Sen. Julie Gonzales

Under existing law, an individual licensed, certified, registered, or enrolled in good standing to practice a particular profession or occupation in another state or United States territory or through the federal government is eligible to apply for and receive a license, certification, registration, or enrollment in that profession or occupation in Colorado (accreditation) if the individual meets specific criteria. The act adds an individual licensed, certified, registered, or enrolled in good standing to practice a particular profession or occupation in another country to those individuals eligible for accreditation if the individual meets specific criteria.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the department of health care policy and financing, in coordination with the department of human services and the department of early childhood (state departments), to contract with a single county department of human or social services to administer a centralized member integrity service to conduct fraud investigations concerning eligibility for medicaid, the children's basic health plan, the supplemental nutrition assistance program, the Colorado child care assistance program, temporary assistance for needy families, and adult financial programs (public assistance programs), and benefit overpayments. The act creates the centralized member integrity service cash fund consisting of money recouped from member fraud investigations. The centralized member integrity service must be operational and utilized on July 1, 2027.     On or before February 1, 2027, the act requires the state departments to establish aligned requirements for county departments of human or social services (county departments) to comply with through a performance-based contract established between the state departments and each county department. Prior to February 1, 2027, the state departments shall draft templates of the performance-based contract with the county departments for review and comment. On or before July 1, 2027, the state departments shall enter into a performance-based contract with each county department. The performance-based contract must establish requirements for the state departments and county departments to comply with in administering public assistance programs and establish corrective action protocols that are consistently utilized by the state departments.     On or before September 1, 2026, the act requires the state departments to work together, and in consultation with the county departments, to establish a continuous quality improvement process to review data reported to the state departments by the county departments. The state departments must annually submit a report to the joint budget committee that includes an update on the continuous quality improvement process and data on the impact of the continuous quality improvement process.     Beginning January 2027, and monthly thereafter, the state departments must establish a single, shared online dashboard used to publish county-level and statewide performance data for the public assistance programs on a monthly basis. This data must be published on each of the state department's website's in a publicly accessible format.     Beginning July 1, 2028, the state departments must oversee a streamlined public benefits delivery model that consists of up to 12 cohorts of counties in the state that will coordinate public assistance program eligibility and distribute case processing work. The state departments shall enter into performance-based contracts with each cohort for administering a new public benefits delivery model to ensure public assistance programs are administered consistently and uniformly across the state.     On or before July 1, 2026, the state departments must contract with a third-party contractor to help the state departments and county departments develop and implement a plan for transitioning to the new public benefits delivery model. The act establishes an implementation work group comprised of representatives of counties, the governor's office, the state departments, and nongovernmental organizations, to work with the third-party contractor to develop and implement the transition plan. The transition plan must be delivered to the joint budget committee by January 1, 2027.     The act establishes the state cross-departmental policy alignment team to align the policies of the public assistance programs to improve service delivery and outcomes for recipients of public assistance benefits.     The act makes a household eligible for fuel assistance payments if the household has not received low-income energy assistance program assistance in the previous 12 months and if it is eligible for the standard utility allowance under federal law.     The act requires the department of health care policy and financing to certify to the department of revenue information regarding persons who are obligated to the state for overpayment of medicaid benefits and sets forth the process for distributing money withheld from a person's tax refund owed for overpayment of benefits.     To implement the act, it includes appropriations from the general fund and various cash funds to the department of health care policy and financing, the department of human services, and the department of early childhood. The act appropriates money to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology and to the department of law from reappropriated money received by other departments. The act decreases the appropriation from the federal child care development funds made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2026-27 state fiscal year to the department of early childhood for intrastate child care assistance program redistribution by $222,598.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the access to opportunity task force (task force) to study and report on how to expand access to effective public schools to address opportunity gaps.     The act requires the task force to report its findings and recommendations to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, the governor, the state board of education, the commissioner of education, and the department of education on or before January 1, 2027. If the first meeting of the task force is not until after July 31, 2026, then the report deadline is 5 months after the task force's first meeting.     The act specifies that the task force will only conduct a study and prepare a report if the department of education receives sufficient gifts, grants, and donations.