Colorado Senate 2026 Legislative Day 062

Bazley, Ball, Benavidez, Bridges, Bright, Carson, Catlin, Cutter, Danielson, Danielson,

Judah, Kip, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Lindstedt, Liston, Marchman, Mullica, Pelton B, Pelton R, Rich, Roberts, Rodriguez, Simpson, Snyder, Sullivan, Wallace, Weissman, Zamora Wilson. Mr. President, let's do this. The morning roll call is 33 present, 0 absent, 2 excused. We have a quorum.

You've heard the motion. This requires a two-thirds vote. All those in favor say aye.

Opposed, no. The ayes have it. Senate Rule 1B will be suspended to allow someone other than the senator to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Members, this morning we have a very special guest and very special guests to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please welcome Senator Ball's son, Nelson, and his second grade class from Dormore Elementary. Today is also Nelson's birthday. Happy birthday, Nelson. Please join me in the pledge.

Hey, good job, y'all. Let's give it up one more time for the Ms. A. Lee. Good job. Mr. Schoffler, please add Senator Danielson to the roll. Approval of the journal.

What? The ayes have it still, and that motion is adopted. Senate Services.

Message from the House.

Message from the provisor.

Third reading of bills. Consent calendar. Mr. Schaffler, please read the titles of all the bills on the consent calendar.

Mr. Majority Leader.

Any discussion on any of the bills? Seeing none, the motion is the passage of all the bills on third reading of bills, consent calendar. Are there any? No vote. Senator Baisley.

Good morning.

Senator Baines will be recorded as a no vote on Senate Bill 118 and House Bill 1146. Senator Carson.

Very good. Senator Carson will be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1146.

What? Senator Zamora Wilson will be recorded as a no vote on Senate Bill 118 and House Bill 1146. Senator Rich.

Oh, thank goodness. Senator Rich will be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1146. Senator Liston.

Very good. Senator Liston will be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1146. Senator Pelton R.

Good morning.

Senator Pelton R. recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1146. Senator Pelton B.

Senator Pellett, to be recorded as a no vote on House Bill 1146. Seeing no further no votes with a vote of 32 eyes 2 no 0 absent and 1 excuse Senate Bill 118 is passed Go sponsors. Great bill. Senator Kipp.

March.

Gonzalez.

Colker.

Anyone else? Anybody else? All right. Let's see one of the children in the back raise their hand. Thank you for that. With a vote of 27 I, 7, 0, 0, absent, 1, excuse, House Bill 1146 is passed. Cosponsors. Senators Marchman, Danielson, Wallace, Cutter, Weissman, Lindstedt, Mullica. with, oh, please add Senator Gonzalez as a co-sponsor 1146 for the co-sponsors. With a vote of 34 ayes, zero no, zero absent, one excuse, Senate Bill 88 is passed. Co-sponsors, Senators, Wallace. Mmm, it's lonely out here. Seeing no further co-sponsors, please don't add the president. Oh, co-sponsor?

Pelton B.

Zamora Wilson.

It's pretty good.

Catlin.

Bazley. Ha ha! You are a pretty good whip.

All right, no more co-sponsors. Okay, third reading of the bills. Final passage, Mr. Schoffler, please read the title of Senate Bill 87.

Senator Wallace. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 2687 on third reading and final passage.

What?

Rich Baisley Bright Liston Carson Kirkmeyer Frizzell Minority Leader Mr Minority Leader Catlin, Helton R., with a vote of 23 ayes, 11 a no, 0 absent, 1 excuse, Senate Bill 87 is passed. co-sponsors, Senators, Marchman, Gonzalez, Kipf, Weissman, Judah, Lindstadt, Henriksen. Please add the present. Mr. Schaffler, please read the title of Senate Bill 120.

Senator Wallace. Thank you, Mr. President. I move Senate Bill 26-120 on third reading and final passage.

