COPR recommends sunsetting Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force; CDPHE says work will continue through other programs

The Colorado Office of Policy Research and Regulatory Reform (COPR) recommended that the General Assembly sunset the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force during a Title II review before the House Health & Human Services Committee on Feb. 18. Jennifer Lockwood, COPR policy analyst, told committee members the nine‑member task force, created in 2021, completed the bulk of its statutory work, meets monthly with about six members on average, and is supported by general fund dollars. Lockwood said COPR’s review found the task force’s mandates will be finished before the statutory repeal date and therefore recommended sunsetting the body.

Alicia Haywood, deputy director in the prevention services division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, told the committee she supports that recommendation. Haywood said the task force achieved its core objectives, including analyses of Medicaid and other data and coordinated outreach planning. She said two implementation pathways will carry key work forward after sunset: leveraging federal competitive funds to expand chronic kidney disease screening in primary care settings and continued implementation work by the University of Colorado transplant center in partnership with the National Kidney Foundation.

COPR reported fiscal figures for the task force: roughly $87,557 in expenditures in fiscal year 2023‑24 and about $94,915 in fiscal year 2024‑25. Lockwood told the committee the task force expects to release a final report in August 2026, and COPR concluded statutory mandates will be completed in time for that report.

Committee members asked technical and procedural questions but offered no amendments. The committee voted to introduce a draft bill to continue the statutory housekeeping required to wind down or modify the task force; the motion to introduce the draft bill passed 11‑0 with two members excused. Representative Leader volunteered to be a primary sponsor for the bill.

Next steps: staff will prepare legislative draft language and OLS technical changes as requested by the committee; the committee record shows the motion to introduce passed, moving the matter into the formal bill process.