Sen. Dominick Moreno

Unclaimed property trust fund - transfer - general fund. On July 1, 2019, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer $30 million from the unclaimed property trust fund to the general fund. The amount transferred constitutes fiscal year spending subject to the state fiscal year spending limit.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Urban drainage and flood control district - board of directors. The urban drainage and flood control district is a special district created in statute to design and construct flood control and warning measures within portions of the metropolitan Denver area. The district is governed by a board of directors (board). The act repeals a requirement that the board consist of 16 directors and a requirement that the board meet on the first business day of February each year. The act relocates a requirement that each director take an oath of office to a different statutory section. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Colorado second chance scholarship program - appropriation. The act creates the Colorado second chance scholarship program (scholarship program) in the department of higher education for youth previously committed to the division of youth services in the department of human services. The act requires the executive director of the commission on higher education to appoint a program coordinator to counsel and support scholarship recipients. The act also creates an advisory board to establish the scholarship criteria and select scholarship recipients. The act appropriates $305,145 from the general fund to the department of higher education for the scholarship program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Driver's licenses and other identification documents - persons not lawfully present - appropriation. The act requires the department of revenue to issue identification documents, such as driver's licenses, at 10 or more offices geographically distributed throughout the state. The new offices are phased in, so that the department will have 8 offices open by January 1, 2020, and 10 offices open by July 1, 2020. $1,737,800 is appropriated to the department of revenue from the licensing services cash fund to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Minimum wage - local government to establish - limitations - enforcement - reports - eligible nursing facility provider reimbursement. The act allows a unit of local government to establish a minimum wage for individuals performing, or expected to perform, 4 or more hours of work for an employer in the local government's jurisdiction. A minimum wage established by a local government is subject to the following limitations: Prior to enacting a minimum wage law, the local government is required to consult with surrounding local governments and various stakeholders; A minimum wage established by a local government must provide a tip offset equal to the tip offset provided in the state constitution; The minimum wage law must not apply to time spent in a local government's jurisdiction solely for the purpose of traveling through the jurisdiction to a destination outside of the local government's boundaries; All employed adult employees and emancipated minors shall be paid not less than the enacted minimum wage; A local minimum wage increase must take effect on the same date as a scheduled increase to the statewide minimum wage; and If a local minimum wage exceeds the statewide minimum wage, the local government may only increase the local minimum wage each year by up to $1.75 or 15%, whichever is higher. A local government that enacts a minimum wage law may adopt provisions for the local enforcement of the law. By July 1, 2021, the executive director of the department of labor and employment is required to issue a written report regarding local minimum wage laws in the state. If notified by the executive director of the department of labor and employment that a local government has enacted a minimum wage that exceeds the statewide minimum wage, the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing is required to submit a report to the joint budget committee with certain recommendations related to provider rates. If 10% of local governments enact local minimum wage laws, a local government that has not enacted a local minimum wage law is prohibited from enacting a local minimum wage law until the general assembly has given authorization for additional local minimum wage laws by amending this act. The executive director of the department of health care policy and financing is required to establish a process for eligible nursing facility providers to apply for a local minimum wage enhancement payment to be used to increase the compensation of its employees whenever a local government increases its minimum wage above the statewide minimum wage. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Home care agencies - department to request increase in federal reimbursement rate for certain services - minimum wage - wage pass-through requirement - training - appropriation. The act requires the department of health care policy and financing (department) to request from the federal government an increase of 8.1% in the reimbursement rate for certain services delivered to consumers through the home- and community-based services waivers. For the 2019-20 fiscal year, each home care agency (agency) shall pay 100% of the funding that results from the rate increase as compensation for employees who provide personal care services, homemaker services, and in-home support services (covered services) to consumers. For the 2020-21 fiscal year, each agency shall pay 85% of the funding that results from the rate increase as compensation for employees who provide covered services to consumers. Within 60 days after the request for an increase in the reimbursement rate is approved, each agency shall provide written notice to each nonadministrative employee who provides covered services of the compensation to which the employee is entitled. The act states that on and after July 1, 2020, the hourly minimum wage for persons who provide covered services for which an agency may receive reimbursement pursuant to the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act" is $12.41 per hour. Each agency shall track and report how it used any funding resulting from the rate increase using a reporting tool developed by the department. The department may recoup from an agency part or all of the funding resulting from the rate increase if the department determines that the agency: Did not use 100% of any funding resulting from the rate increase to increase compensation for nonadministrative employees for the 