Sen. Jim Smallwood

The starting point for determining state income tax liability is federal taxable income. Federal taxable income is adjusted for additions and subtractions (deductions) that are used to determine Colorado taxable income, which amount is multiplied by the state's income tax rate of 4.55%. For the next 7 income tax years, the bill allows an individual to claim a deduction for qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses, if the expenses are not: Claimed as a deduction on the taxpayer's federal income tax return; Paid or reimbursed from a medical savings account; or Paid or reimbursed by the taxpayer's insurance company.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Under current law, a child is neglected or dependent if the child's environment is injurious to the child's health or welfare. The act clarifies that a child is not neglected when allowed to participate in certain independent activities that a reasonable and prudent parent, guardian, or legal custodian would consider safe given the child's maturity, condition, and abilities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act aligns the medicaid and children's basic health plan income eligibility requirements for pregnant women and children with federal law. Current law requires money in the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund (fund) to be used to expand eligibility for medicaid by increasing the income eligibility level for children and pregnant women under the children's basic health plan to up to 250% of the federal poverty line. The act increases the eligibility level to up to 260%. Under current law, if the money in the fund is insufficient to fully fund all the purposes of the fund, the medical services board (state board) may reduce the percentage of the federal poverty level. The act authorizes the state board to reduce the percentage of the federal poverty level to below 260%, but not below 250%. The act increases the medicaid income eligibility level for pregnant women from 185% of the federal poverty level to 195% of the federal poverty level, adjusted for family size. The act increases the income eligibility level under the children's basic health plan for children and pregnant women from 250% of the federal poverty level to 260% of the federal poverty level.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law directs the departments of public health and environment and health care policy and financing to consider allocating money in the nursing home penalty cash fund for grants to be approved for measures that will benefit residents of nursing facilities by fostering innovation and improving the quality of life and care at the facilities. The bill adds to the list of possible measures eligible for grant funding projects aimed at infection prevention and control. Awards for infection prevention and control are limited to education support, workforce support, and physical enhancements for infection control. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill creates in the department of education (department) the Colorado school resource officer grant program (grant program) to provide grants to public school districts, boards of cooperative services, charter schools, and institute charter schools to provide financial assistance to hire more school resource officers. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the bill requires the general assembly to appropriate $5 million to the department to award grants through the grant program. The department may use not more than 2% of the appropriation for costs to implement and administer the grant program. The grant program repeals on July 1, 2024. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The bill allows eligible electors in the town of Parker to elect to have all of the area within the boundaries of the town included in or excluded from the boundaries of the regional transportation district (district). The bill requires that for the election to go forward, 2 separate ballot questions must be presented to the electors, one regarding the town's inclusion in and one regarding the town's exclusion from the district. The ballot questions may be initiated by petitions signed by at least 5% of the voters, or the governing body of the town of Parker may adopt resolutions to hold elections on the ballot questions. The ballot must include one question allowing the voters to vote for or against the inclusion of the proposed area in the district, and one question allowing voters to vote for or against the exclusion of the proposed area from the district. If one question is approved by a majority of the eligible electors and the other question is not approved by a majority of eligible electors, the question that was approved takes effect. If both questions are approved by a majority of the eligible electors, only the question that received the greater number of votes in favor of the question takes effect. If neither question is approved by a majority of eligible electors, neither question takes effect and the boundaries of the district remain as they were before the election. If the voters elect to be excluded from the district, the exclusion takes effect on the earlier of December 31, 2050, or the date on which any district securities that were secured by the specific pledge of proceeds of sales taxes prior to January 1, 2022, are repaid. The district may continue to collect sales and use tax revenues within the boundaries of the district after the voters elect to be excluded and prior to the effective date of the exclusion, so long as the district provides a reasonably proportionate level of service to the town of Parker during that time. