The bill allows a holder of a vintner's restaurant license to sell and deliver wine by common carrier or by the licensee to a personal consumer located in Colorado if certain conditions are met. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act requires the department of regulatory agencies (department) to conduct a sunset review of the public utilities commission's (commission) regulation of towing carriers in 2025 and changes the department's sunset review of the towing task force (task force) from 2024 to 2025. As part of its sunset review of the commission's regulation of towing carriers, the department must review complaints against towing carriers and whether the towing industry and consumers would benefit from dispute resolution of complaints.The act adds 5 members to the task force to represent:Mobile home owners in the state; The attorney general with experience enforcing the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act"; People with disabilities; Common interest communities; and Communities that might be disproportionately affected by nonconsensual towing, such as communities of color, immigrant communities, elderly communities, and rural communities. The following changes are made to membership:The member who represents an association of automobile owners is removed; The member who represents a towing association is required to be experienced with consensual tows; and The member who represents towing carriers but not a towing association is changed to a member who represents nonconsensual towing carriers. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $20,029 is appropriated to the public utilities commission to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law allows an existing association consisting of multiple employers, referred to as a "multiple employer welfare arrangement" (MEWA), to offer health-care benefits to the association's members only if, among other requirements, the MEWA has been in existence continuously since at least January 1, 1983, and is engaged in substantial activities for its employer members other than the sponsorship of an employee welfare benefit plan.The act allows a MEWA that does not meet these requirements to file an application for a waiver with the commissioner of insurance that, if granted, would enable the MEWA to offer health-care benefits to its members' employees. The act specifies the application requirements, substantive requirements that a MEWA must comply with to qualify for a waiver, and factors that the commissioner will consider in determining whether to grant a waiver. If a waiver is granted, the MEWA is subject to the division of insurance's full enforcement authority, and the MEWA may operate for 2 years. To operate past the 2 years, a MEWA must reapply for a waiver, but if the commissioner grants 5 consecutive waivers, a MEWA may continue to operate without again applying for a waiver.The act also appropriates $13,352 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires that when a physician applies to be credentialed as a participating physician in a health insurance carrier's (carrier's) provider network, the carrier must conclude the process of credentialing the applicant within 60 calendar days after the carrier receives the applicant's completed application. A carrier must provide each applicant written or electronic notice of the outcome of the applicant's credentialing within 10 calendar days after the conclusion of the credentialing process.Within 7 calendar days after a carrier receives an application, the carrier must provide the applicant a receipt. If a carrier receives an application but fails to provide the applicant a receipt within 7 calendar days, the carrier shall consider the applicant a participating physician, effective no later than 53 calendar days following the carrier's receipt of the application.A carrier may not deny a claim for a medically necessary covered service provided to a covered person if the service:Is a covered benefit under the covered person's health coverage plan; and Is provided by a participating physician who is in the provider network for the carrier's health coverage plan and has concluded the carrier's credentialing process. A carrier may not require a participating physician to submit an application or participate in a contracting process in order to be recredentialed.With certain exceptions, a carrier must allow a participating physician to remain credentialed and include the participating physician in the carrier's provider network unless the carrier discovers information indicating that the participating physician no longer satisfies the carrier's guidelines for participation.The commissioner of insurance is required to enforce the new requirements. A carrier that fails to comply with the act or with any rules adopted pursuant to the act is subject to such civil penalties as the commissioner may order.To implement the act, for the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $52,505 to the department of regulatory agencies from the division of insurance cash fund. Of this amount, $21,268 is reappropriated to the department of law for legal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes changes to the provisions of Senate Bill 20-217, enacted in 2020, (SB 217) to provide clarity and address issues discovered since the passage of that bill. SB 217 used the term "exonerated", but never defined it; the act defines "exonerated" and further clarifies the term "contact".The act clarifies some of the circumstances when a body-worn camera must be operating and provisions related to the release of the footage. The act changes the requirement that body-worn camera recordings be released within 21 days from the date of the complaint of misconduct to within 21 days from the date of the request for the video recording. The act states the sanctions for failing to activate a body-worn camera and the 21-day release requirement will take effect on passage of the act if the officer is wearing a body camera and the other body-camera provisions apply on or after July 1, 2022, if an officer is wearing a body-worn camera, even though the requirement for all officers to wear a body camera does not take effect until July 1, 2023. The act requires $2 million to be appropriated to the body-worn camera for law enforcement officers grant program in fiscal year 2021-22.SB 