§ 27-64-101 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 27-64-101

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 27: Behavioral
• Art.: 988 Crisis Hotline Enterprise

Text

(1) The general assembly finds and
declares that:

(a) On July 16, 2020, the federal communications commission adopted rules,
and on October 17, 2020, congress passed the National Suicide Hotline
Designation Act of 2020, designating 988 as the three-digit number for the
national suicide prevention lifeline to aid rapid access to suicide prevention and
mental health support services;

(b) It is imperative for Colorado to implement 988 as the three-digit number
for crisis response services in Colorado in order to comply with federal regulations;
improve quality and access to behavioral health crisis services, especially for
underserved populations and in rural areas of the state; and reduce stigma
surrounding suicide, mental health, and substance use conditions;

(c) The 988 crisis hotline enterprise provides valuable benefits and services
to telephone service users when the enterprise funds the 988 crisis hotline and
provides crisis outreach, stabilization, and acute care to individuals calling the 988
crisis hotline from any jurisdiction in Colorado twenty-four hours a day, seven days
a week;

(d) By providing the benefits and services specified in subsection (1)(c) of this
section, the 988 crisis hotline enterprise engages in an activity conducted in the
pursuit of a benefit, gain, or livelihood, and therefore operates as a business;

(e) Consistent with the determination of the Colorado supreme court in
Nicholl v. E-470 Public Highway Authority, 896 P.2d 859 (Colo. 1995), that the
power to impose taxes is inconsistent with enterprise status under section 20 of
article X of the state constitution, it is the conclusion of the general assembly that
the charges imposed by the enterprise is a fee, not a tax, because the charges are
imposed for the specific purpose of allowing the enterprise to defray the costs of
providing the benefits and services specified in subsection (1)(c) of this section to
telephone service users and the charges are imposed at rates that are reasonably
calculated based on the cost of the services received by telephone service users;

(f) So long as the 988 crisis hotline enterprise qualifies as an enterprise for
purposes of section 20 of article X of the state constitution, the revenue from the
charges imposed by the enterprise are not state fiscal year spending, as defined in
section 24-77-102 (17), or state revenues, as defined in section 24-77-103.6 (6)(c),
and do not count against either the state fiscal year spending limit imposed by
section 20 article X of the state constitution or the excess state revenues cap, as
defined in section 24-77-103.6 (6)(b)(I); and

(g) No other enterprise created simultaneously or within the preceding five
years serves primarily the same purpose as the 988 crisis hotline enterprise and the
988 crisis hotline enterprise will generate revenue from charges of less than one
hundred million dollars total in its first five fiscal years. Accordingly, the creation of
the 988 crisis hotline enterprise does not require voter approval pursuant to section
24-77-108.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added, (SB 21-154), ch. 360, p. 2343, � 1, effective September 7.