The act allows a health-care provider (applicant) who possesses a license, certificate, registration, or other approval as a health-care provider in another state (out-of-state credential) to provide health-care services through telehealth to patients located in Colorado if the applicant registers with the regulator that regulates the health-care services the applicant will provide (regulator). An applicant is eligible for registration if: The applicant submits an application in a manner prescribed by the division of professions and occupations (division) in the department of regulatory agencies (department) and pays the applicable fee; The applicant possesses an out-of-state credential issued by a governmental authority in another state, the District of Columbia, or a possession or territory of the United States that is active and unencumbered, that has educational and supervisory standards equivalent to or exceeding the educational and supervisory standards required for the equivalent credential in this state or the interstate compacft license for the applicable credential type, and that entitles the applicant to perform health-care services that are substantially similar to health-care services that may be performed by a licensee, certificate holder, or registrant in this state; The applicant designates an agent upon whom service of process may be made in Colorado; The applicant has not been subject to any disciplinary action relating to the applicant's out-of-state credential during the 5-year period immediately preceding the submission of the applicant's application that has resulted in the applicant's out-of-state credential being limited, suspended, or revoked, unless the disciplinary action pertains to an action, behavior, or treatment permitted under Colorado law; and The applicant demonstrates passage of a jurisprudence examination administered by the division if passage of a jurisprudence examination is required for substantially similar credentialing in this state. An applicant who has been registered to provide health-care services through telehealth to patients located in Colorado (registered provider) shall: Provide health-care services in compliance with the professional practice standards for health-care services in this state; In the event of an emergency situation, make a good faith effort to contact and coordinate with emergency services located near the originating site, or facilitate contact with the appropriate local mental and behavioral health services, and remain on a synchronous connection with the patient, if the emergency arises during a synchronous connection, until emergency services have reached the originating site or the situation is resolved in the registered provider's clinical judgment; Maintain a written emergency protocol that is appropriate to the applicable standard of care for Colorado; Notify the applicable regulator of restrictions placed on the registered provider's out-of-state credential in any state or jurisdiction or of any disciplinary action taken or pending against the registered provider in any state or jurisdiction; Maintain and have in effect a form of financial responsibility that covers services provided to patients in this state as required by the applicable regulator; Disclose to the patient that the registered provider does not have a physical location in Colorado and disclose the location of the registered provider; and Not open an office in this state and shall not provide in-person health-care services to patients located in this state unless the health-care provider obtains the license, certification, or registration that the applicable regulator requires for the performance of the relevant health-care services in this state. The act also allows the division or the regulator to take disciplinary action against a registered provider under specified conditions. The department may notify other states in which the registered provider is licensed, registered, or certified to practice of any disciplinary actions taken against the registered provider in this state. A registered provider is prohibited from prescribing a controlled substance. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On July 1, 2024, the act requires the state treasurer to transfer $3.8 million from the general fund to the regional talent development initiative grant program fund to address workforce shortages in infrastructure and building trades. Of this amount, the office of economic development (office) is authorized to use not more than 7% for the administrative costs incurred to administer the regional talent development initiative grant program. The regional talent summit grant program (grant program) is created and is administered by the office. The grant program, through a selection committee, will award grants to and contract with a program facilitator to convene and facilitate regional summits across the state. The goals of the program facilitator are to understand workforce development needs in identified regions of the state, generate a landscape analysis for each identified region that includes job projections and an overview of educational pathways, gather insight from employers about critical workforce and training needs, create regional goals for addressing talent needs, and develop comprehensive tactical plans. Beginning January 1, 2026, any modified or new local workforce development plan must incorporate the tactical plans. The workforce development plans must be published in the Colorado talent report. The program facilitator must complete all regional talent summits on or before July 1, 2025, and submit workforce plans as a result of the regional talent summits by December 1, 2025. The grant program, through a selection committee, will also award grants to one or more regional hosts to secure facilities to host regional talent summits, determine community partners to attend the summits, and gather insight from regional employers about critical workforce and training needs. The regional talent summit grant program fund (fund) is created in the state treasury. On July 1, 2024, the state treasurer is required to transfer $200,000 from the general fund to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office to be used for purposes of the grant program. The act establishes a state