Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1036

Rep. Tate

 Concerning the posting of information on the  dangers of  marijuana to a fetus at medical  marijuana centers.

 DESCRIPTION:

 The bill requires the department of revenue to promulgate rules regarding a requirement that a licensed  medical marijuana center display  in a conspicuous location a  sign that warns pregnant women about the  dangers to fetuses caused by smoking or  ingesting marijuana  while pregnant. The rules shall include the  specific language regarding  the warning that must be included on the sign. The bill prohibits a  medical  marijuana center  agent or employee from recommending medical marijuana to a pregnant woman.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/07/2015 Introduced In House -Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services.

 FINAL ACTION:  02/03/2015  House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services  Postponed Indefinitely 

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1036

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1037

Rep. Priola 

  Sen. T. Neville  

 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STUDENT GROUPS  HIGHER  EDUCATION  

 Concerning religious  freedom for student  groups at state  institutions  of higher  education.

 DESCRIPTION:

 The bill prohibits a state institution of higher education (institution) from denying a religious student group  a benefit that the institution  provides to a nonreligious   student group solely because the religious student  group requires its leaders to adhere to the groups sincerely  held religious beliefs or standards of conduct.  These benefits include recognition, registration, use of institution facilities, use of institution  channels  of communication, and available institution funding sources.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/07/2015 Introduced In House -Assigned to Education

 FINAL ACTION:  02/09/2015  House Committee on Education Postponed Indefinitely

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1037

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1106

Rep. Saine

  Sen. Sonnenberg  

 CLARIFY ACCESS TO UNREDACTED  

ADOPTION  RECORDS  

 Concerning the clarification of access by eligible  persons to unredacted adoption records that  contain identifying information.

 DESCRIPTION:

 In 2014, the general assembly enacted S.B. 14-051 to provide access by eligible persons to adoption  records held by  custodians of records, including courts and state agencies. Some courts and state agencies  have interpreted the law to  require redaction or removal of  identifying information from adoption records  prior to releasing the adoption records  pursuant to the access provisions enacted in S.B.14-  051.

 To clarify the law about whether identifying information in an adoption record must be redacted prior to  releasing adoption  records to  eligible persons; the bill creates a separate definition of “adoption record”  that applies to the access provisions  enacted in S.B. 14-051.     The bill clarifies that a court or state  agency is required to release the adoption records to eligible  persons who are authorized in statute to  have direct access to the adoption records, without redaction, including any  identifying information and  nonidentifying information.

 The bill takes effect upon passage and applies to all requests and applications for access to adoption records  filed on or  after said date.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/15/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services

 02/10/2015 House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Refer Unamended to House  Committee of the Whole

 02/13/2015 House Second Reading Passed No Amendments

 02/19/2015 House Third Reading Passed No Amendments

 02/25/2015 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to Health & Human Services

 03/11/2015 Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended – Consent Calendar to  Senate Committee of the Whole

 03/16/2015 Senate Second Reading Passed

 03/17/2015 Senate Third Reading Passed

 03/20/2015 Signed by the Speaker of the House

 03/20/2015 Signed by the President of the Senate

 03/20/2015 Sent to the Governor

 FINAL ACTION:  March 3, 2015 Governor Signed Into law 

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1106

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1111

Rep. McCann 

  Sen. Crowder  

 MATERNAL MORTALITY PREVENTION ACT  

 Concerning the creation of a maternal mortality  committee in the department of public health  and environment.

 DESCRIPTION:

 The bill creates the Colorado maternal mortality review committee for the purpose of reviewing maternal  mortality cases that occur in  Colorado, identifying the causes of maternal mortality, and developing  recommendations to prevent further maternal mortalities. The chief  medical officer in the department of  public health and environment (department) is directed to appoint up to 25 members to serve on the  committee.

 The committee is required to review maternal mortalities, outline trends and patterns, develop and  disseminate recommendations for the  prevention of maternal mortalities, compile reports on maternal  mortalities for distribution, and serve as a link to other maternal mortality  review teams.