Thank you, Mr. President. There are people in this chamber today who should not have had to come here. Joe and Vanessa Tressel made the drive from their homes to this chamber because their daughter, Megan, is the reason this bill exists. I am grateful that they are here. I am sorry for what brought them here. You guys can stand up if you don't mind. Thank you. And I want to say, Rebecca Russell, Kaylee's mother, who could not be with us today, we see you too. This bill carries her too. Every officer trained on every alert in this state carries her name forward. This chamber has already heard the full story. I'm not going to ask you to live through it again. What I will say is this. Two women are gone. Two families did everything right. and the systems that were supposed to move did not. They did not move fast enough. They did not move at all. SB 120 sets the clock for every college and university in Colorado six hours from the report, not the determination before law enforcement is called, every peace officer trained on every missing person alert in this state, and when a college has looked elsewhere and it cannot, everywhere it can look and still cannot confirm a student is safe, the family gets called, not as a courtesy, but as part of the process. I've stood in two cold parking lots with families who came because they loved someone. I will not stand here and tell you this bill would have brought them home. I don't know that. No one does. But what I know is that right now, somewhere in Colorado, there is a student enrolled at an institution with no legal obligation to act. within any defined time frame if they go missing. That's true today, but it doesn't have to be true tomorrow. Joe and Vanessa, thank you for being here. This vote is for Megan, and it's for every family that should never have to make the drives you made to get here. Colleagues, I ask for your aye vote.

House Bill 1038 by Representative Pascoe and Clifford and Senator Snyder concerning County Commissioner Redistricting.

The motion is lay over House Bill 1038 until Tuesday, March 17th. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Polls no. The ayes have it. And House Bill 1038 will lay over until tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17th. Mr. Majority Leader.

You've heard the motion. All those in favor say aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. That motion is adopted. Y'all can get up out of here. We love you. General Order, second meeting of bills, consent calendar.

You've heard the motion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The motion is adopted. The Senate will resolve itself to meet the whole consideration of general order, second meeting of bills, consent calendar, and Senadora Gonzalez will take the chair.

Committee will come to order. The code rule is relaxed. Mr. Schoffler, will you please read the titles to all the bills on the general order second reading of bills consent calendar?

Majority Leader Rodriguez. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move for the passage of all the bills on second reading of Bill's consent calendar, which is House Bill 1042 and Senate Bill 126 and the education report.

Senator Gonzales. Thank you, Mr. President. We met and considered bills. Mr. Schauffler, will you please read the report?

Senator Dora Gonzalez. Thank you, Mr. President. I move the report.

Thank you. Mr. President, I move the Senate resolve itself into the committee of the whole for consideration of general orders, second reading of bills.

Senate Bill 66 by Senators Judah and Carson concerning the regulation of compounded weight loss medications that have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

To the HHS report.

Is there further discussion about the committee report? Seeing none, the motion before the body is the adoption of the committee report from HHS. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it and that report is adopted. To the bill, Senator Judah.

There is an amendment at the desk. Mr. Schaffler, will you please read L 88 to Senate Bill 66.

Senator Judah. Thank you, Madam Chair. This amendment essentially helps the little guys, and we are going to exempt them if they are essentially making 20 doses or less. And this also means long care facilities assisted living residents home care agencies and the PACE program and an adult daycare facility And I ask for an aye vote

I will, and I apologize. I move L-8 to Senate Bill 66.

A couple of comments on this amendment. You know, a lot of the mail we've received on this particular bill talks about unique dosages, specific cases where people have compounding drug needs, and I think this amendment helps to address that. I think in general, though, you know, this bill is not targeted at compound drugs. What we're saying here is they have a very legitimate place, but we want to make sure the ingredients are safe and healthy. And that's the purpose of this piece of legislation, and I think this amendment helps us to address that issue.

Senator Frizzell.

Members, I appreciate this effort on the part of the bill sponsors, but I have a question about it's specifically, so we're helping the little guys. How many patients would 20 units of weight loss drugs per month actually serve? So I'm talking about a number of patients that 20 units serves.

