Rep. Eliza Hamrick

The act expands the behavioral health-care continuum gap grant program to include awarding a community investment grant for a new capital construction project. The act transfers $4 million from the general fund to the behavioral and mental health cash fund for purposes of the act. The act appropriates $4 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the department of human services for the behavioral health-care continuum gap grant program related to integrated behavioral health services. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 24, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' (department) sunset review and report on the regulation of nontransplant tissue banks by continuing the regulation of nontransplant tissue banks for 9 years, to 2033. The act grants the director of the division of professions and occupations in the department (director) the authority to create rules necessary for the regulation of nontransplant tissue banks. The director shall solicit input from the following groups during the rule-making process: Persons, including any professional organization of individuals that has signed up with the department for rule-making notification, offering services that require registration pursuant to Colorado law regulating nontransplant tissue banks; and Consumers or consumer representatives who advocate for consumers affected by Colorado law regulating nontransplant tissue banks and who have signed up with the department for rule-making notification. If a nontransplant tissue bank withdraws or does not renew its registration with the director, the act requires the nontransplant tissue bank to continue to maintain specified information on file with the director for a period of 3 years after the end of registration. The nontransplant tissue bank shall also maintain specified records and receipts for a period of 3 years after the end of registration. In addition to standards of practice in existing law, the act requires that a nontransplant tissue bank maintain a proper chain of custody of human remains while the human remains are in the possession of the nontransplant tissue bank. A nontransplant tissue bank is permitted to compensate a funeral establishment for transportation of human remains and other reasonable expenses but shall not compensate a funeral establishment for human remains. The donor of human remains (donor) or the person authorized by law to consent to donation may limit the sale of the donated human remains by a nontransplant tissue bank, including prohibiting sale to foreign buyers, for nonmedical research uses, or for military uses. A nontransplant tissue bank shall disclose the following information, in addition to required disclosures in existing law, to the donor or to the person authorized by law to consent to donation: That the donor or the person authorized by law to consent to donation is donating human remains to a nontransplant tissue bank; That the nontransplant tissue bank may sell all or any portion of the human remains; That the nontransplant tissue bank may compensate a funeral establishment for transportation of human remains and other reasonable expenses, but the nontransplant tissue bank shall not compensate a funeral establishment for human remains; and That the donor or the person authorized by law to consent to donation may limit the sale of the donated human remains by a nontransplant tissue bank, including prohibiting sale to foreign buyers, for nonmedical research uses, or for military uses. A person owning an interest in a funeral establishment is prohibited from owning an interest in a nontransplant tissue bank. The act excludes an approved medical college or similar educational institution that accepts human remains primarily for its own educational or research purposes from the definition of a "nontransplant tissue bank". The act provides a private civil right of action for a person who suffers damages as a result of a violation of Colorado law regulating nontransplant tissue banks to recover damages against any person that violates the law. The act also specifies statutory penalties for a violation of law regulating nontransplant tissue banks. APPROVED by Governor May 24, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a school district board of education, a charter school, an institute charter school, a board of cooperative services, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education provider) to satisfy certain requirements concerning installation, inspection, and maintenance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in schools if the local education provider undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money made available by a federal government source or by a federal government source in combination with a state government source specifically for such purpose. The requirements established in the act concern: Ventilation verification assessments, which include assessments of an HVAC system's filtration, ventilation exhaust, economizers, demand control ventilation, air distribution and building pressurization, general maintenance requirements, operational controls, and carbon dioxide output; The preparation of HVAC assessment reports; The review of HVAC assessment reports by mechanical engineers, who make recommendations regarding necessary repairs and improvements and estimate associated costs; HVAC adjustments, repairs, upgrades, and replacements; The preparation of HVAC verification reports and the submission of the reports to the department of education; and Periodic inspections and ongoing maintenance. The act establishes mandatory criteria that an HVAC contractor must satisfy in order to perform work described in the act. A local education provider that undertakes HVAC infrastructure improvements using money made available by a federal government source or by a federal government source in combination with a state government source must: Obtain and make use of the certified contractor list established by the department of labor and employment; and Employ only contractors on the certified contractor list or certain other contractors to perform the HVAC improvements. The act allows a local education provider to apply for grants to pay for HVAC infrastructure improvement projects and establishes requirements for local education providers that apply for grants from federal and state government sources. The act requires the governor's office to use existing resources funded by the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" cash fund to provide grant writing support, administrative support, and project planning to local education providers that undertake HVAC infrastructure improvement projects. The governor's office must submit a report to the joint budget committee and the capital development committee concerning the number of applicants for matching funds from local education providers reviewed by the office before October 2, 2025. The report must include the amount of requested matching funds, the recommended amount of matching funds, and an explanation for the difference, if any, between the requested amounts and the recommended amounts. VETOED by Governor May 17, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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.)

