Sen. Janet Buckner

Current law defines "child-occupied facility" for the purposes of lead-based paint abatement as a building or portion of a building that is visited by a child on 2 or more days within any week, with each visit totaling 6 or more hours. The act reduces the total daily visit time to 3 or more hours. APPROVED by Governor March 31, 2023 EFFECTIVE March 31, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Effective January 1, 2024, the bill: Reduces the individual and marriage and family therapy practice requirement for licensure as a marriage and family therapist from at least 2 years of post-master's or one year of postdoctoral practice to at least one year of post-master's or one year of postdoctoral practice; and Reduces the post-degree clinical supervised practice period required for an applicant for licensure as a licensed professional counselor from at least 2 years of post-master's practice or one year of postdoctoral supervised clinical practice to at least one year of post-master's or post-doctoral supervised clinical practice.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

The act allows a pharmacy located within a hospice inpatient unit to register as a specialized prescription drug outlet for the purposes of providing drugs, devices, and pharmacist services to the residents of the hospice inpatient unit. $53,611 is appropriated from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of professions and occupations. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a state or local government agency (agency), including an institution of higher education, that uses or intends to develop, procure, or use a facial recognition service (FRS) to file with its reporting authority a notice of intent to develop, procure, or use the FRS and specify a purpose for which the technology is to be used. For a state agency, the reporting authority is the office of information technology in the governor's office; for a local government agency, the reporting agency is the city council, county commission, or other local government agency vested with legislative powers. After filing the notice of intent, the agency must produce an accountability report that includes certain information and policies regarding the proposed use of the FRS. The act establishes requirements for the adoption, implementation, disclosure, and updating of accountability reports. The act also requires an agency using an FRS to subject to meaningful human review any decisions that result from such use and produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning individuals. An agency must test the FRS in operational conditions before deploying the FRS in a context in which it will be used to make such decisions. An agency using an FRS must conduct periodic training of all individuals who operate the FRS or who process personal data obtained from the FRS. An agency must maintain records that are sufficient to facilitate public reporting and auditing of compliance with the agency's facial recognition policies. The act also prohibits a law enforcement agency (LEA) from: Using an FRS to engage in ongoing surveillance; conduct real-time or near real-time identification; or start persistent tracking unless the LEA obtains a warrant authorizing such use, such use is necessary to develop leads in an investigation, the LEA has established probable cause for such use, or the LEA obtains a court order authorizing the use of the service for the sole purpose of locating or identifying a missing person or identifying a deceased person; Applying an FRS to any individual based on the individual's religious, political, or social views or activities; participation in a particular noncriminal organization or lawful event; or any other characteristic protected by law; Using an FRS to create a record depicting any individual's exercise of rights guaranteed by the first amendment of the United States constitution and by section 10 of article II of the Colorado constitution; Using the results of an FRS as the sole basis to establish probable cause in a criminal investigation; or Substantively manipulating an image for use in an FRS in a manner not consistent with the FRS provider's intended use and training. An agency must disclose its use of an FRS on a criminal defendant to that defendant in a timely manner prior to trial. In January of each year: Any judge who has issued or extended a warrant for the use of an FRS during the preceding year, or who has denied approval of such a warrant during that year, must report certain information to the state court administrator; and Any agency that has applied for a warrant or an extension of a warrant for the use of an FRS to engage in any surveillance must provide to the agency's reporting authority a report summarizing nonidentifying demographic data of individuals named in warrant applications as subjects of surveillance. The requirements of the act do not apply to: An agency that is required to use a specific FRS pursuant to a federal regulation or order or that uses an FRS in partnership with a federal agency to fulfill a congressional mandate, fulfill aviation security directives, or comply with federal law; that uses an FRS in association with a federal agency to verify the identity of individuals presenting themselves for travel at an airport; or that uses an FRS in connection with a physical access control system in order to grant or deny access to a sterile area of an airport; The use of an FRS solely for research purposes by a state agency, so long as the use does not result in or affect any decisions that produce legal effects concerning individuals or similarly significant effects concerning individuals; or A utility. The act also prohibits a school district or a public school, charter school, or institute charter school from contracting with a vendor for the purchase of, or services related to, an FRS until July 1, 2025. However, the prohibition does not apply to a contract: That was executed before the effective date of the act; or For the purchase of, or for services related to, a generally available consumer product that allows for the analysis of facial features in order to facilitate the user's ability to manage an address book or images for personal or household use. The act also creates a task force for the consideration of FRSs (task force) and requires the task force to examine and report to the joint technology committee of the general assembly concerning the extent to which state and local government agencies are currently using FRSs and provide recommendations concerning the extent to which such agencies should be permitted to continue to do so, including certain specific considerations. The task force must submit a report on or before October 1, 2023, and on or before each October 1 thereafter, to the joint technology committee. The report must include a recommendation as to whether the scope of the issues for study by the task force should be expanded to include consideration of artificial intelligence other than FRSs, or even artificial intelligence itself, and whether the membership of the task force should be adjusted accordingly. The task force is repealed, effective September 1, 2027, subject to a sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies. The act also states that an individual may authorize an agent to access and process the individual's personal data or other information held by a controller and that is otherwise accessible to the individual, and such an authorization does not constitute cybercrime. