Rep. Barbara McLachlan

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.)

The act requires the department of early childhood (department) to provide education and information in plain language and in prevalent languages to help individuals complete the paperwork required to meet child care licensing compliance requirements. Prevalent languages is defined as the 2 most prevalent languages spoken in Colorado. The department is required to provide services in prevalent languages to individuals seeking to open or otherwise participate in the operation of an early childhood program or facility licensed by the department. The act creates the bilingual licensing unit in the department to help the department satisfy its duties to provide education, information, and services in prevalent languages and requires the general assembly to appropriate $235,000 from the general fund to the department for the 2024-25 state fiscal year and for each state fiscal year thereafter to pay the costs of the bilingual licensing unit's activities. The act also requires the general assembly to appropriate $45,000 from the general fund to the department for the 2024-25 state fiscal year to pay costs associated with updating the department's mobile licensing application. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act includes outdoor nature-based preschool programs (outdoor programs) as a type of licensed child care center (center) in the department of early childhood (department) for licensing-related matters. No later than December 31, 2025, the executive director of the department shall promulgate rules for centers operating as outdoor programs. The rules must include, but are not limited to: Land-use agreement requirements for outdoor programs operating on public or private land; Policies for site-specific alternative shelter plans; Policies for site-specific risk mitigation plans; Policies for site-specific emergency and disaster preparedness plans; Policies for site-specific evacuation plans; and Policies and procedures for outdoor programs to opt out of certain department requirements through the site-specific risk mitigation plan. The act requires the department to provide training to licensing staff who oversee outdoor program site inspections and, beginning December 1, 2026, to outdoor program operators and staff. The department shall collaborate with local fire departments on fire prevention and protection requirements for outdoor programs and with the department of public health and environment on sanitary standards for outdoor programs. The act requires the general assembly to appropriate $30,000 from the child care licensing cash fund to the department for the 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27 fiscal years to implement the outdoor programs. The act appropriates $179,569 to the department for purposes of licensing outdoor programs. The appropriation consists of $149,569 from the general fund and $30,000 from the cash fund. The act appropriates $35,341 to the department of public health and environmentfor environmental health programs related to outdoor program licensure. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act expands the America 250 - Colorado 150 commission (commission) from 15 to 21 voting members by adding the following members to be appointed by the governor: 2 members representing Indigenous communities who are members of a federally recognized tribe with historic ties to Colorado that is not the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe or the Southern Ute Indian Tribe; One member who is an expert in disability history or is working for a disability rights organization; One member representing military and veterans affairs; and 2 at-large members. The act also directs the commission and history Colorado to hold any gifts, grants, or donations in the America 250 - Colorado 150 cash fund (cash fund), transfers $250,000 from the general fund to the cash fund, and modifies the cash fund so that all money therein may be used to support the following duties of the commission: Giving grants to communities across the state to provide local opportunities related to commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood; and Developing and promoting plans for statewide recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood between July 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026, including: Historical activities; The creation and publication of historical documents; Cooperation with agencies responsible for the preservation or restoration of historic sites, buildings, art, and artifacts; Educational opportunities for Colorado youth to understand their historic roots in the United States and Colorado; The promotion of scholarship and research that illuminates the history of the American west and Colorado within the larger story of the United States; The arrangement of appropriate public ceremonies; and Commemorative events, supported by a comprehensive marketing and tourism campaign. APPROVED by Governor June 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 6, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Effective July 1, 2026, the act increases the minimum compensation for a district attorney to match the compensation of a full-time district court judge. Effective July 1, 2026, the act requires the minimum compensation of an assistant district attorney to match the compensation of a full-time county court judge and requires the state to pay 50% of the minimum amount of an assistant district attorney's compensation. The district attorney, with the approval of the board or boards of county commissioners of the county or counties comprising the judicial district or with the approval of the city council of a city and county affected, may set an amount in excess of the minimum requirement. