The act repeals the requirement that an institution of higher education (institution) must classify a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student has attended a Colorado high school for 3 years and been admitted to college within 12 months of graduating or completing an equivalency examination. Instead, the act requires an institution to classify a student as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student: Either attended a public or private high school for one year immediately preceding the date the student graduated from a Colorado high school or was physically present in Colorado for at least one year immediately preceding the date the student successfully completed a high school equivalency examination in Colorado; and Has been physically present in Colorado for at least 12 consecutive months prior to enrolling in an institution. The act clarifies that a student who is classified as an in-state student because the student meets the requirements in the act is an in-state student for the purposes of determining whether an institution meets the minimum required percentage of in-state students in an incoming freshman class. Because the act repeals the requirement to be admitted to college within 12 months of graduation, the act also repeals the exception to that requirement for a student who does not have lawful immigration status and graduated or successfully completed the equivalency examination prior to September 1, 2013. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act is a referred measure that will, if approved by the voters of the state at the 2022 general election, require the director of research of the legislative council of the general assembly to include a table in the fiscal summary for any initiated measure that would either increase or decrease the individual income tax rate. The table must have 4 columns as follows: A column identifying 8 income categories; A column identifying the current average income tax owed by taxpayers in each income category; A column identifying the average income tax owed by taxpayers in each income category if the initiated measure were to pass; and A column identifying the difference between the average income tax owed by taxpayers in each income category if the initiated measure were to pass and if the initiated measure were not to pass. The ballot title for a measure that either increases or decreases the individual income tax rate must also include the table created by the director of research of the legislative council of the general assembly for the measure's fiscal summary. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the federal Indian boarding school research program (research program) in the state historical society, known as history Colorado, to research and make recommendations to promote Coloradans' understanding of the physical and emotional abuse and deaths that occurred at federal Indian boarding schools in Colorado, including the victimization of families of youth forced to attend the boarding schools and the intergenerational impacts of the abuse. In addition to consultation with the Southern Ute Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe described in the act, history Colorado shall consult with the Colorado commission of Indian affairs (commission) and may consult with any other federally recognized Indian tribe. As part of the research program, the act requires history Colorado to research events, abuse, and deaths that occurred at the federal Indian boarding school at Fort Lewis, which was known as the Fort Lewis Indian school. History Colorado may enter into an agreement with a third party to conduct parts of the research. History Colorado is required to provide the commission, Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe with periodic updates about its research and is required to deliver a final report to the commission, Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe by June 30, 2023. The act requires history Colorado, after delivering its final report, to facilitate consultation with the commission, the Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to develop recommendations necessary to better understand the abuse and victimization that occurred at, and is related to, federal Indian boarding schools and to support healing in tribal communities. History Colorado must make the recommendations publicly available. The department of human services (department) owns and operates a regional center on the property that was formerly the Teller institute federal Indian boarding school. The act requires the department to vacate the property and sell all or a portion of the property, or transfer all or a portion of the property, to a state institution of higher education, a local government, a state agency, or a federally recognized tribe in Colorado. The department is not permitted to sell or transfer the property until after the identification and mapping of any graves of students buried at the federal Indian boarding school that was located on the property and until after the department develops a plan, in consultation with tribal governments, to acknowledge the abuse and victimization of students and families related to the operation of the school. The act appropriates $618,611 from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by history Colorado for the research program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Whenever a child is conceived or born as a result of an assisted reproduction procedure (procedure) and the person who did not give birth is a parent or a presumed parent, the act allows the parents to complete an adoption of the child to affirm parentage. In such an instance, both parents must join the adoption petition as petitioners. The act details what must be included on a form for adoption or a voluntary acknowledgment of parentage to acknowledge parentage of the child, as well as jurisdictional requirements and options. The act clarifies the requirements for parentage when a child is conceived through a procedure, including that the donor of gametes used in the procedure is not considered a parent, unless the gamete donor is a spouse or civil union partner of the person who gives birth to the child. