Sen. Jeff Bridges

The act: Removes a $50 fee for dairy plant employees who sample or test milk, cream, or any other dairy product; Increases the licensing fee a dairy plant is required to pay by 30%; and Creates a new fee of one cent for every 100 pounds of milk, to be paid by a dairy plant that receives 20,000 pounds or more of milk each day. The department of public health and environment is required to cap the amount a dairy plant must pay in total for the licensing fee and volume of production fee at $150,000 in a year. APPROVED by Governor April 25, 2023 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

A license plate expires when the owner transfers or assigns the title or interest in the associated motor vehicle and that the owner cannot transfer such a license plate to another motor vehicle. The act exempts license plates issued to the operator of a motor vehicle fleet (fleet operator) that are easily legible and in good condition from such expiration and allows a fleet operator to transfer license plates from one fleet vehicle to another when the fleet operator transfers or assigns the owner's title or interest in the fleet vehicle from which the number plates are being transferred. For state fiscal year 2023-24, the act appropriates $2,700 from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor April 24, 2023 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law authorizes the department of human services to establish and collect a fee for background checks for child abuse or neglect (background checks). That fee then is required to cover the direct and indirect costs of the background check and the direct and indirect costs of administering the appeals process and release of information for a person who is found to be responsible in a confirmed report of child abuse or neglect (appeals processes). The act eliminates the requirement that the fee for background checks cover the direct and indirect costs associated with the appeals processes. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act removes the requirement that medicaid recipients pay a copayment for pharmacy and outpatient services. $1,886,150 is appropriated to the department of health care policy and financing (department), consisting of $1,439,499 from the general fund and $446,651 from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund, for medical and long-term care services for medicaid-eligible individuals. It is anticipated that the department will receive $5,459,357 in federal funds to implement this act. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies statutory language to ensure the provision of reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. The act requires the office of information technology to promulgate rules regarding accessibility standards for an individual with a disability for information technology systems employed by state agencies. The act clarifies language regarding sanctions for failing to comply with accessibility standards. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $8 million from the digital inclusion grant program fund to the revenue loss restoration cash fund on June 1, 2023. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires the general assembly to transfer money to the preschool programs cash fund from the general fund or the state education fund in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 state fiscal years. Beginning in the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the amount transferred is required to increase by the rate of inflation. The act repeals those requirements and instead requires the general assembly to appropriate money to the department of early childhood (department) for the 2023-24 state fiscal year for purposes of the Colorado universal preschool program. Beginning in the 2024-25 state fiscal year, and each year thereafter, the amount appropriated must increase annually by the rate of inflation. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

At the November 2022 general election, Colorado voters approved proposition FF. Proposition FF created the healthy school meals for all programs (program) and increased taxes to pay for the program. The act creates the healthy school meals for all program general fund exempt account (account). The department of revenue will deposit the revenue resulting from the tax increase in proposition FF into the account. The department of education (department) will use the tax revenue in the account to implement the program. To the extent that there is not enough money in the account for the department to implement the program, the department may expend money from the general fund for amounts appropriated for the program. The act also allows for expenditures in excess of appropriations from the fund for limited purposes and clarifies how the appropriations made for the program will be shown in the annual general appropriations act. Appropriations from the account are excluded from the amount that is used to calculate the statutory general fund reserve, and the unrestricted balance in the account at the end of a fiscal year is excluded from the state general fund surplus. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $115,339,107 from the account to the department of education and $14,786 from the account to the department of law. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the office of administrative services for independent agencies (office) in the judicial department to provide administrative support services to the office of the child protection ombudsman, the independent ethics commission, the office of public guardianship, and the commission on judicial discipline. The act requires the office to be governed by an administrative board that is responsible for hiring the director of the office, assisting the office director in establishing office policies regarding the delivery of support services, and providing human resources assistance to assist in the hiring of office employees. The act sets responsibilities for the office. The act requires the judicial department to provide the office with administrative support until July 1, 2024, and to provide office space for the office. Under current law, certain independent agencies operate through a memorandum of understanding with the judicial department. The act repeals the memorandum of understanding requirements to allow the office to provide those services to the office of the child protection ombudsman and the office of public guardianship. To implement the act, $746,909 is appropriated from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the office, and $100,453 is appropriated from the general fund to the judicial department for the purchase of legal services and is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the judicial department. Provisions of the act are contingent upon Senate Bill 23-064 being enacted and becoming law. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 NOTE: Certain sections of the act are contingent on whether or not Senate Bill 23-064 becomes law. Senate Bill 23-064 was signed by the governor May 30, 2023. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

On June 30, 2023, the state treasurer is required to transfer $12.6 million from the severance tax operational fund to the water plan implementation cash fund. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE April 20, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)