Under current law, enacted by Senate Bill 17-267, the state executed the second of 4 tranches of lease-purchase agreements of up to $500 million in principal value each before the end of state fiscal year 2019-20 for the sole purpose of funding transportation projects. Due to a favorable interest rate environment, the state actually received more than $600 million of proceeds from the execution of this second tranche of lease-purchase agreements. The act requires the first $49 million of proceeds received in excess of $500 million to be credited to the capital construction fund and appropriated for controlled maintenance projects, including controlled maintenance projects that are capital renewal projects, instead of transportation projects. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
The act temporarily modifies the manner in which limited gaming tax revenues are allocated between the limited gaming fund and the extended limited gaming fund ( i.e. , the portion of limited gaming tax revenues derived from increased hours of operation, enlarged wagering limit, and the addition of craps and roulette, as authorized by Colorado voters with the passage of Amendment 50 in 2008) in order to more equitably address recovery in the years immediately following the global pandemic and economic recession of 2020. The modification ends in the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which total limited gaming tax revenues again equal or exceed the total limited gaming tax revenues collected in state fiscal year 2018-19.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The general assembly is required to annually appropriate $350,000 to the department of law for allocation to the Colorado district attorneys' council for prosecution training. The act reduces the annual amount to $200,000 for fiscal year 2020-21. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act eliminates the requirement that the department of public health and environment (department) assist and staff the stroke advisory board and the Colorado coroners standards and training board. Each board is authorized to accept and expend gifts, grants, and donations to cover the board's direct expenses. The general fund appropriation to the department for use by the health facilities and emergency medical services division is decreased by $44,007. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, following the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years, service agencies serving persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities are required to report to the department of health care policy and financing how they used a funding increase intended to increase compensation for direct support professionals. The act repeals this reporting requirement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
For the 2020-21 state fiscal year (FY 2020-21), the act: Authorizes the use of healthcare affordability and sustainability fee revenue for state medical assistance program expenditures; Requires $161 million to be appropriated from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to offset general fund expenditures for the state medical assistance program; Reduces the FY 2020-21 general fund appropriation to the department of health care policy and financing (HCPF) for medical services premiums by $161 million; and Appropriates $161 million from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to HCPF for medical services premiums. The act also clarifies that if the amount of healthcare affordability and sustainability fee revenue collected exceeds a federal limit, hospitals that received such excess federal matching money are responsible for repaying the excess federal money and any associated federal penalties to the federal government. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the technology advancement and emergency fund and the reversion of unspent general fund appropriations to the fund. Prior to the repeal, the state treasurer is required to transfer the unspent and unencumbered balance of the fund to the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the health insurance affordability enterprise, for purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution, that is authorized to assess a health insurance affordability fee (insurer fee) on certain health insurers and a special assessment (hospital assessment) on hospitals in order to: Provide business services to carriers that pay the insurer fee, including services to increase enrollment in health benefit plans offered by carriers across the state; increase the number of individuals who are able to purchase health benefit plans in the individual market by providing financial support for certain qualifying individuals; fund the reinsurance program that offsets the costs carriers would otherwise pay for covering consumers with high medical costs; improve the stability of the market throughout the state by providing consistent private health care coverage and reducing the movement of individuals from insured to uninsured status; reduce provider cost shifting from the individual market and the uninsured to the group market; and create a healthier risk pool for all carriers by establishing a path for consistent coverage for individuals; and Provide business services to hospitals, including by reducing the amount of uncompensated care provided by hospitals; reducing the need of providers to shift costs of providing uncompensated care to other payers; and expanding access to high-quality, affordable health care for low-income and uninsured residents. The enterprise is to start assessing and collecting the insurer fee in 2021, which fee is based on a percentage of premiums collected by health insurers in the previous calendar year on health benefit plans issued in the state. The hospital assessment is a specified amount assessed and collected in the 2022 and 2023 calendar years. Money collected from the insurer fee and hospital assessment is to be deposited in the health insurance affordability cash fund (fund), which the act creates. The act also transfers an amount of premium taxes collected by the state in 2020 or later years that exceeds the amount collected in 2019, but not more than 10% of the enterprise's revenues, to the fund. The enterprise is required to use the insurer