Sen. Kerry Donovan

The bill requires the division of administration in the department of public health and environment to analyze data published by the United States environmental protection agency. The purpose of this analysis is to identify geographical areas in which hazardous air pollutants have the greatest negative effects on human health and then to propose a rule to the air quality control commission to address these areas. The commission will consider the rule at a hearing. The division will also create and publish a map showing areas where hazardous air pollutants have the greatest potential for causing chronic human health effects. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current law establishes a $100 cap on a person's 30-day supply of prescription insulin. The act clarifies that this cap is for the person's entire insulin supply, regardless of the number of prescriptions the person may have.Beginning January 1, 2022, the act also:Requires pharmacists to provide eligible individuals with access to one emergency prescription insulin supply within a 12-month period at a cost not to exceed $35 for a 30-day supply; and Creates the insulin affordability program through which pharmacists provide eligible individuals with prescription insulin for 12 months at a cost not to exceed $50 for a 30-day supply. A pharmacist that dispenses prescription insulin through the emergency supply or the insulin affordability program may seek reimbursement for the cost of the insulin from the insulin manufacturer.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes the following changes affecting claims for an income tax credit allowed for the donation of a perpetual conservation easement in gross (tax credit):Specifies that the division of conservation can be a holder of a conservation easement in gross; Authorizes the executive director to provide information regarding a taxpayer to another taxpayer or require information to be given to the division of conservation in certain circumstances; Modifies the definition of "taxpayer" to clarify the applicability of the tax credit to donations made by certain nonprofit and governmental entities; Modifies the process for filing conservation easement tax credit certificates with income tax returns; Eliminates the authority of the executive director of the department of revenue to require additional information regarding the amount and validity of tax credits and to resolve disputes regarding the credits; Establishes a process for the division of conservation to track the transfer of and certify the ownership of tax credits; Modifies the formula used to calculate the amount of the tax credit; Modifies the manner in which the amount of a tax credit is allocated among owners, partners, members, or shareholders of certain legal entities; Modifies certain provisions regarding the number of tax credits that may be claimed and the manner of claiming the credits; Eliminates the requirement that the donor of an easement is the tax matters representative for purposes of resolving issues and disputes relating to a transferred credit; Allows certain governmental entities that are not subject to income tax to be able to claim a transferrable expense amount for the donation of a perpetual conservation easement to be transferred to a transferee in lieu of claiming a tax credit; and Eliminates obsolete reporting requirements.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the Colorado agricultural future loan program (loan program) in the department of agriculture (department) and requires the department to administer the loan program.Beginning on or before January 1, 2022, and until January 1, 2025, the department may distribute money from the Colorado agricultural future loan program cash fund (fund), which is also created in the act, to financial entities to award farm-to-market infrastructure loans to eligible applicants. The department is not permitted to engage in direct lending activities.Beginning on or before January 1, 2022, the department may award farm-to-market infrastructure grants to eligible applicants.In administering the loan program, the department, to the extent practicable, shall attempt to award:A total of at least $5 million but no more than $10 million in the form of farm-to-market infrastructure loans or farm-to-market infrastructure grants by June 30, 2022; and A total of at least $10 million but no more than $20 million in the form of low-interest loans to eligible applicants by December 31, 2022. In administering the loan program on and after January 1, 2023, to the extent practicable, the department shall prioritize the provision of loans to eligible farmers or ranchers who apply for loans from the loan program and who have owned or operated a farm or ranch for less than 10 years or represent a population that is underserved or underrepresented in Colorado agriculture.The commissioner of agriculture is required to promulgate rules to implement the loan program, and the department is required to submit an annual report to the general assembly concerning the loan program.The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $30 million from the general fund to the fund for use by the department to implement and administer the loan program. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department to expend for the loan program.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $165,890 to the department of law, from reappropriated funds received by the department of agriculture in the fund, to provide legal services to the department of agriculture.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires that the Colorado broadband office (office), on or before January 1, 2022, contract with a nonprofit organization to develop a program to reimburse certain income-eligible households and households in critically unserved areas of the state for their costs to access broadband service. An eligible household may receive reimbursement for up to one-half of its costs for broadband service, not to exceed $600 per year.The office and the nonprofit organization with which it contracts may use up to $5 million of the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" money transferred to the digital inclusion grant program fund pursuant to House Bill 21-1289, concerning broadband deployment, for the reimbursement program. All of the money for the reimbursement program must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and the act repeals on September 1, 2026. If the office does not find a nonprofit organization with which to contract, the reimbursement program will not be implemented and the office shall use the money allocated for implementation of the reimbursement program to award additional grants for telehealth services.On or before February 1, 2022, and on or before each February 1 thereafter, the office is required to submit a written report to the governor and the legislative joint budget and joint technology committees about the office's implementation of the reimbursement program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act defines "backcountry search and rescue" as the utilization, training, and support of responders, with their specialized equipment, to locate, provide assistance to, and remove to safety individuals who are lost, injured, stranded, or entrapped, generally in remote areas of the state. The division of parks and wildlife (division) within the department of natural resources must conduct a study and develop recommendations on the issues related to backcountry search and rescue, including how to develop a sustainable structure for coordination among the local, state, federal, and nonprofit organizations involved in backcountry search and rescue, the adequacy of resources and benefits available to volunteers who provide backcountry search and rescue services, the funding needs for equipment and reimbursement, and the needs for volunteer training and public education. The division must also conduct outreach and training related to the physical and psychological support needs of backcountry search and rescue volunteers, which may include working with consultants, providing programs, or creating a grant program for local governments or nonprofit organizations providing backcountry search and rescue. The act makes conforming amendments related to the definition of "backcountry search and rescue".(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

To fund the program implementation and administration the reintroduction and management of gray wolves, the act requires the general assembly to appropriate money to the division of parks and wildlife (division) or otherwise authorize the division's expenditure of money from one or more of the following funds:The general fund; The species conservation trust fund; The Colorado nongame conservation and wildlife restoration cash fund; or The wildlife cash fund; except that any money within the wildlife cash fund that is generated from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses or from associated federal grants is not available for appropriation. The division is also authorized to solicit, accept, and expend any grants, gifts, sponsorships, contributions, donations, and bequests, including federal funds, for the program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act concerns the concept of "community choice energy" (CCE) (also known as community choice aggregation or CCA), under which a community, or group of communities, may choose to purchase their electricity from a wholesale supplier other than the local investor-owned electric utility. The act declares that CCE has the potential to enable communities to meet their renewable energy goals and to reduce their electricity rates by allowing wholesale competition and local control over the energy supplier and energy mix without changing the local utility's current status as sole supplier of electric transmission, distribution, billing, and customer service functions.To lay the groundwork for evaluating the potential adoption of CCE in Colorado, the act proposes an investigatory proceeding at the public utilities commission that would invite testimony and documentation from interested stakeholders, utilities, the public, invited subject-matter experts, and persons with firsthand knowledge of CCE operations, including regulators from states in which CCE has been implemented. The proceeding would address a series of questions and topics that are specified in the act, with the goal of better understanding CCE in the Colorado context and identifying best practices that would allow CCE to function well in Colorado if adopted. The act does not change current statutes and regulations governing the electricity system.The act directs the commission to submit a report summarizing the investigatory proceeding to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy matters by December 15, 2022.The act appropriates $48,391 to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the public utilities commission to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)