The bill creates the Colorado alcohol impact and recovery enterprise (enterprise) in the department of revenue behavioral health administration in the department of human services to: Collect a fee from manufacturers and wholesalers that distribute alcohol within Colorado; and Use the fee for alcohol and related substance use disorder prevention, early intervention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services and programs in communities throughout the state. The bill exempts small manufacturers and wholesale distributors of alcohol based on production and distribution level amounts for which a manufacturer or distributor may pay reduced tax or claim an exemption under federal law beverages. The bill also: Creates the alcohol impact enterprise board and specifies membership and duties of the board; and Requires the state auditor to conduct an audit of the enterprise in the 2030-31 state fiscal year and every fourth state fiscal year thereafter. The bill also exempts the enterprise from the prohibition on an enterprise receiving more than $100,000,000 in revenue in fees in the enterprise's first 5 fiscal years without first receiving voter approval. (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.)
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With certain exceptions, for health benefit plans that are issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, the bill requires a health-care insurance carrier (carrier) to include a primary care provider as a participating provider in all networks, including narrow networks and all tiers of tiered networks, of the carrier's health benefit plan if the primary care provider is: Licensed to practice in Colorado; Certified or accredited by a national association for the certification or accreditation of primary care providers; Enrolled in an alternative payment model; and Credentialed by federal law to receive reimbursement for the provision of care to patients receiving benefits from medicaid. On or before December 31, 2025, the commissioner of insurance must promulgate rules to implement the bill, including rules: Establishing criteria and a process for determining whether a primary care provider meets the criteria; and Establishing a schedule for contracted reimbursements issued to primary care providers who participate in a health benefit plan. The division of insurance must contract with an actuary to determine a minimum reimbursement schedule for alternative payment models. The schedule: Must ensure that primary care providers are reimbursed at rates that are at least equal to the reimbursement rates established in law for purposes of the Colorado standardized health benefit plan; Must include adjustments for regional cost of living variations; and May include incentives for integration of behavioral health-care services and comprehensive care coordination services. If a carrier and a primary care provider do not negotiate and agree to terms of reimbursement, the carrier must compensate the primary care provider in accordance with the schedule for contracted reimbursements established by rule. If a primary care provider employed by a medical group or hospital system leaves the medical group or hospital system to establish an independent practice, the primary care provider may communicate with patients about continuing to see them in the new practice. Under current law, any covenant not to compete provision of an employment, partnership, or corporate agreement between physicians that restricts the right of a physician to practice medicine upon termination of the agreement is void; except that all other provisions of the agreement, including provisions that require the payment of damages in an amount that is reasonably related to the injury suffered by reason of termination of the agreement, are enforceable. Provisions of a covenant not to compete that require the payment of damages upon termination of the agreement may include damages related to competition. The bill: Establishes exceptions to the general prohibition on covenant not to compete provisions; Broadens the scope of the prohibition to apply to any agreement rather than applying only to employment, partnership, and corporate agreements between physicians; Narrows the existing exception to the prohibition to apply only to provisions that require the payment of damages in an amount that is reasonably related to the injury suffered due to a breach, rather than a termination, of the agreement; and Prohibits including in an agreement any of several provisions that require payment of certain types of damages. (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.)
Current law requires the director of the office of the child's representative and the alternate defense counsel (directors) to be licensed to practice law in Colorado for at least 5 years prior to being appointed as the director of the respective offices and requires the director of the respondent parents' counsel to have 5 years of experience as a licensed attorney prior to being appointed as the director of the respondent parents' counsel. The act removes the requirement that the directors of the office of the child's representative and the alternate defense counsel be licensed to practice law in Colorado prior to their appointment and requires the directors to either be licensed to practice law in Colorado at the time of the appointment or be able to become licensed to practice law in Colorado within 6 months after the appointment. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under the Colorado open meetings law (COML), any meeting of a body of the general assembly at which the adoption of any proposed policy, position, resolution, rule, regulation, or formal action occurs or at which a majority or quorum of a body of the general assembly is in attendance or expected to be in attendance can only be held after full and timely notice to the public. In addition, the COML requires that minutes of the meeting be taken and promptly recorded. The act makes several changes and clarifications concerning the application of the COML to the general assembly and its members. Specifically, the act provides that, for purposes of applying the notice and minutes provisions under the COML, a quorum of a state public body of the general assembly must be contemporaneous. Additionally, the act establishes that written communications, electronic or otherwise, exchanged between members of the general assembly are not subject to the COML but any records of the communications are subject to disclosure to the extent required by the "Colorado Open Records Act". The act also defines "public business", for purposes of the application of the COML to the general assembly, as introduced legislation, proposed legislation, if a draft of the proposed legislation prepared by the office of legislative legal services is being