The act extends the medical marijuana research grant program in the department of public health and environment through fiscal year 2023-24. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a United States Space Force license plate. To qualify for the license plate, a person must be a serving member or veteran of the United States Space Force. In addition to the normal fees for a license plate, a person must pay 2 one-time fees of $25 for the issuance of the plate. The fees are credited to the highway users tax fund and the licensing services cash fund, respectively. To implement the act, $23,278 is appropriated from the general fund and license plate cash fund to the department of revenue for use by the division of motor vehicles. Of the amount appropriated to the department of revenue, $2,426 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Beginning July 1, 2022, the act requires the department of human services to work in partnership with counties towards implementation of a high-quality county work management system across all counties to interface with the Colorado benefits management system used to process and approve applications for essential state public assistance programs, such as the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), medicaid, and Colorado works. Eligibility and enrollment for SNAP and LEAP are integrated to increase access and efficiency. A community food access program (food program) is created in the department of agriculture (department). The purpose of the food program is to improve access to and lower prices for healthy foods in low-income and underserved areas of the state by supporting small food retailers. As part of the food program, the department shall create a community food consortium (consortium) for small food retailers and Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms. The small food business recovery and resilience grant program (grant program) is established, to be overseen by the food program. An advisory committee is established to assist the department with the grant program. One-time grants not to exceed $25,000 will be provided to small food retailers to help support infrastructure and other necessary items to make fresh, healthy food more accessible to low-income and underserved communities. The department is granted authority to promulgate rules as necessary to implement the food program. The department shall develop a strategy for outreach to Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms, food retailers, and small farms that are interested in participating in the consortium or grant program. The food program is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the following appropriations are made from the economic recovery and relief cash fund: $3 million to the department of human services for use by administration and finance for IT systems interoperability; $2 million to the department of human services for use by the office of economic security for fuel assistance payments related to food and energy assistance; $1 million to the department of human services for use by the office of economic security for electronic benefits transfer programming related to food and energy assistance; $1 million to the department of agriculture to implement the community food access program; and $7 million to the department of agriculture to implement the small food business recovery and resilience grant program and outreach.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Section 1 of the act requires the department of higher education to contract for and facilitate use of an online platform by public or private institutions of higher education in the state to assist students accessing public benefits (online platform). Section 2 creates the economic mobility program within the department of public health and environment and requires the department to develop and implement the program to improve health and educational outcomes associated with reduced poverty and improved economic mobility for Coloradans. To fund the program, the economic mobility program fund (fund) is created and $4 million is transferred to the fund from the economic recovery and relief cash fund. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $1,720,060 is appropriated from the fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the prevention services division for maternal and child health and administration and $171,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of education for the online platform. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits the department of health care policy and financing (state department) from requiring prior authorization for any repair of complex rehabilitation technology (CRT). No later than October 1, 2023, the act requires the medical services board to promulgate rules establishing repair metrics for all CRT suppliers and CRT professionals. Prior to promulgating rules, the act requires the state department to engage in a stakeholder process. Beginning January 2024, the act requires the state department to report on the metrics and compliance with the metrics. Beginning 3 years after the date the repair metric rules are established, the act authorizes the state department to engage in a stakeholder process to determine the need for additional accountability of a qualified CRT supplier through penalties, audits, or similar tools, for violations of the metric rules. Beginning December 1, 2024, the act requires the state department to reimburse labor costs at a rate that is 25% higher for clients residing in rural areas than urban areas. The act appropriates $112,668 from the general fund to department of health care policy and financing to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies, as contained in the department's sunset review of preneed funeral contracts, as follows: Continues the regulation of preneed funeral contracts for 7 years, to September 1, 2029; Removes from statute the surety bond or net worth requirements for an applicant for a license to sell preneed funeral contracts and requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to establish the requirements in rule; Allows the commissioner to investigate the books, records, and accounts of a contract seller without the requirement that the commissioner first receive a complaint or indication of noncompliance; Removes the fees for license renewal from statute and requires the commissioner to establish the fees in rule based on the cost of regulating the industry and the outstanding preneed contract obligations of the contract sellers; Declares money held in trust for a preneed contract is unclaimed and must be reported to the state treasurer for deposit into the unclaimed property trust fund at the earlier of: 3 years after the date on which the contract seller has knowledge of the death of the preneed contract beneficiary; the date the preneed contract beneficiary, if living, would have attained 115 years of age; or 65 years from the date that the preneed contract was executed; and Requires each funeral establishment, at the time of registration renewal, to attest to whether the funeral establishment sells preneed contracts and requires the director of the division of professions and occupations to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the commissioner to share information on funeral establishments that sell preneed contracts.