HOUSE BILL 24-1205
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Sirota and Taggart, Bird, Amabile, Brown,
Clifford, English, Froelich, Garcia, Hamrick, Hernandez, Jodeh, Joseph,
Lieder, Lindsay, Lindstedt, Mabrey, Marshall, Marvin, Mauro, McLachlan,
Ricks, Snyder, Story, Titone, Willford, Young, McCluskie;
also SENATOR(S) Zenzinger and Kirkmeyer, Bridges, Cutter, Exum,
Hinrichsen, Michaelson Jenet, Mullica, Priola, Fenberg
.
C
ONCERNING MODIFICATIONS TO THE COLORADO IMAGINATION LIBRARY
PROGRAM TO ENHANCE EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY
.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add with amended
and relocated provisions 26.5-1-115 as follows:
26.5-1-115. Colorado imagination library program - creation -
contract - report - legislative declaration - appropriations - definitions.
(1) [Formerly 24-90-120 (1)] For the purposes of this section, unless the
context otherwise requires:
(a) "County-based affiliate programs" means a local
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION OR NONPROFIT PARTNER
affiliate of the Colorado
NOTE: This bill has been prepared for the signatures of the appropriate legislative
officers and the Governor. To determine whether the Governor has signed the bill
or taken other action on it, please consult the legislative status sheet, the legislative
history, or the Session Laws.
________
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act. imagination library program that operates within a county or city and county
OR ACROSS CITIES AND COUNTIES.
(b) "Eligible child" means a child from birth to the child's fifth
birthday.
(c) "National nonprofit foundation" means a national nonprofit
foundation that exists for the sole purpose of working with local entities to
identify eligible children and mail
PROVIDE age-appropriate, high-quality
books each month to those children at no cost to families.
(d) "Program" means the Colorado imagination library program
created pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(2) [Formerly 24-90-120 (2)] (a) (I) No later than December 31,
2021 the state librarian in the department of education JULY 1, 2024, THE
DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
shall contract with a Colorado
nonprofit organization for the creation and operation of the Colorado
imagination library program.
(II) E
FFECTIVE JUNE 30, 2024, THE RIGHTS, POWERS, DUTIES,
FUNCTIONS, AND OBLIGATIONS CONCERNING THE PROGRAM ARE
TRANSFERRED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
. BEFORE THE
TRANSFER OF THE RIGHTS
, POWERS, DUTIES, FUNCTIONS, AND OBLIGATIONS
OF THE PROGRAM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD ON
JUNE 30,
2024,
THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD MAY ENTER INTO AN
INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE
ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM
.
(III) E
FFECTIVE JUNE 30, 2024, IF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IS REFERRED TO OR DESIGNATED BY THE CONTRACT DESCRIBED IN
SUBSECTION
(2)(a)(I) OF THIS SECTION OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENT IN
CONNECTION WITH THE POWERS
, DUTIES, AND FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION
(2)(a)(II) OF THIS SECTION, THE REFERENCE OR DESIGNATION APPLIES TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
. ALL CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BEFORE
JUNE 30, 2024, IN CONNECTION WITH
THE POWERS
, DUTIES, AND FUNCTIONS TRANSFERRED TO THE DEPARTMENT
OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION
(2)(a)(II) OF THIS SECTION
ARE VALIDATED
, WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SUCCEEDING
PAGE 2-HOUSE BILL 24-1205 ALL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE CONTRACT .
(b) The contractor
DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (2)(a)(I) OF THIS
SECTION
shall:
(a)
(I) Exist for the sole purpose of creating and operating OPERATE
the program BY PROVIDING AGE-APPROPRIATE, HIGH-QUALITY BOOKS TO
CHILDREN TO PROMOTE EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY
;
(b)
(II) Manage the daily operations of the program, including, but
not limited to, establishing county-based affiliate programs in all Colorado
counties and cities and counties and advancing and strengthening the
affiliate programs to ensure enrollment growth;
(c) Develop, promote, and coordinate a public awareness campaign
in coordination with the department of education to ensure alignment with
the "Colorado READ Act", part 12 of article 7 of title 22, including any
public awareness campaign for the "Colorado READ Act", and to make the
public aware of the opportunity to register eligible children to receive free
books through the program;
(d) (III) Contract with a national nonprofit foundation to provide
age-appropriate, high-quality books each month to eligible children at no
cost to families;
(e)
(IV) Provide for a high-quality independent evaluation of the
impact of the program on child and family outcomes, including child
literacy and parent and family engagement; and
(f)
(V) Establish a distressed affiliate fund using gifts, grants, or
donations to help county-based affiliate programs that have financial
difficulty meeting the county-based affiliate programs' funding
requirements.
