Rep. Elisabeth Epps

With the passage of Senate Bill 23-167, concerning the regulation of certified midwives by the state board of nursing, an additional member will be added to the state board of nursing (board) on July 1, 2024, bringing the total number of members of the board to 12. Senate Bill 23-167, however, did not include a conforming amendment to a statute that refers to the size of the board. The act eliminates the inaccurate reference to the number of members on the board. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act: Exempts veterinarians from complying with specific aspects of the prescription drug use monitoring program (program) that are specific to prescriptions for human patients; Allows the medical director of a medical practice or hospital, including a nurse medical director, to appoint designees to query the program on behalf of a practitioner in the medical practice or hospital setting; Allows the department of health care policy and financing (department) to access the program, consistent with federal data privacy requirements, for purposes of care coordination, utilization review, and federally required reporting relating to recipients of certain benefits; and Updates current language in the laws relating to the program by using more modern terminology. A county or district public health agency may establish a multidisciplinary and multiagency overdose fatality review team (local team). The act prescribes membership requirements, purposes, and duties for local teams, including a duty to report annually to the county or district public health agency served by the local team. The act requires certain entities, upon receiving a written request of the chair of a local team, to provide the local team with information and records regarding a person whose death or near death is being reviewed by the local team. Unless the chair of the local team grants an extension of time, the entity must provide the local team the requested information and records within 10 business days after receipt of the request. A person or entity that receives a records request from a local team may charge the local team a reasonable fee for the service of duplicating any records requested. A person or entity, including a local or state agency, that provides information or records to a local team is not subject to civil or criminal liability or any professional disciplinary action pursuant to state law as a result of providing the information or record. Upon request of a local team, a person who is not a member of a local team may attend and participate in a meeting at which a local team reviews confidential information and considers a plan, an intervention, or other course of conduct based on that review. The act requires each person at a local team meeting to sign a confidentiality form before reviewing information and records received by the local team. Local team meetings in which confidential information is discussed are exempt from the open meetings provisions of the "Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972". A local team shall maintain the confidentiality of information provided to the local team as required by state and federal law, and information and records acquired or created by a local team are not subject to inspection pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act". Local team members and a person who presents or provides information to a local team may not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding or disciplinary action regarding the information presented or provided. Law enforcement may not use information from any overdose fatality review for any law enforcement purpose. The department is required to publish guidance for providers concerning reimbursement for all variations of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment interventions. The act requires the existing substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment grant program in the department to require implementation of: A statewide adolescent substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral practice that includes training and technical assistance for appropriate professionals in Colorado schools, with the purpose of identifying students who would benefit from screening, brief intervention, and potential referral to resources, including treatment; and A statewide substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral practice that includes training and technical assistance for pediatricians and professionals in pediatric settings, with the purpose of identifying adolescent patients who would benefit from screening, brief intervention, and potential referral to resources, including treatment. Current law authorizes the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies (center) to conduct a statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project (data linkage project) that uses ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health actions to improve outcomes for families impacted by substance use during pregnancy. The act: Requires the center to conduct the data linkage project; Requires the data linkage project to utilize data from additional state and federal programs; and Expands the data linkage project to examine the education of pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $75,000 from the general fund to the executive director of the department for general professional services and special projects; this appropriation is based on the assumption that the department will receive $75,000 in federal funds for these services; and $250,000 from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the Colorado commission on higher education and higher education special purpose programs. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act excludes injuries involving the possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia from a physician's mandatory reporting requirements. The act also adds an exemption to the prohibition on possessing drug paraphernalia for possession of drug paraphernalia that a person received from an approved syringe exchange program or a program carried out by a harm reduction organization while the person was participating in the program. With respect to opioid antagonists, the act: Clarifies that the civil and criminal immunity that protects a person who acts in good faith to furnish or administer an opioid antagonist also protects a person who distributes the opioid antagonist; Specifies that the mere presence of an opioid antagonist is insufficient to establish probable cause to perform a warrantless search or seizure; and Updates the term "opiate antagonist" to "opioid antagonist" in current law. The act specifies that money appropriated to the department of public health and environment to purchase non-laboratory synthetic opioid detection tests may also be used to purchase other drug testing equipment. The act authorizes an organization operating a clean syringe exchange program to: Purchase and distribute other supplies and tools intended to reduce health risks associated with the use of drugs, including smoking materials; and Provide drug testing services through the program. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current Colorado law requires that a decree providing for placement of a child with a public agency be accompanied by a court order that obligates the child's parent to pay a fee, based on the parent's ability to pay. The fee covers the costs of a guardian ad litem and of providing for residential care of the child. The act removes the requirement for a court order obligating a child's parent to pay the fee for residential child care and guardian ad litem costs. Instead, the act authorizes a delegate child support enforcement unit to impose a fee only when a county child welfare unit determines a referral is appropriate in accordance with rules promulgated by the state board of human services (state board). The act removes the requirements that this fee be based on a parent's ability to pay and that the fee cover the cost of a guardian ad litem. Current Colorado law assigns child support by operation of law to the state department of human services to reimburse county, state, and federal out-of-home placement costs when a child is placed in foster care. The act limits assignments to current, rather than previously accrued, child support obligations. The act grants a delegate child support enforcement unit discretion to