Prior to the consolidation of the division of wildlife and the division of parks and recreation and their respective commissions in Senate Bill 11-208, concerning the consolidation of wildlife entities with parks and outdoor recreation entities under the department of natural resources, enacted in 2011, members of the wildlife commission were required to hold at least 2 public meetings per year in their respective geographic districts. The act renews the public engagement requirement for the members of the parks and wildlife commission in the department of natural resources who are appointed by the governor and adds the same public engagement requirement for members of the state agricultural commission and the Colorado water conservation board who are appointed by the governor. Commission and board members subject to the public engagement requirement are entitled to reimbursement for their reasonable costs in participating in public meetings. Status updates on the commission and board members' compliance with the public engagement requirement must be reported to the chair of each member's respective commission or board and included in each member's respective executive department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to the general assembly. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $10,504 is appropriated to the department of natural resources for use by the division of parks and wildlife to implement the act, with $6,828 of the money appropriated from the wildlife cash fund and $3,676 from the parks and outdoor recreation cash fund. APPROVED by Governor May 1, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act allows a health-care provider, a health-facility, and a hospital pharmacy to provide a patient with certain facility-provided medications if the medication is required for continued treatment, the medication does not contain a controlled substance, and the medication was administered to the patient during the patient's visit to the health-care provider or health facility. The health-care provider, health facility, or pharmacy that provided the medication to the patient is required to label the medication and to counsel the patient regarding the proper use of the medication. APPROVED by Governor April 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE April 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the Colorado natural areas council, an advisory council to the parks and wildlife commission, for 10 years until September 1, 2034, subject to sunset review. APPROVED by Governor April 19, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act authorizes the board of trustees (board) of any local college district to determine the number of trustees on the board. The act permits 9-member boards that establish board member districts to designate one or 2 board member districts as at-large districts and permits 11-member boards that establish board member districts to designate up to 3 board member districts as at-large districts. Under existing law, voters must approve a school district's annexation into a local college district at a regular biennial school election. The act removes that restriction so that the approval vote may occur at any regular election. The act permits a recipient of a local investments in transformational affordable housing grant for a project in a rural community or rural resort community to prioritize providing affordable housing for enrolled postsecondary students, local college district employees, and local government employees in buildings on land owned and controlled by a local college district. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The snowmobile recreation fund is used to, among other things, establish and maintain snowmobile trails and related facilities. A resident of Colorado who uses a snowmobile on publicly owned land must register the snowmobile and pay a fee, which is deposited in the snowmobile recreation fund. The act replaces a $5 per registration cap with a 17% cap on the amount of the fee that can be used for administration purposes. The act creates an out-of-state snowmobile permit that an owner or operator of an out-of-state snowmobile must obtain and display to drive the snowmobile on publicly owned land. To get the permit, the owner must pay a fee in an amount set by the parks and wildlife commission. Exceptions are created for snowmobiles: Owned by governments; Operated in an organized event authorized by the government with jurisdiction over the land on which the snowmobile is operated; and Operated on publicly owned land for nonrecreational purposes. Concerning the requirement to register a snowmobile, the current exception on private-land commercial use is extended to all private land use by repealing the commercial use element. The fine for a violation is $100. Permits are valid for one year from October 1 to September 30 and are issued by agents of the director of the division of parks and wildlife. A search and rescue program pays for backcountry search and rescue operations. Snowmobile and off-highway vehicle registrations require the payment of a search and rescue fee, which entitles the payer of the fee to be covered by the program. The act adds the search and rescue fee to out-of-state snowmobile permits and off-highway use permits. APPROVED by Governor April 11, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies provisions governing the Colorado health benefit exchange (exchange) by: Eliminating the requirement for the board of directors of the exchange (board) to submit a report on the development of the exchange to the governor and the general assembly by January 15 and instead requiring the report to be submitted annually and to address open enrollment; Requiring the board to also present an open enrollment update to specified legislative committees during each legislative session; Requiring the exchange, rather than the board, to annually present to the Colorado health insurance exchange oversight committee (committee) the exchange's financial and operational plans and the major actions taken by the board; and Modifying the number of meetings of the committee during the interim. APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Pursuant to the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado", death benefits will be paid to a dependent surviving spouse of a deceased employee for life, regardless of remarriage, rather than until remarriage, if the surviving spouse receives death benefits pursuant to law and the deceased employee was a state employee who worked in a job with a high-risk classification. A job with a "high-risk classification" means certain employees of the Colorado state patrol; certain employees of the Colorado bureau of investigation; certain employees of the department of corrections; firefighters, investigators, and fire marshals employed by the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety; wildlife officers and parks and recreation officers employed by the division of wildlife in the department of natural resources; employees of the department of transportation responsible for highway safety and maintenance; and employees of a state institution of higher education who are vested with the powers of a peace officer. APPROVED by Governor April 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends to December 31, 2025, the time in which the department of agriculture may implement wild horse population management pursuant to Senate Bill 23-275, concerning managing wild horses. APPROVED by Governor March 22, 2024 EFFECTIVE March 22, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)