State Legislation

This bill requires the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and the Colorado Health Care Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise Board to develop and prepare an annual report detailing uncompensated hospital costs and expenses, using publicly available data whenever possible. Psychiatric hospitals, long-term care facilities and certain critical access hospitals are exempted.

This bill amends the Building Excellent School Today (BEST) program, established in 2008, and allows the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Board to provide grants to support career and technical education-based construction.

This bill creates a new license, referred to as a “freestanding emergency department license,” for a health facility that offers emergency care and is located more than 250 yards from a hospital, whether or not it’s affiliated with the hospital. Community clinics are exempted.

This bill prohibits an employer from advertising that a position is not open to a person with a criminal history and prohibits them from asking applicants about their criminal history on an initial application. This bill does not apply to positions where the law prohibits employees with a certain criminal history and does not create a protected class for people with criminal histories.

This bill creates various income tax credits for employers and employees in an effort to incent businesses to offer family and medical leave benefits to their workers. An employer and employee receive a state income tax deduction for any amount up to $5,000 they contribute to an employee’s leave savings account. An employer also receives an income tax credit if they pay an employee for leave that is between six and 12 weeks for a family or medical leave. For employers with fewer than 50 employees the credit is equal to 50 percent of the amount paid, and for employers with 50 or more employees the credit is equal to 25 percent of the amount paid.

This bill creates an income tax credit pilot program to promote employer-assisted housing projects in rural areas.

The bill creates a protected class in Colorado called persons experiencing homelessness and explicitly outlines their right to use and move freely in public spaces without discrimination, to rest in public spaces without discrimination, to eat or accept food in any public space where food is not prohibited, to occupy a legally parked vehicle and to have a reasonable expectation of privacy of one's property.

This bill authorizes a title company to prepare a deed using one of the forms of statutory deed.

This bill prohibits employers from requiring that an employee become, remain or pay dues, fees or other assessments to a labor organization and creates civil and criminal penalties for violations. It would repeal the Labor Peace Act in favor of “Right to Work.”

This bill would allow businesses to decline service to people based on their religious beliefs.

This bill prohibits a health plan from controlling costs by choosing which pharmacies to include in its networks.

The bill redefines a "small business" as a business that employs 100 or fewer employees for the purpose of analyzing the impact of a proposed rule and helping to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. This bill also requires agencies to expand their outreach to small businesses so that they may participate in rule-making hearings.

This bill requires certain disclosures to patients regarding out-of-network services provided at in-network and out-of-network facilities. It sets the reimbursement amounts for emergency services at out-of-network emergency facilities. In these cases, carriers must reimburse the out-of-network facility the greater of:
• 105 percent of the carrier’s median in-network rate provided in a similar facility or in the same geographic area, or
• The median in-network rate provided in a similar facility or in the same geographic area, as determined by payments reported to the All-Payer Claims Database.
It also sets the reimbursement amounts for other services provided by out-of-network providers working in in-network facilities. In these cases, carriers must reimburse the out-of-network facility the greater of:
• 110 percent of the carrier’s median in-network rate provided in a similar facility or in the same geographic area, or
• The sixtieth percentile of the median in-network rate provided in a similar facility or in the same geographic area, as determined by payments reported to the All-Payer Claims Database.

This bill appropriates $250,000 from the general fund to the State Board of Education to distribute to recipients of the school counselor grant program to be used to help educate and assist families with the completion and submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or applications for state student aid.

This bill repeals the portion of HB17-1375 that created the mill levy equalization fund. The fund consists of money the general assembly may appropriate for charter schools.

This bill will allow certain owners of eligible plug-in electronic motor vehicles to pay a onetime per year access fee at the time of registering their vehicle that will allow them to access tolled express lanes and high occupancy vehicle lanes for free or at a reduced cost and without the required number of passengers.

Currently a person is required to use certain traction control equipment, such as chains or snow-rated tires, when the Colorado Department of Transportation restricts road use due to a winter storm. The bill broadens this law to require the traction equipment to be carried on I-70 between Dotsero and Morrison during icy or snow-packed conditions, before CDOT issues winter storm restrictions. It also updates the law to allow for current technology and traction options.