(3) T
HE CONTRACTOR MAY ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH BOOK
VENDORS OR BOOK PUBLISHERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS SECTION TO
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL AGE
-APPROPRIATE, HIGH-QUALITY BOOKS TO ELIGIBLE
CHILDREN ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM AT NO COST TO FAMILIES
.
(4) [Formerly 24-90-120 (3)] Notwithstanding section 24-1-136
PAGE 3-HOUSE BILL 24-1205 (11)(a)(I), on or before July 1 of the year after the state librarian enters into
a contract pursuant to subsection (2) of this section JULY 1, 2024, and ON OR
BEFORE
each July 1 thereafter, the contractor shall submit a report to the
department, of education
which shall then submit the report to the education
committees of the senate and house of representatives, or any THEIR
successor committees, concerning the total number of eligible children residing in each county or city and county in Colorado and how many
eligible children are enrolled in the program in each county or city and
county.
(5) [Formerly 24-90-120 (4)] (a) The contractor, in operating the
program pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, shall pay to the national
nonprofit foundation the statewide cost to provide free books to eligible
children enrolled in the program, as determined by the national nonprofit
foundation. T
HE CONTRACTOR SHALL PAY A BOOK VENDOR OR BOOK
PUBLISHER THAT ENTERS INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE CONTRACTOR
PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION
(3) OF THIS SECTION THE STATEWIDE COST TO
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FREE BOOKS TO ELIGIBLE CHILDREN ENROLLED IN THE
PROGRAM
. The general assembly shall annually appropriate money from the
general fund to the department of education for the state librarian to
distribute to the contractor for the state's fifty percent share of the cost to
provide the books.
(b) Each county-based affiliate program shall
MUST pay to the
contractor the remainder of the cost, as determined by the national nonprofit
foundation
OR A BOOK VENDOR OR BOOK PUBLISHER THAT ENTERS INTO A
CONTRACT WITH THE CONTRACTOR PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION
, to provide
books to the eligible children enrolled in the county or city and county.
(6) [Formerly 24-90-120 (5)] The department of education
may
seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations from private or public
sources for the implementation of this section.
(7) [Formerly 24-90-120 (6)] (a) It is the intent of the general
assembly to provide full funding by 2026 for any eligible child who wants
to participate in the program.
(b) (I) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall
appropriate nine hundred seven thousand one hundred forty dollars for the
Colorado imagination library
PROGRAM and shall increase the appropriation
PAGE 4-HOUSE BILL 24-1205 in subsequent fiscal years as necessary to meet the intention of the general
assembly set forth in subsection (6)(a) SUBSECTION (7)(a) of this section.
(II) A
NY APPROPRIATION MADE IN THE ANNUAL GENERAL
APPROPRIATION ACT FOR THE
2023-24 STATE FISCAL YEAR TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR THE
COLORADO IMAGINATION LIBRARY
PROGRAM IS HEREBY TRANSFERRED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY
CHILDHOOD FOR THE
COLORADO IMAGINATION LIBRARY PROGRAM ON JUNE
30, 2024. ANY UNEXPENDED AND UNENCUMBERED MONEY APPROPRIATED
FROM THE GENERAL FUND FOR THE
COLORADO IMAGINATION LIBRARY
PROGRAM FOR THE
2023-24 STATE FISCAL YEAR THAT IS TRANSFERRED TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION
(7)(b)(II) REMAINS AVAILABLE FOR EXPENDITURE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
EARLY CHILDHOOD THROUGH THE
2024-25 STATE FISCAL YEAR WITHOUT
FURTHER APPROPRIATION
.
(c) F
OR THE 2024-25 STATE FISCAL YEAR, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SHALL APPROPRIATE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD THE FUNDS
NECESSARY TO MEET THE INTENTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SET FORTH
IN SUBSECTION
(7)(a) OF THIS SECTION.
(c)
(d) Twenty percent of money appropriated for the 2021-22 state
fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, may be used for the contractor
operating the program for duties set forth in subsections (2)(a) to (2)(d) and
(2)(f) SUBSECTIONS (2)(b)(I) TO (2)(b)(III) AND (2)(b)(V) of this section.
SECTION 2. Repeal of relocated provisions in this act. In
Colorado Revised Statutes, repeal 24-90-120.
SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
PAGE 5-HOUSE BILL 24-1205 the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state
institutions.
____________________________ ____________________________
Julie McCluskie Steve Fenberg
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE PRESIDENT OF
OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE
____________________________ ____________________________
Robin Jones Cindi L. Markwell
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE SECRETARY OF
OF REPRESENTATIVES THE SENATE
APPROVED________________________________________
(Date and Time)
_________________________________________
Jared S. Polis
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO
PAGE 6-HOUSE BILL 24-1205