Sen. Chris Kolker

The act defines "emergency communications specialist" as a first responder whose duties involve emergency and nonemergency dispatch services. The act also clarifies that the currently authorized use of the emergency telephone charge, the 911 surcharge, and the prepaid wireless 911 charge, for training for public safety answering point (PSAP) personnel includes training for emergency communications specialists, technical support PSAP personnel, and other personnel essential for the provision of emergency telephone services, emergency notification services, and emergency medical dispatch. APPROVED by Governor March 15, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

House Bill 22-1034, concerning the administration of retirement plans administered by the fire and police pension association, merged the statewide defined benefit plan, the statewide hybrid plan, and the social security supplemental plan into a single statewide retirement plan. Certain statutory cross references in House Bill 22-1034 were not properly updated to reflect the repeals and relocations of statutory provisions that were necessary to accomplish the merger. The act updates the obsolete statutory cross references. The act also updates the definition of "member" in the new hire pension plan statute to clarify that a portion of the definition applies only for purposes of the statewide money purchase plan and repeals an inapplicable portion of the definition of "member" in the statewide retirement plan statute. APPROVED by Governor March 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE March 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The bill establishes a process by which a student, parent, or member of the community may object to a library resource in a school or public library. Each library resource that is reconsidered pursuant to the process must be evaluated based on standards applied by a committee for school libraries and a director of a public library. Members of the committee for school libraries are appointed by the superintendent of the school district, and the committee covers reconsideration requests in all schools in the district. For public libraries, the director is selected by the library's board of trustees and covers the library or libraries in the library district. A library resource may not be removed while a request for reconsideration is pending. A principal, librarian, media specialist, other employee, contractor, or volunteer may refuse a directive to remove a library resource if such an individual has a good faith belief that the directive conflicts with law or policy established pursuant to the bill, and such an individual may not be subjected to retaliation. The bill prevents the state board of education from waiving the requirements of the bill as they are applied to public schools, district charter schools, and institute charter schools. The bill specifies that it is a discriminatory practice and unlawful for anyone to discriminate against anyone in the selection, retention, reconsideration, or display of a library resource. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates the dual licensure stipend program (stipend program) in the division of professions and occupations (division). The purpose of the stipend program is to increase the number of licensed professional counselors in communities by: Reimbursing licensed professional counselor supervisors (supervisors) who provide clinical supervision to school counselors who are seeking licensure as licensed professional counselors (dual licensure candidate); and Reimbursing dual licensure candidates for the cost of examination fees and application fees. A dual licensure candidate is eligible for the stipend program if the dual licensure candidate is a licensed special services provider and has completed a master's or doctoral degree in professional counseling from an accredited school or college or an equivalent program. The bill requires the division to contract with a Colorado nonprofit organization or membership organization (Colorado organization) to manage and administer the stipend program. The Colorado organization must have experience administrating grant programs and working with school counselors or mental health professionals. The bill requires the division to provide the Colorado organization publicly available information on supervisors who can provide clinical supervision to dual licensure candidates. The Colorado organization shall maintain the list of supervisors by confirming whether a supervisor opts in to the stipend program and provides clinical supervision to dual licensure candidates. The Colorado organization shall determine a set rate for supervisors who provide clinical supervision to dual licensure candidates. The bill requires the Colorado organization to annually collect data on: The number of dual licensure candidates participating in the stipend program; The number of supervisors participating in the stipend program; and The geographic locations of the dual licensure candidates and supervisors participating in the stipend program. The Colorado organization shall draft a report summarizing the data collected. The bill requires the division to submit the report to the education committee and the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives, the education committee and the health and human services committee of the senate, or their successor committees. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act repeals and reenacts law originally enacted by House Bill 23B-1002, concerning an increase in the earned income tax credit for income tax year 2023, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation, to increase the amount of the earned income tax credit that a resident individual may claim on the resident individual's state income tax return for 2023 only from 25% to 50% of the federal credit claimed on the resident individual's federal income tax return. The increase in the amount of the credit is a one-time mechanism for refunding excess state revenues for the 2022-23 state fiscal year that are required to be refunded in the 2023-24 state fiscal year. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $51,483 from the general fund to the department of revenue and reappropriates $516 of that amount to the department of personnel for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor January 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 31, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates a one-time TABOR refund mechanism for excess state revenues for the 2022-23 state fiscal year that are required to be refunded in the 2023-24 state fiscal year. The TABOR refund mechanism allows for an increase in the earned income tax credit that a resident individual, including a resident individual who does not have a social security number valid for employment, may claim on the resident individual's state income tax return from 25% to 50% of the federal credit claimed on the resident individual's federal income tax return or the federal credit that the resident individual would have been allowed but for the fact that the resident individual does not have a social security number that is valid for employment. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $51,483 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of revenue and $516 of that amount is reappropriated to the department of personnel for implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor November 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE November 20, 2023(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For the income tax year commencing on January 1, 2024, the act increases the earned income tax credit that a resident individual can claim on their state income tax return from 25% to 38% of the federal credit claimed on the resident individual's federal income tax return. The amount a taxpayer can claim as an income tax credit for the state child tax credit has been calculated based on a percentage, which varies depending on the taxpayer's income level, of what the taxpayer claimed for a federal child tax credit. For income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2024, the act restructures the state child tax credit so that the amount of the credit that a taxpayer can claim is a flat rate instead of a percentage of what the taxpayer claimed for the federal child tax credit as follows: A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income of $35,000 or less can claim $1,200; A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income greater than $25,000 but less than or equal to $50,000 and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income greater than $35,000 but less than or equal to $60,000 can claim $600; and A taxpayer filing a single return with adjusted gross income greater than $50,000 but less than or equal to $75,000 and taxpayers filing a joint return with adjusted gross income greater than $60,000 but less than or equal to $85,000 can claim $200. The act also provides that for income tax years commencing on and after January 1, 2025, the department of revenue must adjust the adjusted gross income amounts to reflect inflation if cumulative inflation since the last adjustment, when applied to the current limits, results in an increase of at least $1,000 when the adjusted limits are rounded to the nearest $1,000. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Effective January 1, 2025, with respect to step-therapy protocols (protocols) for health insurance, section 1 of the act defines "serious mental illness" and prohibits the protocols from requiring a person to try more than one prescription drug prior to receiving coverage for the drug prescribed by the person's health-care provider. If certain conditions are met and attested to by the person's health-care provider, the carrier, private utilization review organization, or pharmacy benefit manager must cover the drug prescribed by the person's health-care provider without requiring compliance with protocols. Section 2 of the act defines "serious mental illness" for purposes of the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act" in the same manner as the term is defined for commercial health insurance. The act requires the medical services board to require a review for coverage of a new drug approved by the federal food and drug administration for a serious mental illness within 90 days after the drug is approved. The act appropriates $53,117 to the department of health care policy and financing (department) from the general fund for use by the executive director's office to implement the act, with the assumption that the department will receive an equal amount of federal funds to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

