Rep. Ty Winter

The act enacts the "Physician Assistant Licensure Compact" (compact). The compact is designed to enable a physician assistant with a license in a state that has signed the compact (participating state) to more easily become authorized to practice in any other participating state. Participating states and physician assistants must meet specific conditions enumerated in the compact to participate in the compact. The compact allows only the participating state where a physician assistant is licensed to discipline the physician assistant, but allows a participating state where the physician assistant is practicing, but is not licensed, to revoke the physician assistant's authority to practice in that state. The act authorizes the Colorado medical board (board) to promulgate rules and to facilitate Colorado's participation in the compact, including notifying the Compact Commission (commission) established by the compact of any adverse action taken by the board against a physician assistant licensed in Colorado or practicing in Colorado under the compact. The commission includes a delegate from each participating state and has the powers and duties set forth in the act. The compact becomes effective on the date the compact is enacted in the seventh participating state. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The "Colorado Digital Token Act" provides limited exemptions from the securities registration and securities broker-dealer and salesperson licensing requirements for persons dealing in digital tokens. "Digital token" is defined in the "Colorado Digital Token Act" as a digital unit with specified characteristics that is: Secured through a decentralized ledger or database; Exchangeable for goods or services; and Capable of being traded or transferred between persons without an intermediary or custodian of value. The act repeals the "Colorado Digital Token Act". APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the bill creates, beginning on January 1, 2025, and continuing indefinitely, a state sales and use tax exemption for baby and toddler products. A "baby and toddler product" is defined to include a baby crib, playpen, or play yard; a baby stroller; a baby safety gate, cabinet lock or latch, or electrical socket cover; a baby monitor; a bicycle child carrier seat, or trailer, including an adaptor or accessory; a baby exerciser, jumper, bouncer seat, or swing; a breast pump, bottle sterilizer, bottle, or nipple, pacifier, or teething ring; baby wipes; a changing table or pad; and baby and toddler clothing. Section 1 also creates a time-limited state sales and use tax exemption, or sales and use tax holiday, for back-to-school items. The tax holiday applies for 14 days beginning on January 1, 2025, and for an additional 14 days beginning on July 24, 2025. A "back-to-school item" is defined to mean an article of clothing, a bag, a school supply, a learning aid, or a personal computer or personal computer-related accessory that is purchased primarily for use by an individual who is a minor. The exemption for each item is limited by cost as follows: $100 for an article of clothing or a bag; $50 for a school supply; $30 for a learning aid; and $1,500 for a personal computer or a personal computer-related accessory. Section 2 permits a town, city, or county to create sales and use tax exemptions that are identical to the state exemptions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill clarifies that local governments, rather than the air quality control commission or the department of public health and environment, control the regulation of burning in burn barrels. Burning in burn barrels is permitted as regulated by or unless prohibited by the local government. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law limits the duration of employment a public employees' retirement association (PERA) service retiree can work for a PERA employer without a reduction in PERA retirement benefits. Under certain circumstances, a rural school district may hire a service retiree who is a teacher, a school bus driver, a school food services cook, a school nurse, or a qualified paraprofessional without the service retiree receiving a deduction in benefits for any length of employment in the calender year. The act adds superintendents and principals to the list of service retirees hired by a rural school district who may be employed without a reduction in benefits and clarifies that the exemption for a rural school district also includes a small rural school district which has a funded pupil count for the prior budget year of less than 1,000 pupils. The act also requires PERA, on or before December 1, 2025, and on or before December 1 of each 5th year thereafter, to submit a report to the finance and education committees of the house of representatives and the senate or any successor committees regarding certain employment after service retirement allowances. The report must include: The number of service retirees under certain allowances who have been employed after service retirement as of the date of the report; The extent to which certain employment after service retirement allowances have helped employers in the school division address shortages; The costs, if any, to PERA as a result of certain employment after service retirement allowances; and Any other information deemed relevant by PERA. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Under current law, "crimes of violence" are subject to enhanced sentencing. The act adds human trafficking of an adult or a minor for the purpose of involuntary servitude and human trafficking of an adult or a minor for sexual servitude to the list of crimes of violence that are subject to enhanced sentencing. Under current law, it is an affirmative defense to a charge of human trafficking for sexual servitude if the person being charged can demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that, at the time of the offense, the person was a victim of human trafficking for sexual servitude who was forced or coerced into engaging in the human trafficking of minors for sexual servitude. The act extends the affirmative defense if the person was forced or coerced into engaging in human trafficking for sexual servitude and removes the preponderance of evidence standard. The act makes the statute of limitations for human trafficking of an adult or a minor for the purpose of involuntary servitude and human trafficking of an adult for sexual servitude 20 years. The act does not change the unlimited statute of limitations for human trafficking for sexual servitude of a minor. