by Kate Meyer

The Legislative Council met October 14^th, 2016, to review and approve bills recommended by interim study committees during the 2016 interim. The merits of each bill were not under consideration at this hearing; rather, the standard of review used by Legislative Council is whether the bills fit within the committees’ charges.

Of the bills that LegiSource summarized in Part 1 of this two-part series, every bill was approved by the Legislative Council except Bills “A” and “E” of the Committee on Cost-benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado.

Below is a summary of the bills recommended by the remaining 2016 interim committees. Except where noted, the Legislative Council determined that the recommended bills fit within their respective committee charges and were passed out of Legislative Council.

Legislative Oversight Committee for the Continuing Examination of the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems

The Legislative Oversight Committee for the Continuing Examination of the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems is a statutorily created committee that meets both during the year and the interim.  It met four times in 2016.  This committee is unique in that it has an advisory task force, also created in statute.

The task force is directed to examine the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of persons with mental illness who are involved in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This includes the examination of liability, safety, and cost as they relate to these issues. The task force met monthly throughout the year and reported its findings to the legislative committee. In 2016, the task force updated the oversight committee on the following topics:

• Housing for a person with a mental illness after his or her release from the criminal or juvenile justice system;
• Medication consistency, delivery, and availability; and
• Juvenile competency and restoration services.

The committee is responsible for overseeing the task force and recommending legislative changes, either on its own or at the suggestion of the task force. At its meeting on Aug. 22, 2016, the committee voted to draft six bills, two of which were not recommended to the Legislative Council. That left these four bills:

Bill A allows different state agencies to accept public or private money to provide ongoing, permanent staff assistance for the task force.

Bill B increases medication consistency for persons with mental illness who are involved at some capacity with the criminal or juvenile justice systems. This would involve the use of an agreed upon medication formulary, use of a pharmaceutical-cooperative purchasing entity for cost savings, and the development of processes by which basic patient-specific medication and treatment information can be shared between mental health and justice providers.

Bill C is related to increasing access to competency restoration services for juveniles and adults, including establishing the Office of Behavioral Health in the Department of Human Services as the entity responsible for the oversight of restoration education and the coordination of competency restoration services.

Bill D provides vouchers and additional housing resources for individuals with mental illnesses who are being released from incarceration.

For the full text of the above bills, please visit the MICJS Legislative Oversight Committee’s website by clicking here. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Jane Ritter.

Transportation Legislation Review Committee

The Transportation Legislation Review Committee toured south-central Colorado from Alamosa to Antonito. Several projects were visited, including one where a steel grate covers a hole in a bridge. The committee also learned about the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.

The TLRC met twice during the interim at the Capitol. On both occasions, the committee heard from regulators, stakeholders, and other experts on a variety of transportation-related issues. The committee voted to draft six bills, but Representative Jon Becker withdrew one of his requests in order to allow every bill to be heard. The committee approved the following five bills:

Bill A requires the TLRC to meet five times before November 15, 2017, once in each geographic quadrant of the state and once in the Denver metropolitan area. The meeting must make available the 2016 research study of changes to the state transportation commission districts since the boundaries of the districts were last redrawn in 1991 and offer opportunities to the public to express opinions regarding whether the districts should be modified. The committee may consider the availability of remote testimony from a single geographic quadrant of the state or from the Denver metropolitan area.

Bill B increases the minimum weight for classification as a commercial vehicle for equipment purposes from 10,001 pounds to 16,001 pounds unless the vehicle is registered for use in interstate commerce. With respect to those vehicles used in commerce between 10,001 and 16,000 pounds, the chief of the Colorado state patrol may adopt rules to annually inspect these vehicles; enforce all requirements for the securing of loads in commercial vehicles; and enforce all requirements for the use of coupling devices.

Bill C, which did not pass out of Legislative Council, concerned infrastructure funding. Specifically, the bill would have:

• Authorized new transportation revenue anticipation notes (TRANs) after the final payments of principal and interest on TRANs authorized by voters in 1999 are made;
• Repealed a requirement that the state treasurer make conditional transfers of a specified percentage of total general fund revenues from the general fund to the capital construction fund and the highway users tax fund (HUTF) for state fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20;
• Required the state transportation commission to submit a ballot question to the voters of the state at the November 2017 statewide election, which, if approved, would authorize the executive director to issue additional TRANs in a maximum principal amount of $3.5 billion and with a maximum repayment cost of $5.5 billion once; required the proceeds to be used only for the 42 projects that are on the current priority list when the question is submitted to the electors; and specified additional transportation project contract award process requirements and limitations for a project to be funded; and
• Required 5% of state sales and use tax net revenue to be credited to the HUTF, paid from the HUTF to the state highway fund for use for payment of the notes and state transportation projects.

