Sen. Brittany Pettersen

The bill exempts a person's earnings from garnishment if the person's family income does not exceed 400% of current federal poverty guidelines and the judgment is for medical debt. A writ of continuing garnishment must include notice that a person's earnings may be exempt if those criteria are met, notice of the judgment debtor's right to object and have a hearing on that objection, and a statement that, to the best of the judgment creditor's knowledge, the judgment debtor's earnings are not exempt. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2020, and applies to judgments entered on or after that date. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee. The bill adds residential and inpatient substance use disorder services and medical detoxification services to the Colorado medical assistance program. The benefit is limited to persons who meet nationally recognized, evidence-based level of care criteria for residential and inpatient substance use disorder treatment. The benefit will not be effective until the department of health care policy and financing (department) seeks and receives any federal authorization necessary to secure federal financial participation in the program. Prior to seeking federal approval, the department shall seek input from stakeholders regarding decisions relating to the benefit. The department shall prepare and submit a performance review report to committees of the general assembly concerning services provided under the benefit and the effectiveness of those services. After considering the performance review report, the general assembly may enact legislation modifying or repealing the benefit. If an enhanced residential and inpatient substance use disorder treatment and medical detoxification services benefit becomes available, managed care organizations shall reprioritize the use of money allocated from the marijuana tax cash fund to assist in providing treatment, including residential treatment, to persons who are not otherwise covered by public or private insurance. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) Read More

The bill creates the teacher residency expansion program (program) in the department of education (department). The goal of the program is to identify and communicate to school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services that operate public schools (local education providers) the best practices, effective strategies, and critical components of effective teacher residency programs and thereby facilitate expansion of the effective teacher residency programs across the state. To implement the program, the department will contract with an institution of higher education (institution) and an alternative teacher program (alternative program), each of which is currently operating an effective teacher residency program with a local education provider. The institution and alternative program will expand their respective teacher residency programs with other local education providers as pilot programs that must include specified components. The institution and alternative program will share the specified components with the department, which will share them with other local education providers, institutions, and alternative programs that are not participating in the pilot programs. After the pilot programs have operated for a year, and annually thereafter, the department will evaluate the success of the pilot programs based on specified criteria. The department will submit a report concerning the evaluation to the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, the executive director of the department of higher education, the governor's office, and the education committees of the general assembly. The department will also post the report on its website. The department will distribute to the institution and alternative program that contract with the department an amount to offset a portion of the costs of implementing the pilot program. The institution and alternative program must agree to provide matching funds equal to 100% of the amount distributed to the institution and alternative program by the department. The program is repealed in 5 years. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission. The bill extends the repeal date of the early childhood and school readiness legislative commission (commission). The bill allows the commission to meet up to 4 times each year but does not require the commission to meet. The bill specifies that the commission shall not meet unless it is granted meetings through the interim committee process through legislative council or unless it receives administrative support from a nonprofit organization or government entity. The bill makes an appropriation for the commission members' travel and per diem. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill changes the criteria that the department of education (department) must consider in assigning an accreditation category to a school district or the state charter school institute (institute) or in recommending the type of performance plan that a public school must implement. The bill clarifies that a school district or the institute, on its own behalf or on behalf of one of its public schools, may request reconsideration of the initial accreditation category or performance plan assignment. The bill specifies criteria the department may apply as part of the reconsideration. The bill directs the department to make training in governance and turnaround best practices available to the directors of the board of education of a school district that is accredited with improvement plan or lower or that includes a public school that is required to implement a priority improvement or turnaround plan and to make materials and training available to parents, school personnel, and school district and school accountability committees. The bill allows, rather than requires, the commissioner of education (commissioner) to assign the state review panel to evaluate a school district's, the institute's, or a public school's turnaround plan. And the commissioner may require the state review panel to conduct one or more on-site visits as part of the evaluation. In the third year in which a school district or the institute is accredited with priority improvement plan or lower, or earlier at the school district's or institute's request, the school district or institute must hold a parent and community meeting. Department personnel must attend the meeting. The bill specifies the information that must be provided at the meeting and the requirements for providing notice of the meeting. A school district or the institute, as appropriate, must also hold a parent and community meeting for a public school that is in the third year of implementing a priority improvement or turnaround plan, or earlier, and must combine the parent and community meeting with the public meeting required under existing law. Department personnel must attend the meeting. The department may require a school district or an institute charter school to provide proof of compliance with other public meeting requirements that apply to adoption of a priority improvement or turnaround plan. Under current law, if a school district or the institute is accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for 5 consecutive years, the department may recommend that the state board of education (state board) remove the school district's or institute's accreditation. The bill changes the time period, beginning with the 2018-19 school year, by providing that, if a school district or the institute performs at a level that results in being accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for 2 consecutive years followed by 3 additional years, consecutive or nonconsecutive, for a total of 5 years, the state board must require the school district or institute to take action as provided in statute. But if the school district or institute performs