Current rules of the energy and carbon management commission (commission) require oil and gas operators to submit certain reports (covered report) to the commission in the event of a spill or release of a hazardous chemical (incident). The bill enacts the "Community Right to Know Act" to create additional notification requirements in the event of an incident (notification requirements). On and after July 1, 2024, oil and gas operators must, within 24 hours after the discovery of an incident, submit a covered report to the commission and the following state agencies (notification agency): For an incident involving air emissions or water contamination, the department of public health and environment; For an incident involving public conveyances, the department of transportation; and For an incident that results from a clear act of sabotage, vandalism, or a terrorist activity, the division of homeland security and emergency management in the department of public safety. The oil and gas operator must also, within 24 hours after the operator's submission of the covered report to a notification agency, deliver the covered report to certain persons that are located near the well site where the incident was caused (affected persons). Within 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report from an oil and gas operator, a notification agency must: Confirm with the oil and gas operator that the oil and gas operator has provided the covered report to any affected persons; Provide the covered report to any affected persons that have not yet received a covered report from the oil and gas operator; Provide the covered report to the county public health department and the county emergency notification party of the county or counties where the incident occurred; and On and after July 1, 2025, provide the covered report to the person designated by the executive director of the department of local affairs (DOLA) to receive covered reports from the notification agencies (designated person). On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a covered report for a certain heightened level of an incident (warning-level covered report) from a notification agency, if the county public health department has an existing opt-in notification system, the county public health department must notify medical professionals in the county that have opted in to the county public health department's notification system about the incident. On and after July 1, 2025, no later than 24 hours after the receipt of a warning-level covered report from a notification agency, the county emergency notification party must: If the county has an existing opt-in public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county that have opted in; and If the county does not have an existing opt-in public emergency notification system but has an existing public emergency notification system, notify all individuals residing in the county. On and after July 1, 2024, DOLA must maintain and routinely update a list of contact information for the county public health department and the county emergency notification party for each county in the state on DOLA's website. The bill also creates the hazardous chemical notification committee (committee) in DOLA. On or before July 1, 2025, the committee is required to develop content for a hazardous chemical notification website (website) that includes certain informational and educational content about hazardous chemicals, including short-term and long-term adverse health impacts, and an entry for each covered report received by the designated person on and after July 1, 2025. Beginning in the 2026 calendar year, and in each calendar year thereafter, the committee must meet on a quarterly basis to make updates to the content of the website. On or before July 1, 2026, and on or before each July 1 thereafter, DOLA must submit a written report (hazardous chemical notification report requirement) to the health and human services committee of the house of representatives and the health and human services committee of the senate, which report must include a summary of the notifications made by oil and gas operators, the notification agencies, county public health departments, and county emergency notification parties in the previous year. On or before July 1, 2025, and each calendar year thereafter, county public health departments and county emergency notification parties are required to provide a training to medical professionals and the public on the short-term and long-term adverse health impacts of exposure to hazardous chemicals and the notification requirements (training requirement). The bill provides for a repeal of the committee, the hazardous chemical notification report requirement, and the training requirement, effective September 1, 2034, after review in accordance with the general assembly's sunset review process. The bill also: Creates a $1,000 per day penalty for an oil and gas operator that does not comply with the notification requirements (violation); and Provides that if an oil and gas operator commits a violation 3 or more times, the oil and gas operator may not claim a waiver of liability for damages related to the third or subsequent violation.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Pension Review Commission. The bill creates a refundable income tax credit that is available for income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2024, but prior to January 1, 2026, for a qualifying public employees' retirement association retiree, which means a full-time Colorado resident individual who: Is a retiree of the public employees' retirement association; Is 65 years of age or older at the end of the 2024 or 2025 income tax year; and Has an annual a federal adjusted gross income of no more than $38,000 as a single filer or $76,000 as a joint filer. (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 requires the department of higher education (department) and higher education institutions to develop a framework for evaluating the quality of nondegree credentials. The act formally recognizes the resulting quality and in-demand nondegree credentials framework (framework) as the primary tool for