The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review of and report on the state board of pharmacy (board) and its regulation of the practice of pharmacy and makes other modifications to the laws regulating the practice. Specifically:Sections 1 and 2 of the act continue the board and its functions for 9 years, until 2030, and consolidate within the sunset review the board's functions regarding the regulation of therapeutic interchange and therapeutically equivalent selections and of collaborative pharmacy practice agreements; Sections 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, and 25 to 29 align the pharmacy practice act with the federal "Drug Quality and Security Act"; Section 3 also: Clarifies that an out-of-state pharmacy need not register with the board when distributing prescription drugs to in-state pharmacies under common ownership with the out-of-state pharmacy if the drugs remain in the original manufacturer's packaging and are not compounded and the transfer is necessary to address an inventory shortage; Includes in the definition of "other outlet" a community mental health clinic, a behavioral health entity, and an approved treatment facility, thereby allowing those facilities to register with the board and operate as a pharmacy outlet; Repeals the term "pharmaceutical care" and replaces it with "pharmacist care services" to reflect the services pharmacists provide in addition to compounding and dispensing drugs; Adds functions to the scope of practice of a pharmacy technician, such as documenting medical history and replenishing automated dispensing devices; and Adds functions to the scope of practice of a pharmacist, such as prescribing certain drugs for limited conditions, ordering and evaluating laboratory tests, and performing limited physical assessments; Section 4 specifies that, of the pharmacist members of the board, one must be practicing in a hospital setting, one must be practicing in a chain pharmacy, and one must be practicing in an independent pharmacy; Section 5 repeals the requirement that the board justify its reasons for deviating from a recommendation from the veterinary pharmaceutical advisory committee; Sections 5, 6, 21 to 25, and 35 make technical amendments to the pharmacy practice act, such as eliminating references to "diversion" in the peer health assistance program and correcting erroneous references to wholesalers as "licensed" rather than "registered"; Section 6 grants the board authority, after conducting a risk-based assessment, to inspect out-of-state pharmacies, out-of-state wholesalers, and nonresident 503B outsourcing facilities and requires the board to send quarterly electronic newsletters to pharmacists regarding updates in the law that affect the practice; Sections 7, 16, and 32 to 34 require pharmacists and pharmacies, as well as insurance companies that underwrite professional liability insurance for pharmacists and pharmacies, to report malpractice settlements and judgments to the board; Section 8 specifies tasks that a pharmacist may delegate to ancillary pharmacy personnel under the pharmacist's supervision; Section 10 increases the amount of medication that may be dispensed to an emergency room patient from a 24-hour supply to a 72-hour supply and allows a hospital to dispense a prescription drug to a hospitalized patient who leaves the hospital on a day pass; Sections 3, 12, and 31 authorize pharmacists to prescribe opiate antagonists; Sections 3 and 13 repeal the requirement that the label on an anabolic steroid prescription indicate the purpose for which the prescription was written; Section 14 authorizes a pharmacist, under specified circumstances, to substitute a drug in the same therapeutic class as the prescribed drug; Section 15 authorizes pharmacists to make specified types of minor adaptions to prescriptions; Section 16 specifies that a licensee, certificant, or registrant may be disciplined for habitual or excessive use or abuse of alcohol, habit-forming drugs, or controlled substances, but not for having a substance use disorder; Section 17 eliminates the requirement that the board send letters of admonition by certified mail; Section 19 requires the board to allow electronic storage of pharmacy records; Section 20 requires a pharmacist, with certain exceptions, to provide patient counseling in new medication therapy and authorizes a pharmacist, in the pharmacist's professional judgment, to provide patient counseling for any other prescription; and Section 30 increases from 3 to 6 the number of pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy staff that a pharmacist may designate to access, on behalf of a pharmacist supervising the pharmacy technician or other pharmacy staff, the prescription drug monitoring program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act creates the state apprenticeship agency (SAA) in the department of labor and employment (department) and specifies that it exercises its powers, duties, and functions, including rule-making, regulation, licensing, and registration, the promulgation of rates and standards, and the rendering of findings, orders, and adjudications, independently of the executive director of the department. The executive director of the department is required to appoint the director of the SAA. The purpose of the SAA is to:Serve as the primary point of contact with the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship concerning apprentices and registered apprenticeship programs; Accelerate new apprenticeship program growth and assist in promotion and development; and Oversee apprenticeship programs, including registration, required standards for registration, certification, quality assurance, record-keeping, compliance