fee, the hospital assessment, and any premium tax revenues or other money available in the fund, in accordance with the allocation specified in the act, for the following purposes: To provide funding for the Colorado reinsurance program; To provide payments to carriers to increase the affordability of health insurance on the individual market for Coloradans who receive the premium tax credit available under federal law; To provide subsidies for state-subsidized individual health coverage plans purchased by qualified low-income individuals who are not eligible for the premium tax credit or public assistance health care programs; To pay the actual administrative costs of the enterprise and the division of insurance for implementing and administering the act, limited to 3% of the enterprise's revenues; and To pay the costs for consumer enrollment, outreach, and education activities regarding health care coverage. The enterprise is governed by an 11-member board composed of the executive director of the Colorado health benefit exchange and the commissioner of insurance or their designees and 9 members appointed by the governor and representing various aspect of the health care industry and health care consumers. With regard to the Colorado reinsurance program and enterprise, the act: Incorporates the reinsurance program enterprise within the health insurance affordability enterprise; Eliminates funding for the reinsurance program from special assessments on hospitals and health insurers, excess premium tax revenues, and specified transfers from the state general fund and instead allocates a portion of the health insurance affordability enterprise revenues to the reinsurance program annually; and Extends the reinsurance program, subject to federal approval of a new or extended state innovation waiver to enable the state to operate the reinsurance program and access federal funding for the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act suspends, for 2 years, the operation of statutory provisions allocating specific amounts of revenue derived from the tax on limited gaming activity to the following cash funds: The Colorado travel and tourism promotion fund, administered by the board of directors of the Colorado tourism office; The advanced industries acceleration cash fund, administered by the Colorado office of economic development; The local government limited gaming impact fund, including the limited gaming impact account and the gambling addiction account, administered by the departments of local affairs and human services and local governmental entities; The innovative higher education research fund, administered by the higher education competitive research authority; The creative industries cash fund, administered by the council on creative industries; and The Colorado office of film, television, and media operational account cash fund, administered by the Colorado office of film, television, and media. The act also changes allocations within the local government limited gaming impact fund by: Eliminating a temporary earmarking of funds in the gambling addiction account for: A study, by the department of local affairs, to define the documented expenses, costs, and other impacts incurred directly as a result of limited gaming; and The development, by the department of human services, of a statewide program to address gambling addiction; and Making money available from the limited gaming impact account, in addition to the gambling addiction account, to award grants for the provision of gambling addiction counseling to Colorado residents. Finally, the act adjusts current long bill appropriations to fund the programs listed above for the 2020-21 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Before the enactment of the act, existing law, enacted by Senate Bills 18-001 and 19-263, required that a ballot issue seeking approval for the issuance of transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) be submitted to the voters of the state at the November 2020 general election. If the ballot issue had been approved, the requirement, enacted by Senate Bill 17-267, that the state execute 2 separate tranches of up to $500 million each of lease-purchase agreements in state fiscal years 2020-21 and 2021-22 for the purpose of funding transportation would have been repealed. Existing law, enacted by Senate Bill 19-239, also required department of transportation (CDOT) rule-making and reporting relating to motor vehicles used for certain types of commercial purposes. The act: Delays from the November 2020 general election to the November 2021 statewide election the requirement that a ballot issue seeking approval for the issuance of transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) be submitted to the voters of the state; Amends the ballot issue to reduce the amount of TRANs authorized to be issued by $500 million to offset the additional $500 million of lease-purchase agreement transportation funding that becomes available because the approval of the ballot issue at the November 2020 general election will repeal only the state fiscal year 2021-22 and tranche of Senate Bill 17-267 lease-purchase agreements, rather than both the state fiscal year 2020-21 and 2021-22 tranches of such lease-purchase agreements; Eliminates 2 statutory transfers of $50 million each from the general fund to the state highway fund that are scheduled under current law to be made on June 30, 2021, and June 30, 2022; Reduces the amount of general fund money dedicated to make lease-purchase agreement payments due in state fiscal years 2020-21 and 2021-22 by $12 million per year by increasing the amount of such payment to be paid by the department of transportation from its other sources of legally available money by $12 million per year; Makes corresponding adjustments to the state fiscal year 2020-21 long bill appropriations to the department of treasury for lease-purchase agreements that decrease the general fund appropriation by $12 million and increase the cash funds appropriation from various cash funds under the control of the transportation commission by $12 million; and Repeals the CDOT rule-making and reporting requirements relating to motor vehicles used for certain types of commercial purposes.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)