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires health benefit plans to provide coverage for doula services in the same scope and duration of coverage for doula services that will be included in the department of health care policy and financing's request for federal authorization of doula services (request) under the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act" (medical assistance program). Doulas providing services must meet the same qualifications for and submit to the same regulation as individuals providing doula services as recommended under the medical assistance program. Coverage for doula services will be implemented for large employer health benefit plans issued or renewed in this state on and after July 1, 2025, or 12 months after submission of the request, whichever is later. For small group and individual plans, doula services will be implemented if the division of insurance and the federal department of health and human services determine that the benefit does not require state defrayal of the cost of the benefit or the division of insurance determines defrayal is not required and the federal department fails to respond to the division's request for confirmation of the determination within 365 days after the request is made. The act authorizes the department of public health and environment (department) to partner with the designated state perinatal care quality collaborative (perinatal quality collaborative) to track the statewide implementation of the recommendations of the Colorado maternal mortality review committee, implement perinatal health quality improvement programs with hospitals that provide labor and delivery or neonatal care services (hospital) to improve infant and maternal health outcomes, and address disparate care outcomes among certain populations and of those living in frontier areas of the state. No later than July 1, 2025, and no later than July 1 each year thereafter, the act requires hospitals to submit specified data to the perinatal quality collaborative concerning disparities in perinatal health care and health-care outcomes and beginning December 15, 2025, to annually participate in at least one maternal or infant health quality improvement initiative (initiative), as determined by the hospitals. The act authorizes financial support for hospitals in rural and frontier areas of the state, hospitals that serve a higher number of medical assistance patients or uninsured patients, and hospitals with lower-acuity maternal or neonatal levels of care. The act requires the department to contract with the perinatal quality collaborative to issue an annual report, no later than July 1, 2026, and no later than July 1 each year thereafter, on clinical quality improvements in maternal and infant health outcomes and related data, as well as other information that can be shared with hospitals and health facilities, policymakers, and others and posted on the internet. The act includes protections for the confidentiality of certain data collected or shared under the act. No later than July 1, 2025, the act requires the medical services board to promulgate rules to include coverage under the medical assistance program of over-the-counter choline dietary supplements for pregnant people and to seek federal approval for the coverage if necessary. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $1,328,652 is appropriated from the general fund to the department, for use by the prevention services division, with the assumption that the division will require 0.9 FTE, to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of education (department) to develop, review, and update state assessment administration and security policies (policies) for home-based, virtual administration of computer-based state assessments (assessments) for students enrolled full time in online schools or online programs. The policies must include, but are not limited to: Testing personnel qualifications; Maximum ratio of students to virtual administrator; Tester verification; Remote setting requirements, including restriction to other devices or people with or without internet capabilities; Monitoring of the test-taker and testing environment; Device and network requirements; Parental consent agreements; and Eligibility for schools to conduct assessments. The department's policies must support the collection of evidence and evaluation of assessment results in order to administer assessments in the 2024-25 school year, with the expectation of full implementation of assessments no later than the 2025-26 school year that result in valid scores. To establish the validity of assessments in the 2024-25 school year, the department shall conduct validation activities, gather data, and evaluate the comparability of home-based, virtual state assessments and school-based, in-person administered state assessments. To encourage student and educator participation in validation activities, the department may provide incentives. The act appropriates $440,000 to the department from the state education fund to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes technical changes to the procurement code (code), including: Correcting a cross-reference to the definition of information technology; Updating the definition of solicitation to refer to "an electronic procurement system" instead of "an electronic bidding system" to remain consistent with other provisions of the code; Updating the statute authorizing delegation of the executive director of the department of personnel's purchasing authority to use the term "governmental body", as defined in the code; Clarifying the method of compiling and soliciting from lists of potential contractors; Updating references to the United States department of veterans affairs to align with current federal and state practices; and Changing "public procurement unit" to "local public procurement unit" in a list in the cooperative purchasing statute that already includes a "public procurement unit". APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act authorizes a school district, board of cooperative services, district charter high school, institute charter high school, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind (local education provider) to grant a high school diploma endorsement in climate literacy (seal of climate literacy) to graduating students who demonstrate mastery in climate literacy and attain green skills or technical