at a level that results in being accredited at a level higher than priority improvement plan for 2 consecutive years after the first 2 of the 5 years, then the 5 years stop accumulating. This change to calculating the 5 years also applies to a public school that performs at a level that results in being required to adopt a priority improvement or turnaround plan. While the 5 years are accumulating, the school district, institute, or public school is on performance watch. For the fourth year in which a public school, a school district, or the institute is on performance watch, the priority improvement or turnaround plan adopted by the public school, school district, or institute must include a description of how it would implement the actions that the state board may direct at the completion of 5 years on performance watch. The bill also changes the consequences for completing 5 years on performance watch. Under the bill, the commissioner must assign the state review panel to evaluate the school district's or the institute's performance and recommend one or more of several specified actions, which may include removal of accreditation. After considering the recommendations, the state board must determine the appropriate actions and direct the school district or institute accordingly. The school district or institute then goes on a 2-year cycle of evaluation by the state review panel, which may result in additional directions from the state board to the school district or institute. The school district or institute remains subject to the 2-year cycle until it performs at a level that results in being accredited with improvement plan or higher for 2 consecutive years. A comparable requirement for a 2-year cycle of review by the state review panel applies to a public school that completes 5 years on performance watch. The bill clarifies that the state board, at the request of a school district or the institute, may direct the school district or institute to take one of the specific actions, for itself or for a public school, before the school district, institute, or public school completes the 5 years on performance watch. The bill makes several changes to implementation of the performance indicators for measuring the performance of public schools, school districts, the institute, and the state, including: Repealing the specific details for calculating performance of the achievement and longitudinal growth indicators and directing the state board to specify calculations in rule; Specifying a performance indicator that measures growth to standards; Changing the terminology for describing a student's performance on the statewide assessments; and Removing the performance indicator concerning closing the achievement gaps and requiring the department to disaggregate performance by student groups in each of the remaining performance indicators and separately account for the performance of each student group on each performance indicator. The bill requires the school district accountability committees to meet quarterly to discuss whether school district leadership, personnel, and infrastructure are advancing or impeding school district performance. The bill requires the annual performance reports for public schools, school districts, the institute, and the state to specify the percentage of students enrolled by each public school, school district, or the institute who score at each of the performance levels on the statewide assessments. The bill identifies additional innovations that a public school may adopt if the state board directs that a school district convert the public school into a school of innovation. The bill changes the existing school turnaround leaders development program to the school transformation grant program. Under the school transformation grant program, in addition to awarding grants for the development of school turnaround leaders, the state board must award grants to applying school districts, the institute, and charter schools for educator professional development and to implement instructional transformation in the public schools. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

For purposes of determining the level of attainment of each public high school, each school district, the state charter school institute, and the state as a whole on the postsecondary and workforce readiness performance indicator for accreditation, the bill adds enlistment in the military within a year of graduation as a measure of performance. The department of education shall weight military enlistment equally with enrollment in postsecondary institutions for purposes of determining the level of attainment on the performance indicator. The bill makes conforming amendments to the performance indicator relating to closing the achievement gap to reflect the addition of military enlistment. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill requires school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, and boards of cooperative services (local education providers) to notify parents of students enrolled in a local education provider of charges brought against an employee or former employee, if the employee was employed at any time within 12 months before an offense is charged, who has or had contact with students, if the charges are for one of the felony offenses that requires the denial, suspension, or revocation of a teacher license if the employee were a teacher. The bill specifies the students whose parents must receive notification and the information that a local education provider shall include in the parent notification. The local education provider shall notify parents by mail or electronic means within 2 school days after the employee has had or has waived a preliminary hearing, if available, on the charge unless the appropriate law enforcement agency requests a delay in notification. If notice is sent to parents, the local education provider shall also send notice within 2 school days to the same parents in the same manner regarding the disposition of the charges. Each local education provider shall monitor employee arrest information received from the Colorado bureau of investigation to determine whether charges are filed and the status of the preliminary hearing. The bill prohibits the state board of education from waiving the requirements of the bill relating to parent notification for school districts or for charter schools authorized by a school district or by the state charter school institute. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

SECTION 1. The bill increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2018-19 budget year by $222.57 to account for inflation, for a new statewide base per pupil funding of $6,768.77. SECTION 2. The bill sets the minimum district total program funding for the 2018-19 budget year. The district total program funding reflects a $150 million reduction in the budget stabilization factor over the prior budget year. SECTION 3. For the 2018-19 budget year, the bill distributes $30 million on a per-pupil basis to large rural districts and small rural districts including district charter schools and each institute charter school whose accounting district is a large or small rural district. Large rural districts share 55% of the appropriation, and small rural districts share 45% of the appropriation. The bill uses a district's funded pupil count for the 2017-18 budget year. The bill specifies the intended uses of the money. SECTION 4. The bill increases by 1,000 slots the number of early childhood at-risk enhancement, or ECARE, slots that may be used for preschool students or to extend kindergarten to full-day kindergarten. SECTION 5. Under current law, money appropriated for the 'English Language Proficiency Act' (act) is allocated 75% to serve students who have no or limited English language proficiency and 25% to serve students who are newly fluent in English but who need monitoring. The bill changes the funding allocation for the act by allocating funding proportionately, based on the number of students who have no or limited English proficiency and the number of students who are newly fluent but who need monitoring. SECTION 6. The bill amends the requirements relating to core course level participation and performance reports by limiting reporting on core courses to only the middle and high school levels and by delaying the date by which the department shall make the report available on its website. SECTION 7. The bill amends the reporting requirement relating to the annual report on the effectiveness of educator preparation programs to require the inclusion of certain data in the report only if the data is available at the time of the annual report. SECTION 8. The bill clarifies that a district certifies the number of English language learners and the department of education determines a student's eligibility for funding under the act.