Rep. Lorena García

The act creates the statewide welcome, reception, and integration grant program (grant program) in the department of labor and employment (department) to provide grants to community-based organizations that provide culturally and linguistically appropriate navigation of services and programs to migrants who are within one year of arrival in the United States. A grant may be used for: Conducting an intake and assessment of needs; Providing cultural orientation; case management; employment services or referrals to employment services; housing, housing-related services, or referrals to housing; English as a second language classes or referrals to classes; financial orientation; referrals to mental and physical health services and disability services; interpretation and translation services; transportation services; and immigration legal assistance or referrals to immigration legal services; Distributing emergency and transitional supplies; Assisting migrant parents to enroll their children in public school or summer programs, including early childhood programs; and Other eligible expenses. The act requires the department to issue a request for proposal for a nonprofit organization to administer the grant program. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $2.5 million from the general fund to the department for the grant program. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes a continuing medical education requirement (CME) for physicians licensed in this state. To meet the CME requirement, a physician must complete 30 credit hours of CME (CME credit hours) in the 24 months preceding the renewal, reinstatement, or reactivation of the physician's medical license in topics selected by the physician and also in topics specified in the act. The act specifies the type and sponsors of programs or activities that qualify for CME credit hours. The board, at its discretion, may initiate a stakeholder process to consider requiring CME credit hours in a certain topic and shall initiate a stakeholder process for the board to consider requiring specific credit hours relating to health disparities and outcomes data, reproductive, sexual, and gender-based health care, and explicit and implicit bias. To verify compliance with the CME requirement, the physician shall affirm on the license renewal form submitted to the board that the physician has complied with the CME requirement. The board is also authorized to audit up to 5% of physician renewals annually, chosen at random with an oversampling of nonboard-certified physicians, and to require that the physician submit proof of the CME programs completed and the CME credit hours awarded. A physician's failure to comply with the CME requirement or to submit proof to the board during a board audit, without reasonable cause, constitutes unprofessional conduct. If the physician fails to comply with the CME requirement, the physician's license is inactive until reinstated by the board. The board may adopt rules to implement the CME requirement. The director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies shall increase existing fees on physician licensure renewals to cover any additional costs associated with implementing the CME requirement. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act continues the Colorado state advisory council for parent involvement in education (advisory council) until September 1, 2030. Prior to its repeal, the department of regulatory agencies will conduct a sunset review of the advisory council. The act adds a department of early childhood representative to serve on the advisory council. The act requires the advisory committee to: Advise educator preparation programs about best practices for including research-based family engagement strategies in coursework and program requirements; and Provide feedback to state agencies and other organizations about publicly available tools and resources that assist families with navigating the education system. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $33,364 from the general fund to the department of education for use by school quality and support. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act: Requires the Colorado civil rights commission to establish certain parameters when receiving reports for maternity care; Adds a midwife to the environmental justice advisory board and the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee and adds midwifery as a preferred area of expertise for members of the health equity commission; and Requires a health facility that provides maternal health-care services to notify certain individuals at least 90 days before eliminating the services. The act also allows the department of public health and environment (department) to contract with a third-party evaluator to complete the following tasks and make appropriate recommendations: Study closures, consolidations, and acquisitions related to perinatal health-care practices and facilities and perinatal state-designated health professional shortage areas and assets and deficits related to perinatal health and health-care services across the state, not limited to obstetric providers; Identify major outcome categories that the department should track over time and identify risks and opportunities; Explore the effects of practice and facility closures (closures) on maternal and infant health outcomes and experiences; Identify recommendations and best practice guidelines during closures and resultant transfers of care; and Create a health professional shortage area and perinatal health services assets and deficits map. