Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg

On or before January 1, 2023, the act requires each managed care entity, administrative service organization, and managed service organization that has 25% or more ownership by providers of behavioral health services to comply with certain conflict of interest policies in order to promote transparency and accountability. The act appropriates $42,658 from the general fund to the department of health care policy and financing to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates in the university of Colorado the Colorado pediatric psychiatry consultation and access program (CoPPCAP). The purpose of CoPPCAP is to support primary care providers in identifying and treating mild to moderate behavioral health conditions in children in primary care practices or school-based health centers. The act requires the general assembly to appropriate from the behavioral and mental health cash fund: $4.6 million to CoPPCAP; $5 million to the behavioral health care professional matching grant program to expand access to behavioral health-care services for children and families; and $1.5 million to the school-based health center grant program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill requires the executive director to rebate $1,846,400,000 from the general fund to qualified individuals through income tax returns for the 2022 income tax year, which rebate amount is an estimate of the general fund surplus for the state fiscal year 2021-22. The rebates will be made to qualified individuals in the same manner as if the general fund surplus was excess state revenues under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights being refunded through the 6-tiered sales tax refund mechanism.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The concurrent resolution requires any bill that imposes a new fee, authorizes the imposition of a new fee, increases an existing fee, or authorizes the increase of an existing fee to be approved by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly, taken on 2 separate days in each house, to become law. The concurrent resolution defines a "fee" as a charge that is levied to defray the cost of a particular government service provided to those charged or to mitigate the impact of an activity engaged in by those charged and that is not levied for the purpose of raising any revenue for a general public purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.)

The act changes the name of the water resources review committee to the water resources and agriculture review committee (committee) and expands the scope of the committee to include agriculture issues. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The Colorado water conservation board (board) finances water projects throughout the state. Current law requires the board to prioritize projects that will increase the beneficial consumptive use of Colorado's undeveloped compact-entitled waters. The bill includes within this priority a specific priority for projects that increase or improve water storage the beneficial consumptive use of compact-entitled water in the South Platte river. basin as a means of increasing the beneficial consumptive use of undeveloped water entitled under the South Platte river compact and in a manner that reduces reliance on transmountain diversions. (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.)

The bill creates a requirement that any bill that imposes a new fee, authorizes the imposition of a new fee, increases an existing fee, or authorizes the increase of an existing fee be approved by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly to become law. The two-thirds vote requirement applies only to the vote on final passage of such a bill in each house of the general assembly. The bill defines a "fee" as a charge that is levied to defray the cost of the particular government service provided to those charged and not levied for the purpose of raising any revenue for a general public purpose. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act expands a program, which had been scheduled to repeal on July 1, 2023, that allows a public employees' retirement association (PERA) service retiree to work full-time without any reduction in the service retiree's retirement benefits for a rural school district that has a critical shortage of qualified individuals with specific experience, skills, or qualifications that the service retiree has by: Making the program permanent; Adding school nurses and paraprofessionals to those who are eligible for post-PERA retirement full-time employment; and Allowing a board of cooperative services or a charter school that is located within a rural school district and that has such a critical shortage to participate in the program. The act also requires PERA to submit additional reports, containing the same types of information as the initial report that PERA submitted as required by law in 2020, to the finance committees of the general assembly on or before December 1, 2025, and on or before December 1 of each fifth year thereafter. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)