Sen. Faith Winter

Beginning January 1, 2021, the act: Prohibits a pharmacy benefit management firm (PBM) from reimbursing a pharmacy in an amount less than the amount that the PBM reimburses any affiliate for the same pharmacy services; Prohibits PBMs from retroactively reducing payment on a clean claim submitted by a pharmacy unless as the result of an audit conducted in accordance with state law; and Requires health insurers that contract with PBMs to ensure that the PBMs are complying with this prohibition. The division of insurance is authorized to promulgate rules to establish the manner in which carriers and pharmacy benefit management firms are required to show compliance with the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act enacts the "Colorado Building Families Act", which requires health benefit plans issued or renewed in Colorado on or after January 1, 2022, to cover diagnosis of infertility, treatment for infertility, and fertility preservation services. The coverage for fertility medications must not impose any limits that are not applicable to coverage under the plan for other prescription medications, and the plan cannot impose deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, benefit maximums, waiting periods, or other limitations that are not applicable to other medical services covered under the plan. A religious employer may request an exclusion from the infertility coverage in a health benefit plan offered by the religious employer if the coverage conflicts with the religious organization's bona fide religious beliefs and practices. The act directs the division of insurance to make a determination as to whether the coverage required by the act is in addition to essential health benefits required by the federal "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (Affordable Care Act) and would be subject to defrayal by the state pursuant to the Affordable Care Act. The division is to seek confirmation of its determination from the federal department of health and human services, and the coverage applies and is to be implemented by the division in health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, if the division receives confirmation that the coverage is not an additional benefit or if the federal department fails to respond in a timely manner. The act appropriates $3,337 from the division of insurance cash fund to the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies for personal services to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Federal law limits the amount of tax-exempt private activity bonds that may issued within each state and allows each state to provide by law a formula for allocating the limited amount of bonding authority among eligible bond issuers. The act eliminates the bond allocation committee that currently reviews and makes recommendations to the executive director of the department of local affairs (DOLA) regarding statewide priorities for the allocation of the limited amount of bonding authority and requires the state housing board to conduct the review and make the recommendations. The act also eliminates a cap on the amount of the direct allocation fee paid to DOLA by bond issuers that use the direct allocation of bonding authority to issue private activity bonds or that make a mortgage credit certificate election and eliminates the executive director's authority to promulgate rules to implement the statutes that govern private activity bond allocation. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Court records related to an eviction proceeding or an action for termination of a mobile home park tenancy are suppressed court records that are not publicly available. If an order granting the plaintiff possession of the premises is entered in the action, the court records are no longer suppressed and the court must make the records available to the public, unless the parties agree that the records should remain suppressed. The names of the parties included in a court record that is suppressed may be used by a court for administrative purposes, but the court shall not, for any reason, publish the names of the parties online. A summons in an eviction proceeding must include a notice concerning suppression of court records related to the action. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The high-performance transportation enterprise (HPTE) enters into public-private partnerships, which are contractual agreements between HPTE and one or more private or public entities, to deliver or contribute to the delivery of surface transportation projects and provides an annual report on its activities to the legislative committees that have jurisdiction over transportation. The act requires HPTE to include in the annual report, for each of its executed or proposed public-private partnerships, summaries of: The processes that HPTE has used leading up to or anticipates using to lead up to its entry into the public-private partnership, including the processes for obtaining and responding to public questions, concerns, and other comments or input, the processes for keeping the state legislators and local elected officials who represent any area in which a surface transportation infrastructure project of the public-private partnership will be located informed and updated about the project and the public-private partnership, and the processes for selecting each partner to the public-private partnership; and The actual major financial, performance, and length-of-term provisions of its executed public-private partnerships and, to the extent feasible, the anticipated major financial, performance, and length-of-term provisions of its proposed public-private partnerships.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A pilot program (program) created in 2017 authorized third-party transportation associations or organizations approved by the chief of the Colorado state patrol to perform vehicle identification number (VIN) verification inspections for commercial vehicles. The statute authorizing the program repealed, in accordance with its provisions as enacted, effective January 1, 2020. The act recreates the program as a permanent program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Energy Legislation Review Interim Study Committee. A conservation easement is an agreement in which a property owner agrees to limit the use of his or her land in perpetuity in order to protect one or more specified conservation purposes. The bill specifically authorizes conservation easements to permit electric transmission lines that transmit renewable energy across the land subject to the easement if it is appropriate and consistent with the conservation purposes of the conservation easement.