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee. Section 1 of the bill establishes in statute the opioid and other substance use disorders study committee, consisting of 5 senators and 5 representatives from the general assembly, to: Study data and statistics on the scope of the substance use disorder problem in Colorado; Study current prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery resources available to Coloradans, as well as public and private insurance coverage and other sources of support for treatment and recovery resources; Review the availability of medication-assisted treatment and the ability of pharmacists to prescribe those medications; Examine measures that other states and countries use to address substance use disorders; Identify the gaps in prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery resources available to Coloradans and hurdles to accessing those resources; and Identify possible legislative options to address gaps and hurdles to accessing prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery resources. The committee is authorized to meet 6 times in a calendar year and may report up to 6 legislative measures to the legislative council, which bills are exempt from bill limitations and introduction deadlines. The committee is repealed on July 1, 2020. Section 2 requires the governor to direct the Colorado consortium for prescription drug abuse prevention to: Create a process to develop a plan that addresses the full continuum of recovery services; Develop a definition for recovery residences and recommend whether the residences should be licensed; and Report recommendations to the general assembly. Section 3 specifies school-based health care centers may apply for grants from the school-based health center grant program to expand behavioral health services to include treatment for opioid and other substance use disorders and requires the department of public health and environment to prioritize funding to the centers that serve communities with high-risk factors. Section 4 directs the department of health care policy and financing, starting July 1, 2018, to award grants to organizations to operate a substance abuse screening, brief intervention, and referral program. Section 5 creates the Charlie Hughes and Nathan Gauna opioid prevention pilot program in the Tony Grampsas youth services program for preventing opioid use among the youth population and supporting youth whose family members experience addiction. The Tony Grampsas youth services board shall oversee a grant process for the pilot program using specific criteria. The Tony Grampsas youth services program shall award the grants on or before October 1, 2018. The bill creates a fund for the direct and indirect costs associated with the program. The department of human services is required to work with the grant recipients and submit a report to the general assembly on or before January 1, 2021, regarding the progress of the grant recipients. Section 6 directs the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery to develop and implement continuing medical education activities to help prescribers of pain medication to safely and effectively manage patients with chronic pain, and when appropriate, prescribe opioids. Sections 3 through 6 also direct the general assembly to appropriate money to implement those sections. Section 7 appropriates: $675,00 to the department of health care policy and financing from the marijuana tax cash fund to implement the bill; $750,000 to the department of higher education from the marijuana tax cash fund for research purposes; $1,500,000 to the youth opioid and substance use prevention fund from the marijuana tax cash fund; $500,000 to the department of human services from reappropriated funds for use by the division of child welfare; $90,928 to the department of humans services from the marijuana tax cash fund for use by the division of child welfare; $39,249 to the legislative department from the general fund; and $775,00 to the department of public health and environment from the marijuana tax cash fund for use by the prevention services division.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee. The bill modifies the Colorado health service corps program administered by the primary care office in the department of public health and environment as follows: For purposes of determining areas in the state in which there is a shortage of health care professionals and behavioral health care providers to meet the needs of the community, allows the primary care office, under guidance adopted by the state board of health, to develop and administer state health professional shortage areas using state-specific methodologies; Allows behavioral health care providers, which include licensed and certified addiction counselors, licensed professional counselors, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed psychologists, licensed physician assistants with specific training in substance use disorders, advanced practice nurses, and physicians certified or trained in addiction medicine, pain management, or psychiatry, and candidates for licensure as an addiction counselor, professional counselor, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, or psychologist, to participate in the loan repayment program on the condition of committing to provide behavioral health care services in health professional shortage areas for a specified period; Directs the advisory council to prioritize loan repayment and scholarships for those behavioral health care providers, candidates for licensure, or addiction counselors who provide behavioral health care services in nonprofit or public employer settings but permits consideration of applicants practicing in a private setting that serves underserved populations; Establishes a scholarship program to help defray the education and training costs associated with obtaining certification as an addiction counselor or with progressing to a higher level of certification; Adds 2 members to the advisory council that reviews program applications, which members include a representative of an organization representing substance use disorder treatment providers and a licensed or certified addiction counselor who has experience in rural health, safety net clinics, or health equity; Modifies program reporting requirements and requires annual reporting that coincides with required SMART Act reporting by the department; and Requires the general assembly to annually appropriate $2.5 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the primary care office to provide loan repayment for behavioral health care providers and candidates for licensure participating in the Colorado health service corps and to award scholarships to addiction counselors participating in the scholarship program. The bill appropriates $2.5 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the primary care office in the prevention services division to implement the bill. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More