Bill D amends the definition of “autocycle” to explicitly exclude motorcycles, clarifies that the driver and each passenger in an autocycle ride in either a fully or partly enclosed seating area, and eliminates the requirements that an autocycle be equipped with airbags and a hardtop enclosure. The bill also amends the definitions of “motor vehicle” used in the safety belt and child restraint laws to clarify that those laws apply to autocycles.

Bill E prohibits a local government from imposing inspection requirements for underground petroleum storage tanks or charging inspection fees for the inspection of underground petroleum storage tanks.

For the full text of the above bills, please visit the TLRC’s website by clicking here. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Jason Gelender or Jery Payne.

2016 Interim Study Committee on Communication between the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Medicaid Clients

The Interim Study Committee on Communications Between the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Medicaid Clients was charged with studying the following policy areas:

• The current form and content of letters that are sent to Medicaid clients by the department and the frequency of those letters; and
• Whether the letters can be simplified and the content made clearer so as to improve the information that is communicated to Medicaid clients.

The committee met four times over the interim and heard testimony from state agencies, county Medicaid administrators, Medicaid clients, and advocates concerning Medicaid client correspondence. The committee’s work culminated in its approval of the following four bill drafts at its final meeting on September 29:

Bill A clarifies that a Medicaid recipient filing an appeal need not make an affirmative request in order for Medicaid benefits to continue during the appeal. Yet the form and electronic appeals filing process should include a method for the appellant to indicate if they do not want continuing benefits. The department must send a notice to the appellant confirming the continuation of benefits. In addition, the bill requires the form and electronic appeals process to include a check box or other method for requesting a county conference or reasonable accommodation during the appeals process. Finally, the appeal filing website must allow an appellant to submit sufficient supporting documents with the appeal form.

Bill B requires the administrative law judge hearing Medicaid appeals concerning the termination or reduction of an existing benefit to conduct a review of the legal sufficiency of the notice of action from which the appellant is appealing. If the notice is legally insufficient, the appellant may ask the judge to set aside the order or may waive the defense of insufficient notice and proceed to a hearing on the merits.

Bill C directs the office of the state auditor to conduct or cause to be conducted a performance audit of client communications sent to clients of applicants in Colorado Medicaid programs affecting or concerning eligibility for program benefits or services. The auditor is planned for the 2020 and 2023 calendar years and thereafter at the auditor’s discretion. The bill sets forth the audit requirements and requires the findings, conclusions, and recommendations resulting from the audit to be submitted to certain committees of the general assembly.

Bill D requires the department to engage in an ongoing process to create, test, and improve Medicaid client communications that concern eligibility for or the denial, reduction, suspension, or termination of a Medicaid benefit. Among other requirements included in the bill, the department ensures that client communications are accurate, readable, and understandable, clearly conveying the purpose of the letter or notice and the specific action or actions that a client must take. In certain types of notices, the department must explain the basis for the action, and, if relevant, specific information relating to household composition, income sources and amounts, and assets. To the extent practicable, the department shall test new or significantly revised client communications against the requirements in the bill with Medicaid clients, advocacy organizations, and county representatives prior to implementation. As part of testing, the department solicits feedback from a workgroup it establishes. The department prioritizes the improvement of client communications that affect clients with disabilities, seniors, and other vulnerable populations. Finally, the department will annually report on improvements.

To review the bills considered by the 2016 Interim Study Committee on Communication between the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Medicaid Clients, please visit the committee’s website by clicking here. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Brita Darling.

by Kate Meyer

The Legislative Council is meeting October 14^th, 2016, to review and approve bills recommended by interim study committees during the 2016 interim.

This week’s article summarizes the bills recommended by the following committees:

• The Committee on Cost-benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado,
• The Water Resources Review Committee,
• The Wildfire Matters Review Committee, and
• The Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Reform Commission.

Next week, LegiSource will summarize the remaining committees’ recommended bills and report on the actions taken by Legislative Council.

Committee on Cost-benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado

The Committee on Cost-benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana in Colorado (Marijuana Analysis Committee) met three times during the 2016 interim. At its bill request meeting on August 17, 2016, it requested 10 bill drafts be prepared; however, the committee was only allotted five bills.