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $11,109 from the general fund to the legislative department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act renames the area agency on aging grant program to the strategic investments in aging grant program (grant program). The grant program administers state assistance to finance projects across the state that are intended to assist and support older Coloradans. The act extends the grant program indefinitely to continue the support of projects that promote the health, equity, well-being, and security of older Coloradans across the state. The act renames the area agency on aging cash fund to the strategic investments in aging cash fund (fund). Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department of human services to fund programs and projects consistent with the grant program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Timothy Montoya task force to prevent children from running away from out-of-home placement (task force) in the office of the child protection ombudsman. The task force must analyze data related to children who have run away from out-of-home placement; analyze the root causes of why children run away from out-of-home placement; identify and analyze behaviors that constitute running away from out-of-home placement; analyze the likelihood that children who have run away will become a victim of crime; analyze best practices, state laws and regulations, and placement facility protocols and practices related to children running away; develop a consistent, prompt, and effective response to recover missing children; and address the safety and well-being of a child who has run away upon the child's return to out-of-home placement. The office of the child protection ombudsman must enter into an agreement with an institution of higher education to perform research that supports the task force's work and conduct focus groups with children in out-of-home placement, young adults who have aged out of the child protection system, and out-of-home placement providers. The task force is required to issue a preliminary report by October 1, 2023, and a final report by October 1, 2024. Each report must include the task force's findings and recommendations to reduce the number of children who run away from out-of-home placement. The act appropriates $99,500 from the general fund to the judicial department for use by the office of the child protection ombudsman for program costs. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the act makes legislative declarations and findings regarding the shortage of health-care providers in the state, the presence of qualified, internationally trained medical professionals in the state, the ability of those professionals to assist the state in addressing health-care workforce needs, the barriers to entry into the health-care workforce these professionals face, and the need to reduce those barriers to facilitate the integration of these professionals into the state's health-care workforce. Section 2 establishes the following 2 programs in the department of labor and employment (CDLE) to assist international medical graduates (IMGs) seeking to integrate into the state's health-care workforce: The IMG assistance program, the purpose of which is to provide direct services to IMGs, including a review of an IMG's education, training, and experience to recommend appropriate next steps for integrating the IMG into the state's health-care workforce; technical support and guidance through the credential evaluation process; and scholarships to assist in defraying the costs of the medical licensure process; and The clinical readiness program, the purpose of which is to provide a curriculum for and assessments of IMGs to help them build the skills necessary to enter a medical residency program. Section 2 also directs the executive director of CDLE to include in CDLE's annual report to the general assembly pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" information about the IMG assistance program, the clinical readiness program, and any progress made in addressing barriers IMGs face in securing positions in medical residency programs. To fund the programs, the act also authorizes the general assembly to appropriate money from the general fund or other sources and authorizes the CDLE to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations from private and public sources. The act precludes the CDLE from implementing the programs unless sufficient amounts are received to fund the costs of the programs. With regard to requirements for licensure under the "Colorado Medical Practice Act" (medical practice act): Section 3 defines "IMG" for purposes of the medical practice act; Section 4 reduces the length of postgraduate clinical training that an IMG must complete to qualify for a medical license from up to 3 years to one year; and Section 5 allows an IMG to obtain a reentry license if the IMG has a current or expired international medical license and meets Colorado medical board-specified qualifications and requirements, including an assessment of the IMG's competency to practice.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For 4 income tax years beginning in 2022, the act creates a refundable income tax credit for an early childhood educator who: Has an adjusted gross income that is less than or equal to $75,000 for an individual filing a single return or $150,000 for an individual filing a joint return; Holds an early childhood professional credential for at least part of the income tax year; and For at least 6 months of the income tax year, is either the licensee or employee of an "eligible program", as defined by the act. The amount of the credit is dependent on the eligible early childhood educator's credentialing level, with higher levels receiving a larger credit, and is annually adjusted for inflation. The department of human services, or a successor department, is required to annually provide the department of revenue with an electronic report of each individual who held an early childhood professional credential during the previous calendar year for which the credit is allowed. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)