Substance abuse prevention - pharmacy enhanced dispensing fee - health care providers with prescriptive authority - required training - receipt of benefits for prescriptions prohibited - access to prescription drug monitoring program - appropriation to address opioid and other substance use disorder priorities - office of behavioral health grant programs created - center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies program created - perinatal substance use date linkage project created - report - appropriations. The act: Allows a pharmacy that dispenses an opioid to receive an enhanced dispensing fee if the pharmacy provides counseling concerning the risk of opioids to the patient; Prohibits a physician, physician assistant, or an advanced practice nurse from accepting any direct or indirect benefits for prescribing a specific medication; Requires the state board of pharmacy to promulgate rules that require a prescription for an opioid for outpatient use to bear a warning label; Allows medical examiners and coroners access to the prescription drug monitoring program under specified circumstances; Authorizes the department of human services to conduct research that relates to the definition of "abuse" concerning the incidence of prenatal substance exposure and related newborn and family health and human services outcomes as the result of a mother's lawful and unlawful intake of controlled substances; Requires specified state departments to report to the health committees of the general assembly by December 31, 2019, the amount of federal funds that each is receiving or is eligible to receive for use in testing for hepatitis and HIV and the number of individuals currently and anticipated to be tested. The departments are also required to share eligibility standards for treatment with primary care providers. Creates the Charlie Hughes and Nathan Gauna opioid prevention grant program to improve young lives in the office of behavioral health in the department of human services (office) for the purpose preventing opioid use among the state's youth population. Requires the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies (center) to develop and implement a program to increase public awareness about the safe use, storage, and disposal of opioids, and about the availability of antagonist drugs. The general assembly is required to annually appropriate until the 2023-24 fiscal year $750,000 to the center from the marijuana tax cash fund to implement the program. Allows the center, in partnership with an institution of higher education and the state substance abuse trend and response task force to conduct a statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project; Requires the center to hire additional staff to assist local communities in applying for grants; Creates the maternal and child health pilot program in the office to provide grants to obstetric and gynecological health care clinics and to treatment facilities that provide substance use disorder or medication-assisted treatment; and Requires podiatrists, dentists, advanced practice nurses, optometrists, and veterinarians to complete substance use disorder training as part of continuing education required to renew the provider's license if the health care provider has prescriptive authority. $1,192, 367 is appropriated to the department of human services, $1,100,000 is appropriated to the department of higher education, and $2 million is appropriated department of public health and environment, all from the marijuana tax cash fund, to implement the act. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Sponsored bills
Regulation of food trucks - study. The act recognizes that food trucks are a fast-growing part of the Colorado economy, and that because food trucks are inherently mobile and operate in multiple locations, the regulation of food trucks at the local level creates unique issues requiring further study. State and regional organizations representing local government may study the regulation of food trucks to identify areas of duplicate or conflicting regulation. The organizations may report to the business affairs and labor committee of the house and the business, labor, and technology committee of the senate on any findings or recommendations, including recommendations for future legislative solutions, by November 1, 2019.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Transfer of money from unclaimed property trust fund to housing development grant fund - expansion of permitted uses of money in housing development grant fund. Assuming certain conditions are satisfied affecting the state's fiscal situation, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer $30 million commencing with the 2020-21 state fiscal year and through and including the 2022-23 state fiscal year from the unclaimed property trust fund to the division of housing in the department of local affairs (division) to be deposited by the division into the housing development grant fund (housing fund) to finance the uses described in the statute. For each state fiscal year that a transfer is not made, the act specifies that the last year in which a transfer may be made is extended for an additional state fiscal year. The act prohibits any transfer permitted from being made in more than 3 total state fiscal years. The act makes updates that are technical in nature to statutory provisions governing the division. In addition to the other sources of money to be deposited into the housing fund, the act specifies that the housing fund also consists of money transferred by the state treasurer from the unclaimed property trust fund to the division to be deposited into the housing fund to supplement existing money in such fund to be expended for any of the purposes specified in the act. The act also expands the permitted uses of money in the housing fund. Subject to the limitation on the percentage of money appropriated from the housing fund that may be expended for the administrative costs of the division in administering the housing fund, the act authorizes the division to expend money from the housing fund to hire and employ individuals in order to fulfill its purposes. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Primary care - collaborative created - affordability standards - targets - payment reform recommendations. The act: Establishes a primary care payment reform collaborative in the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies; Requires the commissioner of insurance to establish affordability standards for premiums, including adding targets for carrier investments in primary care; and Requires the department of health care policy and financing and carriers who offer health benefit plans to state employees to set targets for investment in primary care.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Financial assistance programs - student eligibility - Colorado high school graduates. A student who does not have lawful immigration status who attended high school in Colorado for at least 3 years before graduating from a Colorado high school or before successfully completing a high school equivalency examination, is admitted to a qualifying institution of higher education within 12 months after high school graduation, and has submitted an affidavit stating that the student has applied for lawful presence or will apply as soon as he or she is eligible, is eligible for existing student financial assistance programs offered by the department of higher education to in-state students. Prior to becoming eligible, the student is subject to the same verification requirements for eligibility to participate in the college opportunity fund program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Advanced courses - automatic enrollment grant program - appropriation. The John W. Buckner automatic enrollment in advanced courses grant program (grant program)is established in the department of education (department) to provide funding for local education providers that automatically enroll certain students in advanced courses. The department must annually notify local education providers of the grant program. In order to be eligible for the grant program, a local education provider must automatically enroll students who are in ninth grade or higher in an advanced course in a subject related to one in which the student demonstrated proficiency on the prior year's statewide assessment, or in an advanced course based on any other measure, applied to all enrolled students, that demonstrates the student's ability to succeed in the advanced course. Local education providers are encouraged to automatically enroll eligible fourth- through eighth-grade students in advanced courses as well. Local education providers must permit parents to remove their children from automatically enrolled classes and may permit parents to exempt their children from any automatic enrollment. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
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General fund transfer - state employee reserve fund. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $23 million from the state employee reserve fund to the general fund on July 1, 2019.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Effective January 1, 2024, the bill prohibits a retail food establishment from distributing an expanded polystyrene product for use as a container for off-premises ready-to-eat food in the state. The executive director of the department of public health and environment or the executive director's designee may, through the attorney general, seek injunctive relief against a retail food establishment that violates the prohibition.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
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