2019-20 fiscal year; Did not use 85% of the funding resulting from the rate increase to increase compensation for nonadministrative employees for the 2020-21 fiscal year; or Failed to track and report how it used any funds resulting from the increase in the reimbursement rate. The act requires the department and the department of public health and environment, in consultation with stakeholders, on or before January 1, 2020, to establish a process for reviewing and enforcing initial and ongoing training requirements for persons who provide covered services. The act appropriates $5,682,377 to the department to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Immigration - refugee services. The act codifies the existing Colorado refugee services program (program) that is administered by the state department of human services (department) pursuant to a 1994 executive order. The act establishes the program in the department and designates the department as the agency responsible for the development, review, and administration of Colorado's refugee services plan (state plan). The program must be administered in accordance with the state plan and must include certain services and assistance for refugees in accordance with the state plan and the federal "Immigration and Nationality Act". The program may provide additional services and assistance to support refugee resettlement and integration. The general assembly is permitted to appropriate money to the department for the administration of the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Child placement agencies - delegating care of a minor - temporary care assistance program - appropriation. The act permits a parent or guardian to use a temporary care assistance program operated by a child placement agency to identify an appropriate and safe approved temporary caregiver to whom the parent or guardian can choose to delegate temporary care responsibility of a minor through a power of attorney. Prior to July 1, 2021, only a child placement agency that is a nonprofit organization and that operates a program similar to a temporary care assistance program in 30 or more states may operate a temporary care assistance program. A temporary care assistance program must make diligent efforts to notify any parent or guardian identified having parental rights or legal decision-making authority regarding the minor's care and cannot assist a parent who is named as a respondent in an open dependency and neglect case. A power of attorney that delegates temporary care responsibility of a minor to an approved temporary caregiver is limited to a duration of 6 months. The 6-month restriction does not apply to deployed or active duty military members. Such a power of attorney can be revoked at any time and does not change legal rights or obligations existing pursuant to a court order. The minor must be returned to the custody of the parent or guardian within 48 hours after termination of the power of attorney. A temporary care assistance program is permitted to approve as a temporary caregiver any person who: Meets the standards prescribed by the temporary care assistance program; Satisfactorily completes required criminal and child abuse and neglect background checks and sex offender registration checks; and Receives training conducted by the temporary care assistance program. A temporary care assistance program and a temporary care provider are subject to any rules applicable to noncertified kinship care that are promulgated by the department of human services and that are consistent with statutory provisions concerning temporary care assistance programs. A power of attorney that delegates temporary care responsibility of a minor to an approved temporary caregiver does not constitute child abuse or neglect, constitute placing the minor into foster care, or relieve parents, guardians, or minors of rights and obligations pursuant to court orders. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $14,093 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of human services for use by the division of child welfare for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Department presentation to legislative committees of reference - department regulatory agendas. The act requires all presentations made to joint committees of reference under the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" to be conducted in the first 2 weeks of the regular legislative session rather than during the interim between legislative sessions, and as a result: Repeals the requirement that appointees to committees of reference be designated no later than December 1 prior to the convening of the general assembly; and Repeals the authorization that members and members-elect are entitled to per diem and reimbursement of expenses.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Child welfare - foster care prevention services - qualified residential treatment programs - federal compliance. The act authorizes the department of human services (department) to establish and implement a foster care prevention services program for families with children and youth who are candidates for foster care but who can safely remain at home with receipt of foster care prevention services. Eligible recipients of foster care prevention services include children and youth and their parents, legal custodians, legal guardians, and kin caregivers when their needs are directly related to the safety, permanent placement, or well-being of the child or youth. If a child or youth is placed in a qualified residential treatment program (QRTP), the court or the administrative review division of the department is required to review the assessment and needs of the child or youth and determine whether placement in the QRTP is appropriate. The act requires a county department of human or social services (county department) to submit certain evidence to the court during each review and permanency hearing of a child or youth placed in a QRTP. A county department may provide foster care prevention services to a child or youth and the parents or kin caregivers of the child or youth upon the receipt of a report of intrafamilial abuse or neglect or human trafficking. The act adds the federal "Family First Prevention Services Act" as a program to be administered by the department. The act also adds foster care prevention services to the definition of child welfare services. The act requires the department to implement the utilization of foster care prevention services and qualified residential treatment programs when the federal government approves the state's five year Title IV-E prevention plan. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More