with federal laws and standards, and provision of administrative and technical assistance. The director of the SAA is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the state apprenticeship registration program.The director of the SAA is required to establish the state apprenticeship council (SAC) and an interagency advisory committee (IAC) on apprenticeship. The governor and the director of the SAA appoint the members of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee.The SAC is charged with overseeing registered apprenticeship programs for the building and construction trades in this state and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws and standards. The IAC is charged with the same responsibilities for all other apprenticeships not in the building and construction trades. Both entities are charged with:Registering with and maintaining the standards of the United States department of labor's office of apprenticeship and developing standards for registration for their respective apprenticeship programs; Resolving conflicts and complaints that arise between parties to apprenticeship agreements; Reviewing apprenticeship program performance; Making recommendations concerning apprenticeship programs to the director of the state apprenticeship agency; Providing technical and professional guidance and promoting best practices; Developing administrative policies to ensure safety and quality standards; Providing an annual report to the executive director of the department of labor and employment; and Advising the SAA concerning their assigned functions and formulating policies for their respective industries. The act establishes a joint resolution committee of the state apprenticeship council and the interagency advisory committee to resolve conflicts between the 2 entities and to define their respective jurisdictions.Additionally, the act requires the state apprenticeship agency to accept applications for registration of apprenticeship programs beginning July 1, 2023. The state apprenticeship agency may deregister an apprenticeship program for noncompliance with the requirements in the act. The state apprenticeship agency shall conduct a hearing upon request of the SAC or the IAC regarding issues of noncompliance and deregistration.The apprenticeship program is repealed, effective September 1, 2029, after a review of the director's functions is performed.To implement this act, $485,249 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the SAA. From this amount $85,072 is appropriated to the department of law, and $78,598 is appropriated to the office of the governor.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a statutory basis to allow a private employer to give preference to a veteran of the armed forces or the National Guard and the spouse of a service member killed in the line of duty when hiring a new employee, as long as the veteran or the spouse is as qualified as other applicants for employment. The act allows a private employer's veterans' preference employment policy to also include the preferential hiring of a veteran who has been discharged from active duty within the last 5 years, a spouse of a veteran killed in the line of duty within 5 years after the death, and a veteran with a disability within 10 after the date of discharge. The act creates a rebuttable presumption that a private employer that adopts a program that gives preferences to veterans or their spouses is not committing a discriminatory or unfair labor practice.The act requires the office of economic development to begin the development of production materials to educate and encourage employers to hire veterans.$25,000 is appropriated to the office of economic development for allocation to the office of film, television, and media for the development of production materials.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The 2017 federal "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" placed a cap of $10,000 on the amount of state and local taxes paid that an individual can deduct on their federal taxes. This limitation did not apply to C corporations. Consequently, businesses organized as pass-through entities like S corporations and partnerships pay increased taxes on business profits compared to C corporations because pass-through entities pay taxes on business profits at the individual (partner or shareholder) level.For income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, the act allows pass-through entities to elect to pay their state income tax at the entity level so that the pass-through entity can claim an unlimited deduction at the federal level of state and local taxes paid; except that the election is only allowed in an income tax year where there is a limitation on the deductions allowed to individuals under section 164 of the internal revenue code.While this reduces federal taxable income for the pass-through entity, it does not reduce Colorado taxable income because, under current law, the individual and the partnership are required to add back any state and local taxes deducted at the federal level.The act adds an appropriation for the department of revenue to implement the taxpayer's election to pay their state income tax at the entity level.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes a mobile veterans-support unit grant program (grant program) to provide grant funding to a veteran-owned-and-focused organization to create a mobile veterans-support unit. A mobile veterans-support unit acts as a point of contact to veterans in rural areas or to veterans experiencing homelessness, regardless of the veteran's discharge status. The mobile veterans-support unit transports veterans who do not have access to public or private transportation. The act requires the mobile veterans-support unit to make every effort to ensure the vehicle is compliant with the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990".The division of local government (division), created as a division of the department of local affairs, shall establish and administer the grant program.