The bill requires the governing board of each institution of higher education to adopt, make public, and implement a prior learning assessment policy for awarding academic credit for college-level learning acquired while in the military. The policy adopted by the governing board must require each campus to use the American Council on Education's recommendations on the joint services transcript and, at its discretion, assign appropriate credit. Further, the institutions shall provide specific guidance to active duty and veteran military members in selecting a program of study and optimizing prior learning assessment credit. Finally, the institutions shall accept in transfer from other state institutions prior learning assessment credit awarded for courses with guaranteed-transfer designation. During the 2018 legislative session, the department of higher education shall report to certain committees of the general assembly concerning the policies adopted by the institutions. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Sponsored bills
Sunset Process - Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. The bill implements the recommendations of the sunset review and report on the Colorado board of commissioners of veterans community living centers by eliminating the repeal date of the board and extending the board indefinitely.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill allows the Colorado economic development commission to allow certain businesses that make a strategic capital investment in the state, subject to a maximum amount, and subject to the requirements of the specified income tax credits, to treat any of the following income tax credits allowed to the business as either carryforwardable for a five-year period or as transferable: Colorado job growth incentive tax credit; Enterprise zone income tax credit for investment in certain property; Income tax credit for new enterprise zone business employees; and Enterprise zone income tax credit for expenditures for research and experimental activities.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill replaces the existing southwest chief rail line economic development, rural tourism, and infrastructure repair and maintenance commission (old commission), the current statutory authorization for which expires on July 1, 2017, with an expanded southwest chief and front range passenger rail commission (new commission). The new commission must: Assume the old commission's powers and duties and its mission of preserving existing Amtrak southwest chief rail line service in the state, extending such service to Pueblo, and exploring the benefits of extending such service to Walsenburg; and Facilitate the future of front range passenger rail and specifically develop and present by December 1, 2017, to the local government committees of the house of representatives and the senate, draft legislation to facilitate the development of a front range passenger rail system that provides passenger rail service in and along the interstate 25 corridor.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) expansion pilot program, administered by the university of Colorado college of nursing, to expand access to medication-assisted treatment to opioid-dependent patients in Pueblo and Routt counties. The pilot program will provide grants to community- and office-based practices, behavioral health organizations, and substance abuse treatment organizations to: Assist nurse practitioners and physician assistants working in those settings to obtain training and support required under the federal 'Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016' (CARA) to enable them to prescribe buprenorphine and other FDA-approved medications and therapies as part of providing MAT to opioid-dependent patients; and Provide behavioral therapies in conjunction with medication as part of the provision of MAT to opioid-dependent patients. The general assembly is directed to appropriate $500,000 per year for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years from the marijuana tax cash fund to the university of Colorado board of regents, for allocation to the college of nursing to implement the pilot program. Each grant recipient must submit a report to the college of nursing regarding the use of the grant, and the college of nursing must submit a summarized report to the governor and the health committees of the senate and house of representatives regarding the pilot program. The pilot program is established and funded for 2 years and repeals on June 30, 2020. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill creates a task force to organize county-level versions of and guidelines for child welfare caseworker resiliency programs (task force) modeled on national resiliency programs. The membership of the task force is outlined, along with its duties and reporting requirements. The task force is repealed, effective September 1, 2018. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires an investor-owned electric utility to file with the public utilities commission (commission) for the commission's review a comprehensive billing format that the investor-owned electric utility has developed for its monthly billing of customers. An investor-owned electric utility shall file the comprehensive billing format pursuant to a schedule determined by the commission. The comprehensive billing format must include the following: A line-item representation of all monthly charges and credits applied to the customer and an indication whether the charges have increased from the prior month as a result of increased fuel costs; For months in which tiered rates are applied, a breakdown of the tiered rates and the amount of usage to which each rate was applied for the month; The rate and usage for the current month and each of the previous 12 months, as shown in a bar graph or other visual format; and For customers to which demand rates apply, a listing of the demand charge, aggregated data about the demand during the billing period, and, if the customer is a residential customer, a calculation of the amount that the customer would have been billed had standard residential rates applied. The bill also requires each investor-owned utility to provide its customers, on a biannual basis, with an insert that indicates, as a percentage, each fuel source used in power generation and purchased for the utility. The bill sets forth procedures for the commission's review of a filed comprehensive billing format and provides that once a comprehensive billing format has been approved by the commission, the investor-owned utility need not refile it unless changes have been made to it. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
In 2013, the general assembly enacted SB 13-225, which established a task force in the department of public health and environment (department) to study and make recommendations for developing a statewide plan to improve quality of care to STEMI heart attack patients. ('STEMI' is an acronym for ST-elevation myocardial infarctions.) The study was to explore, among other things, the creation of a database for collecting data on STEMI care and access to aggregated STEMI data from the database for purposes of improving STEMI heart attack care. The bill implements the following recommendations of the task force, with some modifications: Requires a hospital that is accredited as a STEMI receiving center to report to a specified national heart attack database data that is consistent with nationally recognized guidelines on individuals with confirmed heart attacks within the state; Within 30 days after receiving quarterly reports from the heart attack database, requires hospitals to submit those reports to the department; Specifies that reports obtained by the department are privileged and strictly confidential, are not subject to subpoena or discovery, and are not admissible in a civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding; and Requires the department to sign a letter of commitment with the American College of Cardiology to ensure compliance with the confidentiality requirements and to request national reporting measures and metrics for benchmarking data.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the state treasurer to deposit $1 million of the proceeds from the tax on insurance policy premiums in the local firefighter safety and disease prevention fund for each of the 3 fiscal years commencing on or after July 1, 2017. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
Section 2 of the bill prohibits a person from serving on the public utilities commission if he or she: Has, within the immediately preceding 4 years, served as an officer or director of a regulated utility; or Has or acquires any official relation to, or financial interest in, a regulated utility. 'Financial interest' does not include passive ownership of stocks through a mutual fund or similar vehicle. Section 3 encourages the director of the commission to assign employees to temporary training and development sessions with other state agencies, particularly those with which the commission has frequent interaction, to improve the employees' substantive expertise and familiarity with the operations of those agencies. Section 3 also requires the director to keep audio records of the commission's proceedings and make them publicly available online. In addition, section 3 expressly authorizes the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies (of which the commission is a part) to request that the state auditor conduct performance audits of the commission and its staff and operations. Section 5 directs the commission to adopt rules concerning conflicts of interest, incompatible activities, and ex parte communications to govern the conduct of commission members, staff, and administrative law judges. Sections 1 and 4 make conforming amendments. Section 6 appropriates $22,812 to the department of regulatory agencies for legal services.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)