Senator Judah. Thank you, Madam Chair. In our conversations with smaller pharmacies, they made it clear that they have fewer customers, if you will, or patients that use GLP-1 weight loss drugs. So the 20 was kind of the ceiling, I think also making it generous for them. But, again, I think the way this is worded is it's talking about people who make 20 or more GLP compounded weight loss drugs in the compounding pharmacies.

Senator Frizzell. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, members, I would submit to you that this particular amendment, while well-intentioned, still capture, this bill will still capture the vast majority of compounding pharmacies and pharmacists that do business here in the state of Colorado. We heard very loud and clear in committee from folks who use GLP-1 weight loss drugs that have been compounded, and they do so for a variety of reasons, and we'll be talking a lot more about that here in a few minutes. But I urge a no vote on this amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Colleagues I been looking forward to this discussion because we all know that all too often our legislation gets misinterpreted by the lobby and mischaracterized I'm afraid that that has happened with Senate Bill 66, and that's why I'm eager to set the record straight today. To clarify exactly what the bill does, what it doesn't do, and why it's important for health and safety of Coloradans. I also want to mention that a lot of the emails that you've been receiving have been based on the introduced version and not the strike below. So please understand that the strike below has taken amendments from almost all, if not many, of our opposition, including the pharmacists. At its core, SB66 is about patient and consumer protection. It ensures that those who take compounded GLP-1 weight loss medications can make informed decisions and trust that their ingredients they're receiving are safe. That is simply the primary goal, that their ingredients are safe, and they know where they're coming from so that they can make an informed decision. This is what the bill does. It protects patients by ensuring that compounded GLP-1 weight loss drugs are made from safe, traceable, most importantly, human-grade ingredients. It ensures transparency so patients know what they're getting, whether it's FDA-approved medication or a compounded one. Clear labeling is key. And finally, it establishes enforcement by granting the Attorney General exclusive authority to uphold these laws under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. But here's what the bill does not do based on some of the information you've been getting in your emails. It doesn't target legitimate compounding pharmacies. Good actors, those who follow best practices, have nothing to worry about in this bill. This bill is holding bad actors accountable, not harming the good ones. It doesn't create a path for lawsuits. Contrary to some claims, the bill explicitly removes the private right of action. The only entity with enforcement power is the AG's office. Pharmaceutical companies cannot use this bill as a tool to sue compounding pharmacies. I want to repeat that. the pharmaceutical companies cannot use this bill to sue compounding pharmacies. It doesn't restrict access to necessary compounding medications. What it does address is the growing market of compounded weight loss drugs, which has raised serious patient safety concerns, including issues like inconsistent dosing, contamination risks. We've seen arsenic in these things, and confusion between compounded and FDA-approved medications. Addressing some of the common misconceptions, this bill creates confusion for patients. The opposite is true. Clear labeling is critical for patient safety. By ensuring patients know exactly what they're getting, we empower them to make informed decisions about their health and what they're taking. This isn't about confusion. It's simply about transparency. Claim number two, this bill allows pharmaceutical companies to serve Two, as I mentioned earlier, this bill removes the private right of action, explicitly ensuring that only the issue can enforce it. This bill is about protecting patients, not enabling litigation. False claim number three, the bill will harm compounding pharmacies. This bill is not an attack on compounding pharmacies, large or small. It's about making sure that compounded medications used for high-risk drugs, like weight loss medications, are held to appropriate and safety standards. This bill protects good actors who are already following the rules. Claim number four. This is already regulated by the FDA. This bill is related to 503A pharmacies. 