This bill would repeal a prohibition that prevents towns, cities and counties from setting a minimum wage for their jurisdiction, higher than the state and federal minimum wage.

This bill increases the allocation for the affordable housing tax credit from $5 million annually to $10 million annually for the years 2020 to 2024.

This bill will require manufactured housing built in Colorado to meet the standards of the state it will be used in, rather than the standards of Colorado.

This bill will appropriate $12 million to the Department of Local Affairs to create the 2020 Census Outreach Grant Program, aimed at ensuring an accurate count of the state population for the 2020 census. A newly formed committee will implement and administer the program by providing grants to such organizations as local governments, housing authorities, school districts and nonprofits who will focus outreach, promotion and education on hard-to-count communities.

This bill codifies the Department of Revenue’s Destination Sourcing Rule for state sales tax collection but specifies that a small retailer may source its sales to the business location until a geographic information system, like the one outlined in SB19-006, is online and available for the retailer. It also requires marketplace facilitators, like Amazon and Etsy, to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of their sellers.

Beginning in 2020, this bill will increase the vendor fee from 3.3 percent to 4 percent, but also cap the monthly allowance at $1,000 beyond $10 million in sales, regardless of the number of locations the vendor has in the state. The money saved by the cap on the monthly allowance will be allocated to the Housing Development Grant Fund to be used to make grants and loans to improve, preserve or expand the supply of affordable housing (30 percent of AMI) in the state.

This bill directs the Commissioner of Agriculture to convene an advisory group to study the potential applications for blockchain technology in agricultural operations and to report to the General Assembly with its findings and recommendations for legislation in 2020, if there are any.

This bill requires the Council of Higher Education representatives to create a state standard for awarding post-secondary credit for work-based learning opportunities (such as apprenticeships, industry credentials, career and technical programs and certificate programs) to state public two- and four-year institutions of higher education.

This bill will refer a measure to the November 2019 ballot asking voters to allow the state to retain and spend any revenue in excess of the constitutional limitations of TABOR to provide funding for public schools, higher education and roads, bridges and transit. This bill does not sunset.

Should the referred measure outlined in HB19-1257 pass, this bill will allocate the revenue to a general fund exempt account. The funds in the account will be allocated one-third to public schools, one-third to higher education and one-third to roads, bridges and transit through the Highway Users Tax Fund. Legislative council staff must specify the retained amount and its uses in an annual report that it currently prepares related to revenue retained and spent under Referendum C, but must report these funds separately from Referendum C.

This bill requires the statewide emission of greenhouse gas targets to be reduced by at least 25 percent by 2025; at least 50 percent by 2030; and at least 90 percent by 2050 – compared to 2005 levels. This impacts all stationary and mobile sources and excludes agriculture. It directs the governor-appointed Colorado Air Quality Commission, (CAQC), to develop policies and promulgate rules for how to achieve those reductions most effectively, or across the board, with input from the Public Utilities Commission on targets for electricity providers.

This bill seeks to stem human trafficking through an increase in the penalty for wage theft by changing it from a misdemeanor to a felony when the theft is for an amount greater than $2,000. However, it also expands the definition of employer to include “any person, including any officer, agent or employee of an entity ... acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.” An employee can include someone who is “an integral part of the employer’s business,” making employees personally liable for a wage claim.

This bill updates the Colorado Consumer Protection Act by expanding the definition of a deceptive practice, dramatically increasing penalties for a practice deemed “unfair” without the need to prove nefarious intent and creating many opportunities for the invalidation of arbitration agreements, putting gains made through construction defects legislation in jeopardy.

This bill creates the Colorado Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Act of 2019, requiring health insurers, prescription drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit management firms and nonprofit organizations to report specified information about the costs of prescription drugs to the commissioner of insurance, including:
• Rebates received by carriers from manufacturers and their effects on premium prices
• Price increases by manufacturers that meet a certain threshold 30 days in advance
• Income and donations from manufacturers, PBMs or carriers by nonprofits
The bill then directs the commissioner to analyze the information and submit a report regarding the effects of prescription drug costs on health insurance premiums. It also requires carriers to pass rebates received from pharmaceutical companies or pharmacy benefit management firms on to consumers.

