In support of the use of agrivoltaics, which is the integration of solar energy generation facilities with agricultural activities, the act authorizes the agricultural drought and climate resilience office (office) to award grants for new or ongoing demonstration or research projects that demonstrate or study the use of agrivoltaics. The Colorado water conservation board (board), in consultation with the state engineer, the Colorado energy office, and the Colorado water institute, is required to study the feasibility of using floatovoltaics, which are solar energy generation facilities placed over, near, or floating on irrigation canals or reservoirs. On or before January 1, 2025, the board shall submit a written report of its findings and conclusions from the study to the legislative committees of reference with jurisdiction over agricultural matters. The director of the division of parks and wildlife is required to consult on the impacts on wildlife of: Any research projects for which the office awards money to study the use of agrivoltaics; and A project that the board finances to study the feasibility of using floatovoltaics in the state. The act exempts certain agrivoltaic equipment from property taxation if the equipment is used in the required manner and amends the statutory definition of "solar energy facility", used in determining the valuation of public utilities for property tax purposes, to include agrivoltaics and floatovoltaics. The act requires the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner) to study greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration opportunities in the agricultural sector, including soil health management practices, the use of dry digesters, and the potential for creating and offering a certified greenhouse gas offset program and credit instruments in the agricultural sector. To perform the study, the commission must consult with the Colorado energy office, the air quality control commission, the natural and working lands task force, the Colorado state forest service, and an institution of higher education with expertise in climate change mitigation, adaptation benefits, and other environmental benefits related to agricultural research. On or before October 1, 2024, the commissioner shall submit to the general assembly a progress report on the study and, on or before October 1, 2025, a final report, which must include any legislative and regulatory recommendations. The commissioner, in consultation with the Colorado energy office and the air quality control commission, may adopt rules to implement recommendations from the study that do not require legislative changes. Any greenhouse gas offset program or other greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration program or mechanism that the commissioner establishes in rule must not mandate participation by agricultural producers. The act appropriates $611,870 for the 2023-24 state fiscal year from the general fund to the department of agriculture for use by the commissioner's office and administrative services, with $500,000 of the money appropriated for agrivoltaic project grants. APPROVED by Governor May 18, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act extends the advanced industry export acceleration program, which was scheduled to end on January 1, 2025, and the advanced industries acceleration grant program, which was scheduled to end on July 1, 2024, by 10 years. Through March 1, 2023, the state treasurer annually credited to the advanced industries acceleration cash fund an amount equal to one-half of the bioscience and clean technology income tax withholding growth. The act extends this funding mechanism by 2 years. Additionally, the advanced industry export acceleration program allows a qualifying business that meets certain eligibility criteria to receive an international export development expense reimbursement. The act removes the eligibility criterion that requires a qualifying business to show a profit during the last fiscal year. APPROVED by Governor May 17, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers certain administrative responsibilities from: The behavioral health administration (BHA) to the department of human services (department); The office of behavioral health (OBH) to the department; OBH to the BHA; and The department to the BHA. The act repeals OBH as an office in the department. The act requires the chief information officer of the office of information technology to invite the commissioner of the BHA to select a member to represent the BHA on the government data advisory board. The act adds the commissioner of the BHA to the health equity commission. The act states that the BHA is a health oversight agency charged with overseeing the behavioral health-care system in Colorado and discharging the BHA's duties. The act authorizes the BHA to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the purpose of administering any behavioral health program and service. The act requires a behavioral health safety net provider to include services that address the necessary language and cultural barriers to serve communities of color and other underserved populations. Current law requires the department of public health and environment to continue issuing and renewing behavioral health entity licenses until June 30, 2023. The act extends the date to December 31, 2023. The act requires the statewide behavioral health safety net system to include services for adults who have a serious mental illness and children and youth who have a serious emotional disturbance. The act authorizes the BHA to revoke or refuse to renew a behavioral health entity's license if the owner, manager, or administrator of the entity has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving conduct that the BHA determines could pose a risk to the health, safety, or welfare of the entity's consumers. The act requires the BHA to include in the contract for designated behavioral health administrative services organizations (BHASO) a requirement that the BHASO perform appropriate fiscal management and quality oversight of providers in its network. Current law requires the BHA to create one regional subcommittee of the advisory council for each behavioral health administrative services organization region. The act requires the BHA to create a regional subcommittee structure as part of the BHASO to promote local community input pertaining to behavioral health service needs. The act adds certain members to the regional subcommittee. The act requires the BHA to serve as the central organizing structure and responsible entity for jail-based behavioral health services. Current law requires the commissioner to select and contract with regionally based behavioral health organizations to establish, administer, and maintain adequate networks of behavioral health safety net services and care coordination no later than July 1, 2024. The act extends the date to July 1, 2025. For state fiscal year 2023-24, the act requires the BHA to safeguard partnerships between community-based behavioral health providers and rural hospitals by allocating money to community-based behavioral health providers. To implement the care navigation program, the act requires the BHA to provide, directly or through contract, care navigation services and align the care navigation services with the care coordination infrastructure. The act continuously appropriates money to the 988 crisis hotline cash fund. Current law specifies the rights of a person detained by a certified peace officer or emergency medical services provider and transported to an outpatient mental health facility or facility designated by the commissioner of the BHA. The act expands the rights to any person detained whether or not the person is transported to an outpatient mental health facility or facility designated by the commissioner of the BHA. If a person detained is transported to an emergency medical services facility, the transportation hold expires upon the facility receiving the person for screening by an intervening professional. Current law states the BHA is responsible for licensing mental health residential facilities on and after July 1, 