503A pharmacies are primarily regulated by the State Board of Pharmacy, not the FDA. 503B is regulated by the FDA. While they must adhere to federal laws and use USP quality standards, they are exempt from FDA-enforced current good manufacturing practices and do not need to register with the FDA. This means it is our responsibility as lawmakers and a state to ensure that these pharmacies are using safe and effective ingredients when making products in Colorado. Safe and effective ingredients coming from sources that are FDA approved. False claim number five is that there's no public safety risk. The issue is quickly becoming not only a safety risk, but a public safety emergency. A recent study found that patients taking compounded weight loss drugs were over six times more likely to experience suicidally than those taking an FDA-approved medication. The FDA and FBI have recently warned telehealth companies about these products, particularly when ingredients come from unregulated suppliers. At this time, poison control calls related to compounding weight loss drugs have surged by 1,500% since 2019, signaling a rapidly escalating public health risk. I want to make sure that people understand we are not going after compounding pharmacies, and this bill only applies to weight loss medication. A lot of the things that you've been receiving have made it seem like we are going after all compounding pharmacies and that we are going after all compounded weight loss drugs. This is not the case. This is a phenomenon that we are seeing only with compounded weight loss drugs. No other drug is being nefariously compounded and getting ingredients from non-FDA sources. There's a few additional points I want to make that this bill does not apply to outsourcing facilities, or 503B, which are regulated by the federal level. The bill does not impact compounding pharmacies' ability to continue to compound drugs for legitimate medical purposes, such as pediatric dosing, hormone therapy, and care in long-term facilities. The bill does not interfere with prescribers' ability to make medical decisions for their patients. The bill does carve out certain entities that will not be impacted such as hospitals clinics long care facilities and pharmacies providing animal medication The bill does not limit compound, sorry, legitimate competition. Sorry, the bill does not limit competition. each new drug that comes out is more effective and puts downward pressure on the ones already released. Beyond that, there are currently 170 different weight loss drugs known to be in the pipeline from 82 companies. These medicines will continue to become cheaper even before the patents expire. We've worked carefully with the stakeholders to ensure that this bill does not overreach. that refined definitions to make the intent absolutely clear. That said, I acknowledge that we have not mitigated the concerns of all stakeholders. I believe this marketplace deserves robust competition and competition that only works when the rulebook applies to everyone. By ensuring all weight loss medication is safe, consumers can make a choice that serves them best.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank my distinguished colleague from Aurora for going through and rebutting point by point the criticisms to this piece of legislation. Illegal ingredients linked to knockoff weight loss drugs are pouring into this country from China, India, and elsewhere. And many of these are ending up in questionable and misleading products for consumers. In the last two years, 18% of the bulk shipments coming into the U.S. were denied entry by U.S. Customs. These are shipments of semiglutide and trisepatide. Now, 82% passed inspection, but many of these as well are of questionable ingredients. Many are from non-sterile facilities and holding unapproved and unreviewed ingredients. They originate from non-FDA registered facilities. What this bill says is that GLP-1 ingredients must be either FDA approved or must originate from FDA registered and inspected facilities and the ingredients must be accurately labeled for consumers. As my colleague mentioned, we've addressed many concerns exempting hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospice, and this latest amendment exempts small batches, less than 20 per month for unique dosages out there in the state. Now, I've read or I've heard over the weekend, reviewed some articles saying that this bill is just a gift to pharma. And I would argue it's not a gift to pharma. It's a gift to consumers to make sure they get safe and accurate and quality products. You know, it's easy to criticize pharmaceutical companies, of course, until you get the drug that improves your quality of life or saves the life of someone you care for or love. You know, these particular drugs are life-saving, GLP-1. We fully support that They been developed nearly 30 years it took to develop these drugs 25 years research and development trials manufacturing scaling up And they've produced a tremendous benefit, treatment, life-saving for diabetes and for those who need weight loss medications. But you know, you just take the top ten pharmaceutical companies in this country, they spend $120 billion this year on research and development. So we can find new drugs to cure, hopefully cure Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS, and rare diseases that are out there that we talked about earlier in the session. In the U.S., we respect patents so companies can recoup their cost and they can drive that money back into research and development, so we find life-saving drugs developed over many years. As my colleague mentioned, the private right of action has been taken out of this bill. It was in the original version. We've made it very clear. We just want the Attorney General to be the enforcer on this bill, to put some basic guidelines out there to make sure that consumers in Colorado are getting a safe and healthy product. This is not targeted at the compounding drug industry. It's very narrowly tailored, and I believe it will accomplish the mission of improving safety for Colorado consumers. So with that, I would urge adoption of the legislation.