enforce a child support obligation when a county child welfare unit determines a referral is appropriate in accordance with rules promulgated by the state board. APPROVED by Governor May 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill defines the term "assault weapon" and prohibits a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon. The bill further prohibits a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator. A person in violation of the prohibitions will be assessed a first-time penalty of $250,000 and $500,000 for each subsequent violation. The bill prohibits the sale or transfer by an individual on or after July 1, 2024, to anyone within the state, except to: An heir by bequest or intestate succession; or A licensed gun or firearms dealer, who shall render the weapon inoperable within ninety days of the transfer. An individual or entity that does not have a permit to sell firearms but sells or attempts to make a private sale of an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator in violation of the requirements of the bill on or after July 1, 2025, shall be assessed a civil penalty in the amount of $750. A licensed gun dealer, licensed firearms dealer, gun show vendor, or other person who has a permit to sell firearms who sells or attempts to sell an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator in violation of the requirements of the bill on or after July 1, 2025, shall be reported to the department of revenue. The department of revenue shall take appropriate actions as required by law. A licensed gun dealer, licensed firearms dealer, gun show vendor, or other person who has a permit to sell firearms who purchases an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activator from a manufacturer of assault weapons that operates in Colorado shall be reported to the department of revenue. The department of revenue shall take appropriate actions as required by law. The prohibition does not apply to: A member of the United States armed forces, a peace officer, or other government officer or agent, to the extent that the person is otherwise authorized to acquire or possess an assault weapon and does so while acting within the scope of the person's duties; A person who is an active member of the United States armed forces while on duty and serving in conformance with the policies of the United States armed forces; The manufacture, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon or rapid-fire trigger activators by a licensed firearms manufacturer to any branch of the United States armed forces, or to an entity that employs peace officers, for use by that entity or its employees a peace officer or to an entity that employs peace officers; The manufacture, sale, or transfer of an assault weapon by a licensed firearms manufacturer to any branch of the Unites States armed forces; The transfer of an assault weapon to a licensed firearms dealer or gunsmith for the purposes of maintenance, repair, or modification, and the subsequent return of the assault weapon to the lawful owner; Any federal, state, or local historical society, museum, or institutional collection that is open to the public, provided that the assault weapon is securely housed and unloaded; A forensic laboratory, or any authorized agent or employee of the laboratory, for use exclusively in the course and scope of authorized activities; An entity that operates an armored vehicle business and an authorized employee of the entity while in the course and scope of employment; A licensed gun dealer who has remaining inventory of assault weapons as of August 1, 2024, and sells or transfers the remaining inventory only to a non-Colorado resident and the sale or transfer takes place out of state; or A peace officer. The prohibition does not apply to the transportation of assault weapons through the state by a person who is not otherwise prohibited by state or federal law from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm. A person is entitled to transport an assault weapon for any lawful purpose from any place where the person may lawfully possess and carry the assault weapon to any other place where the person may lawfully possess and carry the assault weapon, provided the transportation is in accordance with federal law. (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 refers to a "member", "client", "consumer", and "recipient" interchangeably when referring to an individual who is enrolled in the state medical assistance program (medicaid). The act updates the terminology to refer only to medicaid "members". APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill specifies that the governing body of a municipality, which includes a city, town, and city and county, may authorize the operation of an overdose prevention center within the municipality's boundaries for the purpose of saving the lives of persons at risk of preventable overdoses. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Under current law, if a defendant is charged with a traffic offense, a petty offense, or a comparable municipal offense, a court shall not impose a monetary condition of release. Specifically, the provision applies to a comparable municipal offense that is a property crime and reflects a value of less than $50. The act removes the monetary threshold and instead states that the court cannot impose a monetary condition of release for a comparable municipal offense that would be a petty offense property crime under state law. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 11, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill makes several modifications and clarifications to the application of the "Colorado Open Meetings Law" (COML) to any state public body of the general assembly. The bill clarifies that a meeting of any political party caucus, which are the caucuses associated with each major political party in each chamber of the general assembly, is subject to the provisions of the COML if the meeting relates to the public business of the general assembly and excludes any other type of caucus made up of members of the general assembly from the provisions of the COML. Additionally, the bill establishes that serial meetings, which are a series of meetings between 2 or more members of a state public body that individually do not constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body but collectively constitute a meeting of a quorum of the body, are a violation of the COML. The bill modifies the provisions of the COML concerning written electronic communication between members of a state public body of the general assembly by excluding such communication, regardless of the length of time the communication is available for, from the requirements of the COML unless the communication occurs contemporaneously between a quorum of a state public body of the general assembly during a meeting of the body and is concerning public business and unless the communication constitutes a serial meeting. In both instances, such communication is a violation of the COML. The bill clarifies that written electronic communication may be subject to the provisions of the "Colorado Open Records Act". The bill also modifies certain requirements for notice and minutes required for meetings of state public bodies of the general assembly. Notice must specify any applicable statutory provisions for the notice. Minutes must include the names of all members of the general assembly in attendance, whether their attendance was in-person, virtual, or a hybrid of both, and note if a recording of the meeting was made. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under current law, manufacturers and distributors of fuel products in the state are required to pay a fee each calendar month to the department of revenue (department). The fee is deposited in the petroleum storage tank fund. The department also collects another fee (PFAS cash fund fee) to fund the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund, support the department of transportation, support the Colorado state patrol, and pay the costs to the department for administering the fee. The act clarifies the fee amounts that the department is required to collect for the petroleum storage tank fund. The act also repeals outdated provisions regarding the PFAS cash fund fee and clarifies that the department must annually transmit the collected fee to the state treasurer. APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)