 The bill requires certain health care providers and law enforcement officials to provide health information  and medical records to the  Department concerning each maternal mortality for access by the members of  the committee. The medical records and information and  activities of the committee are confidential.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/15/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services

 02/03/2015 House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Refer Amended to Appropriations

 02/20/2015 House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole

 02/24/2015 House Second Reading Passed with Amendments – Committee

 02/25/2015 House Third Reading Passed – No Amendments

 03/03/2015 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to Health & Human Services + Finance +  Appropriations

 03/18/2015 Senate Committee on Health & Human Services – Laid Over

 03/19/2015 Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended to Finance

  FINAL ACTION: Thursday, April 9 – 04/09/2015 Senate Committee on Finance Postpone Indefinitely

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1111

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

Rep. Landgraf

   BORN-ALIVE INFANT PROTECTION ACT       

 Concerning creation of the “born-alive infant  protection  act”

 DESCRIPTION:

 The bill prohibits a person from denying or depriving an infant of nourishment with the intent to cause or  allow the death of the infant for any reason. A person is prohibited from depriving an infant of medically  appropriate and reasonable medical care or treatment unless the medical care:

• Is not necessary to save the life of the infant;
• Has a potential risk to the infant’s life or health that outweighs the potential benefit of the medical care; or
• Is treatment that will do no more than temporarily prolong the act of dying when death is imminent.

 The bill requires a physician performing an abortion to take all medically appropriate and reasonable steps  to preserve the life of a born-  alive infant. A person is prohibited from using a born-alive infant for any type  of scientific research or other kind of experimentation  unless  it is necessary to protect or preserve the life  and health of a born-alive infant.

 The bill prohibits infanticide.

 The bill provides that a born-alive infant is a legal person under the law with the same rights to medically  appropriate and legal care and treatment.

 ACTIVITY:

  01/15/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services +   Appropriations

 FINAL ACTION:  03/03/2015  House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services  Postponed Indefinitely

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1112

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title  

CCC Position

HB 15 1128

Rep. P.Neville 

  Sen. T. Neville  

  WOMEN’S HEALTH PROTECTION ACT       

 Concerning the adoption of the “women’s      health protection  act”.

 DESCRIPTION:

  The bill requires all abortion clinics to be licensed by the department of

  public health and environment (department). Licensure is valid for one year. Prior to

  licensure or re-licensure, the department shall conduct an on-site inspection of the

  abortion clinic. The bill requires the department to promulgate rules regarding:

•  The abortion clinic’s physical facilities;
•  The abortion clinic’s supply and equipment standards;
•  The abortion clinic’s personnel, including requiring that the clinic employ at least one

          doctor with admitting privileges at a hospital within the state within 30 miles of the

          abortion clinic;

•  Medical screening and evaluation of each patient;
•  The abortion procedure;
•  Minimum recovery room standards;
•  Follow-up care for abortion patients; and
•  Minimum incident reporting.

  The bill creates criminal and civil penalties for violations of the requirements of the bill.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/16/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Health, Insurance, &  Environment +  Appropriations

 FINAL ACTION:  02/12/2015 House Committee on Health, Insurance, & Environment  Postponed Indefinitely

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1128

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title                      

CCC Position 

HB 15 1135

Rep.  Court

Sen.  Guzman

Concerning a terminally ill individual’s freedom  to make end-of-life decisions.

 DESCRIPTION:

 The bill enacts the “Colorado Death with Dignity Act” (act), which   authorizes an individual  with a terminal illness to request, and the individual’s attending   physician to prescribe to  the individual for self-administration by ingestion, life-ending   medication intended to  hasten the individual’s death. The individual must:

• Be a Colorado resident;
• Be an adult who is able to make and communicate health care decisions;
• Have a terminal illness; and
• Voluntarily request life-ending medication to self-administer by ingestion.

 The act outlines the manner by which a terminally ill individual must request life-  ending medication to self-administer by ingestion, which includes:

• A requirement to make the request orally on 2 separate occasions and by a written, signed, and witness-verified request;

• A waiting period between the oral requests, the written request, and the time the attending physician may write the prescription; and

• The individual’s right to rescind the request at any time and in any manner.