Thank you Madam Chair. I just did a little bit of checking while reviewing the amendment that we just approved and noticed that a typical weekly prescription for GLP-1 for weight loss requires 50 units, and the amendments exempted up to 20 units, and that's just for one person, one prescription. And so I don't feel like we got to even one person, one prescription for one week, much less one month. And so we keep scale of what that looks like. I heard this bill in Health and Human Services Committee, and I want to appreciate the work and the intent that the sponsors brought. I really feel like this is an important space to address. I feel like after uncovering a lot of it and figuring out motives and figuring out intent, figuring out the direction that the legislation takes, I feel like the intent, the way the legislature is written versus what needs to be addressed are kind of pointed in two separate directions. There's no doubt that bad ingredients, bad chemicals cross the U.S. shores every day. and I feel like the best place to stop those things from happening, those bad ingredients are at the U.S. shores, not at our local pharmacies there are many companies that work in this space that work within FDA spaces with FDA chemicals and this bill would limit those folks from being able to compete in these spaces I think the bill is overly sweeping. in an attempt to pick up and address those bad actors. We haven't really done that, yet we have picked up the folks who are in this space legally and operating within FDA guidelines. This bill still hasn't addressed the issue that there is bad actors, that there are bad ingredients. The bill doesn't pick up any of that. I'm sure glad that in committee we got to amend out the private right of action because I feel like at the committee level, I'm not sure this bill would have survived with the PRA there. And so I commend the sponsors for working with us and getting that done. I feel like we should go after those bad actors in this space. we should hold harmless the folks that are doing this in a legitimate FDA-approved way. As I look at the folks that are kind of behind the bill, the companies that would be affected, it looks to me like there's two big pharmaceutical companies versus everybody else. and I think those two big pharma companies have probably invested a whole lot in trying to get this bill passed and it seems to me as I read through between the lines the bill is very much intended to limit their competition in this space and as a free market American I don't know I guess I can't stand for that I believe there is language that can get us to a place where we're actually addressing the issues in this space. And I've prepared an amendment to address that. There's an amendment at the desk.

Amendment L9. Senator Bright.

Amendment L9.

A proper motion.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

amends the Health and Human Services Committee report and brings in some language I think is appropriate that more adequately holds harmless the folks that are working in this space correctly so that the bill can focus on those folks who are not. and it would also exempt a practitioner who prescribes, orders, dispenses, or administers a compounded weight loss drug in the course of professional practice and or a licensed pharmacist, outsourcing facility, wholesaler, or distributor that compounds, prepares, dispenses, or sells, or transfers, or distributes a compound weight loss drug in substantial compliance with 503A or 503B. I feel like this gets to where the This bill needs to be so that we can gather some unanimous support in this direction. And I would encourage an aye vote on L9.

Senator Frizzell. Senator Frizzell.

Thank you.

Further discussion? Senator Carson.

Senator Judah. Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to clarify a few points that we heard, that these pharmacies are regulated by the FDA. that is the problem is that they are not. There are two kinds of compounding pharmacies, 503A and 503B. 503B is regulated by the FDA. That is not what we're touching here. We are regulating 503A pharmacies, which is regulated by the state, which is the problem here, which is what we're trying to make sure are safe. I will also say that when we're asking the compounding pharmacies that are regulated by the state is to just have proof that they're using FDA-approved sources for their ingredients. and that's why the AG will have enforcement to engage in the pharmaceutical and enforcement under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and noting that our our own attorney general has said that the compounding pharmacies in Colorado should be regulated for these nefarious practices And I ask for a no vote on this amendment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to wrap up, I don't think we have any more folks who want to speak on this. I think we've made it pretty clear that we're trying to get at the bad actors here that are putting these ingredients together. They're coming from questionable sources. We have no interest in affecting negatively the compounding drug industry in general. We've continually narrowed this bill just to these GLP-1 drugs. I think everybody has seen some of the advertising and marketing for products that might say they're Ozempic or Wagovi. You get in there, you get into the link, and it makes it clear it has nothing to do with any of that. We want to make sure consumers are getting accurate information and they're getting good products, and that's the intent of this bill. So I would urge an aye vote.

