Rep. Perry Buck

The bill allows a local district college (college), such as Aims community college, to offer a bachelor of science degree in nursing program as a completion degree in nursing to students who have or are pursuing an associate degree in nursing, provided that the college's board of trustees determines it is appropriate to address the needs of the communities within its service area, as approved by the Colorado commission on higher education based on existing criteria. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill specifies that a local government that bans hydraulic fracturing of an oil and gas well is liable to the mineral interest owner for the value of the mineral interest and that a local government that enacts a moratorium on oil and gas activities shall compensate oil and gas operators, mineral lessees, and royalty owners for all costs, damages, and losses of fair market value associated with the moratorium. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

The bill specifies that a local government that bans hydraulic fracturing of an oil and gas well is liable to the mineral interest owner for the value of the mineral interest and that a local government that enacts a moratorium on oil and gas activities shall compensate oil and gas operators, mineral lessees, and royalty owners for all costs, damages, and losses of fair market value associated with the moratorium.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More

The bill removes the requirement that the state assessment in social studies be administered in high school. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More

Read More

The bill establishes parameters under which a direct primary care agreement (agreement) may be implemented. An agreement may be entered into between a direct primary health care provider (provider) and a patient for the payment of a periodic fee and for a specified period of time. The provider must be a licensed, registered, or certified individual or entity authorized to provide primary care services. The bill establishes that the agreement is not the business of insurance or the practice of underwriting and does not fall under regulation of the division of insurance. The bill outlines the conditions under which a provider may discontinue care to a patient. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

In 1999, the voters of the state authorized the executive director of the department of transportation (executive director) to issue transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) in a maximum principal amount of $1.7 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $2.3 billion in order to provide financing to accelerate the construction of qualified federal aid transportation projects. The executive director issued the TRANs as authorized. The final payments of principal and interest on the TRANs will be made during fiscal year 2016-17, which will make available for expenditure for transportation-related purposes only revenues dedicated for transportation by federal law, the state constitution, and state law that the state has been using to make principal and interest payments on the TRANs. Section 3 of the bill repeals a requirement that the state treasurer make conditional transfers, which are reduced or eliminated if the state is required to refund excess state revenues in accordance with the taxpayer's bill of rights, of a specified percentage of total general fund revenues from the general fund to the capital construction fund and the highway users tax fund for state fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20. Section 4 of the bill requires the state transportation commission to submit a ballot question to the voters of the state at the November 2017 statewide election, which, if approved, would authorize the executive director to issue additional TRANs in a maximum principal amount of $3.5 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $5 billion once the TRANs already issued are repaid in full. The additional TRANs must have a maximum repayment term of 20 years, and the certificate, trust indenture, or other instrument authorizing their issuance must provide that the state may pay them in full before the end of the specified payment term without penalty. Additional TRANs must otherwise generally be issued subject to the same requirements and for the same purposes as the original TRANs; except that the transportation commission must pledge to annually allocate from legally available money under its control any money needed for payment of the notes in excess of amounts appropriated by the general assembly from the state highway fund for payment of the notes as authorized by section 6 of the bill until the notes are fully repaid. Section 5 of the bill requires proceeds from the sale of any additional TRANs that are not otherwise pledged for the payment of the TRANs to be used only for specified projects until all of the projects have been funded in whole or in part with such proceeds and have been fully funded and specifies additional transportation project contract award process requirements and limitations for a project to be funded in whole or in part with proceeds of additional TRANs. Sections 6 and 7 of the bill require 10% of state sales and use tax net revenue collected on or after July 1, 2017, to be credited to the highway users tax fund (HUTF), paid from the HUTF to the state highway fund for use, subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, for payment of TRANs and, to the extent not used for that purpose, state transportation projects. Section 6 also requires 1% of state sales and use tax net revenue collected on or after July 1, 2017, less ten million dollars to be credited to the capital construction fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under current law, health benefit plans are required to cover health care services delivered to a covered person by a provider via telehealth in the same manner that the plan covers health care services delivered by a provider in person. The bill clarifies that: A health plan cannot restrict or deny coverage of telehealth services based on the communication technology or application used to deliver the telehealth services; The availability of telehealth services does not change a carrier's obligation to contract with providers available in the community to provide in-person services; A covered person may receive telehealth services from a private residence, but the carrier is not required to pay or reimburse for any transmission costs or originating site fees the covered person incurs; A carrier is to apply the applicable copayment, coinsurance, or deductible amount to health care services a covered person receives through telehealth, which amount cannot exceed the amount applicable to those health care services when delivered through in-person care; and Telehealth includes health care services provided through HIPAA-compliant audio-visual communication or the use of a HIPAA-compliant application via a cellular telephone but does not include voice-only telephone communication or text messaging.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

The bill specifies that a local government that bans hydraulic fracturing of an oil and gas well is liable to the mineral interest owner for the value of the mineral interest and that a local government that enacts a moratorium on oil and gas activities shall compensate oil and gas operators, mineral lessees, and royalty owners for all costs, damages, and losses of fair market value associated with the moratorium. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)