This bill requires a business with call center employees to notify the Office of Economic Development (OED) of plans to terminate these positions or relocate them outside of the United States at least 120 days before doing so. It also requires the OED to maintain a public list of these businesses.

This bill establishes new clean energy targets for utilities serving more than 500,000 customers. By 2030, the targets seek to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent from 2005 levels. By 2050, the targets seek to reduce carbon emissions by 100 percent from 2005 levels. Other electric utilities may opt in to these standards.

Under current law, an affordable housing project that received a state property tax exemption may be required to pay property taxes that otherwise would have been owed from the date the exemption was granted if it begins to make a profit or is transferred. This bill specifies that the state could only collect property taxes owed from the date the exemption is terminated.

This bill would require the Department of Revenue to create a centralized remittance system to collect sales and use taxes electronically from remote sellers. Home rule cities and municipalities, those that choose to impose and administer local taxes, could elect to voluntarily participate in the centralized system.

This bill joins Colorado with another 11 States into an interstate compact which would go into effect when the number of participating states reaches 274 Electoral Votes. Once that criteria is met, then the states in the compact pledge the balance of their Electoral College votes to Presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote.

Current law enacted by SB18-001 dedicated a total of $150 million from the general fund to fund transportation as the following: $105 million to the state highway fund, $22.5 million to the highway users tax fund and $22.5 million to the multimodal transportation options fund. This bill increases the total amount to $340 million for the transfer, increasing the amount to the state highway fund to $226.5 million, the amount to the highway users tax fund to $51 million and keeping the amount to the multimodal transportation options fund the same.

This bill would create a grant program to provide funding for school districts that automatically enroll students who are in the ninth grade or higher in an advanced course in a subject related to one in which the student demonstrated proficient on the prior year’s statewide assessment.

This bill requires the Department of Public Health and Environment to create and administer a statewide electronic system that allows qualified individuals to upload and access advance medical directives.

This bill would disqualify internet service providers from receiving high-cost support mechanism funds or other money to finance broadband development if the provider engages in practices that interfere with the open internet.

This bill allows for litigation to be brought against an employer if their employee believes they experienced wage discrimination and removes the dispute process from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The burden is placed solely on the employer to disprove their allegation. The employer is also prohibited from simply promoting an employee but must announce the advancement opportunity to all employees. [oppose unless amended]

This bill would prohibit the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) from constructing or designating a managed (toll/high occupancy vehicle) lane on a state highway unless they take several steps to prove that a managed lane is the best option for the project. CDOT must publish findings that show the alternatives to the managed lanes are unfeasible or unsafe and must publish a report of the results of its public outreach efforts relating to the managed lane.

Because of South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., et al., the U.S. Supreme Court decided that states can require retailers without physical presence in the state to collect sales tax on purchases made by in-state customers so long as the sales tax system in the state is not too burdensome for the out-of-state retailer. This bill aims to simplify the state sales tax system for those retailers without a physical Colorado presence by requiring that out-of-state retailers be responsible for paying only the state sales-tax rate on products shipped into Colorado. It also requires the Department of Revenue to be responsible for all state and local sales tax administration and return processing, and to provide businesses with a database of local-government taxing rates and local taxing jurisdiction boundaries.

In December 2018, the Department of Revenue adopted various rules related to sales tax collection, including a destination sourcing rule that requires retailers without a physical presence in a particular taxing jurisdiction to collect sales tax based on the goods and services that are delivered to that jurisdiction. This bill exempts those retailers that generate less than $100,000 in gross revenue outside of its local taxing jurisdiction.

This bill sets the reimbursement amounts out-of-network provides can charge in-network facilities for emergency services. In these cases, carriers must reimburse the out-of-network facility the greater of the following:
• The carrier’s average in-network rate
• 125 percent of Medicare
• The average in-network rate as determined by payments reported to the All Claims Payer Database.
It also sets the reimbursement amounts out-of-network providers can charge in-network facilities for non-emergency services. In these cases, carriers must reimburse the out-of-network facility the greater of:
• The average allowed amount for in- and out-of-network rates multiplied by 150 percent for urban providers and
• The average allowed amount for in- and out-of-network rates multiplied by 200 percent for rural providers.
The bill also authorizes arbitration for payment of claims that are in dispute if certain criteria are met.