assessing the quality of nondegree credentials offered in the state. The act requires the department to collaborate with various agencies to ensure the effective integration of the framework within the state's education and workforce systems. Beginning January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the act requires the department to evaluate nondegree credentials offered through state-recognized programs to ensure the credentials meet the framework's quality standards. Beginning January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the department shall supply a list of nondegree credential programs that meet the framework's quality standards for inclusion in the Colorado talent report and in a credential registry endorsed by the state. The department shall engage state agencies, educational institutions, international organizations, industry associations, and other stakeholders to study and make recommendations about the adoption of the international standard classification of education (ISCED) as the state's standard framework for classifying nondegree credentials and ISCED's wider application in the state's education and workforce systems. The recommendations must include a process for assigning ISCED equivalency levels to nondegree credentials included in stackable credential pathways and apprenticeship programs. The act requires the department to report its findings and recommendations on or before July 31, 2025. Current law requires the department to create stackable credential pathways in growing industries. The act requires the department to assign appropriate ISCED equivalency levels to the stackable credential pathways on or before July 31, 2025. Beginning January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, the act requires the office of future of work to coordinate with various agencies to determine ISCED equivalency levels for each apprenticeship program registered on and after July 31, 2025. The office of future of work shall then determine ISCED equivalency levels for each apprenticeship program registered before July 31, 2025. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $124,287 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. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $30,000 from the general fund to the department of labor and employment for use by the office of future of work. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill creates a process and establishes a public online forum for members of the general assembly to publish drafts or titles of the bills that they are considering introducing during the next legislative session. The bill allows each member to post multiple bill titles, drafts, or a combination of titles and drafts on the online forum, and establishes a timeline for a member to publish up to 3 versions of each bill title or bill draft. The bill also requires each bill title or bill draft published to include a disclaimer stating that the bill is subject to change and may or may not be introduced based on the discretion of the prime sponsor. The web page on which the bill titles and bill drafts are published must be taken down at midnight on the first day of the legislative session.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

With limited exceptions, current law limits the number of service retirees that a state college or university or an employer in the school or Denver public schools division of the public employees' retirement association (PERA) can hire without a reduction in the service retirees' benefits to 10 service retirees when an employer determines there is a critical shortage of qualified candidates. The act allows an employer to hire such service retirees when the employer determines there is a need. In addition, the act authorizes an employer in the school or Denver public schools division with a student enrollment above 10,000 to hire, without a reduction in service retirees' benefits, an additional service retiree for each 1,000 students enrolled above 10,000. An employer with 10,000 students or less will continue to be allowed to hire 10 service retirees. A service retiree hired under the provisions of the bill may receive salary without a reduction in benefits for a maximum of 6 consecutive years from the date the service retiree began post-service retirement employment. The act requires an employer in the school or Denver public schools division to provide PERA with a list of all employed service retirees by September 1 of an applicable calendar year and requires PERA to submit a report to the general assembly every 5 years beginning on or before December 1, 2025, regarding the employment after service retirement allowances. APPROVED by Governor April 19, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill permits a school district, charter school, or board of cooperative services (local education provider) to employ or retain by contract a person as a school security officer only if: The local education provider has a policy that governs security officers' engagement with students; The person completes school security officer or school resource officer training; and The person undergoes a background check and a psychological evaluation. The bill permits a school security officer to carry a handgun on school property if the school security officer holds a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun; completes firearms training, including ongoing in-service training; and passed the peace officer standards and training board's firearms skills test or an equivalent firearms skills test. Existing law prohibits carrying, bringing, or possessing a deadly weapon on school property and includes exceptions to the prohibition, including for the purpose of a school employee carrying out necessary duties and functions that require the use of a deadly weapon. The bill repeals the exception for a school employee carrying out the employee's duties and expressly permits a school security officer to carry a handgun on school grounds, as described above. The bill prohibits a school or law enforcement agency from storing firearms on the grounds of a public or private elementary, middle, junior high, or high school.