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act adds mental health professional to the list of individuals and entities that are not held liable for dispensing an opiate antagonist in accordance with the law and updates the definition of "mental health professional" by clarifying that the term includes unlicensed psychotherapists. In the legislative declaration of the mental health practice act, the act adds clinical social worker candidates and addiction counselor candidates to the list of mental health licensee candidates who are subject to disciplinary actions and injunctions by their respective regulatory boards. For the purposes of the practices acts regulating mental health providers, the act updates the definition of "registrant" to include marriage and family therapist candidates and addiction counselor candidates. The act also adds unlicensed psychotherapists to the list of mental health professionals who cannot administer or prescribe drugs or practice medicine. Current law prohibits a person who practices religious ministry from publicly claiming to be any of certain licensed, certified, or registered mental health professional unless the person possesses the proper credentials. The act adds certified addiction specialists and certified addiction technicians to the list of such mental health professionals. Obsolete language is deleted from the social worker practice act, the marriage and family therapist practice act, the licensed professional counselor practice act, and the addiction counselor practice act concerning the initial appointment of members to their respective regulatory boards. The act replaces the term "psychotherapists" with the term "mental health professionals" in the definition of "marriage and family therapy practice". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the act correct incorrect cross references to sales tax filing and remittance requirements for direct pay permit holders in local sales tax statutes. Section 5 corrects an incorrect cross reference in the definition of "auction sale", which is defined to include only the sale of tangible personal property, by replacing a cross reference to a supplemental definition of sale that includes "the transaction of furnishing rooms or accommodations" with a cross reference to the more general definition of "sale". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires every hospital to establish, by September 1, 2022, a nurse staffing committee pursuant to rules promulgated by the state board of health, either by creating a new committee or assigning the nurse staffing functions to an existing hospital staffing committee. The nurse staffing committee must have at least 60% or greater participation by clinical staff nurses. The nurse staffing committee is required to: Annually develop and oversee a master nurse staffing plan; Submit a recommended staffing plan to the hospital's senior nurse executive and governing body; and Receive, track, and resolve complaints and receive feedback from direct-care nurses and other staff. The act requires a hospital to: Submit the nurse staffing plan to the department of public health and environment (department) on an annual basis; Post the nurse staffing plan on the hospital's website; Evaluate the nurse staffing plan on a quarterly basis and, based on complaints and recommendations of patients and staff, revise the nurse staffing plan accordingly; and Prepare an annual report containing the details of the evaluation. The act prohibits a hospital from assigning direct-care providers to a nursing unit or clinical area of a hospital unless the providers are properly trained in the unit or area assigned. On or before September 1, 2022, in a form and manner determined by rules promulgated by the state board of health, each hospital is required to report: The baseline number of beds the hospital is able to staff; and The hospital's current bed capacity. If the hospital's ability to meet staffed-bed capacity falls below 80% of the required baseline in a specified period, the hospital is required to notify the department and submit a plan to meet that requirement. The act requires the department to notify a hospital if the hospital's number of staffed beds exceeds 80% of a hospital's total licensed beds and fine the hospital if the hospital does not take corrective action. Each hospital is required to update its emergency plan at least annually and as often as necessary, as circumstances warrant. The act authorizes the department to fine a hospital up to $10,000 per day for the hospital's failure to: Meet the required staffed-bed capacity; Include the amount of necessary vaccines for administration in its annual emergency plan and, to the extent they are available, have the vaccines available at each of its facilities; and Include the necessary testing capabilities, to the extent they are available at each of its facilities. The act grants rule-making authority to the department and to the state board of health. The act requires the department to report certain data to its committee of reference as part of its presentation at the hearing held pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act". The act requires the office of saving people money on health care in the office of the lieutenant governor (office) to study: The level of preparedness of health facilities to respond to post-viral illness resulting from the COVID-19 virus; The effects of post-viral illness resulting from the COVID-19 virus on the mental, behavioral, and physical health and the financial security of the people of Colorado; and The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cost of health care in Colorado and on the resiliency of Colorado's public health system. The act requires the office to annually report its findings to the governor and to coordinate, monitor, and support efforts to improve affordability of health care, health outcomes, and public health readiness in state programs and departments. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review and report on the second chance scholarship program by repealing the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act strikes references to the federal food and drug administration in the health insurance code and replaces the references with the term "FDA", which is defined for the entire code to mean the federal food and drug administration. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)