This bill directs the Department of Personnel to commission a study to determine whether disparities exist in the state procurement system between the participation of historically underutilized businesses and other businesses. "Historically underutilized business" is defined as businesses owned by racial or ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The final report and recommendations must be provided the general assembly and the executive director of the department of personnel no later than December 1, 2020.

For any state government contract over $1 million, the bill requires contractors to purchase specific software that takes screenshots of all contractor employee computers every three minutes and tracks keystrokes and mouse movements. This data must be stored for seven years and the contractor may not pass the software or storage costs on to the governmental entity.

This bill modernizes concurrent enrollment opportunities and requires that concurrent enrollment opportunities lead to guaranteed transferable credit across Colorado institutions.

Current law states that local governments have authority over oil and gas mineral extractions only if the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has identified the specific area for designation. This bill expands local government control by repealing the need for the designation. This bill also:
• Directs the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) to adopt rules to minimize emissions of methane and other hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from the oil and gas fuel cycle and to require operators to install continuous emission monitoring equipment at a facility,
• Reforms the mission and composition of the COGCC by directing the COGCC to focus on minimizing impacts to public health, safety, the environment and wildlife resources, and by reducing the number of members with experience in the oil and gas industry and increasing the number of members with experience in wildlife and environmental protection and
• Alters forced pooling laws by requiring that the owners of more than 50 percent of the mineral interest join the application for a pooling order.

This bill directs the Colorado Water Institute at Colorado State University to study the uses of blockchain technology to manage a database of water rights, facilitate water markets or water banks and for any other purpose within the Institute’s powers. Results will be reported to the General Assembly.

This bill creates a mandatory Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, providing partial wage replacement to eligible individuals who take leave from work to care for a new child or a family member with a serious medical condition, because of a serious medical condition of their own or due to certain needs arising from a family member’s active duty service. It requires employees and employers to each pay 50 percent of the cost of the premium. Premiums are based on a percentage of the employee’s yearly wages.

This bill requires that all construction contracts for public projects that are expected to cost over $1 million be awarded by a competitive, sealed best-value bidding process, rather than invitation for lowest bid. A best-value bidding process requires the contractor to disclose the estimated use of registered apprentices, minority-owned businesses and craft labor, as well as the contractor’s and subcontractor’s job standards, which includes disclosing their health care, wage and retirement benefits, whether they pay industry standard wages and their long-term career opportunities for workers. This bill also requires the contractor to disclose all subcontractors when submitting a bid.

This bill creates the High School Innovative Learning Pilot Program that allows participating schools to count all the students enrolled in high school as full-time students, regardless of the actual amount of time the students may spend in the classroom. To qualify, the school must submit an innovative learning plan that provides learning experiences to students, such as apprenticeships, competency-based learning projects and capstone projects, and must be approved to participate by the Department of Education.

This bill repeals a prohibition that prevents towns, cities and counties from enacting a rent control ordinance on a private residence, whether it’s housing or apartments.

This bill increases the penalties allowed under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Under current law, damage is awarded the greater of $500, actual damages or treble damages, where a clear and convincing bad faith violation is proven. This bill increases that to a minimum statutory damage of $500 per violation, even for minor violations that don’t cause actual damages.

This bill sets a minimum wage for certain home care workers by requiring that at least 77 percent of the reimbursement that a home-care agency receives from Medicare or Medicaid for certain services be passed on to their non-administrative employees that provide those services. Additionally, it directs the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) to seek an 8.1 percent increase from the federal government for these service categories, with the entire amount being applied to the employee compensation. Each agency is also required to make certain disclosures to HCPF, which will then be added to a publicly available website.

This resolution refers an amendment to the Colorado constitution to voters in 2020 requiring that the General Assembly enact a law to replace the existing gas tax with a state sales-and-use tax to be used exclusively to fund the construction, maintenance and supervision of the surface transportation system.