The act establishes the office of the judicial discipline ombudsman (office) as an independent office in the judicial department that is operated pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between the office and the judicial department. The judicial discipline ombudsman (ombudsman) is the director of the office. The act establishes the judicial discipline ombudsman selection board (board) to be made up of 5 board members who must be appointed not later than January 1, 2024. The duties and responsibilities of the board include: Overseeing personnel decisions of the ombudsman, which include appointing a person to serve as the ombudsman, filling a vacancy in the ombudsman position, evaluating the ombudsman's performance, and developing a complaint process concerning the ombudsman's performance; Overseeing and advising the ombudsman on the strategic direction of the office and its mission; Working cooperatively with the ombudsman to provide fiscal oversight of the general operating budget of the office; Ensuring compliance with the provisions of the act, the memorandum of understanding, and state and federal laws; Promoting the mission of the office; and Providing assistance to the ombudsman when requested. The powers and duties of the ombudsman include: Creating and maintaining an anonymous reporting system for complainants to submit complaints; Helping complainants understand their rights and options in reporting and filing a complaint with the commission on judicial discipline (commission) and other appropriate authorities; Providing complainants with necessary referrals for additional support services and care if needed or requested; Reporting appropriate cases to the commission, the office of attorney regulation counsel, law enforcement, and the judicial department; Serving in an advisory capacity to the commission and the judicial department on rule-making; Ensuring accountability and consistency in the operating policies and procedures of the office; and Serving as a liaison for communications between a complainant and the commission or the judicial department. The act requires that, to be appointed, the ombudsman must have prior experience serving as an ombudsman; have a deep understanding of and expertise in organizational culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion; have professional experience working with human resources; and possess the ability to act in a nonpartisan manner. The act requires all communications and information disclosed to the ombudsman by a complainant to be kept confidential unless the complainant gives the ombudsman permission to disclose the information. Disclosed information and records are not discoverable if the information and records are received during and within the scope of the ombudsman's duties and responsibilities. The act requires the ombudsman to disclose a complaint that alleges judicial misconduct and to keep the identity of the complainant confidential unless the complainant gives permission to disclose the complainant's identity. The records related to complaints received by the office are not subject to the "Colorado Open Records Act". The ombudsman is exempt from mandatory reporting rules, statutes, and policies, and may only report an incident made known to the ombudsman by a complainant if the complainant consents to the disclosure. The act authorizes the office to promulgate rules necessary to implement the requirements of the act and to ensure confidentiality of disclosures made to the office by complainants. The act appropriates $100,543 from the general fund to the judicial department to purchase legal services from the department of law. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act replaces the requirement that the executive committee of the legislative council and the joint budget committee (committees) hold a joint meeting in March, August, and December if there has been a declaration of a disaster emergency by the governor since the first day of the month for the last required meeting with a requirement that the committees meet if any committee member submits to the chairs of the committees and the governor a written request for a meeting and there has been a disaster declaration by the governor since the first day of the month of the last meeting. Such a request can be waived so that no meeting is required by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the total membership of the committees. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the requirement that the office of legislative legal services have suitable office space in the capitol building by allowing the office space for the office of legislative legal services to be in the state capitol complex and within one-quarter mile of the state capitol building. The act requires the general assembly to provide funding for annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments for appropriations from the revenue loss restoration cash fund in the capital construction section of the annual general appropriation act. In addition, for the 2023-24 fiscal year through the 2028-29 fiscal year, the state controller is required to transfer the money for all annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments for the applicable fiscal year on July 1 rather than on June 30. On July 1, 2023, and each July 1 thereafter through July 1, 2028, the state treasurer is required to transfer to the capitol complex renovation fund the amount transferred to the capitol complex master plan implementation fund that was not required for the financing of the development of the national western center in the applicable fiscal year. The act repeals the specific designation of 2 floors in the capitol building annex at 1375 Sherman street as legislative space and requires the executive committee of the legislative council, the director of the division of capital assets, the secretary of the senate, the chief clerk of the house of representatives, the director of the office of legislative legal services, the director of research of the legislative council, and the state auditor to determine, prior to the beginning of the 2025 legislative session and with the approval of the executive committee of the legislative council and the governor, which areas in the capitol building annex are legislative space. The general assembly is required to vacate the legislative space at the state office building at 1525 Sherman street within one year after the completion of the renovation of the capitol building annex at 1375 Sherman street and thereafter, such space in the office building at 1525 Sherman street will be executive space. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $20,479,729 to the department of personnel from the capitol complex renovation fund for capital construction related to specific capitol complex renovation projects. