March 25, 2026 · Health & Human Services · 2,471 words · 6 speakers · 62 segments
Senate Health and Human Services will come to order. Mr. Brown, please call the roll.
Senators Bright. Here.
Cutter.
Excused.
Doherty.
Here.
Rizal.
Excused.
Weissman.
Good morning.
Judah.
Present.
Mr. Chair Mullica.
Here. Members, we have two bills on the calendar. First bill is up is Senate Bill 99. We have Senator Kirkmeyer with us. Let the record reflect that Senator Frizzell has joined us. Senator Kirkmeyer, you want to tell us a little bit about Senate Bill 99?
Yep, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate it. And hopefully we don't have a deja vu from the last time I was here. Anyways, thank you for your patience with me. I greatly appreciate it. And the ability to go ahead and reschedule this for today. and I'm thankful for the people that are going to be witnesses in this as well. So right now, currently under law, any material compound mixture or preparation which is an analog or has a similar chemical structure to and is designed to produce a similar or greater effect of a Schedule II drug is treated the same as a Schedule II drug for the purpose of the Colorado Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The determination is made by the courts as needed in a particular criminal case. So you're probably thinking, if we have that in law already, why do we need this bill? And the idea is that this bill would give the governor the authority to declare the same, a material, compound, mixture, or preparation of an analog Schedule II drug if certain conditions are met. And the idea is here to be forward-thinking, to try and get ahead of the next poison that ends up in kids' hands or anybody's hands, quite frankly, that causes death and drug overdose deaths in our state, and to try and get ahead of it. I think we all know what happened with fentanyl. I'm just going to kind of go over it a little bit, but I'm not going to go into great detail on it. But I think we all know what happened when fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, which are most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. I think you've heard, we all know that it's even a small dose. It can be deadly. And over 150 people die every day nationally, not in Colorado, but nationally from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. And according to the latest data in the public health and environment, there were 1,184 deaths in 2023. That's an increase from the 222 deaths that were in 2019. And they keep going up. In fact, through November of 2024, again, this is latest information and data, there were 801 deaths just through November of 2024 in that year. Don't have the full year yet, but I don't know why, but we don't. But illegally manufactured fentanyl accounts for about 68% of all drug overdose deaths in 2023, which is a 25.7% increase from 2020. So we know how bad fentanyl is, and we know how quickly it came onto the scene and how we weren't prepared. In 2019, there was a bill passed that said you could walk around with four grams of fentanyl in your pocket and you'd be fine, basically. and you know it was just pretty much well it wasn't making it totally decriminalizing it it was defelonizing it made it really a lot easier for the poison to start getting into everyone hands and I think we all understand what was happening in 2022 with maybe the exception of Senator Bright because he wasn here But I think he still gets it I think we all understand that in 2022, we had to go back and fix that law and try and get ahead of the game again. That's what this is about. It's about really allowing the governor to declare under certain conditions, and they're very narrowly tailored, that he could declare a preparation of an analog Schedule II drug. so that it would happen even when we're out of session, so that we could, again, be forward-thinking and anticipate when the next synthetic drug will arrive in the state and that we could defend the consequences to our public health. Now, it is very narrow what the governor can do and how far he can go. It's not like we're giving him broad authority, because I know there are some of you that are thinking, why would a Republican think that it's okay to get the governor additional authority? And in this case, it's because these poisons are horrible. And, you know, I keep concentrating on youth, but it's not just the youth that get these drugs and wherever they get them from, but it's just horrible what it does to families and in our communities and in our state. So if we can do something that gives the governor a little bit more authority with very narrow, you know, guidelines on it, You know, it doesn't last for more than two years. The legislature has the ability to repeal it. They have the ability. The governor would not be able to extend, you know, making these types of declarations through an emergency order, and it cannot be renewed. So, again, it's very narrow authority that the governor would have. So with that, I would say let's just start thinking about how, hopefully we can all think about how do we make sure that we don't don't let the next poison get on the scene and do a bunch of damage before we can start getting it under control. With that, I would ask for an aye vote on Bill.
Thank you, Senator Kirkmeyer. Does the committee have any questions for the sponsor? Seeing none, we do have two witnesses signed up to testify.
Senator Kirkmeyer, one is in opposition, one is four.
Is it all right just to bring them both up at the same time? Online, can we pull up Kristen Hartman?
Not on.
Okay. What about Chief Brent Newbanks?
Not on.
You don't have any? Is there anyone else online or in person who wishes to testify on Senate Bill 99? Seeing none, the witness phase is closed. Do you have any amendments, Senator Kirkmeyer?
No, sir.
Any amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. I think you just told us about the bill. Do you have any wrap-up, Senator Kirkmeyer?
No, I'm pretty sure I said everything I needed to say. Thank you.
Any wrap-up from the committee?