income tax credit (tax credit) for the costs of facility improvement and equipment acquisition associated with training programs designed to alleviate workforce shortages beginning January 1, 2026. A qualified taxpayer in a qualified industry may earn a tax credit equal to up to 50% of the costs incurred by the qualified taxpayer to improve its facilities and acquire equipment. The tax credit is refundable and may not be carried forward. To claim the tax credit, a qualified taxpayer must first reserve the tax credit by applying to be in the evaluation pool established by the office. A selection committee will consider the merits of each application to determine which taxpayers are qualified to reserve the tax credit. If a taxpayer is qualified and approved, the taxpayer is required to incur facility improvements and equipment acquisition costs to claim the tax credit. If the applicant submits evidence that the costs were incurred during the income tax year for which the applicant applied, and those costs are certified by a certified public accountant, the applicant may be awarded a tax credit. The aggregate amount of tax credits reserved in one calendar year cannot exceed $15 million and the amount is decreased to $7.5 million if the September revenue forecasts by legislative council or the office of state planning and budgeting project that state revenues will not increase by at least 4% for that fiscal year. A person or organization not subject to tax or a person or organization exempt from taxes is required to make and file a return containing information prescribed by the executive director to claim the tax credit. The workforce development tax credit program cash fund (fund) is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of gifts, grants, donations, and fee revenue credited to the fund and any money the general assembly may appropriate to the fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the office for the purpose of administering the tax credit. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $109,603 from the general fund to the office of the governor for use by economic development programs. The appropriation may be used for opportunity now grant administration. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
To improve the clarity and certainty of the statutes, the bill amends, repeals, and reconstructs various statutory provisions of law that are obsolete, imperfect, or inoperative. The specific reasons for each amendment or repeal are set forth in the appendix to the bill. The amendments made by the bill are not intended to change the meaning or intent of the statutes, as amended. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a firearms dealer (dealer), beginning July 1, 2025, to obtain a state firearms dealer permit (state permit) in order to engage in the business of dealing in firearms other than destructive devices in Colorado. Engaging in the business of dealing in firearms other than destructive devices without a permit is an unclassified felony, punishable by a fine of up to $250,000. In order to be issued a state permit, the dealer must hold a federal firearms license; not have had a federal, state, or local license to deal firearms or ammunition revoked, suspended, or denied within the prior 3 years; and not have violated any state or federal law concerning the possession, purchase, or sale of firearms in the 3 years before applying for the state permit. The department of revenue (department) is responsible for issuing state permits. The fee for issuing a permit is $400, which may be adjusted annually by the department. A state permit is valid for 3 years. The department, subject to available appropriations, is required to conduct an on-site inspection of a random selection of 10% of state permit holders each year and, additionally, may conduct periodic unannounced dealer inspections. The department shall revoke a dealer's state permit if the dealer: No longer holds a valid federal firearms license; Does not permit a required inspection of the dealer's business or a required record; or Is convicted of obtaining a firearm for or transferring a firearm to a person who is ineligible to possess a firearm, transferring a firearm prior to receiving the results of a background check, trafficking in firearms, or unlawfully selling or transferring a firearm component or accessory. If the department finds that a dealer failed to post a required notice, make a report about unlawful purchase, or make a required record; transferred a firearm without a locking device; or violated other federal, state, or local laws concerning the sale of firearms or firearm components, the department shall: For a first offense, issue a warning; and For a second offense, issue a warning, suspend the dealer's permit, or revoke the dealer's state permit. The denial or revocation of a permit is subject to the requirements of the "State Administrative Procedure Act". The act requires a dealer and each employee of a dealer who, in the course of the employee's duties, handles or otherwise has access to firearms or processes firearm sales, loans, or transfers (position that involves handling firearms) to annually complete a training course developed or approved by the department. The act requires a dealer to: Secure each firearm in a manner that prevents a customer or other member of the public from accessing or using the firearm, except when the firearm is being shown to a customer, repaired, or otherwise worked on; Report to law enforcement when the dealer knows or suspects that an employee is involved in the theft of a firearm from the dealer's business; and Report to law enforcement when the dealer reasonably believes, knows or should know, or becomes aware after a transfer, that the transfer was a straw purchase. The act prohibits a dealer from selling or transferring a firearm outside of the dealer's posted business hours or to a person who the dealer knows or suspects is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. The act prohibits a dealer from employing a person in a position that involves handling firearms who is prohibited from possessing a weapon or who has been convicted of a misdemeanor within the 5 previous years that would result in the person being denied transfer of a firearm following a criminal history record check. The act requires a dealer's employees to submit to a criminal history record check once every 3 years. If a dealer knowingly employs a person in violation of the act, including employing a person without conducting a required background check, the department shall, for a first offense, issue a warning and for a second offense, issue a warning, suspend the dealer's permit, or revoke the dealer's state permit. The act appropriates $618,973 to the department of revenue to implement the act, which includes $64,010 that is reappropriated to the department of law for legal services. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE July 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