Before the September 21, 2016, meeting to vote on the bills, Sen. Holbert withdrew his request regarding local zoning authority (Bill 1). When the meeting to vote on bills started, the committee was down to nine bills. At that meeting, Rep. Willett withdrew his request to create a standing statutory interim marijuana committee (Bill 4); Rep. Singer withdrew his request to separate alcohol and drug related DUI crimes to better collect statistics regarding drug related DUIs and provide appropriate sanctions for drug related DUIs (Bill 5); and Sen. Aguilar withdrew both her request to create local government authority for marijuana consumption clubs (Bill 7) and her request to define the term “assist” for purposes of assisting another in growing marijuana under Amendment 64 (Bill 9). Thus, the Marijuana Analysis Committee was left with 5 bills.

The Marijuana Analysis Committee voted 5-0 to move the five remaining bills to Legislative Council. Those bills are:

Bill A: The bill requires the public school capital construction assistance board, when evaluating applications for financial assistance under the “Building Excellent Schools Today Act” (BEST), to consider the extent to which retail marijuana excise tax revenue credited to the public school capital construction assistance fund is derived from each county of the state. The bill also defines the term “technology” to give high priority to BEST applications for projects that are designed to incorporate technology into the educational environment. This technology covers hardware, devices, or equipment necessary for individual student learning and classroom instruction, including access to electronic instructional materials, or necessary for professional use by a classroom teacher.

Bill B: The bill creates the grey and black market marijuana enforcement grant program (grant program) in the division of local government in the department of local affairs (division). The grant program awards grants to reimburse local governments, in part or in full, for training, education, law enforcement, and prosecution costs associated with grey and black marijuana markets. A rural local government with limited law enforcement resources has priority in receiving grants. The general assembly may appropriate money from the marijuana tax cash fund or the proposition AA refund account to the division for the grant program. The division shall adopt policies and procedures for the administration of the grant program, including rules related to the application process and the grant award criteria. The division shall include information regarding the effectiveness of the grant program in its SMART presentation beginning in November 2019.

Bill C: The bill directs the department of education, by July 1, 2017, to create and maintain a resource bank for public schools to use without charge. The resource bank consists of materials and curricula pertaining to marijuana use; and upon request of a public school, to provide technical assistance in designing age-appropriate curricula on marijuana use. The bill authorizes the costs to be paid from the marijuana tax cash fund.

Bill D: The bill adds acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of debilitating medical conditions treatable by medical marijuana.

Bill E: The bill makes it a level 2 drug misdemeanor for a person not licensed to sell medical or retail marijuana to advertise for the sale of marijuana or marijuana concentrate.

To view the bill and resolutions considered by the WMRC, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Michael Dohr or Jerry Barry.

Water Resources Review Committee

The Water Resources Review Committee (WRRC) met 5 times over the interim, including meetings in Alamosa, Grand Junction, and Steamboat Springs. The WRRC heard presentations on a variety of water issues, including Colorado River compact compliance, rising groundwater in the South Platte River basin, Colorado’s Water Plan, and lead in drinking water.

At its final hearing on September 20, 2016, the WRRC considered four bills and one resolution. After amending two of the four bills and the resolution, the committee voted to recommend all five measures to the Legislative Council. The measures are:

Joint Resolution A: Aquatic nuisance species, which include such pests as zebra and quagga mussels, have negative effects on fisheries, water ecosystems, and water storage and distribution systems. The primary overland vector for the spread of these species is watercraft conveyances (boats and their trailers). A variety of state and federal agencies perform inspection and decontamination services to limit the spread of these species, depending on the jurisdiction of the particular body of water, though state agencies performed the bulk of the 3 million inspections and nearly 50,000 decontaminations performed in the past 8 years. This resolution encourages various federal agencies to provide funding to implement the State of Colorado Zebra and Quagga Mussel Management Plan.

Bill A: Over time, reservoirs tend to fill up with sediments and consequently lose their storage capacity. The bill appropriates $5 million from the Colorado water conservation board construction fund to the Colorado water conservation board to make loans and grants to enable the recipients to dredge existing reservoirs located in the South Platte River basin to restore the reservoirs’ full decreed storage capacity.

