DORA recommends more bingo games

Colorado could allow more bingo games under a proposal to come before the Legislature next year.
Allowing more bingo games is part of the recommendations issued Monday by the Department of Regulatory Agencies, which suggests changes to regulations.
The Legislature will be asked to:
Allow more bingo games.
The current regulation restricts organizations with a bingo license to 158 bingo occasions in a calendar year. The review said the rule is arbitrary and an unlimited number should be allowed.
Require cooperative electric associations and municipal utilities to give incentives to consumers who generate their own power.
Passed in 2004, Amendment 37 directed investor-owned utilities to create a standard net metering system for consumers who generate electricity through solar power or other means. The amendment excluded co-ops and municipal utilities, so nearly half of the state's electricity customers don't have access to those programs.
Remove the burden of proof now placed on companies wanting to start a taxi service.
Applicants have to prove there's a public need for a taxi service that existing companies aren't meeting. The proposed change would turn that around: Existing taxi companies would have to prove granting a new company permission to operate would harm the public.
Increase the fines allowed to be levied against collection agencies.
The Department of Regulatory Agencies is asking that the fine per violation be increased to $2,000 from $1,000. The Legislature also will be asked to remove a requirement that licensed collection agencies have an office in Colorado. An out-of-state collection agency should only need to have a registered agent in Colorado and a toll-free number.
Find a way to develop a permanent funding solution for CoverColorado.
CoverColorado is a safety-net health program created in 1991 to provide coverage for those considered uninsurable or who are unable to afford insurance because of high premiums tied to a pre-existing condition or illness. Premiums collected from those in CoverColorado provide about 60 percent of the program's costs.
The shortfall happens because federal grants, the state's unclaimed property trust fund and assessments on insurance carriers don't generate enough money. The department is calling for a task force to be created to determine a better funding source, including the possibility of an all-payer system that would charge fees to hospitals and doctors in private practice.
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