With exceptions, school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, and boards of cooperative services that operate one or more public schools (local education provider), are required to provide free menstrual products: In at least 25% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2025; In at least 50% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2026; and In at least 75% of applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings by June 30, 2025. By June 30, 2028, all local education providers, the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, and approved facility schools are required to provide free menstrual products to students in all applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings. The act provides exceptions for applicable school buildings that do not have a gender-neutral bathroom, for applicable school buildings that provide educational services only to students who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade 6, and if the local education provider, Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, or approved facility school is experiencing vandalism or destruction of property because of complying with the act. The act expands eligibility for the menstrual hygiene products accessibility grant program (grant program) to make rural school districts, small rural school districts, or charter schools within these districts eligible for a grant award. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $100,000 to the department of education (department) for the grant program. The act allows the department to retain up to 10% of the appropriation on actual administrative costs for the grant program and allows grant awards to be used to acquire a dispensing machine or disposal receptacle for menstrual hygiene products. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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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 imposes the following duties on each large hub airport (airport), as defined by federal law, in Colorado for accessibility-related functions at the airports: To establish an advisory committee for the cross-disabled community; To consult with the disabled community and confer with the advisory committee during the construction of walkways and other facilities at the airport; To incorporate wayfinding technology to assist individuals who are blind or visually impaired to navigate the airport; To create, maintain, and update an electronic dashboard to report and track basic access shortcomings and violations throughout the travel process; To develop and provide ongoing, comprehensive training programs for airport staff on disability cultural competency, including the presence of, use of, and best practices related to mobility devices, medical equipment, adaptive sports equipment, wayfinding, and access to the airport's accessibility features and amenities; To install and maintain restrooms for individuals with disabilities that include companion care changing tables, including at least one accessible public restroom in every terminal; and To use elevators to transport power wheelchairs from the tarmac to the jetway and give priority usage of an elevator to power wheelchairs and other mobility devices. Each airport shall monitor the completion and ongoing upkeep of compliance with the duties and functions according to the timelines established in the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law prohibits the use of restraints on a pregnant individual in custody with certain exceptions. The act requires the staff of a jail, the department of corrections, or a private contract prison to comply with current law regarding the use of restraints on individuals who are in custody and experiencing labor, delivery, or postpartum recovery. The act also requires a correctional facility or private contract prison to develop administrative policies, including a system for human milk storage, to ensure a newborn can receive the milk that the newborn's postpartum parent has pumped for the newborn's nourishment. The act requires each health-care facility that provides labor and delivery services to establish a policy creating a process for the facility to receive individuals who are pregnant, undergoing physiologic birth, or in the physiologic postpartum process from locations other than licensed facilities. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2024 general election for approval of a 6.5% excise tax on the net taxable sales of firearm dealers, firearms manufacturers, and ammunition vendors (vendors) from the retail sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition in Colorado. The ballot issue allows the state to keep and spend all new excise tax revenue, as a voter-approved revenue change, and specifies that the revenue, estimated at $39 million in the first fiscal year, will be used to fund mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes. If voters approve the ballot issue, then the state will have the authority to impose the excise tax and the rest of the act will become effective, except that the extension of the school security disbursement program cash fund, like the provision requiring submission of the ballot issue, is effective upon passage of the act. Beginning on April 1, 2025, the act requires every vendor to file a return and remit the excise tax due on the vendor's net taxable sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts, or ammunition in the state on a monthly basis, except that a vendor making $20,000 or less in such retail sales in a previous calendar year is not required to pay the tax unless and until the vendor's retails sales exceed $20,000 in a calendar year. Sales to peace officers, law enforcement agencies, and active duty military personnel are exempt from the tax and, thus, not counted as part of a vendor's net taxable sales subject to the tax. Th act also imposes a registration requirement, making it unlawful for any person to engage in the business of a firearms dealer, firearms manufacturer, or an ammunition vendor in the state without first having registered as a vendor with the executive director of the department of revenue (executive director) on a form prescribed by the executive director. Making sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts, or ammunition without first registering with the executive director is a petty criminal offense and may also be punished by civil penalties. A vendor must file a separate registration for each of the vendor's places of business in the state, and all registrations must be renewed every 2 years. The executive director may revoke a vendor's registration, after reasonable notice and a hearing, upon a finding that the vendor has violated a provision of the excise tax statutory scheme, including by failing to file a return, remit the proper amount of tax, or preserve or allow inspection of specified books and records. A vendor's false or fraudulent return or statement or willful evasion of the excise tax is punishable by criminal penalties. All money received and collected in payment of the excise tax will be deposited, first, in the firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund (fund) created in the act and then transferred as follows: The first $30 million in the first fiscal year and that amount as adjusted for inflation or deflation in each fiscal year thereafter to the Colorado crime victim services fund in the division of criminal justice of the department of public safety for grants to enhance or provide services for crime victims or to support crime prevention; The next $8 million in each fiscal year to the behavioral and mental health cash fund, of which $5 million must be used by the behavioral health administration (BHA), in coordination with the division of veterans affairs, to continue and expand the veterans mental health services program, while the other $3 million must be used by the BHA to continue and expand access to behavioral health crisis response system services for children and youth; and The next $1 million in each fiscal year to the school security disbursement program cash fund to fund the school security disbursement program. Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the department of revenue may expend money from the fund for direct and indirect costs associated with implementing and administering the excise tax. Additionally, on June 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, the state treasurer shall transfer from the fund to the general fund an amount of money equal to the amount of money used, if any, in the state fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 from the general fund to pay the costs of implementing and administering the excise tax. The act also makes technical changes to the behavioral and mental health cash fund and related program statutes and to the administration provisions of title 39 regarding the executive director's authority to implement and administer the excise tax. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $383,027 is appropriated to the department of revenue, of which $172,827 is reappropriated to the department of law for the purchase of legal services, for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE June 5, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE on the date of the official declaration by the governor NOTE: This act takes effect only if, at the November 2024 statewide election, a majority of voters approve the ballot issue referred in accordance with section 39-37-201, Colorado Revised Statutes, created in section 1 of this act. If the voters approve the ballot issue, thenthis act takes effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor; except that section 39-37-201, Colorado Revised Statutes, created in section 1 of this act, and section 24-33.5-1811, Colorado Revised Statutes, amended in section 3 of this act, take effect upon passage. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the Colorado state advisory council for parent involvement in education (advisory council) until September 1, 2030. Prior to its repeal, the department of regulatory agencies will conduct a sunset review of the advisory council. The act adds a department of early childhood representative to serve on the advisory council. The act requires the advisory committee to: Advise educator preparation programs about best practices for including research-based family engagement strategies in coursework and program requirements; and Provide feedback to state agencies and other organizations about publicly available tools and resources that assist families with navigating the education system. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $33,364 from the general fund to the department of education for use by school quality and support. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act: Requires the Colorado civil rights commission to establish certain parameters when receiving reports for maternity care; Adds a midwife to the environmental justice advisory board and the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee and adds midwifery as a preferred area of expertise for members of the health equity commission; and Requires a health facility that provides maternal health-care services to notify certain individuals at least 90 days before eliminating the services. The act also allows the department of public health and environment (department) to contract with a third-party evaluator to complete the following tasks and make appropriate recommendations: Study closures, consolidations, and acquisitions related to perinatal health-care practices and facilities and perinatal state-designated health professional shortage areas and assets and deficits related to perinatal health and health-care services across the state, not limited to obstetric providers; Identify major outcome categories that the department should track over time and identify risks and opportunities; Explore the effects of practice and facility closures (closures) on maternal and infant health outcomes and experiences; Identify recommendations and best practice guidelines during closures and resultant transfers of care; and Create a health professional shortage area and perinatal health services assets and deficits map. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law establishes a schedule of filing fees for litigants in civil actions in county courts. The act eliminates the fee for a defendant filing an answer in an eviction proceeding. Current law permits a party to submit and a county court to grant a motion to waive filing fees in a residential eviction action. The act removes the process for securing a waiver of these filing fees. Current law prohibits a county court from assessing fees when indigent parties e-file motions, answers, or documents in connection with evictions. The act removes the reference to indigent parties and instead prohibits a county court from charging defendants fees for filing motions, answers, or other documents in evictions. If a pro se defendant files an answer or other document physically instead of electronically, the act requires a county court, on a defendant's behalf, to timely serve the document on a plaintiff. The act prohibits the court from charging a fee related to the service. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $122,743 to the judicial department from the general fund. The judicial department may use $3,623 for general courts administration and $119,120 for information technology infrastructure. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 1, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 2020, the general assembly enacted the "CROWN Act of 2020", which specified that, for purposes of anti-discrimination laws in the context of public education, employment and housing practices, public accommodations, and advertising, discrimination on the basis of one's race includes discrimination on the basis of traits commonly or historically associated with race, such as hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles. The act adds hair length that is commonly or historically associated with race to the list of traits associated with one's race. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Arie P. Taylor sickle cell disease outreach program (outreach program) in the department of public health and environment (department). To implement the outreach program, the act requires the department to contract with one or more community-based nonprofit organizations (outreach organizations) to provide outreach and support services in the community to individuals living with sickle cell disease and their families. The department is required to solicit applicants and administer the outreach program. On or before January 1, 2025, the department is required to contract with one or more outreach organizations to implement the outreach program and to give priority to outreach organizations with experience in providing services and support to the sickle cell community and that meet other criteria in the act. The outreach program may include informal counseling and health guidance, direction and support to individuals and their families in locating and accessing services in the community, outreach concerning activities and programs available to individuals and families living with sickle cell disease, peer support and referrals, advocacy regarding the interests of the sickle cell disease community, referrals for screening, and other services and support identified by the department. The department is required to approve the services provided through a contract and may consult with the university of Colorado school of medicine's sickle-cell anemia treatment and research center to identify needed services and supports. Prior to the expiration of a contract, the outreach organization is required to prepare and submit a written report to the department describing the impact of the outreach program provided under the contract, and the department shall provide the report to the legislative health and human services committees or their successor committees. The act repeals the outreach program, effective July 1, 2030. The act appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to the department to implement the outreach program. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)