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a health insurance carrier (carrier) that issues, sells, renews, or offers a dental coverage plan to file, beginning in 2024, dental loss ratio forms with the division of insurance (division) for the preceding calendar year in which dental coverage was provided. The division is required to post dental loss ratio information on its website or submit the information to the administrator of the all-payer health claims database (APCD). If the information is submitted to the APCD administrator, the administrator is directed to make the information available to the public. Once the division has collected dental loss ratio information for 2 years, the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) shall promulgate rules that create a process to identify any carriers that significantly deviate from average dental loss ratios and to investigate the causes of the deviation. The act requires the commissioner to adopt rules that require each carrier that provides a dental coverage plan to issue to covered persons to whom a dental coverage plan identification card is issued a standardized written or virtual card containing plan information. The act also requires prepaid dental plans to file rates with the division. The act appropriates $64,252 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance for personal services and operating expenses. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)
The act creates the school discipline task force (task force) to study and make recommendations regarding school district discipline policies and practices, state and local discipline reporting requirements, and local engagement. The task force consists of 18 members, including the legislative member who is the chair of the Colorado youth advisory council review committee (review committee); the executive director of the department of early childhood or the executive director's designee; the commissioner of education (commissioner) or the commissioner's designee; representatives of statewide education organizations; and former students who attended Colorado public schools and who have lived experience with the school discipline system. The commissioner is required to call the first meeting of the task force. The task force is required to: Define "disproportionate discipline"; Review the department of education's (department) standardization of discipline data; Review the department's plan for creating school district and charter school institute profile reports; Determine whether the department's standardization of discipline data should include reports of alternative disciplinary measures taken prior to a student's suspension or expulsion; Recommend processes and provide resources for public engagement in a local school district board of education's discussions of discipline data; Review existing public engagement processes; Review best practices identified by the department concerning dropout prevention and student re-engagement; Identify alternative approaches to discipline, including but not limited to positive behavioral interventions and supports, bullying intervention and prevention, and behavior intervention plans, and address concerns around workforce and other resource shortages in school districts in relation to school discipline practices and reporting; and Recommend legislative and administrative changes, as necessary, and analyze the costs and time frames required to implement the changes. The task force is required to submit a final report on or before August 1, 2024. The task force is required to present its findings and recommendations to the review committee during the first meeting of the review committee in 2024. Current law encourages school districts to consider certain factors before suspending or expelling a student. The act requires school districts to consider those factors before suspending or expelling a student, which include the age and disciplinary history of the student, whether the student has a disability, the seriousness of the violation, whether the violation threatened the safety of any student or staff member, and whether a lesser intervention would properly address the violation. The act appropriates $164,398 from the general fund to the department to implement the task force. The act also appropriates $1,415 from the general fund to the legislative department for use by the general assembly for legislator per diem and travel reimbursement to participate on the task force. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)
The middle-income housing authority (authority) has the power to make and enter into contracts or agreements with public or private entities to facilitate public-private partnerships. The act clarifies this power of the authority to enter into public-private partnerships by specifying that: The affordable rental housing component of a public-private partnership is exempt from state and local taxation, and the authority must provide initial and ongoing notice to the local assessor of the exemption; A public-private partnership may include an agreement concerning commercial property in connection with an affordable rental housing project; A public-private partnership may provide for the transfer of the interest in an affordable rental housing project to an entity other than the authority; The authority may issue bonds to finance the affordable rental housing component in a public-private partnership; and Bonds issued by the authority may be payable from the revenue and assets of the affordable rental housing component of a public-private partnership or solely from the revenue or assets of the authority as current law requires. Additionally, the act expands the board of directors of the authority from 14 to 16 by adding 2 nonvoting members. The senate majority leader and the house majority leader will each appoint a member of the general assembly from their respective chambers to serve as the 2 new nonvoting members; except that, if the senate majority leader and the house majority leader are from the same political party, the house minority leader will appoint the member to the board of directors from the house. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $3,774 is appropriated from the general fund to the legislative department for use by the general assembly to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 7, 2023, statewide election to allow the state to retain and spend state revenues that would otherwise need to be refunded for exceeding the estimate in the ballot information booklet analysis for proposition EE and to allow the state to maintain the tax rates established in proposition EE that would otherwise need to be decreased. If voters reject the ballot issue, the state will both: Refund $23.65 million to distributors and wholesalers in a reasonable manner determined by the department of revenue; and Reduce by 11.53% the tax rates of the taxes on cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products created or increased by proposition EE. If voters approve the ballot measure: The money set aside for the potential refund related to proposition EE will instead be transferred to the preschool programs cash fund and the general fund; and The new tax on nicotine products and the increased taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products in proposition EE will stay at the rates required by proposition EE. The refund or alternative spending is made or backfilled from revenue in the newly created proposition EE cash fund, which consists of $23.65 million from the preschool programs cash fund and the general fund. