The act directs the department of health care policy and financing (department) to do the following, with respect to nursing facility providers (nursing facilities): Issue additional supplemental payments as directed for the 2021-22 state fiscal year; Establish reporting and result tracking requirements necessary to administer additional supplemental funding; Pursue federal matching funds to reduce the state share of costs to the maximum amount possible; and Engage with stakeholders to produce a report including ways to improve methodology, practices regarding care and services to compassionate release individuals from the department of corrections, and funding for nursing facilities. The department shall submit the report to the joint budget committee and committees of the general assembly on or before November 1, 2022. The act grants the department authority to promulgate rules as necessary for implementation of the payments and their supporting requirements. The supplemental payments and their supporting requirements are repealed, effective July 1, 2023. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $17,000,500 is appropriated to the department of health care policy and financing for use by medical services premiums based on the assumption that the department will receive federal funds to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Under current law, only nursing facilities that are within a locality that has increased its local minimum wage are eligible to receive annual supplemental payments to increase the minimum wage for nursing facility employees up to the minimum wage set by the locality. The act changes the definition of "eligible nursing facility provider" and makes other conforming changes to allow any Colorado nursing facility that meets the defined criteria to be eligible to receive wage enhancement supplemental payments, as defined in the act, to increase the minimum wage for nursing facility employees to at least $15 per hour. The act appropriates $2,389,627 from federal funds in the general fund to the department of health care policy and financing for medical and long-term care services for medicaid eligible individuals. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The licensing services cash fund (fund) consists mainly of fees charged for the issuance of drivers' licenses, driving permits, and state identification cards. The department of revenue (department) uses the fund primarily to fund the issuance of those documents. The Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account (DRIVES account) of the highway users tax fund consists mainly of vehicle title and registration fees and specific ownership tax transaction fees. The department uses the DRIVES account for the development and operation of the department's driver and motor vehicles services software platform commonly known as Colorado DRIVES. Effective July 1, 2022, the act merges the fund into the DRIVES account, which involves: Repealing the fund and requiring all money in the fund to be credited to the DRIVES account; Requiring all fees that had been credited to the fund to instead be credited to the DRIVES account; and Requiring all functions that had been funded from the fund to instead be funded from the DRIVES account. The act also requires DRIVES account investment earnings to be credited to the account. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the department of human services (state department) may charge an administrative fee to an agency that receives commodities through a food distribution program on a monthly basis. The act changes this to allow the state department to collect an administrative fee at least once every calendar year or when an agency's account balance reaches $100 or more. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
When the marijuana tax cash fund (fund) was initially created, money in the fund was only available to be appropriated for fiscal years following the fiscal year in which it was received by the state. In 2020, the general assembly repealed this restriction, but in 2021, the restriction was inadvertently reinstated by legislation that made an unrelated conforming amendment. The act corrects this error, which permits the general assembly to appropriate money from the fund for the same fiscal year in which it is received. The reserve requirement for the fund is established as 15% of the amount appropriated for a fiscal year, instead of 93% of the beginning balance in the fund. This reserve excludes any money from the fund that is designated to constitute part of the state emergency reserve. The act also delays a portion of a statutory transfer from the fund to the public school capital construction assistance fund (BEST fund). A transfer of $100 million on June 1, 2022, is reduced to $50 million, and the state treasurer is required to transfer $30 million and $20 million from the fund to the BEST fund in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 state fiscal years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the manner in which specified motor vehicle-related functions of the department of revenue (department) are funded by: Repealing annual statutory transfers from the marijuana tax cash fund to the licensing services cash fund for use by the hearings division and the division of motor vehicles in the department; Reducing the total amount appropriated to the hearing division and the division of motor vehicles that previously would have been funded with the marijuana tax cash fund transfers to the licensing services cash fund by 10%, and requiring such funding to be provided from "off the top" highways users tax fund (HUTF) appropriations rather than by licensing services cash fund appropriations through a statutory authorization for that use of "off the top" HUTF money and the following appropriations: A decrease of $713,000 in the 2022-23 long bill cash funds appropriation from the licensing services cash fund for personal services in the hearings division; A decrease of $548,000 in the 2022-23 long bill cash funds appropriation from the licensing services cash fund for Colorado driver's license, record, identification, and vehicle enterprise solution (DRIVES) maintenance and support in the division of motor vehicles; and A 2022-23 state fiscal year "off the top" HUTF appropriation of $1,261,000 to the department, which may use $713,000 of the appropriation for personal services in the hearings division and $548,000 of the appropriation for DRIVES maintenance and support in the division of motor vehicles.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to credit any interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of federal funds that the state received from the federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund to the state emergency reserve cash fund, which is available for declared emergencies only as required by the taxpayer's bill of rights. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals a section of the "State Administrative Procedure Act" to remove obsolete or redundant provisions relating to the process for reviewing executive agency rules. The act also amends provisions in statute concerning executive agency rules to reflect current drafting practices relating to, among other practices, the use of gender-neutral language in statute. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act codifies the department of higher education's Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative's (initiative) displaced workers grant and extends the authority for the initiative to use a $13,050,000 appropriation received in the 2020-21 state fiscal year for the displaced workers grant to disperse grant awards to grant recipients through the 2023-24 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)