Sen. Kent Lambert

Joint Budget Committee. The bill requires internal process changes in connection with the procurement process for major information technology (IT) projects as follows: Delegation of authority to sign contracts: The state controller is authorized to delegate to state agencies the ability to sign contracts involving the payment of money by the state. Currently, the state controller chooses not to delegate such authority to the office of information technology (office) for IT project contracts. The bill requires the state controller to delegate the ability to sign contracts for major IT projects to the office and specifically to the chief information officer or the chief information officer's designee. Major IT project definition: The definition of major IT project currently applies to all state agencies. The bill exempts the department of education from the definition through June 30, 2019. Project plan for IT projects: The project plan for any major IT project by a state agency is required to include certain criteria. The bill specifies that in addition to current requirements, such a project plan shall include a planning and analysis function to be performed by the office to ensure that the state agency's desired major IT project solution is in accordance with the office's technology standards and to ensure that the scope and budget of the major IT project are vetted by the office. IT vendor selection: On or before December 1, 2018, the office is required to establish policies and procedures regarding a vendor selection standard to be used in selecting a vendor for any major IT project. The vendor selection standard is required to include a process for resolving differences of opinion between the office and the state agency in the vendor selection for any major IT project. Additionally, in 2017, the general assembly enacted legislation that required the state auditor to enter into a contract with an independent consulting firm to evaluate state IT resources. The bill expands the scope of the current contract to include a review and evaluation of the procurement process for the human resources information system, also known as HRWorks, and to provide objective findings and recommendations that could help the procurement process for major IT projects in the future. The consulting firm is required to submit a report, containing specified findings and recommendations, to the legislative audit committee, the joint budget committee, the joint technology committee, and the office of information technology. After receiving the report, such committees, the office, and any other office or department that was the subject of recommendations made in the report are required to meet to discuss the implementation of the recommendations made in the report. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Joint Budget Committee. Under the existing statute, an early college is not subject to the requirements of the 'Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act'. The bill amends the definition of 'early college' to specify that an early college must provide only a curriculum that is designed to be completed within 4 years and includes concurrent enrollment in high school and postsecondary courses such that, when a student completes the curriculum, the student has attained a high school diploma and a postsecondary credential or at least 60 credit hours toward completion of a postsecondary credential. The state board of education must review all of the schools that it has designated as early colleges to ensure that each school meets the revised definition. A school that does not meet the revised definition will no longer be designated as an early college. The bill allows a school that is designated as an early college prior to passage of the bill to continue to receive funding through the school finance formula for students who, after completing 4 years of high school at an early college, enroll in postsecondary courses for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Joint Budget Committee. Prior to July 1, 2017, the workers' compensation cash fund was exempt from the maximum reserve for a cash fund, which limits the year-end uncommitted reserves in a cash fund to 16.5% of the amount expended from the cash fund during the fiscal year. The bill once again exempts the workers' compensation cash fund from the maximum reserve.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Joint Budget Committee. The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $19,965,068 from the general fund to the tobacco litigation settlement cash fund on July 1, 2018. This money is allocated for the 2018-19 fiscal year to the programs, services, and funds that receive tobacco litigation settlement money to supplement the allocation of settlement money that those programs, services, and funds will otherwise receive.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill establishes in the office of the state court administrator (office) a statewide behavioral health court liaison program (program). The purpose of the program is to identify and dedicate local behavioral health professionals as court liaisons (court liaisons) in each state judicial district to facilitate communication and collaboration among judicial, health care, and behavioral health systems. The office shall administer the program and establish procedures, timelines, and funding guidelines for the program. Program funding must be allocated to judicial districts based on case volume, geographical complexity, and density of need. Specific duties of the court liaisons are outlined, as well as reporting requirements. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill continues to allow the correctional treatment cash fund to be used to provide treatment for persons with mental and behavioral health disorders who are being served through the jail-based behavioral health services program (program). The program is housed in the office of behavioral health (office). The purpose of the program is to provide adequate staff to complete competency and behavioral health screenings, prescribe psychiatric medications as necessary, and provide mental health counseling, substance use disorder treatment, and transitional care coordination; train jail staff on behavioral health disorders and best practices in working with individuals with mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders; and fund administrative costs to jails participating in the program. The office shall prioritize jails with minimal behavioral health services, including rural and frontier jails. Jails that are participating in the program shall, at a minimum: Screen individuals who are being booked into the facility for various behavioral health issues; Provide adequate and appropriate access to health care and medications; Coordinate services with community behavioral health providers prior to the release of an inmate to ensure continuity of care following his or her release from the jail facility; and Track performance outcome measures for individuals affected by the program.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Joint Budget Committee. For the fiscal year 2018-19, and each fiscal year thereafter, the bill increases the statutorily required general fund reserve from 6.5% to 7.25% of the amount appropriated for expenditure from the general fund. The bill also repeals the following exceptions from the definition of expenditure that is used to calculate the general fund reserve: Rental and other payments under a lease-purchase agreement for real property included in a separate, operating line item; and Money that the state controller credits from the general fund to the capital construction fund or to the principal of the controlled maintenance trust fund.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The chief information security officer in the governor's office of information technology (OIT), the director of OIT, the department of state, and the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies are required to take certain actions to protect state records containing trusted sensitive and confidential information from criminal, unauthorized, or inadvertent manipulation or theft. The chief information security officer is required to: Identify, assess, and mitigate cyber threats to state government; Annually collect information from all public agencies to assess the nature of threats to data systems and the potential risks and civil liabilities from the theft or inadvertent release of such information; In coordination and partnership with specified agencies, boards, and councils, annually assess the data systems of each public agency for the benefits and costs of adopting and applying distributed ledger technologies such as blockchains; Develop and maintain a series of metrics to identify, assess, and monitor each public agency data system for its platform descriptions, vulnerabilities, risks, liabilities, appropriate employee access control, and the benefits and costs of adopting encryption and distributed ledger technologies. The director of OIT is required to consider the annual metrics from the office of the chief information security officer to recommend programs, contracts, and upgrades of data systems that have good cost-benefit potential or return on investment. In addition, OIT and the office of the chief information security officer are required to consider developing public-private partnerships and contracts to allow capitalization of encryption technologies while protecting intellectual property rights. The department of state is required to consider research, development, and implementation for encryption and data integrity techniques, including distributed ledger technologies such as blockchains. The department of state is required to consider using distributed ledger technologies when accepting business licensing records and when distributing department of state data to other departments and agencies. The executive director of the department of regulatory agencies or the director's designee is required to consider secure encryption methods, including distributed ledger technologies, to protect against falsification, create visibility to identify external hacking threats, and to improve internal data security. In addition, the bill specifies that institutions of higher education may include distributed ledger technologies within their curricula and research and development activities. The bill also specifies that the university of Colorado at Colorado Springs and any nonprofit organization with which the university has a partnership may consider: Encouraging coordination with the United States department of commerce and the national institute of standards and technologies to develop the capability to act as a Colorado in-state center of excellence on cybersecurity advice and national institute of standards and technologies standards; Studying efforts to protect privacy of personal identifying information maintained within distributed ledger programs, ensuring that programs make all attempts to follow best practices for privacy, and providing advice to all program stakeholders on the requirement to maintain privacy in accordance with required regulatory bodies and governing standards; and Encouraging the use of distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchains, within their proposed curricula for public sector education.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