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the nonemergency medical transportation broker (broker) to establish the transportation community advisory board (TCAB) and requires the state department of health care policy and financing (state department) to collaborate with the TCAB prior to establishing rules and processes for the safety and oversight of nonmedical transportation services and nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT) services.     The act requires, in collaboration with the TCAB, certain rules for NEMT the state department must adopt. The state department may impose trip caps or market-share restrictions on a transportation provider (provider) as part of corrective action plan. The act requires providers to use vehicles equipped with 2-way video cameras and a video recording system when transporting members.     The act establishes how the broker must roll out their implementation and requires the broker to provide all providers with software, a communication toolkit, training, and technical assistance to facilitate NEMT services. The broker may encourage medicaid members (members) to book transportation services at least 2 days before their requested transportation date, and the broker shall accept and make reasonable efforts to fulfill same-day and next-day transportation requests. The act requires providers, only after all service regions have been implemented, to accommodate member requests for preferred or alternate drivers when operationally feasible.     The act requires the broker, and, if there is no broker, the providers to verify that individuals using the transportation services are eligible members during the scheduling of transportation services. The act prohibits the broker from operating, owning, or controlling a provider in Colorado. The act requires the broker to provide their trip assignment rules and procedures to the state department for approval and for publication on the state department's website. The act allows a transportation network company to provide NEMT services when a provider is unavailable.     The state department shall ensure all transportation providers, drivers, and vehicles are credentialed, and services provided by noncredentialed drivers or in noncredentialed vehicles are not eligible for reimbursement. The act prohibits the state department from denying payment of services to providers if the provider provides scheduled transportation services in good faith based on the information provided by the broker or if the provider had no knowledge of an inaccuracy and the provider followed all applicable rules and procedures. Subject to available appropriations, the act requires the state department to audit providers and audit the broker annually.     The act requires the state department to categorize all NEMT expenditures as medical services and make changes to the NEMT program as necessary to obtain medical services federal match rates for NEMT services. The act also eliminates the requirement that the state department provide transportation services as an administrative cost.     The act reduces appropriations to the state department from the general fund by $76,639 and from the healthcare affordability and sustainability hospital provider fee cash fund by $20,941,853.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act establishes the ibogaine research pilot program (pilot program) in the behavioral health administration (BHA) to research the safety and effectiveness of using ibogaine to treat mental health conditions and substance use disorders. The act requires the BHA to establish a committee to review pilot program site applications and make recommendations to the BHA on which applicants to accept. The BHA may select up to 5 ibogaine pilot sites. The act allows the BHA to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, and donations and establishes the ibogaine research pilot program cash fund. The pilot program is contingent on the BHA receiving sufficient gifts, grants, and donations to administer the pilot program and award grants to the selected ibogaine pilot sites to help with financing needs.     Under current law, the division of natural medicine advisory board consists of 15 voting members, 8 of whom must have general expertise and experience related to natural medicine and 7 of whom must have specialized expertise and experience in various areas of natural medicine. The act amends the expertise and experience requirements to apply equally to all 15 voting members.     The act adds that a facilitator of natural medicine services is not liable for a physical or psychological injury that a participant may experience as a result of the facilitator's performance or supervision of the natural medicine services that a participant receives, unless the injury is the result of the facilitator's intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or a deviation from the recognized standard of care.     The act authorizes the state licensing authority for natural medicine or natural medicine product (state licensing authority) to adopt rules related to the administration, manufacturing, and use of ibogaine.     The act sets requirements for how the state licensing authority must prioritize reviewing applications for licensure to facilitate natural medicine services and allows the state licensing authority to set different licensing fees depending on the type of natural medicine the applicant is seeking licensure for.     The act allows the state licensing authority to accept gifts, grants, and donations from public or private sources and requires gifts, grants, or donations received to be deposited in the regulated natural medicine division cash fund.     The act requires the BHA to work to secure federal research and development funding available through the advanced research projects agency for health within the federal department of health and human services, or other available funding, in order to advance research on the use of ibogaine for the treatment of serious mental illness.     The act updates the powers and duties of the director of the division of professions and occupations to include adopting rules that guide the use and administration of ibogaine.     A licensee seeking to cultivate, manufacture, dispense, or administer ibogaine shall, in consultation with Indigenous communities, establish a benefit-sharing plan that directly benefits those Indigenous communities.     