discussed by a quorum of a statutory committee or committee of reference during a regular or special legislative session or by a quorum of any type of interim committee, or other matters before a statutory committee, any type of interim committee, or a committee of reference. Introduced legislation and proposed legislation includes a bill, resolution, and memorial. However, "public business" does not include matters that are by nature interpersonal, administrative, or logistical or that concern personnel, planning, process, training, or operations, as long as the merits or substance of matters that are expressly defined as being public business are not discussed. Additionally, in 2024, 2025, and 2026, the executive committee of the legislative council shall consider at a meeting the application of the COML to the general assembly, and there must be the opportunity for public comment to be received in connection with the meeting. On or after January 1, 2027, such a meeting shall be held upon the request of a member of the executive committee of the legislative council. APPROVED by Governor March 12, 2024 EFFECTIVE March 12, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
A county assessor is required to complete an assessment roll of all taxable property within the assessor's county and an accompanying abstract of assessment (abstract) on or before either August 25 or November 21 of every year, depending on certain conditions. During the first extraordinary session of the seventy-fourth general assembly, the general assembly enacted, and the governor signed on November 20, 2023, Senate Bill 23B-001, which modified the valuation for assessment for residential real property for the 2023 property tax year and accordingly rendered inaccurate the abstracts completed on or before August 25, 2023, and November 21, 2023. The act requires a county assessor to prepare an updated abstract and file a copy of that abstract, along with updated versions of other information that a county assessor is required to append to an abstract, with the property tax administrator no later than February 20, 2024. APPROVED by Governor February 15, 2024 EFFECTIVE February 15, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Valuation changes. For the 2023 property tax year, section 1 of the act reduces the valuation for assessment (valuation) for multi-family residential real property and all other residential real property from the already temporarily reduced 2023 rate of 6.765% of the amount equal to the actual value minus the lesser of $15,000 or the amount that causes the valuation to be $1,000 to 6.7% of the amount equal to the actual value minus the lesser of $55,000 or the amount that causes the valuation to be $1,000. Reimbursement of local governments. The state is currently required to reimburse (backfill) local governmental entities for property tax revenue lost as a result of reductions in valuation enacted in 2022. The act maintains this 2022 backfill mechanism for those property tax reductions. Section 2 provides an additional backfill mechanism to backfill local governmental entities for property tax revenue lost as a result of the additional reductions in valuation enacted in the act. Section 2 requires the state to backfill the following local governmental entities a total of $54,000,000 for the total amount of property tax revenue lost by those local governmental entities as a result of the reductions in valuation in the act in the same manner as the 2022 backfill mechanism, except that: Ambulance districts, fire districts, and health districts are reimbursed entirely; Local governmental entities for which the assessed value of property in the local governmental entity increased by 15% or more between the 2022 and 2023 property tax years are not reimbursed at all; and The executive director of the department of local affairs and the property tax administrator shall determine, in a manner that is equitable with the amounts that fire districts are reimbursed, the amount that local governmental entities that provide fire protection services are reimbursed. Section 2 also modifies both backfill mechanisms by: Specifying that the amount of revenue lost for a property tax year is based on a local governmental entity's mill levy for the 2022 property tax year, excluding specified mills; Clarifying how local governmental entities, which are defined in the act, are treated if their boundaries are in more than one county for purposes of the backfill; and Requiring the state treasurer to reduce a backfill to a local government entity as necessary to prevent the local governmental entity from exceeding its constitutional fiscal year spending limit. Transfer to the state public school fund. Section 2 requires the state treasurer to transfer $146 million from the general fund to the state education fund to offset school district property tax revenue reductions. Local government budget deadlines. Sections 4 to 6 modify provisions in the "Local Government Budget Law of Colorado" for the 2024 fiscal year to account for impacts on a local government's budget due to changes to the assessed valuation of property within the local government's boundaries. Delinquent property tax payments. Section 14 waives the accrual of interest on delinquent property tax payments for the first payment of property taxes for the 2023 property tax year if a payment is made within 10 days after the mailing by the county treasurer of the property taxpayer's tax statement or notification of an electronic statement. Property tax deadlines. Sections 3 and 9 to 13 delay deadlines as necessary due to the valuation changes for the 2023 property tax year. APPROVED by Governor November 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE November 20, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act moves the regional health connector program (program) from the university of Colorado school of medicine to the prevention services division (division) in the department of public health and environment (department). The act requires the division to administer the program and requires the department to contract with a third-party entity to coordinate and oversee the program. The contracted entity is required to distribute money to each locally based host organization, which hires and supports a regional health connector to engage in program activities. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $1.5 million to the department of higher education for use by the regents of the university of Colorado for allocation to the school of medicine and $71,903 to the department for use by the division for the program. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act annually appropriates $1.5 million to the division for the program. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 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.)