Senator Weissman. Thanks. Senator Kirkmeyer, I don't think you need to convince any of us about the challenges posed by the evolving pace of synthetic drugs. I remember some of the first meetings I had in my community about fentanyl, and then it was carfentanil. and now it's other things, xylazines, other nitazine class drugs. It's pretty horrifying. Nonetheless, I hold myself to assessing not just as a problem case adequately made, and I think here it is, but as the proposed solution appropriately fit to the problem. So I agree with you on the first half. There is a problem out there I don know if I can support this particular solution for risk of politicizing a process that I think is fundamentally more scientifically based To me there might be other things. If we needed a way to adapt in ways that are faster than bicameralism and presentment, I could think of some other ones. I think going all the way to vesting the authority of Schedule II classification and the various criminal legal consequences that flow from it in one person, even with the parameters that you've set up here, is a little bit more than I can get on board. So I won't be supporting today. I thought I owed it to you in the record to say a bit about
why. Thank you. I appreciate that, Senator Kirkman. I appreciate you bringing out the judiciary and Senator Weissman and the Health Committee. You and I have spoken offline on this. Fully supportive, I think, of what your intent here is. I have strong concerns of, I think, putting that with the governor. I tend to lean more in on us as a legislature doing that. Understand what you're trying to do, though, here, and being nimble and allowing for us to be able to address it in a more timely fashion. I won't be able to support today, but I totally appreciate what you're trying to accomplish here and look forward to future conversations about how to address this and maybe try to bring the legislature in more into it, not just with the governor. And so, Senator Frazell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Senator Kirkmeyer, I really appreciate you bringing this bill because I think it's a very important matter. I also see that I see both sides and I understand what my good colleagues up here are talking about but I also see that the governor has powers that he or she could utilize in emergency situations and sometimes these drugs become just that so I feel like there could be a happy medium. I am a yes for today because I do think this is an issue that rises to that level of urgency. So thank you for bringing the bill.
Any further comments? If not, Senator Frazell, the proper motion
would be to the Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move Senate Bill 26099 to the Committee of the Whole.
That is a proper motion. Mr. Brown, please call the roll.
Senator Bright. Aye. Doherty. No. Frazell. Aye. Weissman. No. Judah. Respectfully, no. Mr. Chair Mullica.
No. And that fails on a vote of 4-2.
Senator Frizzell. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I regretfully move to postpone Senate Bill 99 indefinitely with a reverse roll call.
Is there any opposition to that? Seeing none, Senate Bill 99 will be postponed indefinitely with a reverse roll call. Thank you, Senator Kirkmeyer.
Senator Kirkmeyer. Just want to say thank you for your comments. I appreciate that. I think it's something that we all know that we need to work on, and maybe there's something we can do in the future together. Appreciate it.
Thank you, Senator Kirkman. Next up, members, we have House Bill 1277 with Senator Doherty. Do you want to tell us a little bit about House Bill 1277, Senator Doherty?
Yes, thank you, members. House Bill 1277 is very straightforward. I know we hear that a lot, but I think this one actually is. It implements the recommendation of the Department of Regulatory Agencies from its 2025 Sunset Review and formally repeals the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force on September 1 26 Thank you I told you it was straightforward Perfect Any questions for the sponsor Seeing no we do have one witness signed up to testify
Is Alicia Haywood here? Come up, Ms. Haywood. Welcome to Senate Health, Ms. Haywood. If you want to just state your name, if it's on the neck of the – is it on? Is it on? Perfect. If you just want to state your name, who you represent, and you'll have three minutes to testify. Start whenever you're ready.
Thank you, Senator. Good afternoon, Chair Mullica and the committee. I am the Deputy Director in the Prevention Services Division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and I'm here today to speak in support of House Bill 26-1277 to sunset the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force. We would call it a sunset success story, I believe. So the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force was established by House Bill 21-1171 with three primary statutory objectives, building partnerships to spread word about kidney disease and its prevention across Colorado, study the impact of kidney disease, focusing on the costs and why this disease hits some communities harder than others, and create a plan to detect kidney disease early and reduce the physical and financial toll that it takes on patients. So I am pleased to report that the task force has successfully completed all of these mandated activities. The task force is comprised of dedicated clinicians, people impacted by kidney disease, nonprofits focused on kidney disease, and representation from the General Assembly. And all of these folks have continued to donate their time generously since 2021. They have been a very engaged committee. I see a lot of committees in the department, and it's just really been impressive. In particular, Representative Leader has been ongoing, giving a lot of contributions and really supported this task force, and we're very grateful for all that she's done. The committee reviewed data from the state's All Payers Claims Database in order to learn more about the costs associated with kidney disease. And then in response to that data, the task force supported the department in securing competitive federal dollars that allow us to work with the Kidney Disease Foundation and increase chronic kidney disease in primary care settings. The Kidney Transplant Center at university will work with the National Kidney Foundation as well, and they'll be able to promote screening in primary care settings. So that core mission has really been accomplished, and we have a pathway to implement the work was really generated by the task force. So we feel that it has fulfilled its purpose, and we respectfully request that the committee is sunset.
Thank you so much, Ms. Haywood. Does the committee have any questions for this witness? Seeing none, thank you so much for being here. That exhausts the list of witnesses before me. Is there anyone online or in person who wishes to testify on House Bill 1277? Seeing none, the witness phase is closed Senator Doherty, do you have any amendments?
No
Any amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed Do you want to wrap up anything, Senator Doherty?
Yeah, as you heard, we're just following through on recommendations and I urge an aye vote
Perfect, thank you, Senator Doherty Any wrap-up comments from the committee? Seeing none, Senator Doherty, the proper motion would be to the Committee of the Whole
I move House Bill 1277 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation
That's a proper motion, Mr. Brown, please call the roll
Senators Bright
Aye
Doherty
Yes
Rizal
Aye
Weissman
Yes
Judah
Aye
Mr. Chair Malika
Yes, congratulations. That passes unanimously.
Senator Doherty I move House Bill 1277 to the consent calendar.
Any objection for House Bill 1277 to be placed on the consent calendar? Seeing none, it will be placed on the consent calendar. Members, that concludes our work in Senate Health and Human Services. we are adjourned.