green skills. The purpose of the seal of climate literacy is to give a student personal agency to help the student and the student's communities understand or adapt to the effects of climate change. To obtain a seal of climate literacy, a student must complete the minimum high school graduation requirements of the local education provider, successfully complete at least 2 courses in the area of climate literacy selected by the local education provider, and successfully complete a final experiential learning project (final project) that is approved, supported, and facilitated by a climate literacy experiential learning provider (learning provider). The local education provider may collaborate with local businesses, nonprofit organizations, industry leaders, and institutions of higher education to support students' climate literacy. Beginning with students in the sixth grade, each local education provider shall annually notify students and their legal guardians of the requirements for obtaining a seal of climate literacy. On or before July 1, 2025, and every July 1 thereafter, each local education provider shall collect data on the seal of climate literacy, including: The schools that awarded the seal of climate literacy; The number of students who received the seal of climate literacy; The types of final projects students have completed; The names of the learning providers who approve, support, and facilitate students' final projects; A list of academic courses students have completed to earn the seal of climate literacy; and Any other findings related to the seal of climate literacy. On or before October 1, 2025, and every October 1 thereafter, each local education provider shall submit a report to the department of education (department) summarizing the data collected. The department may collaborate with a nonprofit organization to evaluate the data collected and prepare a report summarizing the data. On or before January 15, 2026, and every January 15 thereafter, the department shall submit the report to the house of representatives education committee and the senate education committee, or their successor committees, and the state board of education. The act appropriates $18,749 to the department from the general fund for purposes of the seal of climate literacy. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act: Increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2024-25 budget year by $419.97 to account for inflation and sets the new statewide base per pupil funding amount of $8,496.38 for the 2024-25 budget year; and Sets the total program funding for the 2024-25 budget year for all school districts and institute charter schools to not less than $9,735,767,429. The act repeals the total program reserve fund (fund) on July 1, 2025. The act clarifies that for the 2025-26 budget year, and each budget year thereafter, revenue collected from mills that had previously been deposited in the fund by a school district are available to the school district to fund the costs of providing public education. The money is budgeted and expended in the school district's discretion. The act adds rural funding to the district's total program formula to provide additional funding to small rural districts or large rural districts, as defined in the act. The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $15,715,539 from the state education fund to the mill levy override match fund. Current law requires a new at-risk measure in the public school funding formula to be implemented in the 2024-25 budget year. The act extends the implementation of this requirement to the 2025-26 budget year. For the 2024-25 budget year, a school district's at-risk funding is the greater of the school district's at-risk funding amount for the 2023-24 budget year or the 2024-25 budget year. Current law requires a qualified third-party evaluator (evaluator) who facilitates a facility school work group (work group) to submit a report to the work group and the office of facility schools by September 1, 2025. The department of education (department) is required to submit the evaluator's report to the joint budget committee by October 1, 2025. The act extends the report deadlines to September 1, 2026, and October 1, 2026, respectively. To be considered for a special education high-cost grant, current law requires the consideration of an administrative unit's annual audited operating expenses for the preceding budget year. The act allows an administrative unit's annual audited operating expenses for one year prior to the preceding budget year to be considered if the annual audited operating expenses for the most recent preceding budget year are not available. Current law requires a school district to receive the daily rate for education services provided by approved facility schools for a juvenile who is held in a jail or facility and receives at least 4 hours of educational services per week from the school district. The act changes the daily rate to the rate for educational services provided by the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind or the education program operated by the Colorado mental health institute at Pueblo or Fort Logan. The act increases the cap on how much can be spent on administration for the ninth-grade success grant program from 5% to 8%. The act clarifies that a student with disabilities (student) who receives transition services and has postsecondary goals outlined in the student's individualized education program is eligible for concurrent enrollment courses. The act allows the educator licensure cash fund to be exempt from the limitations on the amount of uncommited reserves that may be maintained in a cash fund. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $32,878,255 is appropriated to the department from the state education fund to implement the act. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $15,715,539 is appropriated to the department from the mill levy override match fund for mill levy override matching. APPROVED by Governor May 23, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 23, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)