Sen. Rhonda Fields

The act expands the duties of the office of the inspector general in the department of corrections (department) to include, upon request of law enforcement, seeking out and arresting any fugitive from a correctional facility and assisting law enforcement in the apprehension of any fugitives from justice throughout the state. The department is required to annually report to the general assembly about the inspector general's work apprehending, and assisting law enforcement agencies with apprehending, fugitives. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 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.)

The act requires the department of corrections (department), by July 1, 2027, to implement policies and practices that conform to nationally recognized minimum standards concerning restraint and seclusion standards of inmates. The act requires the department to uniformly document restraint incidents. The act requires certain facilities to perform an evaluation of every individual at intake to assess the individual's risk of self-harm behaviors and whether the individual has previously been subjected to four-point restraints. The act prohibits the use of an involuntary medication on an individual, unless: The individual is determined to be dangerous to the individual's self or another person and the treatment is in the individual's medical interest; All less restrictive alternative interventions have been exhausted; and The involuntary medication is administered after exhaustion of procedural requirements, including majority approval by an involuntary medication committee comprised of medical professionals and the superintendent of the facility. The act requires the department to submit an annual report to the judiciary committees of the senate and house of representatives with data concerning the use of restraints and involuntary medication in the preceding calendar year, and present the findings at the department's annual "SMART Act" hearing. The act requires the department to include specific data concerning the placement of individuals in settings with heightened restrictions in its annual administrative segregation report. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $18,872 to the from the general fund, of which $12,000 is reappropriated to the office of information technology. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

If the adult or juvenile parole board decides to discharge a parolee early, the act requires the parole boards to set the date of discharge at least 15 days after notice is provided to the victim of the discharge or at least 15 days after the decision to grant early discharge if the victim chose not to receive victim notifications. The act requires victim notifications to be communicated in plain and easy-to-understand language and in a manner intended to increase the likelihood of the victim's attention to the notice. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)

The act expands the definition of "serious bodily injury" in the criminal code to include penetrating gunshot wounds and penetrating knife wounds. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 2 of the act appropriates $250,000 to the prevention services division (division) within the department of public health and environment to partner with a statewide nonprofit organization to provide healthy eating program incentives among low-income populations in the state and must attempt to improve access to fresh Colorado-grown fruits and vegetables among low-income populations in the state. The nonprofit organization that the division selects for partnership must have experience in supporting healthy eating incentives programs and experience with coordinating healthy eating programs and funding between local, state, and federal programs. Section 3 requires individual taxpayers to add an amount of federal taxable income equal to their federal deduction for business meals to their state income tax liability for the 2024 through 2030 income tax years. Section 4 requires the same of corporate taxpayers. Section 5 creates a refundable tax credit for both small food retailers and small family farms that purchase certain systems or equipment (purchasers) and a member of the community food consortium for small food retailers and Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms (the consortium) that completes its duties and responsibilities. For the 2024 income tax year, the tax credit is equal to 85% of the cost of the amount spent by a member of the consortium on completing its duties and 85% of the cost of the systems or equipment purchased by purchasers. For income tax years 2025 through 2030, the tax credit is equal to 75% of the cost of the systems or equipment purchased by the small food retailers and small family farms and 75% of the amount spent by a member of the consortium on completing its duties. Section 6 modifies the small food business recovery and resilience grant program (grant program). Section 6: Allows the department of agriculture to award grants of up to $50,000, rather than $25,000; Allows the department to annually award a grant to a grantee, rather than only once; Modifies the definition of "small food retailer" to include food retailers with less than 10,000 square feet or retail space, rather than less than 5,000 square feet of retail space; and Extends the repeal date of the grant program from September 1, 2027, to September 1, 2031. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $360,413 from the general fund is appropriated to the department of agriculture and $44,411 is appropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of agriculture, which consists of money reappropriated from a portion of the appropriation made to the department of agriculture. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 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.)