To recompense the public employees' retirement association (PERA) for the cancellation of a previously scheduled July 1, 2020, direct distribution of $225 million, House Bill 22-1029, concerning a requirement that the state make an additional direct distribution to the public employees' retirement association to fully recompense the association for the cancellation of a previously scheduled July 1, 2020, direct distribution, required an additional direct distribution to PERA. However, the additional direct distribution did not fully recompense PERA for the cancellation of the previously scheduled direct distribution. To fully recompense PERA, the act requires the state treasurer to issue a warrant to PERA that consists of the balance of the PERA payment cash fund plus $10 million paid from the general fund. The PERA payment cash fund is repealed, effective July 1, 2023. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act changes how pass-through entities may elect to pay taxes, specifies how to report and account for adjustments to federal taxable income, and changes the due date for filing a C-corporation income tax return. Partnerships and S corporations (pass-through entities) have had 3 options for ensuring that the income taxes owed by nonresident owners will be paid. Pass-through entities have been able to file a composite return on behalf of these owners, withhold an estimated tax payment, or collect and file an agreement that the owner will file a separate return. For income tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2024, section 1 of the act consolidates the composite return and withholding options and clarifies the calculation of the required payment. Section 2 adopts the multistate tax commission's model statute for reporting adjustments to federal taxable income. When federal taxable income is adjusted by the internal revenue service, or by the taxpayer through an amended federal return, the taxpayer must also report that change to the state. Those changes have had to be reported within 30 days and new federal centralized partnership audit procedures have not been addressed. The act provides additional time for reporting adjustments and allows pass-through entities to handle adjustments at the entity level on behalf of their owners. Section 3 changes the due date for income tax returns by C corporations. State income tax returns have had to be filed by C corporations by April 15, and prior to 2017, the federal income tax return deadline for C corporations was March 15. This meant that the state's April 15 due date and October 15 extension deadline was one month after the federal due date. In 2017, congress moved the federal due date for C corporations to April 15. Section 3 restores the one-month lag by changing the state due date to May 15, with a November 15 extension deadline. APPROVED by Governor June 1, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and portions of it take effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)