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 11, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act modifies the following statutory requirements for state departments' and agencies' reports. In the division of insurance, the following reports and associated reporting requirements for insurance carriers are eliminated: The annual list of insurance carrier average reimbursement rates that is posted on the division's website; and The annual report on out-of-network use and payment arbitrations. In the department of human services: The annual report, under the supervision of district and county attorneys, on the nature and result of actions taken to recover the cost of the care and maintenance of a child committed to a state institution from the child's parents is to be delivered to the judiciary committees of the house of representatives and of the senate rather than to the governor; and The due date for the annual report on abandoned children surrendered to emergency personnel is changed from January 1 to March 1. In the department of public safety, the annual report on domestic violence-related assaults and deaths is eliminated. In the department of higher education: The annual report on concurrent enrollment, prepared in collaboration with the department of education, is eliminated; The annual report on tuition and fees is due annually rather than every year by January 15; The annual report on the statewide postsecondary education master plan goals and state-supported institutions' progress toward meeting those goals is due annually rather than every year by December 1; The annual reports on the success of high school graduates in postsecondary education are to be submitted annually rather than by specific dates; The annual report on supplemental academic instruction and developmental education courses is eliminated; The annual report on the resident and nonresident makeup of state-supported institutions of higher education is due every 3 years rather than annually; and The due date for the annual report on the implementation and development of open educational resources is changed from October 1 to December 1. In the department of law, the annual report on the insurance fraud unit in the attorney general's office is eliminated. In the department of local affairs, the following reports are to be posted annually on the department's website rather than included in the department's annual SMART Act report and presentation: The report on the effectiveness of the gray and black market marijuana enforcement grant program; The report on the effectiveness of the defense counsel on first appearance grant program; and The report on the activities of the peace officers behavioral health support and community partnerships grant program. In the office of economic development and international trade, the due date of the annual report on the implementation of the venture capital program is changed from February 1 to May 1. In the office of information technology, the annual requirement that counties report to the chief information officer on county budget, revenue, and expenditures is eliminated. In the department of health care policy and financing: The annual report on the accountable care collaborative is combined with the annual report submitted by the department to the joint budget committee and the health and human services committees of the house and senate; The reference to "The ASAM Criteria" that is incorporated into utilization management processes used to determine medical necessity for residential and inpatient substance use disorder treatment is updated to reflect the version of "The ASAM Criteria" used by the department; The quarterly report on residential and inpatient substance use disorder utilization management statistics is eliminated and replaced with a requirement to display the same statistics on the department's website; The due date of the annual report on managed care entity denials for residential and inpatient substance use disorder treatment is changed from December 1 to January 31; and The annual report on community transition services and supports is eliminated. In the department of early childhood: The due date of the report on the evaluation of the child abuse prevention trust fund is changed from November 1, 2026, to November 1, 2029; The due date of the report on the child care services and substance use disorder treatment pilot program is changed from June 30, 2023, to June 30, 2028, and an annual requirement, in effect for four years, to report on the pilot program in the intervening years to the health and human services committees of the house of representatives and of the senate is added; The annual report on early intervention services is eliminated; The due date of the report on the evaluation of the early childhood mental health consultation program is changed from January 2027 to January 2028; The statewide report on the quality improvement of early childhood education programs is eliminated; and The annual report on the infant and toddler quality and availability grant program is eliminated. In the department of natural resources and division of parks and wildlife: The annual report on activities concerning species conservation is eliminated; The annual report on acquisitions of real property or interests in water is modified to include information on acquisitions that are pending or that occurred within the previous 5 years; The annual report on the wildlife for future generations trust fund is eliminated; The report on the progress of the 5-year strategic plan is eliminated; The annual report on the administration of the division of parks and wildlife is eliminated; The annual report on specific noise abatement measures is eliminated; and The annual report on the parks for future generations trust fund is eliminated. In the department of revenue, the following one-time reports are repealed: The 2021 report on medical marijuana delivery; and The 2005 report on the lottery expenditure evaluation. APPROVED by Governor March 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE March 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)