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act lists the minimum factors to be considered when determining medical necessity or appropriate level of care for an individual with an eating disorder. The act prohibits certain health benefit plans or the state medical assistance program from utilizing the body mass index, ideal body weight, or any other standard requiring an achieved weight when determining medical necessity criteria or appropriate level of care for an individual with a diagnosed eating disorder. The prohibition does not apply when determining medical necessity or the appropriate level of care for an individual diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, restricting subtype or binge-eating/purging subtype; however, body mass index, ideal body weight, or any other standard requiring an achieved body weight must not be the determining factor when assessing medical necessity or the appropriate level of care for an individual diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, restricting subtype or binge-eating/purging subtype. The act states a retail establishment engages in a deceptive trade practice if the retail establishment sells, transfers, or otherwise furnishes over-the-counter diet pills to any individual under 18 years of age. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE May 30, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the disordered eating prevention program (program) in the department of public health and environment (department) within the prevention services division (division). The division is required to: Create and maintain an external-facing resource that is updated annually and includes key information about disordered eating, including risk factors and prevention factors; Collaborate with the office of suicide prevention and other programs within the division to align work focused on disordered eating, facilitate public outreach, and increase awareness regarding disordered eating prevention and care with a focus on impacted communities, such as youth, older Coloradans, people of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals; Partner with the department of education to inform teachers, administrators, school staff, students, and parents on disordered eating preventions; and Coordinate the disordered eating prevention research grant program. The division may: Contract with a third-party to conduct focus groups, interview key individuals, conduct surveys, and establish a collaborative group to discuss key issues regarding disordered eating prevention; Partner with the behavioral health administration; and Identify disordered eating prevention strategies, including dismantling discrimination and bias with regard to weight. The act creates the disordered eating prevention research grant program (grant program) in the division. The purpose of the grant program is to provide financial assistance to eligible applicants to research root causes of disordered eating and examine risk factors for and protective factors against disordered eating in youth, adults, and older Coloradans. The act appropriates $26,679 to the department from the general fund for use by the division for the program. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 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.)
The act makes changes to hospital community benefit activity requirements and imposes certain requirements on the public meetings regarding each reporting hospital's community benefit activities and community implementation plan (plan). The act requires each reporting hospital to: Expand upon the manner in which the hospital invites the public to attend meetings, including by posting the invitation on the hospital's website and social media accounts and by distributing the invitation via the reporting hospital's electronic newsletter, e-mail lists, or any other communications between the hospital and the community it serves at least 30 days before the meeting; Share at each public meeting the community benefit activities from the previous year, the amount funded for each activity, and a description of how the activities and funding align with community priorities; Submit a report to the department of health care policy and financing(state department) that details who attended the public meeting, the topics discussed at the meeting, and any decisions made as a result of the discussion, particularly as they pertain to community benefit priorities, and community feedback received and how the hospital plans to incorporate the feedback into its community beneift implementation plan; Make each report available to the public; and Present priority areas identified in its most recent community health needs assessment and any other community benefit investment option it recommends. The act requires the state medical services board to promulgate rules governing accommodation standards for the public meetings and include in its annual report a summary of the estimated federal, state, and property tax exemptions received by each hospital. The act requires the state department to: Conduct a stakeholder meeting to determine best practices to ensure diverse input from local community members is used to determine community priorities as well as best practices for hospitals to collaborate with local public health agencies and community organizations to reduce redundant community needs assessments. Take remedial action if a hospital fails to comply with the hospital community benefit activity requirements. Such remedial action can include weekly fines between $5,000 and $20,000 for each violation. The act requires a reporting hospital to expend any amount fined on community benefit investment priorities described in its current community benefit implementation plan. The reporting hospital must include information on how the money from fines was expended in the reporting hospital's annual report submitted to the state department. The act appropriates $50,000 from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to the state department for use by the office of the executive director of the state department, $100,000 from reappropriated funds received from the state department to the department of revenue for personal services, and $50,000 in anticipated federal funds for transfer to the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 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.)