Bill B: Numerous irrigation districts have been formed under the 1921 irrigation district law, which has seldom been amended. The bill updates the law by removing inconsistencies and updating antiquated provisions; clarifying the definition of landowners entitled to receive water, vote in district elections, and serve on the board of directors; increasing dollar figures and, in subsequent years, adjusting for inflation; defining “agricultural land”; revising election procedures; clarifying how irrigation district assessments are collected and held; and modernizing procedures for selling surplus property. The bill also clarifies that water acquired in excess of an irrigation district’s own needs can be leased for all beneficial purposes, rather than only for domestic, agricultural, power, and mechanical purposes, and that the provisions of the 1921 irrigation district law are in addition to powers conferred on irrigation districts in other statutes.

Bill C: After the passage of House Bill 13-1044 in 2013, the water quality control commission developed standards for the use of graywater, which is wastewater from laundry, baths, sinks, and showers. To facilitate scientific research on graywater use and collection conducted by institutions of higher education, the Bill C creates a scientific research exemption from the commission’s graywater standards.

Bill D: Some of the statutes concerning the state engineer date back to 1889 and read like it, too. The bill updates the language of the statutes concerning the state engineer and the state engineer’s department to conform to modern drafting conventions. The bill also restructures the fee that the state engineer may charge for rating certain types of water infrastructure from $25 per day to a flat fee of $75; increases the amount of time for filing comments on a substitute water supply plan from 30 days to 35 days after the state engineer mails notice of the plan; and repeals outdated requirements concerning certain fees, oath of office, and certain state engineer duties.

The bills and resolutions considered by the WRRC can be accessed on the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Tom Morris or  Jennifer Berman.

Wildfire Matters Review Committee

The Wildfire Matters Review Committee (WMRC) conducted two field tours (one in southern Colorado and the other along the I-70 Corridor) and met twice at the state capitol during the 2016 interim. On those trips and at those hearings, the committee heard from a diverse array of persons and entities affected by wildfire in the state. Issues discussed included wildfire prevention and suppression; forest health, air quality, and watershed protection; biomass utilization and the wood products industry; emergency response coordination; and the financial and other costs wildfire has on communities in Colorado.

On September 19^th, 2016, the WMRC voted to recommend the following:

Bill A: Under current law, the borrower in a reverse mortgage transaction is relieved of the obligation to occupy the subject property as a principal residence if the borrower is temporarily absent for up to 60 days or, if the property is adequately secured, up to one year. Bill A adds a third exception to the principal-residence requirement to cover situations in which a natural disaster or other serious incident beyond the borrower’s control renders the property uninhabitable. The maximum time allowable for a temporary absence under these circumstances is five years.

Resolution A expresses the General Assembly’s support for the continued research, development, and application of biochar (a solid material obtained when organic matter is heated in an oxygen-limited environment) from Colorado’s forests. The resolution discusses the environmental and economic benefits of utilizing biochar as a reforestation and fire prevention tool in state forests. The resolution also highlights the current uses of biochar and the support of the General Assembly in continuing research of its uses, including fuel load removal and reforestation processes.

Memorial A concerns the need for Congress to fund catastrophic wildfire response costs outside of federal forest management agencies’ normal budgets. This memorial is similar to former years’ memorials asking Congress to appropriately fund the rising costs of wildland firefighting and address the issue of “fire borrowing”, which occurs when agencies take funds away from forest health and fire prevention activities to help pay the costs to fight current wildfires.

To view the bill and resolutions considered by the WMRC, please visit the committee’s website. For questions concerning the legislation, please contact Bob Lackner or Kate Meyer.

                    Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Reform Commission

The Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Reform Commission met once during the 2016 interim for an annual briefing from the Fire and Police Pension Association (FPPA) and to consider two bills recommended by the FPPA Board of Directors (Board) for introduction during the 2017 legislative session. Based on the Board’s recommendations, the commission approved the following two bills:

Bill A: To assist FPPA employers in establishing a deferred compensation plan, the Board is currently authorized to develop a master deferred compensation plan document for use by employers to establish individual plans. The bill authorizes the Board to develop a multi-employer deferred compensation plan document to allow employers to join a multi-employer plan.

Bill B: Current law specifies that an employer in a statewide pension plan administered by the FPPA may modify its status in the plan through a vote of the members of the plan. In some cases, a modification must be approved by 65% of the members employed by the employer, and in other cases, a modification must be approved by 65% of the members employed by the employers who vote in the election for the modification. The bill creates a uniform approval standard by requiring that any modifications be approved by 65% of the members employed by the employer who vote in the election for the plan modification.

Both of the bills that the commission considered are available for review on the commission’s website. For questions concerning the FPPA, contact Nicole Myers.