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Division of parks and wildlife - licensing of river outfitters - continuation under sunset law. The act implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the licensing of river outfitters by the division of parks and wildlife within the department of natural resources by continuing these functions until September 1, 2028. The act exempts the training of guides, trip leaders, and guide instructors from the authority of the private occupational schools division in the department of higher education. The act requires the parks and wildlife commission, rather than the chief of the Colorado state patrol, to promulgate rules to establish insurance requirements for vehicles used by river outfitters. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Income tax - credit for donation of conservation easement - extend repeal of conservation easement oversight commission and easement holder certification program - alternative valuation method - conservation easement working group - disclosure form - access to COMaP. A conservation easement is an agreement in which a property owner agrees to limit the use of his or her land in perpetuity in order to protect one or more specified conservation purposes. The instruments creating the conservation easement are recorded in the public records affecting the ownership of the property. The conservation easement is held by a third party (holder), which monitors the use of the land and ensures that the terms of the agreement are upheld. A state income tax credit is currently allowed for a portion of the value of a donated conservation easement. The statutes establishing the conservation easement oversight commission and the program to certify conservation easement holders in the division of conservation are currently set to repeal on July 1, 2019. The act extends the repeal dates for each to July 1, 2026. In addition, the act: Eliminates a requirement that the board of real estate appraisers establish education and experience requirements for conservation easement appraisers; Relocates and modifies certain provisions governing the creation and valuation of conservation easements; Allows the division of conservation to use an alternative method acceptable to the division and the conservation easement oversight commission to value a conservation easement; Modifies provisions governing a conservation easement working group convened to address specified issues relating to claiming a state income tax credit for the donation of a conservation easement; Requires the owner of property who is granting a conservation easement to execute a disclosure form developed by the division of conservation and the conservation easement oversight commission regarding the easement; Modifies provisions governing when a conservation easement may be extinguished; Prohibits a conservation easement for which a state income tax credit has been allowed from being released, terminated, extinguished, or abandoned by merger, which occurs when the same entity holds both the easement and the land subject to the easement; Increases the total amount that may be claimed as an income tax credit for an individual donation of a conservation easement, but limits the amount that may be claimed per year; and Makes a $250,000 appropriation to Colorado state university to facilitate the provision of public access to the Colorado ownership, management, and protection (COMaP) service which maintains a database and corresponding map of conservation easements and other protected lands in Colorado. Additionally, the act makes conforming amendments to certain statutory sections contained in HB 19-1172, which recodifies title 12, Colorado Revised Statutes, to ensure that the provisions of the act will be effective as a result of HB 19-1172 becoming law. Specifies that certain sections take effect only if House Bill 19-1172 becomes law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Pharmacy technicians - regulation by state board of pharmacy - certification - provisional certification - criminal history record checks - renewal - continuing education - unprofessional conduct - discipline - supervision by pharmacist - authorized activities - sunset review - appropriation. The act requires pharmacy technicians practicing in Colorado on or after March 30, 2020, to obtain a certification from the state board of pharmacy (board). An applicant for certification by the board must provide proof of certification by a board-approved, nationally recognized organization that certifies pharmacy technicians and must either submit to a criminal history record check in the form and manner determined by the board by rule or provide evidence of submitting to a criminal history record check at the time of hire or as a condition of national certification as a pharmacy technician. If an applicant is not certified by a national certifying organization at the time of application for state certification, the board may grant a provisional certification to the applicant to allow the applicant up to 18 months or, if granted a hardship extension, an additional period determined by the board, to obtain national certification. A provisional certification is not renewable, and if the provisional certificant fails to obtain the national certification within the 18-month period or extended period granted by the board, the provisional certification expires and the person cannot practice as a pharmacy technician until the person satisfies all requirements for certification by the board. To renew a certification, in addition to board requirements for renewal, a pharmacy technician must satisfy renewal and continuing education requirements of the national accrediting organization that certified the pharmacy technician. Similar to pharmacists and interns, a pharmacy technician certified by the board is subject to the jurisdiction of the board and to discipline by the board for engaging in unprofessional conduct. The act maintains the limitation on the number of interns and pharmacy technicians that a pharmacist may supervise but specifies that if the pharmacist is supervising 3 or more pharmacy technicians, a majority of the pharmacy technicians must be certified and all others must hold a provisional certification. The regulation of pharmacy technicians by the board is subject to the same sunset review that applies to the board and its functions in regulating the practice of pharmacy. $183,063 is appropriated from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies (DORA) to implement the act, of which $15,545 is reappropriated to the department of law for legal services for DORA. Additionally, $128,188 is appropriated from the Colorado bureau of investigation identification unit fund to the department of public safety for use by the biometric identification and records unit to perform criminal history record checks. 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