Sen. Chris Hansen

Capital construction - repeal of requirement to recommend new method of financing the state's capital needs. The act repeals a requirement that the joint budget committee develop and make recommendations concerning new methods of financing the state's ongoing capital construction, capital renewal, and controlled maintenance needs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Submission of statewide ballot issue for approval of transportation revenue anticipation notes - delay from 2019 to 2020. Before the enactment of the act, state law, enacted by Senate Bill 18-001, required that a ballot issue seeking approval for the issuance of transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) be submitted to the voters of the state at the November 2019 statewide election. Upon approval of the ballot issue, the requirement, enacted by Senate Bill 17-267, that the state execute 3 separate tranches of up to $500 million each of lease-purchase agreements in state fiscal years 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 for the purpose of funding transportation would have been repealed. The act: Delays the requirement that the ballot issue be submitted for one year by requiring it to be submitted at the November 2020 general election rather than the November 2019 statewide election; Amends the ballot issue to reduce the amount of TRANs authorized to be issued by $500 million to offset the additional $500 million of lease-purchase agreement transportation funding that becomes available because the approval of the ballot issue at the November 2020 general election will repeal only the 2 state fiscal year 2020-21 and 2021-22 tranches of lease-purchase agreements, rather than the 3 state fiscal year 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 tranches of lease-purchase agreements; and Extends from 20 to 21 years the period for which, as enacted in Senate Bill 18-001, annual $50 million transfers from the general fund to the state highway fund are required.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Office of information technology - major information technology projects - change management plans - policy for use of external venders - communications and stakeholder management plan - working groups - appropriation. The office of information technology (office) is required to take actions as recommended by an evaluation of the state's information technology (IT) resources. Specifically, the office is required to: Include in the project plan for every major IT project a change management plan developed in collaboration with the state agency that undertakes the major IT project; Develop a policy for the office's use of external vendors, including the statewide internet portal authority, in delivering electronic information, products, and services; Develop and implement a communications and stakeholder management plan for interacting with any governmental unit of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government that is billed for the use of the services provided by the office and to solicit feedback to determine if the communications and stakeholder management plan is increasing satisfaction with the services provided by the office; Convene a working group of state agencies to develop and implement a strategic plan for how state agencies use technology to provide services, data, and information to citizens and businesses; and Convene a working group of state agencies to determine the cost and feasibility of transferring ownership of IT infrastructure from state agencies to the office. The office is required to submit a report to the joint budget committee and the joint technology committee regarding the necessary statutory and rule changes and funding to implement the transfer of ownership of IT infrastructure if the working group finds that it would be in the state's best interest to implement such a transfer. The office is required to enlist vendor services in the development of the communications and stakeholder management plan, the plan for how state agencies use technology to interface with citizens and businesses, and the plan to transfer ownership of IT infrastructure. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $775,000 is appropriated to the office of the governor from the general fund for use by the office of information technology for central administration and project management. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Department presentation to legislative committees of reference - department regulatory agendas. The act requires all presentations made to joint committees of reference under the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" to be conducted in the first 2 weeks of the regular legislative session rather than during the interim between legislative sessions, and as a result: Repeals the requirement that appointees to committees of reference be designated no later than December 1 prior to the convening of the general assembly; and Repeals the authorization that members and members-elect are entitled to per diem and reimbursement of expenses.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Evidence-based practices implementation for capacity resource center - collaboration partners. In the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety there is the evidence-based practices implementation for capacity resource center (center). The center's role is to develop and sustain effective implementation frameworks to support the use of evidence-based practices for both juvenile and adult populations in the criminal justice system. Current law requires the center to collaborate with the department of public safety, the department of corrections, the department of human services, and the judicial department. The act removes the limit on the departments with which the center can collaborate.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

