The fire and police pension association (association) administers a number of retirement plans for police officers and firefighters throughout the state, including the statewide defined benefit plan, the statewide hybrid plan, and the social security supplemental plan. Effective January 1, 2023, the act merges these 3 plans into separate components of a new plan to be known as the "statewide retirement plan". The act provides for the following with respect to the statewide retirement plan: The administration of the plan by the association; The deposit and investment of funds for the plan; Membership requirements; Employer and member contribution rates for each component of the plan, including phased future increases for specified rates; The purchase of service credit by members; Vesting and retirement eligibility requirements; Annual actuarial valuation of the plan; Actions that may be taken by the board of the association to ensure that the plan is fully funded on an actuarially sound basis; Pension and optional survivor benefits; Late and deferred retirement options; Cost of living adjustments; Refunds of contributions to members; and Modification of the plan by the board of the association. The act also: Provides for the confidentiality of information contained in the records of members of the association; Extends the deadline to file an application for disability; and Makes conforming amendments to and repeals portions of the existing statutes governing the statewide defined benefit plan, the statewide hybrid plan, and the social security supplemental plan.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Current law provides an excise tax exemption for up to one gallon, or 4 liters, of alcohol beverages brought by air passengers into the state from a foreign country. The act expands the exemption to all individuals entering the state from another state or a foreign country and allows alcohol beverages to be brought into the state, for personal use and not for sale, up to the following amounts: 2.25 gallons of malt liquor and hard cider; 9 liters of vinous liquor; and 6 liters of spirituous liquor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a board of county commissioners, which appoints directors to a board of directors for a cemetery district, to remove any director from such a board for cause after giving the director notice and an opportunity to be heard at a public hearing. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the "Public Benefit Corporation Act of Colorado" as follows: Eliminates the requirement for approval of two-thirds of the outstanding shares to convert an existing corporation to a public benefit corporation (PBC) or an existing PBC into a non-PBC, thereby defaulting to the majority vote requirement applicable to other corporate conversions; Eliminates the application of appraisal rights for shareholders objecting to the conversion of a non-PBC to a PBC; Clarifies that a director's ownership of stock in a PBC does not inherently create a conflict of interest and specifies that, absent a conflict of interest, a director does not act in bad faith and does not breach a duty of loyalty if the director, in directing the business of the PBC, fails to satisfy a requirement to balance shareholder pecuniary interests, the best interests of those materially affected by the action, and the specific public benefit of the PBC; and Clarifies the requirements for actions to enforce the requirements imposed on directors to balance the interests of shareholders, those materially affected by the corporate action, and the public benefit of the PBC.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a seller, lessor, or company issuing a credit or charge card is prohibited from imposing a surcharge against a person who elects to pay for a sales or lease transaction by using a credit or charge card. The act:Repeals the prohibition; and Limits the maximum surcharge amount per transaction to 2% of the total cost to the buyer or lessee for the sales or lease transaction or the merchant discount fee, which is defined as the actual fee that a seller or lessor (merchant) pays its processor or service provider to process the transaction. A merchant is required to display notice regarding the surcharge on the merchant's premises or, for online purchases, before an online customer's completion of the sales or lease transaction.The act clarifies that a merchant is prohibited from applying the surcharge to cash or check payments, debit card payments, or payments made by redemption of a gift card.If a merchant imposes a surcharge in violation of the act, the merchant is subject to liability as a creditor under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy (committee) and the associated task force (task force).The committee is required to annually define in writing, no later than the second meeting of the year, the scope of tax policy to be considered for the committee and the task force. The committee is responsible for considering the policy considerations contained in the tax expenditure evaluations prepared by the state auditor. The committee is responsible for the oversight of the task force. The committee may recommend legislative changes that are treated as bills recommended by an interim legislative committee.The task force is required to study tax policy within its scope as annually defined by the committee and is required to develop and propose for committee consideration any tax policy and legislative recommendations.The task force is also authorized, with approval from the committee chair in consultation with the committee vice-chair, to provide evidence-based feedback on the potential benefits or consequences of a legislative or other policy proposal not directly affiliated with or generated by the task force, including any bill or resolution introduced by the general assembly that affects tax policy.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the peace officer credibility disclosure notification committee (committee), which is required to create a statewide model for peace officer credibility disclosure notifications (statewide model) by December 1, 2021. The statewide model must include policies and procedures that law enforcement agencies and district attorneys' offices are required to adopt and implement on or before January 1, 2022.The statewide model's policies and procedures must include:The circumstances that trigger a law enforcement agency to promptly notify a district attorney if a peace officer's credibility is called into question by a sustained finding; The circumstances that trigger a law enforcement agency's obligation to notify a district attorney when a peace officer's credibility is called into question by a criminal or administrative investigation; A process for district attorneys to follow for receiving credibility disclosure notifications and maintaining a current record of all credibility disclosure notifications; and A process for district attorneys to timely notify a defense attorney or defendant of credibility disclosure notification records (records) and to remove any records when appropriate and lawful. The act requires district attorneys to review the statewide model's policies and procedures at least every 4 years to ensure compliance with controlling federal and state case law, as well as the Colorado rules of criminal procedure. The act also requires a district attorney to make available to the public the adopted policies and procedures on or before February 1, 2022.The act, subject to available appropriations, requires the P.O.S.T. board to create and maintain a database, in a searchable format to be published on its website, containing information related to a peace officer's actions that resulted in a credibility disclosure notification.