Sen. Dylan Roberts

Current law allows the commissioner of agriculture to assess civil penalties for violations of state laws related to the prevention of noxious weeds (violations). The act: Clarifies that a board of county commissioners (board) may allow for the assessment and collection of fines for violations of local laws enacted to enforce the management of noxious weeds in the county; Creates a civil infraction for violations; Creates a civil penalty for violations that is no less than $500 and no more than $1,000; Allows a county attorney to petition the district court for an injunction to prevent an ongoing violation; and Allows a board to appoint a district attorney to enforce violations in the event that the county does not have a county attorney or in any other circumstance that the board deems appropriate. APPROVED by Governor March 12, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For small group and individual health benefit plans, if an individual who is entitled to receive benefits or services under a health benefit plan has incurred any out-of-pocket expenses, including payments for a deductible or other coinsurance amount, under the health benefit plan during a plan year, and the individual's health insurance carrier exits the health insurance market and can no longer provide coverage to the individual, the bill requires the individual's new health insurance carrier to credit all of the out-of-pocket expenses paid by the individual in accordance with the original health benefit plan in the given plan year to the new health benefit plan if the individual enrolls in the new health benefit plan in the established special enrollment period. The bill grants rule-making authority to the commissioner of insurance. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Colorado law requires the manufacturer of cosmetic products, dietary supplements, food products, and food additives, including hemp products, to be registered with the department of public health and environment (department). The act creates a new framework for the department to regulate and register hemp products and certain intoxicating hemp products and for the marijuana enforcement division (division) in the department of revenue to regulate intoxicating products or potentially intoxicating compounds that are or may be cannabinoids. This regulation includes: The power to promulgate rules authorizing or prohibiting chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation to create certain types of intoxicating cannabinoids; Classifying and reclassifying cannabinoids as intoxicating, potentially intoxicating, or nonintoxicating; Labeling and advertising requirements; Production and testing requirements; Inspection, record-keeping, surveillance, and inventory tracking requirements; Prohibiting the export of a safe harbor hemp product that is a synthetic cannabinoid or that is being exported to a state where it is illegal; and Issuing a cease-and-desist order or clean-up order. Hemp- and marijuana-derived compounds and cannabinoids are classified into 3 classifications: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids; Potentially intoxicating cannabinoids; and Intoxicating cannabinoids. Nonintoxicating cannabinoids that are derived from hemp may be produced, distributed, or sold as a hemp product. With the exception of products manufactured or produced for export, which are referred to as "safe harbor hemp products" and with some exceptions for small amounts of THC, products containing potentially intoxicating compounds and intoxicating cannabinoids must only be produced, distributed, or sold by a person licensed by the division to produce, distribute, or sell the compound or cannabinoid as a product. The act clarifies that: Nonintoxicating cannabinoids, potentially intoxicating compounds, and intoxicating cannabinoids are marijuana or marijuana products for the purposes of the retail marijuana sales tax; and A person must be licensed by the division to manufacture potentially intoxicating compounds or intoxicating cannabinoids. The act prohibits the following acts: Manufacturing, selling, or delivering products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids in excess of limits established by rule; Manufacturing a product containing hemp that is not a cosmetic, a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb; Manufacturing, producing, selling, distributing, or holding for sale or distribution a safe harbor hemp product without registering with the department; Selling a hemp product to an individual who is under 21 years of age if the hemp product has a ratio of cannabidiol to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of less than 20:1 and the hemp product contains more than 1.25 milligrams of THC, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 5 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of less than 20:1, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe; or Selling a hemp product in a container with more than 30 servings if the hemp product has more than 1.25 milligrams of THC and a ratio of cannabidiol to THC of 20:1 or more, but this prohibition does not apply to products with no THC, tinctures, cosmetics, or hemp products that the United States food and drug administration has determined are generally recognized as safe. The penalty for a violation is up to $10,000 per day per violation. The act specifies factors to consider in determining the amount of the penalty. The act requires the executive director of the department of revenue to analyze the feasibility of establishing a standing committee to evaluate cannabinoids and cannabis-derived products for the purpose of determining and making recommendations regarding their safety profiles and potential for intoxication. The department of revenue may engage experts to inform its analysis. The bill sets standards for marijuana cultivation facilities to buy seeds and clones. To implement this act: $1,574,061 is appropriated to the department. This appropriation consists of $1,168,485 from the general fund and $405,576 from the wholesale food manufacturing and storage protection cash fund; $295,024 is appropriated from the general fund to the marijuana cash fund and reappropriated from the marijuana cash fund to the department of revenue; and Of the amounts appropriated to the departments of public health and environment and revenue, $437,764 is reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services to those departments. The amounts are appropriated to the departments for the 2023-24 state fiscal year, and the departments are authorized to spend any amount not expended in the 2023-34 state fiscal year in the 2024-25 state fiscal year for the same purposes. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For health coverage plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, the act requires a health insurance carrier (carrier) that provides coverage for prescription auto-injectors (injectors) to cap the total amount that a covered person is required to pay for injectors at an amount not to exceed $60 for a 2-pack of the injectors. The act allows coverage for injectors to be offered through a high deductible plan that qualifies for a health savings account, and a carrier may apply deductible amounts if the coverage is not considered by the United States department of the treasury to be preventive or to have an acceptable deductible amount. Effective January 1, 2024, the act creates an epinephrine auto-injector affordability program (program) to provide low-cost injectors to eligible individuals. By January 1, 2024, each manufacturer must establish procedures and make injectors available as prescribed in the act to eligible individuals who hold a valid prescription for injectors. The act establishes eligibility requirements that residents of Colorado must meet in order to be eligible for the program. The act requires the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies (division) to create an application for the program for use by an individual seeking injectors through the program and requires the division and the department of health care policy and financing to make the application available on their websites and to promote the availability of the program. A pharmacy that dispenses injectors is authorized to collect a copayment not to exceed $60 from the individual to cover the pharmacy's costs of processing and dispensing a 2-pack of injectors. A manufacturer of injectors: Is required to make injectors available to individuals through the program; May be required to reimburse the dispensing pharmacy in an amount that the pharmacy paid for the number of injectors dispensed through the program or send the pharmacy a replacement supply of the same number of injectors; Is required to develop a process for a pharmacy to submit electronic reimbursement claims. If a manufacturer fails to comply with the requirements of the act, the manufacturer engages in a deceptive trade practice and is subject to a $10,000 fine for each month of noncompliance. The act appropriates $58,291 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 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 the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)