Legislative Roundup #6: What We’re Watching

April 25, 2014
Legislation and Policy

With just under two weeks are left in the legislative session, new bills are being introduced every day. Notably, a bipartisan group of legislators has introduced a bill to address rising health care costs in Colorado. It would establish a commission to research cost drivers and cost-containment strategies. (See last week’s blog for more information).

Multiple bills have also been introduced that aim to tackle issues related to the new retail marijuana industry. Meanwhile, the long appropriations bill has passed through the House and Senate Conference Committee and sits on the governor’s desk.

CHI continues to track the progress of health-related legislation.  Here are the bills we are watching:

Bills New to Our Roundup (See our last roundup for other bill summaries):

HB 14-1361: Regulation of Marijuana Concentrates
Sponsors: Rep. Frank McNulty (R), Rep. Jonathan Singer (D), Sen. Lucia Guzman (D), Sen. Steve King (R)
Status: Passed House, assigned to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

  • Calls for the Department of Revenue to establish an equivalency between one ounce of marijuana flowers and other marijuana products, such as concentrates. Current law prohibits the sale of more than one ounce of retail marijuana flowers; the bill extends this limit to the equivalencies determined by the DOR.

HB 14-1366: Sale of Edible Marijuana Products
Sponsors: Rep. Frank McNulty (R), Rep. Jonathan Singer (D), Sen. Michael Johnston (D), Sen. Steve King (R)
Status: Passed House, assigned to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

  • Limits packaging requirements to edible marijuana products and requires edible products to be marked with a standardized symbol that indicates the product contains marijuana.

SB 14-187: Colorado Commission Affordable Health Care
Sponsors:  Rep. Amy Stephens (R), Rep. Schafer (D), Sen. Ellen Roberts (R), Sen. Irene Aguilar
Status: Passed Senate Appropriations Committee, referred amended to Senate floor

  • Establishes a commission to study the drivers and containment strategies of health care costs.

SR 14-003: Financial Services for Marijuana Businesses
Sponsors: Sen. David Balmer
Status: Passed Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, referred amended to Senate floor

  • A resolution that calls on the federal government to develop comprehensive legislation authorizing banks and credit unions to serve legal marijuana and hemp businesses.

Updated Status on Bills We’ve Been Watching:

House Bill 14-1045: Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment
Sponsors: Rep. Dianne Primavera (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D), Sen. Larry Crowder (R)
Status: House concurred with Senate amendments, not yet sent to governor

House Bill 14-1253: Recommendations Civil Commitment Review Task Force
Sponsors: Rep. Beth McCann (D), Sen. Linda Newell (D)
Status: Failed in House

House Bill 14-1288: Student Immunizations Prior to School Attendance
Sponsors: Rep. Dan Pabon (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D)
Status: Passed Senate amended, referred back to House for concurrence

House Bill 14-1301: Safe Routes to School Program State Funding
Sponsors: Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D), Sen. Andrew Kerr (D)
Status: Passed House, assigned to Senate Transportation Committee

House Bill 14-1323: Restrict Government Access Personal Medical Information
Sponsors: Rep. Dianne Primavera (D), Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R), Sen. John Kefalas (D)
Status: Passed House, assigned to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

House Bill 14-1336: Long Appropriations Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Crisanta Duran (D), Sen. Pat Steadman (D)
Status: Sent to Governor

House Bill 14-1357: In-Home Support Services in Medicaid Program
Sponsors: Rep. Dave Young (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D)
Status: Passed House, assigned to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

Senate Bill 14-016: CDPHE Regulate Freestanding Emergency Centers
Sponsors: Rep. Dominick Moreno (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D)
Status: Failed in Senate

Senate Bill 14-050: Financial Assistance in Colorado Hospitals
Sponsors: Rep. Dominick Moreno (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D)
Status: Passed House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee, referred amended to Legislative Council

Senate Bill 14-144: Family Medicine Residency Programs in Rural Areas
Sponsors: Rep. Joann Ginal (D), Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D), Sen. Irene Aguilar (D)
Status: Passed House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee, referred to House Appropriations Committee

Senate Bill 14-151: Nursing Home Innovations
Sponsors: Rep. Dave Young (D), Sen. Lois Tochtrop (D)
Status: Passed Senate, assigned to House Appropriations Committee

Senate Bill 14-155: Medical Marijuana Health Effects Grant Program
Sponsors: Rep. Crisanta Duran (D), Rep. Jenise May (D), Sen. Pat Steadman (D)
Status: Passed Senate Finance Committee, referred amended to Senate Appropriations Committee

We will continue to monitor the progress of these and other bills. Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @CHI_butcherk for more updates from the Capitol this session.