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act overhauls the Colorado child care assistance program (CCCAP). The act simplifies the application process by: Limiting the application requirements to only what is necessary to determine eligibility; Prohibiting counties from adding eligibility requirements; and Requiring recipients to provide only information that has changed when applying for redetermination. Income qualifications are changed to correspond with universal preschool program requirements. A county may exclude state and federal assistance program income eligibility guidelines in eligibility determinations. An employee of a child care provider may apply to the CCCAP and be granted full benefits for children from 6 weeks of age to 13 years of age, regardless of the employee's income. The act directs that child care providers be paid based on enrollment and not on attendance and be paid a weekly rate in advance. Employers are permitted to cover copayments, and copayments are limited to 7% of a family's income. The act authorizes grants and contracts for underserved populations. Starting July 1, 2025, the department shall create a pilot program for unlicensed providers to seek license-exempt status and establishment as an eligible CCCAP provider separate and distinct from the parent-initiated process. A CCCAP recipient is required to engage in an eligible activity to receive benefits. The act includes substance use disorder treatment programs, job training, and education activities as eligible activities. The department of early childhood education, in consultation with the department of public health and environment, shall conduct or contract for a study to determine the feasibility of de-linking eligibility for the federal child and adult care food program from the CCCAP. The act appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the department of early childhood for the child and adult care food program study. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

There is currently a jail standards oversight committee and commission (oversight committee and commission) tasked with developing jail standards in Colorado. The oversight committee and commission are set to repeal on July 1, 2024. The act repeals the commission and extends the oversight committee until September 1, 2033. Each county jail shall comply with the standards adopted by the oversight committee beginning July 1, 2026. The oversight committee shall post the standards on its website. If the oversight committee revises a jail standard, each county jail shall comply with the revised standard no later than one year after the revision is adopted, or earlier if specified by the oversight committee when adopting the revision. The act creates a jail standards advisory committee (advisory committee). The advisory committee consists of: 2 sheriffs appointed by a statewide organization representing the county sheriffs of Colorado; 2 county commissioners appointed by Colorado counties, incorporated; The state public defender or the state public defender's designee; One physical or behavioral health professional with experience working in a jail, appointed by the oversight committee; and One person representing a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of people experiencing incarceration, appointed by the oversight committee. The advisory committee shall begin meeting in July 2024 and shall plan assessments of jails to begin in January 2025. Additional duties of the advisory committee include, but are not limited to: Utilize peer assessors selected by the advisory committee to perform assessments of a jail's physical facilities and its written policies and procedures to assess compliance with jail standards; Provide the oversight committee with recommendations for revising jail standards and ways to address jail needs necessary to comply with jail standards; and Provide the oversight committee with recommendations to address jail needs necessary to comply with jail standards. The advisory committee may also establish a process to grant variances from the jail standards to local jails. The act creates the jail standards advisory committee cash fund to fund the activities of the advisory committee. The act requires the attorney general to conduct assessments of jails, in conjunction with the advisory committee, for compliance with jail standards. The attorney general may also conduct an independent special assessment of a jail when requested by the governor, the oversight committee, or a sheriff. The attorney general shall prepare a report of each special assessment. The advisory committee shall annually submit a report to the oversight committee. The act requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to create a list of funding assistance available to jails to offset the costs of compliance with the jail standards. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $305,000 from the general fund to the jail standards advisory committee cash fund; $41,248 from the general fund to the legislative department; and $12,532 from the general fund to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a refundable income tax credit (credit) that is available for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, but prior to January 1, 2029, for a qualifying resident individual (individual) working in the care workforce in the amount of $1,200 for a single filer and $2,400 for 2 joint filers. To be eligible for the credit, an individual must: Have an adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000 as a single filer or $100,000 as a joint filer; and Be employed in the care workforce as a child care worker or a qualified direct care worker. To further the administration of the credit, the act: Requires the department of health care policy and financing, on or before September 30, 2025, and each September 30 thereafter, to provide the department of revenue an electronic report of the name and federal employer identification number of every long-term care employer that employs