The act directs the commissioner of education (commissioner), in collaboration with the executive director of the department of higher education (executive director) and the chair of the state work force development council (council chair), to convene the secondary, postsecondary, and work-based learning integration task force (task force) to develop recommendations to support the expansion and alignment of programs that integrate secondary, postsecondary, and work-based learning opportunities throughout the state. The act specifies the membership of the task force, to be selected by the commissioner in collaboration with the executive director and the council chair, and the specific duties of the task force. The task force must prepare an interim report and a final report of its findings and recommendations and submit the reports by December 1, 2022, and December 1, 2023, respectively, to the governor, the education leadership council, the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, and the education committees of the general assembly. The act creates a legislative advisory council to provide advice and comment to the task force. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates from the general fund $89,123 to the department of education and $1,966 to the legislative department to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to enact a policy directing the department of higher education (department) to develop student success measures that measure the progression of students through postsecondary education and the impact of postsecondary pathways on a student's career opportunities and success. The student success measures must include postsecondary success measures and workforce success measures. The act requires the department to create and maintain a statewide student success data system that includes institution-specific interfaces and a public interface. An institution interface includes student success data that may be more timely, more granular, appears in a different format, or include functionality that is different from information provided on the public interface. The public interface includes student success information that is aligned with the student success measures and must allow a user to view and compare student workforce success information for specific institutions of higher education in Colorado. The commission determines the information included in the public interface and how that information is disaggregated by various student populations, such as populations identified by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic factors. The department may include in the statewide data system employment and wage outcome data of a workforce development or training program that joins the data system. The act requires the commission to use the data included in the institution and statewide data system to examine educational and workforce success disparities among various student populations. The act requires the commission to facilitate information sharing among institutions about practices implemented by an institution based on data learned from the data system. The department may enter into an agreement with a third party to create and maintain the data system. The act requires the department to update and modernize its data collection systems to facilitate the collection of student success data. The act appropriates $3 million from the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund to the department for the data system. The appropriation is from the money in the cash fund that originated from the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2022, the act requires the department of human services to work in partnership with counties towards implementation of a high-quality county work management system across all counties to interface with the Colorado benefits management system used to process and approve applications for essential state public assistance programs, such as the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), medicaid, and Colorado works. Eligibility and enrollment for SNAP and LEAP are integrated to increase access and efficiency. A community food access program (food program) is created in the department of agriculture (department). The purpose of the food program is to improve access to and lower prices for healthy foods in low-income and underserved areas of the state by supporting small food retailers. As part of the food program, the department shall create a community food consortium (consortium) for small food retailers and Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms. The small food business recovery and resilience grant program (grant program) is established, to be overseen by the food program. An advisory committee is established to assist the department with the grant program. One-time grants not to exceed $25,000 will be provided to small food retailers to help support infrastructure and other necessary items to make fresh, healthy food more accessible to low-income and underserved communities. The department is granted authority to promulgate rules as necessary to implement the food program. The department shall develop a strategy for outreach to Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms, food retailers, and small farms that are interested in participating in the consortium or grant program. The food program is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the following appropriations are made from the economic recovery and relief cash fund: $3 million to the department of human services for use by administration and finance for IT systems interoperability; $2 million to the department of human services for use by the office of economic security for fuel assistance payments related to food and energy assistance; $1 million to the department of human services for use by the office of economic security for electronic benefits transfer programming related to food and energy assistance; $1 million to the department of agriculture to implement the community food access program; and $7 million to the department of agriculture to implement the small food business recovery and resilience grant program and outreach.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the middle-income housing authority (authority) for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, rehabilitating, owning, operating, and financing affordable rental housing projects for middle-income workforce housing. The authority is governed by a board of directors composed of appointees by the governor with the consent of the senate. The bill specifies requirements governing the appointment of board members and other administrative details. The board must solicit project proposals by October 1, 2022. Rental units in affordable rental housing projects must provide middle-income workforce housing with stable rents. The authority is a "public entity" and is a "special purpose authority" for the purpose of TABOR. The authority is authorized to exercise the powers necessary to acquire, construct, rehabilitate, own, operate, and finance affordable rental housing projects, including but not limited to: The power to issue bonds in connection with its affordable rental housing projects payable solely from revenues from affordable rental housing projects and with no recourse to the state; The power to enter into public-private partnerships and to contract with experienced real estate professionals to develop and operate affordable rental housing projects; The power to employ its own personnel or contract with public or private entities, or both, for services necessary or convenient to the conduct of all of the authority's activities; To provide assistance to tenants in its rental housing to enable a transition to home ownership; and To establish one or more controlled entities to carry out its activities.