The act defines terms related to federal firearm licenses and firearm components, including "frame or receiver of a firearm" and "unfinished frame or receiver." The act prohibits: On and after January 1, 2024, knowingly possessing or transporting an unfinished firearm frame or receiver, unless it has been imprinted with a serial number as required by federal law; Knowingly selling, offering to sell, transferring, or purchasing an unfinished firearm frame or receiver, unless it has been imprinted with a serial number as required by federal law; On and after January 1, 2024, knowingly possessing, purchasing, transporting, or receiving a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number; Knowingly selling, offering to sell, or transferring a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number; and Manufacturing or causing to be manufactured a frame or receiver of a firearm; unless the manufacturer is a federally licensed firearm manufacturer. The act includes exceptions for each type of prohibited conduct, including specified exceptions for conduct involving federal firearm licensees and transfers to serialize a frame or receiver. A person who commits any of the prohibited conduct commits unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver. Unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver is a class 1 misdemeanor; except that a second or subsequent offense is a class 5 felony. The act requires a person who, on the effective date of the act, owns a firearm, frame, or receiver that the person manufactured and that is not imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee, to have the firearm, frame, or receiver imprinted with a serial number no later than January 1, 2024. The act prohibits the Colorado bureau of investigation from approving the transfer of a firearm to a person who was convicted of misdemeanor unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver within 5 years prior to the transfer. A person convicted of felony unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, frame, or receiver is prohibited from possessing a firearm or other weapon. The act permits a federal firearms licensee to imprint a serial number on a firearm or a firearm frame or receiver and establishes a process and requirements for licensees to serialize firearms. Existing law prohibits possession of a dangerous weapon. The act defines "machine gun conversion device" and makes machine gun conversion devices a dangerous weapon under Colorado law. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE January 1, 2024 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act addresses recommendations from the state child support commission (commission), including the following: Requires that parents share a child's health insurance coverage information with each other; Provides a time frame for parents to seek reimbursement for extraordinary medical expenses, including mental health expenses; Requires a court to provide a verbal and written advisement to parents and caretakers and information to parents about child support law when the court enters or modifies a child support order; Requires a $100 civil infraction fine for the issuance of a fraudulent income withholding order and authorizes a court to issue a judgment against an employer that willfully refuses to comply with an income withholding order for child support; Excludes funeral or burial expenses from life insurance settlements relating to past-due child support and requires burial costs to be covered; Changes the income adjustment for maintenance to reflect existing maintenance calculation and accounts for tax-deductibility for some maintenance payments; Changes the survivability of an administrative process action to include retroactive support, unpaid support, and monthly support owed to the nonparent caretaker; Enables a court to order retroactive support through the month the child support obligation begins and provide continuity of retroactive support for orders that have future commencement dates; Modifies the number of hours parents are expected to work for the imputation of income to 32 hours a week and 50 weeks a year and includes transportation as a barrier the court must consider if imputation of income is appropriate; Requires appointment of 2 parent obligors and 2 parent obligees to the commission; and Requires the commission, as part of its review, to evaluate its internal policies and efficiency. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE August 1, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE September 1, 2023 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 7, 2023, statewide election to allow the state to retain and spend state revenues that would otherwise need to be refunded for exceeding the estimate in the ballot information booklet analysis for proposition EE and to allow the state to maintain the tax rates established in proposition EE that would otherwise need to be decreased. If voters reject the ballot issue, the state will both: Refund $23.65 million to distributors and wholesalers in a reasonable manner determined by the department of revenue; and Reduce by 11.53% the tax rates of the taxes on cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products created or increased by proposition EE. If voters approve the ballot measure: The money set aside for the potential refund related to proposition EE will instead be transferred to the preschool programs cash fund and the general fund; and The new tax on nicotine products and the increased taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products in proposition EE will stay at the rates required by proposition EE. The refund or alternative spending is made or backfilled from revenue in the newly created proposition EE cash fund, which consists of $23.65 million from the preschool programs cash fund and the general fund. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies the school expulsion hearing (hearing) process, including the following: A school district has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a student violated state law and the school district's policy; A school district is required to provide all supporting evidence for expulsion or denial of admission to the student or the student's parent, guardian, or legal custodian at least 2 business days in which school is in session prior to the hearing; and Hearing officers are required to consider specific factors at the conclusion of a hearing including the age of the student, disciplinary history of the student, whether the student has a disability, the seriousness of the violation, whether the violation threatened the safety of any student or staff member, and whether a lesser intervention could properly address the violation. A hearing officer must not have a conflict of interest with a student under consideration for expulsion or denial of admission or any alleged victim. A school district must ensure that hearing officers receive training on how to serve impartially. The act requires the department of education (department), on or before June 30, 2024, to create and maintain the online training program for expulsion hearing officers. Beginning January 1, 2025, hearing officers are required to complete initial and ongoing training. The training program must include information on: Child and adolescent brain development; Restorative justice; Alternatives to expulsion; Trauma-informed practices; Conflict and bias in discipline, suspension, and expulsion; and The requirements and implementation of applicable federal and state laws. School districts, district charter schools authorized to expel or suspend students, or the state charter school institute may develop and provide their own training program to hearing officers and school administrators that meets or exceeds the requirements of the department's training program. The act requires the board of education of each school district to adopt a policy that a student must not be expelled or denied admission unless the school district considers whether alternative remedies are appropriate and whether excluding the student from school is necessary to preserve the learning environment. The act clarifies the judicial proceedings process available to a student or the student's parents, guardians, or legal custodians to set aside the school district board of education's decision to expel or deny admission to the student. The act appropriates $162,720 from the general fund to the department for hearing officer training and support. APPROVED by Governor June 1, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Not later than September 1, 2023, the act requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to initiate a stakeholder process to promote the expansion and utilization of doula services for pregnant and postpartum medicaid recipients (recipients). The act requires the state department to work with a maternity advisory committee to create a report detailing the findings and recommendations from the stakeholder process and submit the report to the general assembly during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing. Not later than July 1, 2024, the act requires the state department to seek federal authorization for medicaid providers to provide doula services for pregnant and postpartum people. The act creates a doula scholarship program to provide financial support to eligible individuals to pursue doula training and certification. To be eligible for a scholarship, individuals must agree to enroll as a doula provider and provide doula services to recipients. The act requires the division of insurance (division) to contract with an independent entity to study the potential health-care costs and benefits of providing coverage for doula services in health benefit plans. The act requires the division to submit a report to the general assembly during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing detailing the results and recommendations from the study during state fiscal year 2024-25. The act appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the state department for use by the other medical services division for the doula scholarship program. The act appropriates $100,000 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to use for personal services. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 30, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)