The bill creates the nonessential small business pandemic grant program (program). The program compensates nonessential small businesses for up to 50% of revenue that was lost due to an order or rule issued to address the COVID-19 pandemic that lowered the business's revenues. In connection with creating the program, the bill authorizes small businesses to apply for and use the grant money for any reasonable business expense that helps the small businesses to remain solvent. The office of economic development (office) administers the program and the director of the office is authorized to promulgate rules. The office will consult with the Colorado economic development commission. The rules must: Specify the time frames for applying for grants and distributing grant money; Establish the application form and information needed to apply; Specify the qualifications to be awarded a grant; and Establish accounting categories for operating a small business and within which the grants are required to be spent. A small business needs to follow the application process and be qualified to receive a grant. A small business qualifies for a grant under this section if the small business: Has not declared the type of bankruptcy that results in liquidation of the business; Has been ordered to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic within the 90 days before the application is submitted; Has lost revenue because of economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The office must distribute the grant money within 30 days after awarding the grants. The office may use an agent from within or outside state government to administer all or a portion of the program. A grant recipient must submit a report from 60 to 90 days after receiving a grant with the following information: The date the grant was received; The total amount of the grant and the total amount of the grant money spent to date; and Each accounting category within which the grant was spent and the amounts spent within each accounting category. If the first report submitted by the small business does not cover all expenditures, another report is required. By January 1, 2022, the office must submit a summarized report about the program to the business, labor, and technology committee of the senate, the business affairs and labor committee of the house of representatives, and the governor. The program is funded by an appropriation and repeals September 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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The act removes the requirement that a state assessment in social studies be administered to high school students. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill directs the state board of education (state board) to review, during the first review of standards performed after July 1, 2021, standards relating to the knowledge and skills that a student should acquire in school to ensure that the financial literacy standards for ninth through twelfth grade include an understanding of the costs associated with obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential and how to budget for and manage the payment for those costs, including managing student loan debt; understanding credit cards and credit card debt; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits. The bill adds to the resources contained in the existing financial literacy resource bank created and maintained by the state board specific references relating to assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt; understanding credit cards and credit card debt; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits. Under current law, school districts are encouraged to adopt a financial literacy curriculum and to make completion of a course in financial literacy a graduation requirement. The bill adds assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt, to the suggested financial literacy curriculum, as well as familiarizing students with the process and required forms to apply for financial aid, grants, and scholarships. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
The bill prohibits the department of health care policy and financing (department) from denying a medicaid recipient the right to purchase direct primary care services or enter into a direct primary care agreement. On or before July 1, 2025, the department shall submit a report to the joint budget committee on whether allowing medicaid recipients to purchase direct primary care services or enter into a direct primary care agreement resulted in any direct or indirect cost-savings to the state and federal medicaid programs and whether there has been an increase or decrease in overall access to care for medicaid recipients.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Current law allows the director of the oil and gas conservation commission to delay the final determination regarding an oil and gas permit application pursuant to specified objective criteria. The bill repeals this authority and specifies that if a local government that has so-called "House Bill 1041 authority" approves an oil and gas application, the commission or director shall approve the application for a permit to drill.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Under current law, employers with 50 or fewer employees who self-insure can purchase stop-loss insurance to cover the cost of employee health benefits exceeding $20,000 per employee per year. However, insurers are prohibited from issuing stop-loss policies with an attachment point below $20,000. The bill lowers this minimum to $10,000 per employee per year. The bill also makes a corresponding change in the minimum retention amount for larger employers, from $15,000 to $10,000.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill specifies that a local government that bans hydraulic fracturing of an oil and gas well is liable to the mineral interest owner for the value of the mineral interest and that a local government that enacts a moratorium on oil and gas activities shall compensate oil and gas operators, mineral lessees, and royalty owners for all costs, damages, and losses of fair market value associated with the moratorium.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Income tax credit - health care preceptors working in health care professional shortage areas - definition of "preceptorship" - continuation under the sunset law. The act makes the following modifications to the existing income tax credit for health care preceptors working in health care professional shortage areas: Clarifies the definition of "preceptorship" to specify that the period of time for which the period of personalized instruction, training, and supervision must be provided to be eligible to claim the tax credit is not less than 4 working weeks or 20 business days per calendar year; and Extends the existing sunset date under which the tax credit would expire to tax years commencing prior to January 1, 2023.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Currently, "United States Mountain Standard Time" (MST) is the standard time within Colorado, except during the period of daylight saving time (i.e., the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November) when time is advanced one hour. The bill exempts the state from observing daylight saving time, making MST the standard time year-round. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