217 required law enforcement to report certain information related to each contact an officer has with a person beginning January 1, 2023. The act changes the start date of the reporting requirement to April 1, 2022. The act clarifies and adds to some of the information that must be reported.If a peace officer is convicted of, found civilly liable for, or found liable in an administrative proceeding for unlawful use of force or failure to intervene, the officer certification must be revoked if death or serious bodily injury occurred or, if serious bodily injury or death did not occur, then the certification must suspended for at least a year. The act creates a process to allow a peace officer to have a hearing by an administrative law judge to determine whether the peace officer's certification should be suspended or revoked.The act prohibits a peace officer's employer or the employer's agent from discharging; disciplining; demoting; denying a promotion, transfer, or reassign; discriminating against; harassing; or threatening a peace officer's employment because the peace officer disclosed information that shows:A danger to public health or safety; or A violation of law or policy committed by another peace officer. Under current law, there is a civil action that permits suit against employers of local law enforcement officers for misconduct. The act permits the Colorado state patrol to also be sued via that civil action. The act also requires the employer to conduct an investigation of an officer prior to determining if the officer acted in good faith.If a person believes that a law enforcement agency has violated the investigation requirement, the person must submit a complaint to the P.O.S.T. board, which shall refer the complaint to an administrative law judge to determine whether a violation occurred. The administrative law judge shall notify the P.O.S.T. board chair of a finding that a violation occurred. If a violation is found, the P.O.S.T. board shall not provide P.O.S.T. cash fund money to the employer for one full year from the date of the finding.Peace officers are required to intervene to prevent or stop unlawful force by another peace officer; the act clarifies the duty only applies to officers while on duty.The act requires that prior to hiring a new employee, appointing a new employee, or transferring an existing employee to a position requiring P.O.S.T. certification, a law enforcement agency shall determine if the person has a record contained in the P.O.S.T. misconduct database. If the person is listed in the database and the law enforcement agency proceeds to employ the person in a position requiring P.O.S.T. certification, the agency shall notify the P.O.S.T. board of the hire, appointment, or transfer.The act clarifies and adds to some of the information required to be included in the P.O.S.T. board database related to peace officer misconduct. The act requires the P.O.S.T. board to adopt procedures to allow a peace officer to seek review of the officer's status in the database.The act requires a governmental entity that encrypts its radio communications to adopt an encryption policy to provide access to unencrypted radio transmissions for members of the media.The act requires the attorney general to convene a study group to study procedures related to the use of no-knock entry warrants and forced entry. The attorney general shall include the study group's findings in its annual "SMART Act" hearing for the 2022 legislative session.The act requires the division of local government in the department of local affairs to contract with a nationally recognized research and consulting entity that is an expert in data-driven, evidence-based policing that is community-focused for an independent study to assess and provide a report and findings on evidenced-based policing national best practices. The consulting entity shall complete an interim study no later than December 30, 2021, and the final study no later than July 1, 2022. An advisory committee is created to the oversee the study and make legislative recommendations based on the studies.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $4,065,016 to the department of public safety, of which $3,101,748 is from the general fund and $963,268 is from the highway users tax fund and provides an additional 13.5 FTE. The act appropriates $582,742 from the risk management fund to the department of law and provides an additional 3.0 FTE. The act appropriates $250,000 from the general fund to the department of local affairs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act updates certain actions described as sexual exploitation of a child to reflect access and viewing due to evolving technology.The act makes sexual exploitation of a child an extraordinary risk crime, enhancing the presumptive sentencing range in certain circumstances.The act creates the sexual exploitation of children surcharge for any person who is convicted of or receives a deferred sentence for sexual exploitation of a child. Ninety-five percent of the surcharge goes to the sexual exploitation of children surcharge fund. The money in the fund will provide funding to the Colorado bureau of investigation (bureau) to develop and acquire, and allow the bureau to help other law enforcement agencies with developing and acquiring, necessary technological and expert resources to investigate and prosecute computer-facilitated crimes of sexual exploitation of a child.The act requires a post-enactment review of the implementation of the act three years after it becomes law.The act makes an appropriation of $1,894 to the judicial department from the general fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act enacts the "Occupational Therapy Licensure Interstate Compact" (compact), allowing occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants who are licensed in any state that is a member of the compact to provide occupational therapy services in other member states.The director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies is authorized to issue provisional occupational therapy licenses and provisional occupational therapy assistant licenses to certain qualified individuals and to implement the compact, including through the adoption of rules and the regulation of telehealth in accordance with the compact.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