Colorado law requires the manufacturer of cosmetic products, dietary supplements, food products, and food additives, including hemp products, to be registered with the department of public health and environment (department). The act creates a new framework for the department to regulate and register hemp products and certain intoxicating hemp products and for the marijuana enforcement division (division) in the department of revenue to regulate intoxicating products or potentially intoxicating compounds that are or may be cannabinoids. This regulation includes: The power to promulgate rules authorizing or prohibiting chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation to create certain types of intoxicating cannabinoids; Classifying and reclassifying cannabinoids as intoxicating, potentially intoxicating, or nonintoxicating; Labeling and advertising requirements; Production and testing requirements; Inspection, record-keeping, surveillance, and inventory tracking requirements; Prohibiting the export of a safe harbor hemp product that is a synthetic cannabinoid or that is being exported to a state where it is illegal; and Issuing a cease-and-desist order or clean-up order. Hemp- and marijuana-derived compounds and cannabinoids are classified into 3 classifications: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids; Potentially intoxicating cannabinoids; and Intoxicating cannabinoids. Nonintoxicating cannabinoids that are derived from hemp may be produced, distributed, or sold as a hemp product. With the exception of products manufactured or produced for export, which are referred to as "safe harbor hemp products" and with some exceptions for small amounts of THC, products containing potentially intoxicating compounds and intoxicating cannabinoids must only be produced, distributed, or sold by a person licensed by the division to produce, distribute, or sell the compound or cannabinoid as a product. The act clarifies that: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids, potentially intoxicating compounds, and intoxicating cannabinoids are marijuana or marijuana products for the purposes of the retail marijuana sales tax; and A person must be licensed by the division to manufacture potentially intoxicating compounds or intoxicating cannabinoids. The act prohibits the following acts: Manufacturing, selling, or delivering products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids in excess of limits established by rule; Manufacturing a product containing hemp that is not a cosmetic, a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb; Manufacturing, producing, selling, distributing, or holding for sale or distribution a safe harbor hemp product without registering with the department; Selling a hemp product to an individual who is under 21 years of age if the hemp product has a ratio of cannabidiol to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of less than 20:1 and the hemp product contains more than 1.25 milligrams of THC, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 5 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of less than 20:1, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; or Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 30 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of 20:1 or more, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe. The penalty for a violation is up to $10,000 per day per violation. The act specifies factors to consider in determining the amount of the penalty. The act requires the executive director of the department of revenue to analyze the feasibility of establishing a standing committee to evaluate cannabinoids and cannabis-derived products for the purpose of determining and making recommendations regarding their safety profiles and potential for intoxication. The department of revenue may engage experts to inform its analysis. The bill sets standards for marijuana cultivation facilities to buy seeds and clones. To implement this act: $1,574,061 is appropriated to the department. This appropriation consists of $1,168,485 from the general fund and $405,576 from the wholesale food manufacturing and storage protection cash fund; $295,024 is appropriated from the general fund to the marijuana cash fund and reappropriated from the marijuana cash fund to the department of revenue; and Of the amounts appropriated to the departments of public health and environment and revenue, $437,764 is reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services to those departments. The amounts are appropriated to the departments for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, and the departments are authorized to spend any amount not expended in the 2023-34 state fiscal year in the 2024-25 state fiscal year for the same purposes. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to annually prepare a written hospital expenditure report. The act changes the name of the report to the hospital transparency report (transparency report). The act adds specified information that each hospital shall report to the state department for the transparency report. No later than July 1, 2024, the act requires each hospital to provide specified information to the state department for previous fiscal years. The act authorizes the state department to impose certain enforcement mechanisms against a hospital that does not provide all of the information required to be reported to the state department. Current law requires the state department to submit the transparency report to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee. The act requires the transparency report to also be submitted to the house of representatives health and insurance committee. The act requires the state department to report on the transparency report during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing. Beginning July 1, 2024, the act requires any patient bill to follow industry standard billing practices, including, at a minimum, the date of service, the patient's name, the provider's name, a description of the services provided, and the charges for each service. The act appropriates $75,167 to the state department from the healthcare affordability and sustainability cash fund to implement the act. It is anticipated that the state department will receive an additional $75,165 in federal funds for the implementation of the act. 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.)
A person who is at least 65 years of age or who is a person called into military service may elect to defer the payment of real property taxes. Other residential real property owners may also defer the payment of a portion of real property taxes under certain circumstances. For all 3 categories of taxpayers who are eligible to defer the payment of real property taxes, the property for which the deferral is claimed cannot be income-producing. Beginning in the 2023 property tax year, the act specifies that the prohibition against the property being income-producing does not apply if the taxpayer claiming the deferral is at least 65 years of age, is a person called into military service, or is the surviving spouse of such a taxpayer. For a property owner called into military service or a property owner who is not called into military service and is not at least 65 years of age but is otherwise eligible to claim a property tax deferral, to be eligible for the property tax deferral the total value of all liens of mortgages and deeds of trust on the property must be less than or equal to 90% of the actual value of the property (90% requirement). For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2023, the act specifies that the 90% requirement does not apply if the owner of the property is a person called into military service and has a home loan guaranteed by the veterans administration of the United States. APPROVED by Governor June 1, 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.)