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs the state auditor to contract with a public or private entity (contractor) to conduct a performance audit of the statewide system of standards and assessments and the statewide education accountability system. The act specifies the issues that the performance audit must address. By November 15, 2022, and following release by the legislative audit committee, the final report of the performance audit must be submitted to the commissioner of education, the state board of education, and the education committees of the general assembly.The act specifies the authority of the state auditor and the contractor to access nonfinancial records and information held by the department of education or held by public schools, school districts, boards of cooperative services, and the state charter school institute, if the records and information are not available from the department or from other sources.For the 2021-22 fiscal year, the act appropriates $300,000 from the general fund to the legislative department for use by the office of the state auditor and appropriates $52,000 from the general fund to the department of education to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Colorado prescription drug affordability review board (board) in the division of insurance (division) in the department of regulatory agencies as an independent unit of state government, requires the board to perform affordability reviews of prescription drugs, and authorizes the board to establish upper payment limits for prescription drugs the board determines are unaffordable for Colorado consumers. The board is also required to promulgate rules as necessary for its purposes.The board shall determine by rule the methodology for establishing an upper payment limit for a prescription drug. An upper payment limit applies to all purchases of and payer reimbursements for the prescription drug dispensed or administered to individuals in the state in person, by mail, or by other means. Any savings generated for a health benefit plan as a result of an upper payment limit established by the board must be used by the carrier that issued the health benefit plan to reduce costs to consumers, prioritizing the reduction of out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs.On and after January 1, 2022, the act prohibits, with certain exceptions, any purchase or payer reimbursement for a prescription drug at an amount that exceeds the upper payment limit established by the board for that prescription drug.A person aggrieved by a decision of the board may appeal the decision within 60 days. The board shall consider the appeal and issue a final decision concerning the appeal within 60 days after the board receives the appeal. Final board decisions are subject to judicial review.Any prescription drug manufacturer (manufacturer) that intends to withdraw from sale or distribution within the state a prescription drug for which the board has established an upper payment limit must notify, at least 180 days before the withdrawal:The commissioner; The attorney general; and Each entity in the state with which the manufacturer has contracted for the sale or distribution of the prescription drug. The commissioner may impose a penalty of up to $500,000 on a manufacturer that fails to comply with the notice requirement. The board is directed to adopt rules regarding notice to consumers of a manufacturer's intent to withdraw a prescription drug from sale or distribution in the state.Beginning in the 2022 calendar year, for all prescription drugs dispensed at a pharmacy and paid for by a carrier during the immediately preceding calendar year, the act requires each carrier and each pharmacy benefit management firm acting on behalf of a carrier to report certain information to the all-payer health claims database.The act creates the Colorado prescription drug affordability advisory council to provide stakeholder input to the board.The board must submit an annual report to the governor and to subject matter committees of the general assembly summarizing the activities of the board during the preceding calendar year, and the chair of the board must present to those committees information concerning any prescription drug for which the board established an upper payment limit during the preceding calendar year. Upon approval of a majority of the committee members, any member of the committees may pursue legislation to discontinue the upper payment limit for a particular prescription drug, and the legislation does not count against the limit on the number of bills the member may introduce in a regular legislative session.The board and its functions are repealed, effective September 1, 2026, following a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies.For the 2021-2022 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $730,711 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies. Of this amount, $325,297 is appropriated for use by the division for personal services, $22,650 is appropriated for use by the division for operating expenses, and $382,824 is appropriated for the purchase of legal services, which amount is reappropriated to the department of law for providing legal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
By executive order, to allow for social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the governor:Suspended the operation of statutes prohibiting more than 7 players in the game of blackjack; Suspended the operation of statutes limiting a casino operator to 2 noncontiguous gaming areas within the casino; and Eliminated the requirement that an applicant for a limited gaming or sports betting license submit fingerprints simultaneously with the license application for purposes of conducting a fingerprint-based criminal history record check, instead allowing the applicant to submit fingerprints as a supplement to the application. The act codifies all 3 of these changes but specifies that final action on a license application cannot be taken until the results of the fingerprint-based criminal history record check are received.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)