 Any person who participates in the life-ending process, including a physician who  prescribes life-ending medication to an individual with   a terminal illness, is protected from  civil and criminal liability and professional disciplinary action if the physician or other person  acts in good-faith compliance with the requirements of the act. The attending physician is  required to:

• Determine that an individual is suffering from a terminal illness, is capable, is making the request voluntarily, and is a Colorado resident;

• Inform the individual of his or her medical diagnosis and prognosis, the potential risks and probable result of taking the medication, and feasible alternatives;

• Refer the individual to a consulting physician for medical confirmation of the diagnosis, prognosis, and a determination that the patient is capable and is acting voluntarily;

• Refer the individual for counseling, if appropriate;
• Inform the individual of his or her right to rescind the request for life-ending medication at any time; and

• Document in the individual’s medical record the procedures followed and related facts. The bill requires the physician to either dispense the medication directly to the patient or, with the patient’s consent, contact a pharmacist about the prescription and personally deliver, mail, or electronically transmit the prescription to the pharmacist, who can dispense the medication to the patient, the patient’s expressly identified agent, or the physician. A  health care provider cannot discipline a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care provider for actions taken in good-faith compliance with the act or for refusing to act;  however, a provider that has a policy prohibiting other health care providers from participating under the act while on the provider’s premises and that notifies providers of that policy may sanction a provider who violates the policy. A person who is present when a terminally ill individual self-administers by ingestion life-ending medication is not subject to criminal or civil liability for failing to prevent the patient from self-administering the medication. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, or other health care providers have no duty to participate in providing life-ending medication to a terminally ill individual. The bill specifies that life, health, or accident insurance or annuity policies cannot be affected by a terminally ill individual’s request for or ingestion of medication to end his or her life. The act does not authorize a health care provider to end an individual’s life by lethal injection, mercy killing, or active euthanasia and clarifies that a health care provider does not engage in those prohibited activities when he or she participates under the act to assist a terminally ill individual in obtaining life-ending medication. A person commits a class 2 felony if he or she:

• Without the permission of the terminally ill individual, willfully alters or forges a request for life-ending medication or conceals or destroys a rescission of the request; or

• Coerces or exerts undue influence on a terminally ill individual to request life-ending medication or to destroy a rescission of the request.

 ACTIVITY:

  01/27/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services

 FINAL ACTION:  02/06/2015  House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Postponed Indefinitely

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1135

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1162

Rep.  Nordberg

   BAN SEX-SELECTION ABORTIONS

   Concerning the prenatal sex nondiscrimination act.

 DESCRIPTION:

  The bill outlaws:

• The performance of an abortion for the purposes of sex-selection;
• Coercion of an abortion for the purposes of sex selection;
• Solicitation or acceptance of funds for the performance of an abortion for the purposes

      of sex selection; or

•  Transporting a woman into Colorado so the woman can receive an abortion for the  

  purposes of sex selection.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/29/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

 FINAL ACTION:  03/16/2015 House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs  Postponed Indefinitely.

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1162

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1171 

Rep. P. Neville

Sen. T. Neville

 STATE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE        PROTECTION ACT   

  Concerning a state freedom of conscience  

  protection act.

 DESCRIPTION:  

 The bill:

• Specifies that no state action may burden a person’s exercise of religion, even if the

      burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless it is demonstrated that

      applying the burden to a person’s exercise of religion is essential to further a compelling

      governmental interest and the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling

      governmental interest;

• Provides a claim or defense to a person whose exercise of religion is burdened by state  

      action; and ! Specifies that nothing in the bill creates any rights by an employee against  an employer unless the employer is a government employer.

 ACTIVITY:  

 01/29/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military  Affairs 

 FINAL ACTION:  03/09/2015 – House Committee on State Veterans & Military  Affairs    Postponed Indefinitely

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1171

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1194

Rep. KC Becker 

 Authorize General Fund Dollars For LARC    

 Concerning state general fund dollars for the  department of public health and environment to  continue providing specified family planning  services throughout the state, and, in  connection therewith, making an appropriation.

 DESCRIPTION:

 The Colorado department of public health and environment currently administers the family  planning program. Starting in  2008, the  department received a multi-year grant to conduct  an expanded family planning program, the primary focus of  which was to expand  access to  long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and related services, particularly to  low- income  women statewide, in order to  reduce unintended pregnancies. Grant funding for the  expanded program ends  June 30,  2015.