one or more direct care workers and provides services in Colorado during the calendar year; Requires the department of early childhood, on or before January 31, 2026, and each January 31 thereafter, to provide the department of revenue with an electronic report of child care workers eligible for the credit for the preceding calendar year; and Requires, on or before January 31, 2026, and each January 31 thereafter, every long-term care employer, excluding a consumer-directed care employer for which the department of health care policy and financing is required to file the return, that employed one or more direct care workers to make an information return to the executive director of the department of revenue for the preceding calendar year and requires the information return to be filed electronically. The act imposes a penalty of $500 on long-term care employers who fail to file the return on or before January 31, unless reasonable cause is shown. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $47,193 is appropriated from the general fund to the division of licensing and administration in the department of early childhood for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act prohibits knowingly leaving a handgun in an unattended vehicle unless the handgun is stored in a locked hard-sided container that is placed out of plain view and the container is in a locked vehicle, the locked trunk of the locked vehicle, or a locked recreational vehicle. The act prohibits knowingly leaving a firearm that is not a handgun in an unattended vehicle unless the firearm is stored in a locked hard-sided or soft-sided container that is placed out of plain view and the container is in a locked vehicle, the locked trunk of the locked vehicle, or a locked recreational vehicle. A firearm that is not a handgun that is stored in a soft-sided container must have a locking device installed on the firearm while stored in the soft-sided container. A person who is considered to have a disability who stores a firearm in a locked soft-sided container does not violate the requirement to store a firearm in a hard-sided container. The act includes exceptions from the storage requirement for storing antique firearms, storing a firearm that is a not a handgun in a vehicle being used for farm or ranch operations, a person who lives in a vehicle or in a recreational vehicle, peace officers and active members of the armed forces, and certain activities related to lawful hunting. Unsafe storage of a firearm in a vehicle is a civil infraction. APPROVED by Governor May 15, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill directs the state treasurer to conduct a study to evaluate the feasibility of and to make recommendations regarding the creation of a "baby bonds" program (program), through which the state deposits a specified amount of money into a public trust account and the money is invested by the state treasurer for an eligible child, who may use the money and its earnings for certain eligible uses upon turning 18 years of age. The study must: Assess the distribution of wealth in the state; Assess the landscape of existing public assistance opportunities for wealth building for: Individuals whose family income does not exceed 195% of the federal poverty line, adjusted for family size; and Individuals belonging to groups who have historically been denied access to wealth-building opportunities or who have experienced wealth stripping and exploitation, which has led to a lack of intergenerational wealth, including individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color; Examine and evaluate the feasibility of creating the program in the state; Examine investment options for the program; Determine how the creation of the program could address the racial wealth gap in the state; and Examine any other area related to a baby bonds program that is deemed appropriate by the state treasurer or a third-party entity conducting the study, including any pilot project of related programs performed in the state. The state treasurer may enter into an agreement with a third-party entity to conduct all or part of the study. At the conclusion of the study and not later than April 15, 2025, the state treasurer is required to submit a report of its findings and make recommendations to the general assembly. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill enacts the "Violence Prevention in Health-care Settings Act", applicable to hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, nursing care facilities, assisted living residences, and federally qualified health centers, and the "Violence Prevention in Behavioral Health Settings Act", applicable to comprehensive community behavioral health providers. Both acts require each of these facility types to: Establish a workplace violence prevention committee to document and review workplace violence incidents at the facility and develop and regularly review a workplace violence prevention plan (plan) for the facility; Adopt, implement, enforce, and update the plan; Provide training on the plan and on workplace violence prevention; Submit biannual workplace violence incident reports to the department of public health and environment or the behavioral health administration, as applicable; and If a workplace violence incident occurs, offer post-incident services to affected staff. The bill specifies the required components of facility plans. Facilities are prohibited from discouraging staff from contacting or filing an incident report with law enforcement. The bill also prohibits retaliation, discipline, or discrimination against a person who reports a workplace violence incident in good faith, who advises a staff member of the right to report an incident, or who chooses not to report an incident. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)