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act establishes requirements for the creation and assignment of a health-care provider lien for a person injured in an accident. A health-care provider lien is a lien related to charges for health care provided to a person injured by the negligence or wrongful act of another person, which is asserted against money the injured person may receive from a personal injury claim or uninsured motorist claim.A health-care provider or the health-care provider's assignee creating a lien must advise the injured person of their options for payment, including the use of benefits from an insurance plan. In addition, the provider or assignee must provide additional disclosures about the lien, including how the health-care provider's assignee is compensated and of any common ownership interests among the lien holder and the injured person's health-care providers or legal counsel. The injured person must also be advised that, except in the case of fraud or misrepresentation:If the injured person does not receive a judgment, settlement, or payment on the injured person's claim, the injured person is not liable for any amount of the lien; If the injured person receives a net judgment, settlement, or payment that is less than the amount of the lien, the injured person is not liable for any amount over the amount of the net judgment, settlement, or payment; and The lien holder cannot assign the lien to a collection agency. The act requires that a health-care provider lien cannot include additional finance charges or interest and must be limited to the total of the usual and customary charges billed by health-care providers. In the absence of fraud or misrepresentation:If the injured person does not receive a judgment, settlement, or payment on the injured person's claim, the injured person is not liable for any amount of the lien; If the injured person receives a net judgment, settlement, or payment that is less than the amount of the lien, the injured person is not liable for any amount over the amount of the net judgment, settlement, or payment; and The lien holder cannot assign the lien to a collection agency. A health-care provider or its assignee must comply with the provisions of the act to have a valid health-care provider lien. If a court determines that a health-care provider or its assignee knowingly failed to comply, the injured person may seek a ruling from the court concerning which portions of the lien, if any, the health-care provider or assignee cannot recover.Except in an action under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code", when a lien is assigned, the amount paid for the assignment, the fact of the assignment, and the terms of the assignment are not admissible as evidence in the underlying personal injury action.The holder of a health-care provider lien may file a record of the lien in accordance with the "Colorado Statutory Lien Registration Act". If more than one health-care provider lien has been asserted against an injured person's net judgment, settlement, or payment for the same accident or incident, a lien for which a record has been filed has priority for payment out of the injured person's net judgment, settlement, or payment over a lien for which no record is filed. If records are filed for more than one health-care provider lien for the same accident or incident, priority is determined by the date on which the record was filed, with the lien with the earliest date of filing having first priority. Filing a record is optional and does not waive any other provisions of the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act adds a requirement, as part of mandatory health insurance coverage of preventive health care services, that health plans cover an annual mental health wellness examination of up to 60 minutes that is performed by a qualified mental health care provider. The coverage must:Be comparable to the coverage of a physical examination; Comply with the requirements of federal mental health parity laws; and Not require any deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for the mental health wellness examination. The coverage applies to large employer plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, and to individual and small group plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, if the commissioner of insurance determines, and the United States department of health and human services confirms or fails to timely respond to a request for confirmation, that the coverage for an annual mental health wellness examination does not require state defrayal pursuant to the federal "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". Additionally, the division of insurance (division) is directed to conduct an actuarial study to determine the effect of the coverage on insurance premiums.The act appropriates $26,353 to the division to conduct reviews of health plans to ensure compliance with the coverage required by the bill.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act defines "respite child care centers" and includes them in the overall definition of "child care center" for licensing purposes.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $14,092 is appropriated to the department of human services for use by the office of information technology services. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the office may use this appropriation for Colorado trails.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes a number of modifications to the "Outdoor Advertising Act", including the following:Removing distinctions in the "Outdoor Advertising Act" based on the information on an advertising device, in order to create a content-neutral test for applying the "Outdoor Advertising Act"; Modifying the regulation by the "Outdoor Advertising Act" of advertising devices with a message center display, so that such devices may not be placed within 1,000 feet of each other on the same side of a highway and facing the same direction of travel; Revising the permitting system under the "Outdoor Advertising Act" to establish a timeline for the issuance of a permit or the rejection of a permit application and to create a process to appeal the denial of a permit application; Allowing a property owner to maintain a potential advertising device on their property without a permit, if the property owner executes an affidavit attesting that the potential advertising device is not an advertising device as defined under the "Outdoor Advertising Act"; Modifying the enforcement provisions in the "Outdoor Advertising Act" to remove the current misdemeanor penalty for violations of the act and to ensure that the Colorado department of transportation has the authority to seek a court order enjoining violations of the "Outdoor Advertising Act"; Removing exceptions from the "Outdoor Advertising Act" that allow the erection of new advertising devices along state highways designated as scenic byways by the transportation commission; and No longer allowing on-premise advertising devices to extend over the existing and future right-of-ways of any state highway.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)