  The bill requires the department to continue the expanded program and appropriates $5  million from the state general fund   to the department to provide LARC services in the 2015-16  fiscal year.

 ACTIVITY:

 01/30/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services

 02/24/2015 House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Refer Unamended to  Appropriations

 04/02/2015 House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of  the Whole

 04/17/2015 House Second Reading Special Order – Passed – No Amendments

 04/20/2015 House Third Reading Passed – No Amendments

 04/20/2015 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

 FINAL ACTION:  04/29/2015 Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1194

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1196

Rep. Lundeen

Sen. Hill

 CO Flex Accounts For Education Services    

 Concerning parent control of education  expenditures for eligible students enrolled in  kindergarten through grade twelve, and, in  connection therewith, creating the “Colorado  flexible lifetime learning expenditures account  act”.

 DESCRIPTION:  

 The bill creates the Colorado flexible lifetime learning expenditures account program (C-FLEX  program) to  enable a parent, by directing the use of public moneys deposited to a savings  account (C-FLEX account),  to select the educational programs and services that most  effectively meet the needs of the parent’s child  who is an eligible student.

 Many provisions apply.  See bill for details

 ACTIVITY: 

 02/02/2015  Introduced in House – Assigned to Education

 FINAL ACTION: 03/18/2015 House Committee on Education Postponed Indefinitely

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1196

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1298

Rep. Singer & Rep. Tate

Sen. (None)

  Warn Pregnant Women Marijuana Risks     

 Concerning posting warning information for  pregnant women about the potential risks of  marijuana at marijuana businesses.

 DESCRIPTION:  

 The bill requires the department of revenue to promulgate rules regarding a requirement  that a licensed medical marijuana center and a licensed retail marijuana store display in a  conspicuous location a sign that warns pregnant women about the potential risks caused by  marijuana. The rules shall include the specific language developed in consultation with the  department of public health and environment regarding the warning that must be included  on the sign. The bill prohibits a medical marijuana center and a retail marijuana store from  knowingly directing marijuana advertising to pregnant women.

 ACTIVITY: 

 03/18/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services

 03/31/2015 House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Refer Unamended to

 the House Committee of the Whole.

 04/06/2015 House Second Reading Passed – No Amendments

 04/07/2015 House Third Reading Passed – No Amendments

 04/09/2015 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to Business, Labor, & Technology 

 FINAL ACTION:   4/22/2015 Senate Committee on Business, Labor, &

 Technology Postpone Indefinitely

 CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1298

Bill # / Sponsor (s)

Bill Title

CCC Position

HB 15 1341

        Rep.’s Conti & Fields

Sen.’s Cooke & Johnston

  Increase Penalty Sexual Exploitation

of a Child    

 Concerning increasing the penalty from a class 6  felony to A class 5 felony for sexual exploitation  of a child by possession of sexually exploitative  material.

 DESCRIPTION:  

 Currently, sexual exploitation of a child by possession of sexually exploitative material is a  class 6 felony for first-time offenses and a class 4 felony if the possession is of a video, a  recording or broadcast of moving visual images, a motion picture or more than 20 different  items (video or more than 20 items), or if it is a second or subsequent offense.

 ACTIVITY: 

  04/07/2015 Introduced In House – Assigned to Judiciary

  04/16/2015 House Committee on Judiciary Refer Amended to Appropriations

  04/22/2015 House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole
  04/23/2015 House Second Reading Passed with Amendments – Committee

  04/27/2015 House Third Reading Passed – No Amendments

  04/27/2015 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to Judiciary + Appropriations

  04/29/2015 Senate Committee on Judiciary Refer Unamended to Appropriations

  05/01/2015 Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended – Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the     Whole
  05/01/2015 Senate Second Reading Special Order – Passed – No Amendments

  05/04/2015 Senate Third Reading Passed – No Amendments

  05/14/2015 Signed by the Speaker of the House
  05/18/2015 Signed by the President of the Senate
  05/18/2015 Sent to the Governor

 FINAL ACTION:  06/04/2015 Governor Signed Into Law

CLICK HERE TO READ HB 15 1341