The act permits the university of northern Colorado (UNC) to offer specialized degree programs in osteopathic medicine. The act creates an exception to the university of Colorado health sciences center campus' exclusive authority in medicine for UNC's osteopathic medicine degree program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill specifies that: A physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse with prescriptive authority may prescribe and dispense, and a pharmacist may dispense, therapeutic drugs for off-label use, including hydroxychloroquine sulfate and ivermectin, to provide prophylaxis or outpatient (at-home) and inpatient (hospital) treatment to an individual with COVID-19; and This practice is not unprofessional conduct or otherwise grounds for discipline.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
One of the mechanisms for refunding state revenues in excess of the state fiscal year spending limit imposed by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) is a temporary income tax rate reduction. For any state fiscal year commencing on or after July 1, 2022, the bill makes this income tax rate reduction permanent and establishes the reduction as always equaling a .05% reduction of the current income tax rate. Thus, under the bill, every year when the executive director of the department of revenue determines it is necessary to reduce the state income tax, both the individual state income tax rate and the corporate tax rate are permanently reduced by .05%. The bill exempts the state income tax rate and corporate tax rate reduction in the bill from the otherwise required tax preference performance statement and repeal date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2022, the bill reduces both the individual and the corporate state income tax rates from 4.55% to 4.4%. The bill also exempts the rate reductions from the existing statutory requirements that tax expenditure legislation include a tax preference performance statement in a statutory legislative declaration and a repeal after a specified period of tax years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill authorizes county public hospitals and affiliates and health service districts and affiliates authorized under certain statutory provisions, all of which are in rural areas of the state, to engage in activities that might be characterized as anticompetitive or that might result in a monopoly or displace competition. The activities that a county public hospital or health service district may engage in include, among others, joint ventures, joint purchasing agreements, and joint negotiations. In exercising these powers, the county public hospital or health service district or its affiliate is performing essential public functions on behalf of the state and is immune from any liability under federal and state antitrust laws. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill requires that, to file a nuisance suit against an agricultural operation, a plaintiff must occupy land that is within 2,640 feet of the operation. Punitive damages are not allowed unless the agricultural operation has violated certain environmental laws against pollution, the nuisance arises from the violation, and the action is brought within one year after the operation is held to have committed the violation. Under current law, the prevailing party may be awarded court costs and attorney fees in a nuisance action against an agricultural operation. The bill changes this to award court costs and attorney fees only to a prevailing agricultural operation. The bill also requires the state of Colorado, a county, a municipality, or a city and county to pay the owner or operator of an agricultural operation reasonable compensation, as determined by a court, for the loss of agricultural use if: The government brings a nuisance action against the agricultural operation that results in the court enjoining the agricultural operation from continuing agricultural production on the land; and The agricultural operation has been using the land for agricultural production for 10 years or longer.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law prohibits a hospital from including the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee as a separate line item in its billing statements. The bill allows a hospital to include the total amount of the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee as a separate line item in its billing statements to increase transparency for patients. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The Colorado constitution currently requires any petition for a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to be signed by at least 2% of the registered electors who reside in each state senate district for the change to be placed on the ballot. If a constitutional amendment that extends this requirement to a citizen-initiated statutory change is approved by the voters of the state at the 2022 general election, the bill makes a conforming statutory change to extend the requirement.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