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $229,070 is appropriated from the general fund and an additional 0.6 FTE is provided to the division to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state department of human services (department) to establish a veteran suicide prevention pilot program (pilot program) to reduce the suicide rate and suicidal ideation among veterans by providing no-cost, stigma-free, confidential, and effective behavioral health treatment for up to 700 veterans and their families in El Paso County. Subject to available money, the department may expand the pilot program to serve more than 700 veterans or to other areas of the state. The department may enter into an agreement with a nonprofit or educational organization to administer the pilot program. The department is required to include information about the pilot program in its annual report to the general assembly. The pilot program is repealed June 30, 2025.The act appropriates $1,660,000 from the general fund to the department of human service for the pilot program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes an outdoor equity board (board) in the division of parks and wildlife. The board is responsible for the governance of the outdoor equity grant program (grant program), which is created in the act. The purpose of the outdoor equity grant program is to increase access and opportunity for underserved youth and their families to experience Colorado's open spaces, state parks, public lands, and other outdoor areas.The act specifies that the board may award grants to applicants that will directly utilize the grant to engage eligible youth and their families by reducing barriers to the Colorado outdoors, creating pathways for formal or informal conservation of the Colorado outdoors, or offering environmental and Colorado outdoor-based educational opportunities.The act funds the grant program through a redistribution of lottery money that is earmarked for the general fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The justice reinvestment crime prevention initiative (initiative), administered by the Colorado department of local affairs in the division of local government (department), incorporates programs that expand small business lending and provide grants aimed at reducing crime and promoting community development in certain target communities. Effective September 1, 2021, the act:Expands the initiative to include Grand Junction and Trinidad; and Adds a statewide business and entrepreneurship training and grant program for justice-system-involved persons to the initiative. The act also modifies the sunset review and repeal date for the initiative from September 1, 2023, to September 1, 2027, and makes an appropriation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, a court must inquire at the defendant's first appearance whether the defendant is a veteran. If the jurisdiction does not have a veterans treatment court, the act requires the court to inform a veteran defendant of the possibility of petitioning to transfer the case to a jurisdiction with a veterans treatment court.The act allows a veteran defendant or defendant who is currently serving in the U.S. armed forces and who is suffering from a diagnosable mental health condition that is related to the veteran's military service to petition the court to transfer the supervision of any post disposition of the case to a jurisdiction with a veterans treatment court if the jurisdiction of trial does not have a veterans treatment court and the district attorney and any victim in a victim's rights case consent to the petition. The petition must include the jurisdiction that the defendant is seeking to have the case transferred to and a description of the services or supports the defendant is seeking to access from the veterans treatment court in that jurisdiction. After receiving a petition, the court must consult with the judge administering the veterans treatment court and the district attorney of the hosting jurisdiction. The court may grant the petition to transfer the supervision of probation in the case if the veterans treatment court and the district attorney in the hosting jurisdiction consent to the transfer and that jurisdiction has the current ability to provide the resources and support necessary to responsibly accept the transfer. If the host jurisdiction files a motion for revocation of the veterans treatment court program probation, the host jurisdiction shall conduct the revocation hearing. If probation is revoked, the host jurisdiction shall refer the matter to the original jurisdiction for resentencing.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the Space National Guard to be added to provisions in statute that mention the Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The federal government is likely to create the Space National Guard in the "FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act". Implementing the Space National Guard in existing statute now will allow the Air National Guard space units to transition to the Space National Guard once the federal government establishes the Space National Guard.The act also adds "Space Force" to provisions in statute that list the branches of the armed forces: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the Coast Guard.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)