On or before December 31, 2024, the governor's office of information technology (office) is required to promulgate rules to establish a technology life-cycle plan. The rules may consider information security risk, infrastructure risk, operating cost misalignment, productivity cost misalignment, or talent depreciation in connection with an information technology system or asset. For every initial appropriation for an information technology capital project in the capital construction section of the annual general appropriation act for the 2025-26 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year thereafter other than appropriations from specified excluded sources, the general assembly is required to set aside additional funding for information technology annual depreciation-lease equivalent payments. On or before November 1, 2025, and on or before November 1 of each year thereafter, the office is required to submit a report to the joint budget committee and the joint technology committee that provides an estimate of the state's technical debt environment. For each cash fund from which money is appropriated for an information technology capital project, the principal department responsible for the accounting related to the cash fund is required to identify in the cash fund balance report an information technology capital reserve, which consists of an amount equal to the depreciation of the depreciable components of the information technology capital project, based on the depreciation period. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires an applicant for massage therapist licensure to attain a degree, obtain a diploma, or otherwise successfully complete a massage therapy program that consists of at least 500 total hours of coursework and clinical work from an approved massage school. The act increases the coursework and clinical work minimum requirement to 650 total hours starting July 1, 2024. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act directs providers of on-demand news and information services to Coloradans who are blind or print-disabled to expand their services and increase the number of Coloradans who are blind or print-disabled who are aware of such services. The expansion of services includes providing an expanded array of information and literacy support services throughout the state, such as a variety of communication-related assistive technologies and blindness-related services; introductory training; and methods to find and use additional resources in or near communities where a person lives. Other expanded services may include information sharing, marketing of expanded services, and other methods for informing persons who are blind or print-disabled about the on-demand news and information services; support services for users to resolve technical questions; and the provision of information about communication-related assistive technologies. The state librarian is authorized to administer money in the reading services for the blind cash fund for the support of privately operated reading services. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to the department of education for use by library programs and reading services for the blind and print-disabled. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires telecommunications providers that operate in Colorado to remove, discontinue, or replace all critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes equipment from a federally banned entity. The act requires telecommunications providers to register with the division of homeland security and emergency management (division) within the department of public safety on or before January 15, 2025, and annually certify thereafter that the telecommunications provider is: Not operating critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes equipment from a federally banned entity; or Participating in the federal reimbursement program established by the federal "Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019" and is in compliance with the reimbursement program. The act requires a telecommunications provider that operates critical telecommunications infrastructure that utilizes federally banned equipment to register with the division each year until all of the federally banned equipment has been removed or replaced. The act creates the secure telecommunications cash fund for the collection of registration fees that will be used to implement the program. The act also grants the director of the division rule-making authority to implement the requirements of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act amends the Colorado oral health community grants program administered by the department of public health and environment (department) to award grants for the implementation of oral health screening in public schools through the oral health screening pilot program (pilot program) created in the act. The purpose of the pilot program is to provide oral health screening to students in kindergarten and third grade at a minimum of 5 pilot program sites at school districts or schools of a school district, charter schools, institute charter schools, or boards of cooperative services (local education providers) to demonstrate the effectiveness of oral health screening in kindergarten and third grade in reducing dental decay, the costs of providing oral health screening to students, and best practices for providing oral health screening that could be scaled statewide. The department shall award at least 5 oral health screening grants to oral health screeners to conduct oral