The act:Updates definition of 'administration session' to include the use of regulated natural medicine and regulated natural medicine product that the participant purchases to consume during the administration session;Prohibits a person from advertising bona fide harm reduction services or bona fide support services offered for remuneration, advertising natural medicine or natural medicine products, or using harm reduction services or support services to conduct sales of natural medicine;Clarifies that the state licensing authority is not required to conduct routine, periodic, or pre-operational inspections as a condition of licensure unless expressly required;Requires state licensing authority to adopt rules regarding licensing privileges and restrictions of a limited regulated natural medicine sales license and eligibility requirements for an applicant to obtain a limited regulated natural medicine sales license;Allows the state licensing authority to adopt rules regarding the application procedures and license requirement for a healing center to operate a temporary premises; and requirements for cultivation, manufacture, testing, or dispensing of ibogaine;Allows the department of public health and environment to issue a temporary premises permit to a licensed natural medicine healing center if certain conditions are met and allows a healing center to apply for a temporary premises permit;Prohibits a healing center licensee from selling regulated natural medicine or regulated natural medicine product unless a co-located limited regulated natural medicine sales licensee conducts the transaction in accordance with certain requirements; andAllows the director of the natural medicine division to issue an order to cease and desist if the director determines that a person is acting or has acted without a license to operate a natural medicine business or to own, grow, harvest, transfer, manufacture, supervise, provide, or administer natural medicine.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Maddy summaryThis bill updates how Colorado state colleges and universities receive performance-based funding starting in the 2027-28 fiscal year. It renames "performance funding" to "results-informed funding" and modifies the metrics used to calculate these funds, including graduation rates, student retention, and Pell-eligible student enrollment. The legislation also introduces a new definition for "co-located degree partnerships" and excludes students in these programs from certain graduation rate calculations. Additionally, the bill changes how funding components are ordered and removes requirements for sequential calculation of funding amounts.

The act clarifies an existing requirement for the criminal conviction of a property owner by requiring that one or more criminal charges be brought as a prerequisite to any nuisance abatement or forfeiture proceeding.     Existing law provides an exception to the conviction requirement for noninnocent owners who are not subject to criminal charges that no criminal conviction is necessary of the nonowner criminal defendant if the plaintiff proves its case by clear and convincing evidence that the property subject to the forfeiture proceeding is traceable proceeds of the charged offense or related criminal activity. The act clarifies this exception to first require a conviction of the nonowner criminal defendant before the noninnocent owner's property may be forfeited, while retaining other various exceptions that allow forfeiture actions to proceed against the interest of a claimant.     The act establishes a right for indigent civil asset forfeiture defendants to access forfeiture defense counsel and creates a procedure for the appointment of forfeiture defense counsel in nuisance abatement and forfeiture proceedings. The state court administrator shall enter into a contract for services with a private contractor who regularly provides legal services for indigent clients or litigants to provide a legal defense to a civil asset forfeiture proceeding. The private contractor is subject to certain reporting requirements.     The act creates a forfeiture defense counsel fund (fund) to pay for contracted forfeiture defense counsel who are authorized to represent persons against whom a nuisance abatement or forfeiture proceeding has been filed in connection with criminal charges. The fund is capped at $500,000, and starting in state fiscal year 2027-28, no general fund money is allowed to finance the fund. The balance of the fund over $500,000 is credited to the law enforcement community services grant program fund. The act transfers any unexpended and unencumbered money from the law enforcement community services grant program fund to the forfeiture counsel defense fund.     The act alters the disposition of property and proceeds ordered forfeited in a nuisance abatement or forfeiture action. Currently, forfeited property and proceeds are applied first toward restitution and cost recovery for a list of stakeholders, and of the remainder, 50% is granted to the local governmental body with authority over the seizing agency, 25% is granted to the local behavioral health administrative services organization, and 25% is granted to the law enforcement community services grant program fund. The act amends the disposition of the remainder so that 50% is granted to the local governmental body with authority over the seizing agency, 25% is granted to the fund, and 25% is granted to the local behavioral health administrative services organization.     The act appropriates $556,750 to the judicial department from the fund for civil asset forfeiture defense contracting and $55,000 to the department of local affairs from the fund for civil asset forfeiture portal administration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act exempts Colorado courts' e-filing system from the requirement that users certify that they will not disclose personal identifying information obtained from the system for federal immigration enforcement.     The act authorizes a public health agency to inspect or examine a facility that houses or detains individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings.     Under current law, the department of public health and environment is authorized to inspect facilities that house or detain individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings. The act expands the inspection authority, including the frequency of inspections and things that are subject to inspection. A facility that refuses to allow the inspection is subject to a civil penalty. The department of public health and environment is authorized to set fees for inspections and deposit the money from the fees in the immigration facility inspection and detention cash fund, which is created in the state treasury.     