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a property tax exemption for mobile homes, which includes manufactured homes, that have an actual value of $28,000 or less. The act also eliminates the requirement that a county treasurer publish a notice in a newspaper of a sale of a mobile home, which includes a manufactured home, due to property taxes owed if: A distraint warrant has been delivered to the owner of the mobile home or to his or her agent; and The county treasurer publishes a notice of the sale on the treasurer's website. The act appropriates $833,193 from the general fund for the state share of districts' total program funding to offset the reduction in property tax revenue to school districts as a result of the property tax exemption. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the state treasurer to transfer $4 million from the general fund to the Colorado state fair authority cash fund within 3 days after the date the act takes effect to partly fund the implementation of the 2021 Colorado state fair master plan. $4,000,000 is appropriated from the Colorado state fair authority cash fund to the department of agriculture for use by the Colorado state fair. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority special license plate for motor vehicles. An applicant qualifies for issuance of the license plate if the applicant is a member of the sorority and pays all required taxes and fees. In addition to the standard motor vehicle fees, the applicant must pay 2 one-time fees of $25 for issuance of the license plate. One fee is credited to the highway users tax fund and the other to the licensing services cash fund. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $27,437 is appropriated for use by the division of motor vehicles in the department of revenue (department) to implement the act, of which amount $2,129 is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services for the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The bill creates the student educator stipend program. The purpose of the student educator stipend program is to award stipend money to an eligible student to reduce the financial barriers of participating in required clinical practice as a student educator. An eligible student placed as a student educator in a 16-week academic residency may receive a stipend of $11,000, and an eligible student placed as a student educator in a 32-week academic residency may receive a stipend of $22,000. The bill also creates the educator test stipend program. The purpose of the educator test stipend program is to award stipend money to approved programs of preparation to reduce financial barriers for eligible students preparing for the assessment of professional competencies for licensure and each required endorsement area. The approved program of preparation shall distribute the stipend money to an eligible student to pay the fees and costs associated with the assessment of professional competencies, which may include travel and lodging costs. The bill creates the temporary educator loan forgiveness program. The purpose of the program is to pay the qualified loans of an educator who is hired for a hard-to-staff educator position. To qualify for the program, an educator must meet licensure requirements, enter the educator workforce on or after the 2019-20 state fiscal year and contract for a qualified position no later than the end of the 2021-22 state fiscal year, and be liable for an outstanding balance on a qualified loan. An educator who qualifies is eligible for up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness. The bill requires the department of education (department), in collaboration with the department of higher education, and institutions of higher education, the state board for community colleges and occupational education, and school districts, to create a recommend to the state board of education the standards and procedures necessary to implement the multiple measures approach to measure the professional competencies of an applicant for an initial teacher license, in addition to the assessments currently approved by the state board of education. The state board of education shall promulgate rules to establish the standards and procedures to measure professional competencies through the multiple measures approach.Current law allows the department to issue a temporary educator eligibility authorization to a person enrolled in an approved program of preparation for a special education educator license who has not yet met the requirements for the applicable initial educator license. The bill allows the department to issue a temporary educator eligibility authorization an interim authorization to a person enrolled in an approved alternative teacher preparation program who is seeking an alternative teacher license and meets the requirements for an alternative teacher license, except that the person has not yet met the requirements for the applicable initial educator license.For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $52 million is appropriated to the department of higher education from the economic recovery and relief cash fund to be distributed to the following programs: $39 million for the student educator stipend program; $3 million for the educator test stipend program; and $10 million for the temporary educator loan forgiveness program. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $720,612 is appropriated to the department from the general fund to implement the purposes of the bill. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)