health screening activities in schools of local education providers. In selecting screening locations, the department shall select locations that represent a variety of school settings, including large and small local education providers in urban, rural, and frontier areas of the state, with priority given to schools with students who are likely to experience higher rates of undetected oral health concerns. The act includes requirements for the pilot program regarding: Qualifications for participating oral health screeners; The oral health screening; The selection by the department of an oral health screening tool; Notice to parents and legal guardians (parents), including the ability of parents to refuse oral health screening for their children; Reporting to parents about the outcome of the oral health screening and information and referral if dental concerns are identified for a student; and The protection of confidential health data. After completing oral health screening at a pilot program site during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, no later than July 31, 2025, and July 31, 2026, respectively, a participating oral health screener shall provide data and information to the department for purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program, including the number of students screened and oral health concerns identified, as well as other relevant data and information as determined by the department. On or before December 1, 2027, the department of education shall develop a plan for implementation of oral health screening in kindergarten and third grade in all public schools. No later than January 15, 2027, the department shall submit a report of the findings concerning the pilot program and its plan for implementation of oral health screening in all public schools to the health and human services and education committees of the house of representatives and of the senate, or their successor committees, and the department of education. The pilot program repeals July 1, 2031, after the screening and reporting on the pilot program is completed. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $84,425 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the prevention services division to implement the pilot program. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act clarifies existing definitions in the "Protections for Public Workers Act", including the definitions of "employee organization" and "public employee", and applies the clarified definitions in describing public employees' right to engage in"protected, concerted activity for the purpose of mutual aid or protection". The act also modifies the scope and applicability of a public employer's authority to limit the protected rights of its employees to the extent necessary to avoid material disruption of a public employee's duties, the employer's operations, or the delivery of public services. The act specifies that disagreement with the content of an employee's expressive activity or a strike by employees is not material disruption. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits the state, when communicating with or reaching an agreement with a state employee about a workers' compensation claim, from suggesting or requiring that: The state employee resign from state employment or refrain from seeking or obtaining employment with the state in the future; or Any other restrictions be placed on the state employee's ability to work for the state. The act voids any provision of a contract that restricts a state employee's ability to work for the state in violation of these prohibitions. If the state elects to self-insure workers' compensation claims, the act requires the department of personnel to send a request for interest to Pinnacol Assurance and at least 5 other insurance companies that provide workers' compensation insurance in Colorado. The requests for interest must be sent in 2026 and at least once every 3 years thereafter. Each request for interest must request the following information from each responding insurance company for the following calendar year: An estimate of the total cost to the state to purchase workers' compensation insurance; The company's ability to provide workers' compensation insurance that would cover all state employees; and A detailed description of the workers' compensation coverage that the company would provide. For each request for interest obtained, the department of personnel shall prepare and submit a report to the general assembly specifying: The name of the responding insurance company, unless the department received only one response, in which case the name of the sole responding insurance company is redacted from the report; The total cost estimated by the responding insurance company to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage to the state; Whether purchasing workers' compensation insurance from the responding insurance company would require the state to contract with a third-party administrator, and what the additional cost to the state would be, if any; A detailed description of the workers' compensation coverage that the responding insurance company would provide; The costs associated with the self-insurance selected by the state for the current calendar year; and Whether the state's costs related to self-insurance of workers' compensation claims increased or decreased compared to the previous calendar year. The act requires that the first report to the general assembly must specify, over the previous 3 years, to which insurance companies the state sent requests for interest, the total number of insurance companies that responded to the requests, and the estimated cost reported in each received response, if any. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
With the passage of Senate Bill 23-167, concerning the regulation of certified midwives by the state board of nursing, an additional member will be added to the state board of nursing (board) on July 1, 2024, bringing the total number of members of the board to 12. Senate Bill 23-167, however, did not include a conforming amendment to a statute that refers to the size of the board. The act eliminates the inaccurate reference to the number of members on the board. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