In 1999, the voters of the state authorized the executive director of the department of transportation (executive director) to issue transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) in a maximum principal amount of $1.7 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $2.3 billion in order to provide financing to accelerate the construction of qualified federal aid transportation projects. The executive director issued the TRANs as authorized, and the TRANs have been fully repaid. In 2017, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 17-267 (SB 267), which requires the state to enter into a total of $1.88 billion of lease-purchase agreements and to use the proceeds of the lease-purchase agreements to fund transportation projects and specifically requires the state to enter into $380 million of the lease-purchase agreements in the 2018-19 state fiscal year and $500 million of such agreements in each of the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 state fiscal years. Section 3 of the bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $500 million from the general fund to the state highway fund on June 30, 2019, and to transfer $250 million from the general fund to the state highway fund annually on June 30 of state fiscal years 2019-20 though 2038-39. Section 4 repeals the requirement that the state enter into $500 million of lease-purchase agreements in each of the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 state fiscal years but takes effect only if, as specified in section 12 , the voters of the state approve a ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANS and that is either initiated and voted on at the 2018 general election or referred to the voters as specified in section 10 at the 2019 statewide election. Section 5 restricts the authority of the department of transportation (CDOT) and any enterprise of CDOT, such as the high-performance transportation enterprise, to construct or designate or enter into a public-private partnership to construct or designate a managed lane, which is defined as a toll lane, high-occupancy tool lane, or high-occupancy vehicle lane on any state highway. Section 6 requires CDOT to expend the $500 million transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 only for new highway construction projects and further specifies that: If the voters of the state approve an initiated ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs at the November 2018 general election, CDOT shall expend the $250 million annually transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 first, to the extent needed, for maintenance of the transportation infrastructure projects financed by the TRANs and thereafter exclusively for maintenance of the state highway system; and If the voters of the state approve a ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs that is referred pursuant to section 10 at the November 2019 general election, CDOT shall expend the $250 million annually transferred from the general fund to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 first, to the extent needed, to make the full amount of payments due on the TRANs and thereafter exclusively for maintenance of the state highway system. Section 7 expresses the intent of the general assembly that CDOT strongly consider, when choosing between a standard low bid process or a design-build process for the procurement of a project contract, whether the use of the design-build process is likely to reduce competition and increase project costs. Section 8 requires CDOT to include specified information about the general fund money transferred to the state highway fund pursuant to section 3 and the proceeds of SB 267 lease-purchase agreements in its annual report to the transportation committee of the senate and the transportation and energy committee of the house of representatives. Section 9 is nonsubstantive and changes the previously defined term 'revenue anticipation notes' to 'transportation revenue anticipation notes' to reflect the use of the latter term throughout the bill. If no citizen-initiated ballot measure that authorizes the state to issue TRANs is approved by the voters of the state at the November 2018 general election, section 10 requires the submission of a ballot measure seeking voter approval for the state to issue TRANs in an amount of $3.5 billion with a maximum repayment cost of $5 billion at the November 2019 statewide election. Any TRANs issued following approval of the ballot measure must have a maximum repayment term of 20 years, the certificate, trust indenture, or other instrument authorizing their issuance must provide that the state may pay the TRANs in full before the end of the specified payment term without penalty, and the transportation commission must pledge to annually allocate from legally available money under its control any money needed for payment of the notes until the notes are fully repaid. Section 11 requires TRANs proceeds not otherwise pledged for TRANs payments to be credited to the state highway fund and expended by CDOT only for qualified federal aid transportation projects that are included in CDOT's strategic transportation project investment program and designated for tier 1 funding as 10-year development program projects on CDOT's development program project list. At least 25% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for projects in counties with populations of 50,000 or less and at least 10% of the TRANs net proceeds must be used for transit purposes or transit-related capital improvements.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More