benefits, section 2 requires a carrier or pharmacy benefit management firm, as applicable, to offer the same types of alternatives to prior authorization requirements to a provider who has at least a 95% approval rate of prior authorization requests over the prior 12 months. (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 bill creates an essential services for youth special district (district) in each judicial district. The boundaries of each district are coterminous with the boundaries of the judicial district in which it is created. The purposes of each district are to: Seek voter approval from registered electors in the district for the levy and collection of a uniform sales and use tax or a property tax, or both, throughout the entire geographical area of the district for the purpose of providing a sustainable funding source for essential services providers to provide services to at-risk youth who reside in the district; Upon the approval of the registered electors in the district, to levy and collect a uniform sales and use tax or a property tax, or both, throughout the entire geographical area of the district; Distribute the district sales and use tax or property tax revenue to essential services providers to provide services to at-risk youth who reside in the district; and Monitor the purposes for which the district tax revenue is used by essential services providers. A district is inactive until: Either the chief judge of the judicial district or the board of directors of the local court-appointed special advocate (CASA) program call a meeting of the appointing authorities of the district board (appointing authorities) to determine whether the district will become active. The appointing authorities include representatives from the judicial district, the local CASA program, the district attorney's office, the child advocacy center in the judicial district, and the counties and municipalities in which the district is located. The appointing authorities meet and adopt a resolution by a majority vote declaring that the district will become active; and The board of directors of the local CASA program files the resolution with specified entities. A district that is activated by a vote of the appointing authorities is governed by a board of directors (board) consisting of 9 members. The bill specifies the eligibility criteria to serve on the board, the process by which board directors are appointed, a rotation of appointing authorities, and the powers and duties of the board. Once appointed, a board is authorized to present to the registered electors of the district a question of whether the district is authorized to levy and collect a sales and use tax, a property tax, or both, in amounts determined by the board. The bill directs the board to distribute the proceeds of any district tax revenue to essential services providers that provide services to at-risk youth. After deductions for administrative expenses, a board is required to distribute 60% of the tax revenue to the local CASA program in the district and to the child advocacy center in the district as determined by the board. The board is required to distribute the remaining 40% of the tax revenue to other essential services providers through a grant program. An essential services provider that receives a distribution of tax revenue is required to use the money for one or more of the following purposes: Programs that address the health, safety, wellness, and mental health of at-risk youth; Programs that provide services for unhoused at-risk youth; Programs that support at-risk youth in the judicial system; Programs that provide forensic support, including the administration costs of providing such support; or The construction of capital facilities for the provision of essential services. An essential services provider that receives a distribution of tax revenue is prohibited from using the revenue for day care, data collection, school-based education, or fitness and recreational programming. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law authorizes a regulator of a profession or occupation to approve an application for licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment by endorsement, reciprocity, or transfer through the occupational credential portability program (program). The act amends the program by: Adding licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment in good standing through the federal government to the types of occupational credentials that qualify a person for a credential through the program; Adding a military occupational specialty to the types of occupational credentials that qualify a person for a credential through the program; If submitting proof of a credential from another jurisdiction as the basis for application under the program, requiring the applicant to have held the license, certification, registration, or enrollment, for at least one year, under a jurisdiction with a scope of practice that is substantially similar to the scope of practice of the profession or occupation required by Colorado law; Removing the prohibition on approving licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment if such approval would violate an existing compact or reciprocity agreement; Adding a requirement that an applicant for licensure, certification, registration, or enrollment have substantially equivalent education as required by Colorado law; and Exempting engineers, surveyors, and architects from the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, all sales of construction and building materials to contractors and subcontractors for use in the building, erection, alteration, or repair of structures, highways, roads, streets, and other public works are exempt from the sales and use tax levied by the state and certain local governments. Home rule cities continue to levy the tax on sales of construction and building materials within their jurisdiction. The act extends the exemption to the sales and use tax levied by home rule cities on such materials for use in connection with the building, erection, alteration, or repair of a public school. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $3,375 from the general fund to the department of revenue for use by the taxation business group. The department may use this appropriation for operating expenses related to taxation services. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of transportation (CDOT) to develop an electronic application, permitting, contract, and fee structure to facilitate access by nongovernmental entities to public rights-of-way for the deployment of broadband and requires acceptances and denials of such access by CDOT to be provided in writing and made available to the public. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)