The act authorizes the department of public health and environment to require facilities that house or detain individuals who are noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration proceedings to comply with requirements, including health and safety standards and reporting requirements. A facility that fails to comply is subject to a civil penalty. The act requires the department of public health and environment to submit an annual report to the attorney general concerning facilities' compliance with these new requirements and make the report publicly available on its website.     The act requires the P.O.S.T. board to establish training standards related to peace officer compliance with current laws concerning civil immigration detainers. P.O.S.T.-certified peace officers must complete the training before December 31, 2027.     The act requires the attorney general to develop and make publicly available a policy regarding current laws concerning the protection of personal identifying information.     The act appropriates $107,283 to the department of public health and environment from the immigration facility inspection and detention cash fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Pursuant to existing law, when an administering state agency awards a grant to a nonprofit organization (grantee), the grantee is generally required to access the grant award by applying for the reimbursement of costs incurred in completing the activity for which the administering state agency awarded the grant.     Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the act allows an administering state agency to advance a payment to a grantee only for a state-funded grant subject to certain requirements.     The administering state agency shall:Have an existing process or develop a new process that is approved by the state controller to dispense an advance payment;Disclose the availability of advance payment in any notice of a grant funding opportunity, grant solicitation, request for applications, or other announcement issued to prospective grantees;Ensure that any advance payment to a grantee is the minimum amount needed to achieve the outcome of actual, immediate cash requirements of the grantee in carrying out the grant objective; and Use the office of the state controller's risk assessment tool to determine whether a grantee is high, medium, or low risk and allow advance payment only to a grantee that is determined to be low risk. An administering state agency may modify the considerations in the risk assessment tool depending on the specific situation.     The grantee shall:Provide an itemized budget to the administering state agency for the eligible costs that the advance payment will cover, the indirect or other costs that the grantee needs to operate, a spending timeline, and a workplan developed as specified by the administering state agency;Submit documentation to support the need for advance payment; If required by the administering state agency and stipulated within the grant agreement, obtain insurance in an amount commensurate with the assessed risk determined by the administering state agency ;Establish procedures to minimize the amount of time that elapses between the transfer of money and the expenditure of the money by the grantee;Provide a progress report to the administering state agency following the expenditure of an advance payment; andDisclose certain internal controls to the administering state agency.      The grantee shall propose the minimum amount needed to achieve the grant objective and the controller of the administering state agency shall review and determine whether to accept the amount or propose an alternative amount. The controller of the administering state agency shall forward advance payment requests to the state controller for approval.     A grantee shall return to the administering state agency all unused money provided as an advance payment but not expended within the grant agreement timeline. A grantee that is paid a percentage of the total value of the payments under a grant agreement immediately upon executing the grant agreement must comply with all of the reporting requirements specified in the grant agreement.     If an administering state agency or the office of the state controller denies a grantee's request for advance payment, the administering state agency shall provide the grantee with a written explanation of the deficiencies in the application for advance payment that determined the decision to deny the request. The administering state agency shall make the elements and results of the risk assessment available to the grantee.     The act does not prevent an administering state agency, in providing advance payment to a grantee, from using a waiver process available through fiscal rules adopted by the state controller or rules adopted by a federal governmental entity to dispense a percentage of the total value of the payments under the grant agreement to the grantee immediately upon executing or renewing the grant agreement.     Nothing in the act limits, prohibits, or supersedes any existing payment or grant-making authority or powers of a state agency.     For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $34,146 from the general fund to the department of personnel for use by the division of accounts and control to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the division of labor standards and statistics (division) in the department of labor and employment (CDLE), on or before January 15, 2027, to begin collecting data concerning temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies at worksites and to:Develop a platform on CDLE's website where users can provide information about occurrences of temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies;Obtain from the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) data that CDPHE has collected through its syndromic surveillance program regarding occurrences of heat-related injury or illness or heat-related emergencies; andCollect similar data from the division of workers' compensation and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.     On or before July 1, 2028, the act requires the division to develop a model temperature-related injury and illness prevention plan (TRIIPP) that thereafter must be made available on CDLE's website. Additionally, the act requires the division to review and update the model TRIIPP at least every 5 years and grants the division authority to adopt rules necessary to implement the act.     $76,651 is appropriated from the general fund to the department for use by the division.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)