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The federal "Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019" expanded qualified distributions from a qualified state tuition program (529 account) to include expenses for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for the participation of a designated beneficiary in certain apprenticeship programs. In light of these changes to federal law, the act amends Colorado law to clarify what qualifies as a qualified distribution from a 529 account for the purpose of determining state taxable income. The act allows expenses for fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for the participation of a designated beneficiary in certain apprenticeship programs to be treated as such a qualified distribution. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Currently, "United States Mountain Standard Time" (MST), defined in federal law as coordinated universal time minus 7 hours, is the standard time within Colorado. During the period of daylight saving time (i.e., the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November) time is advanced one hour. Federal law allows a state to stay on standard time year round, but does not currently allow a state to adopt daylight saving time year round. The act makes daylight saving time, defined as coordinated universal time minus 6 hours, the year-round standard time within the state. The change takes effect only if a federal law is enacted to allow states to remain on daylight saving time year round and at least 4 states in the MST zone, in addition to Colorado, enact legislation making daylight saving time the state's standard time throughout the year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2021, the general assembly authorized the broadband deployment board (board) to award money that the state received under the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" (federal act) for broadband deployment projects. The act updates the requirements for awarding grant money pursuant to the federal act to require that applications comply with finalized federal regulations regarding use of money under the federal act. The act also: Reduces the notice and comment period for an interested party to review and comment on a grant application from at least 60 days to 45 days; Exempts a grantee from the requirement to complete an approved project in 2 years or less if the grantee demonstrates to the board that the project is delayed due to a relevant disruption in the supply chain; Requires the board to apply the updated requirements to previously denied applications that sought grant awards under the federal act; and Establishes a process and remedies for appeals of a board decision regarding a grant application.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the office of cardiac arrest management (office) in the department of public health and environment, the purpose of which is to promote the use of public access defibrillators and the use of registries so the public know where defibrillators can be found and used. The office is required to: Coordinate the collection of sudden cardiac arrest data, including outcome data from hospitals; Implement an outreach campaign to raise public awareness regarding sudden cardiac arrest; Maintain a list of training and education programs offered in this state to teach life-saving skills; Employ a statewide cardiac arrest data coordinator and other personnel as necessary; and Coordinate the submission of data to an automated external defibrillator registry. $200,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for use in the 2022-23 state fiscal year by the health facilities and emergency medical services division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act expands the purposes of the peace officers behavioral health support and community partnerships grant program to include hiring, contracting, or developing a remote network to provide behavioral health counseling, therapy, or other related support services to peace officers involved in job-related traumatic situations. The act appropriates $3 million from the general fund to the peace officers behavioral health support and community partnership fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
By the beginning of the 2024-25 school year and continuing thereafter, the act requires each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school (local education provider) to ensure that each reading interventionist employed to teach children in any of grades 4 through 12, the principal in each school that serves kindergarten or any of grades one through 3, and each school district administrator with responsibility for programs in kindergarten or any of grades one through 3 successfully completes evidence-based training in the science of reading. The local education provider may request a one-year extension from the state board of education to ensure that the teachers, reading interventionists, principals, and administrators whom it employs meet the training requirements. Each local education provider must submit to the department of education (department) evidence that it is in compliance with the reading interventionist, principal, and administrator training requirements to receive per-pupil intervention money in a budget year. The act encourages the director of each public library to work with the department to provide evidence-based training in the science of reading for each librarian and to identify and provide materials and activities for parents and children to improve literacy. Each library director may prepare a plan and submit it to the state librarian describing how the director and librarians will work with children and families to support literacy. At the request of a local education provider or a library director, the department shall provide free training in the science of reading to reading interventionists, principals, and administrators employed by the local education provider and librarians employed at the public library. The act directs the state librarian to work with public libraries throughout the state to facilitate access to evidence-based training in the science of reading for librarians and assist in identifying materials and activities for parents and children to improve literacy. For the 2022-23 budget year, the act appropriates $251,139 from the early literacy fund to the department to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)