Joint Budget Committee. The bill establishes a task force for transition planning to make recommendations on improvements for the transition of individuals with disabilities who are receiving services and supports in an educational setting to receiving services and supports through home- and community-based services. It specifies membership on the task force and duties including making a report to specified committees of the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

The bill creates up to 4 pilot programs in judicial districts in the state that divert individuals with low-level criminal behavior and a mental health condition to community resources and treatment rather than continued criminal justice involvement (program). The programs must be developed in accordance with the principles and proposed model recommended by the Colorado commission on criminal and juvenile justice, adopted on January 12, 2018.The state court administrator (SCAO) and the Colorado district attorneys' council shall collaborate to identify potential program sites, with the agreement of the elected district attorneys and chief judges in a judicial district. Once a judicial district has been selected as a program site, the chief judge and district attorney for the judicial district shall work collaboratively with interested and necessary participants to decide which courts and counties within the judicial districts are best suited to implement the pilot program. Interested and necessary participants include law enforcement, jail officials, public defenders, judges, pretrial service providers, and local community mental health and behavioral health service providers. The chief judge of a designated program district is responsible for the local implementation of the program, including establishing policies and procedures and facilitating formal agreements that might be required for implementation. The SCAO is responsible for overall program administration, including ensuring that, on or before January 1, 2019, each judicial district implements its own unique program. The mental health criminal justice diversion grant program (grant program) is created within the SCAO. The SCAO shall administer and monitor the grant program, including establishing funding guidelines and acceptable expenses, making specific grant awards, and disbursing grant award money to district attorneys' offices for the implementation of local programs. The program is repealed, effective December 1, 2021. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More