State board of parole - membership - appropriation. The act increases the state board of parole's (board) membership by 2, for a total of 9 members. The 2 additional members must have experience in a field relevant to the work of the board. $293,774 is appropriated to the department of corrections to implement this act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Colorado secure savings plan - board - studies and analyses - report - appropriation. The Colorado secure savings plan board (board) is established to study the feasibility of creating the Colorado secure savings plan and other appropriate approaches to increase the amount of retirement savings by Colorado's private sector workers. The board consists of the state treasurer or the treasurer's designee and 8 additional trustees with certain experience who are appointed by the governor. The board is required to conduct the following 4 analyses or assessments by a specified date: A detailed market and financial analysis to determine the financial feasibility and effectiveness of creating a retirement savings plan in the form of an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA, to be known as the Colorado secure savings plan; A detailed market and financial analysis to determine the financial feasibility and effectiveness of a small business marketplace plan to increase the number of Colorado businesses that offer retirement savings plans for their employees; An analysis of the effects that greater financial education among Colorado residents would have on increasing their retirement savings; and An analysis of the effects that not increasing Coloradans' retirement savings would have on current and future state and local government expenditures. The board may accept any gifts, grants, and donations, or any money from public or private entities to pay for the costs of the analyses. The board may delay implementation of one or more of the analyses if it does not obtain adequate money to conduct the analyses. If after conducting the analyses, the board finds that there are approaches to increasing retirement savings for private sector employees in a convenient, low-cost, and portable manner that are financially feasible and self-sustaining, the board is required to recommend a plan to implement its findings to the governor and the general assembly. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $800,000 from the general fund is appropriated to the department of the treasury for the purpose of conducting the analyses or assessments, including operating expenses. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Internet service providers - state-funded broadband deployment - state procurement preferences - open internet requirements to receive state funds or contracts - complaints to federal trade commission. Section 1 of the act disqualifies an internet service provider (ISP) from receiving money through a grant from the broadband deployment board (board) or through any state fund established to help finance broadband deployment if the ISP engages in any of the following practices: Blocking lawful internet content, applications, services, or devices unless such blocking is conducted in a manner consistent with reasonable network management practices; Engaging in paid prioritization of internet content; Regulating network traffic by throttling bandwidth or otherwise impairing or degrading lawful internet traffic on the basis of internet content, application, service, or use of a nonharmful device unless the impairment or degradation is conducted in a manner consistent with reasonable network management practices; or Not providing reasonable transparency regarding its network management practices. Section 1 also requires that, if an ISP is found to have engaged in any of the practices listed above, the ISP must refund any money that it received in the prior 24 months through a grant from the board or from any other state funding source established to help finance broadband deployment. Section 2 requires the broadband deployment board to periodically review the federal trade commission's and federal communications commission's websites to identify any actions the federal agencies have taken against an ISP that seeks or has received broadband deployment grant money from the board. If the board determines from a review of the federal agency action that the ISP engaged in one of the practices listed above, the board shall deny the application or inform the public utilities commission of the action. Section 3 requires the attorney general or the attorney general's designee, in collaboration with the board, to develop guidance for consumers on how to file a complaint with the federal trade commission to allege that an ISP has engaged in any of the practices that violate federal law regarding interference with the open internet. The department of law shall post the guidance on its website. Section 4 requires a governmental body, when contracting for broadband internet access service, to give preference to an ISP that certifies to the governmental body that it will not engage in any of the practices listed in section 1. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Dental program for seniors - review - maximum reimbursement rates. The act adds to the duties of the department of health care policy and financing (department) under the Colorado dental health care program for low-income seniors (program) to review the operation and effectiveness of the program in the next annual report. Qualified grantees under the program and the department shall report recommendations concerning the operations and effectiveness of the program. Under current law, the senior dental advisory committee recommends to the medical services board the maximum reimbursement rate for dental procedures under the Colorado dental health care program for low-income seniors that cannot be less than the reimbursement rate previously adopted by the state board of health for the program. The act changes the maximum reimbursement rate that the committee may recommend to not less than the medicaid fee-for-service rate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Colorado student leaders institute - extension - appropriation. The act extends the Colorado student leaders institute to June 30, 2024. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, $218,825 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of higher education for the implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More