2023. The act extends the date to October 1, 2023. The act extends the date that behavioral health entities can legally operate without a license from July 1, 2024, to January 1, 2024. The act decreases the general fund appropriation for use by the BHA and increases the general fund appropriation for use by the OBH for jail-based behavioral health services by $2,250,400. APPROVED by Governor May 16, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 16, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill requires the center of excellence for advanced technology aerial firefighting (center of excellence) in the division of fire prevention and control in the department of public safety to establish one or more remote camera technology pilot programs. The program may include the use of artificial intelligence technologies. The center of excellence must acquire or contract for a system of remote pan-tilt-zoom cameras and associated tools to provide a live feed of information that can detect, locate, and confirm ignition in the wildland-urban interface. The center of excellence may acquire or contract for artificial intelligence technologies to assist in the detection, containment, and monitoring of wildfires. The center of excellence must report to the wildfire matters review committee on the system's effectiveness and potential for more widespread use in the state. The bill appropriates $2 million $720,368 from the general fund to implement the program. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill requires the division of administration in the department of public health and environment, on and after January 1, 2024, to use quality-assured data to determine the maximum amount of a pollutant that can be discharged daily into state waters without exceeding applicable water quality standards. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The bill creates the timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation industries workforce development program (program) in the state forest service. The program provides partial reimbursement to timber businesses and forest health or wildfire mitigation entities for the costs of hiring interns. The forest service must adopt rules, policies, and procedures for the program, including criteria for an internship to qualify, best practices for recruiting and selecting interns to increase representation of historically underrrepresented communities in the industries, the criteria to use in selecting qualified interns, the required educational experience for an intern, and administrative requirements for the program. For income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2028, a business involved in forestry, logging, the timber trade, the production of wood and secondary products, or forest health and wildfire mitigation activities in Colorado may claim a credit against state income tax for 20% of the cost incurred by the taxpayer in purchasing certain equipment, vehicles, and equipment infrastructure. The total aggregate credit in any one income tax year is limited to $10,000. Any amount of the credit that exceeds the taxpayer's income tax liability is not refundable but may be carried forward for up to 5 years. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The act authorizes the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to seek federal authorization from the centers for medicare and medicaid services to provide medicaid reimbursement for community health worker services. The act requires the state department to hold at least 4 public stakeholder meetings to solicit input on considerations to include in the state department's request for federal authorization. The act grants the state department the authority to promulgate rules regarding the voluntary competency-based community health worker registry. The act requires that on or before January 31, 2026, the state department include a report on how community health workers are being utilized through medicaid in its presentation to the joint budget committee of the general assembly and in its presentation at the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" hearing. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $40,717 from the general fund to the state department to be used by the executive director's office as follows: $36,842 for personal services; and $3,875 for operating expenses. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act anticipates the state department will receive $40,717 in federal funds to be used as follows: $36,842 for personal services; and $3,875 for operating expenses. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $169,973 to the department of public health and environment to be used by chronic disease prevention programs in the prevention services division for the community health workers initiative. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act modifies the relationship between a physician assistant and a physician or podiatrist by removing the requirement that a physician assistant be supervised by a physician or podiatrist except in certain circumstances. Instead, a physician assistant must enter into a collaborative agreement with a physician or podiatrist or physician group. The physician or podiatrist must be licensed in good standing in Colorado and be actively practicing with a regular and reliable physical presence in the state. The collaborative agreement must include: The physician assistant's name, license number, and primary location of practice; The signature of the physician assistant and the physician or physician group with whom the physician assistant has entered into the collaborative agreement; A description of the physician assistant's process for collaboration; A description of the performance evaluation process, which may be completed by the physician assistant's employer in accordance with a performance evaluation and review process established by the employer; and Any additional requirements specific to the physician assistant's practice required by the physician or physician group entering into the collaborative agreement, including additional levels of oversight, limitations on autonomous judgment, and the designation of a primary contact for collaboration. For a physician assistant with fewer than 5,000 practice hours, or a physician assistant changing practice areas with fewer than 3,000 practice hours in the new practice area, the collaborative agreement is a supervisory agreement that must include required elements and must also: Require that collaboration during the first 160 practice hours be completed in person or through technology, as permitted by the physician or physician group with whom the physician assistant is collaborating; Incorporate elements defining the expected nature of collaboration; and Require a performance evaluation and discussion of the performance evaluation with the physician assistant. For a physician assistant entering into a collaborative agreement with a physician or physician group in the emergency department of a hospital with a level I or level II trauma center, the collaborative agreement remains a supervisory agreement and continues indefinitely. For a physician assistant changing practice areas to practice in an emergency department of a hospital that is not a level I or level II trauma center, the supervising physician or physician group may increase the number of hours for which the collaborative agreement is a supervisory agreement. The act also eliminates the 3-year time limit for physician assistants to satisfy certain financial responsibility requirements from which such physician assistants are exempt under current law. APPROVED by Governor April 26, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Colorado law limits the amount of uncommitted money that may remain in a cash fund at the end of a state fiscal year to 16.5% of the amount spent during the fiscal year. The act exempts the agricultural products inspection cash fund from the 16.5% uncommitted balance limit and instead imposes a limit of 50% of the amount spent from the fund during the fiscal year. APPROVED by Governor April 20, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)