Senator Bright. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate the comments and the intent. Appreciate the attention to this. I do feel like this is a space where we need to get it right. Getting it wrong has some pretty significant consequences. And I'd love to ask a question. I'm not sure it's been asked loudly enough. And that is, who benefits if Senate Bill 66 passes? Honestly, I don't believe the patients benefit in so much as I believe two extremely large pharmaceutical companies benefit. The two most profitable pharmaceutical companies on earth, one of them net income exceeded $14 billion, the other one exceeded $10 billion. I feel like competition in this space is really cutting into their profits, even when it comes through legitimate means. There's no doubt they want to see Senate Bill 66 pass. The compounded alternatives made by licensed Colorado pharmacists dispensed pursuant to valid prescriptions, using the same active pharmaceutical ingredients have been available to uninsured and underinsured patients for around $100 to $400 per month. It's kind of a wide gap. That price differential is not a rounding error. For a working family without insurance, that's the difference between getting the treatment and not getting the treatment. the legislative deck tells us that compounding pharmacies play an important role in the drug supply chain of all types the sponsors believe that i know they do i believe it but a bill that says compounding pharmacies are important in its preamble and then makes it financially impossible for them to operate is not really a consumer protection bill I believe that the bill appears to be styled as a patient safety measure that technically complex enough to obscure its market benefits and effects but imposes compliance costs precisely calibrated to eliminate the competitors the big pharma cannot eliminate through pricing alone It's not patient protection. The bill is the pharmaceutical industry dressed in the language of public health, trying to protect profits. And I would urge my colleagues to vote no on Senate Bill 66. Thank you.

Senator Carson. Just a couple of comments. You know, what we're talking about here is a life-saving product. It has helped and helped many people. It's literally saving lives, treating diabetes, treating other illnesses where we need to have weight loss, and it's helping a lot of people. And so I don't choose to criticize the process and the companies that develop these life-saving drugs, treatments. You know, these took decades in research and development, treatment, experimentation on animals, and then, you know, different programs to make sure these are good, quality, healthy pharmaceuticals. If we want pharmaceutical companies to continue to develop the drugs that are going to cure, hopefully, one day, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and MS and many different diseases out there. You have to have a system which respects the process that brings the development of those drugs. They're putting 20%, 30%. You can criticize the making of money, but 20% to 30% of revenue goes into research and development. So we can bring drugs like this to market. But I think the main point of this legislation is we have no problem, you know, with competition. There's a lot of competition. It clearly brings the price down. But we want to make sure that the competition that's out there is good for consumers, it's safe for consumers, they're getting a good product, they're not being misled. And we have a marketplace in this country where generally, you know, drugs of this nature are inspected and approved by the FDA. and we're simply saying let's stick to that system here in Colorado, make it clear that these knockoff products that are coming in, we need to take a look at those, we need to regulate them, and in some cases we need to have the Attorney General step in with some penalties. So I would urge support for the bill.

Majority Leader Rodriguez. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move the Senate proceed out of order to take up House Bill 1017.

House Bill 1017 by Representatives Espinosa Enzakai and Senator Weissman concerning prohibiting an insurer from receiving restitution through the criminal restitution process Senator Weissman Thank you Madam Chair I move 1017 Is there any discussion Senator Weissman

Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, the motion before the body is the adoption of House Bill 1017. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it and 1017 is adopted. Mr. Majority Leader.

The motion is to proceed out of order to take up 1103. All those in favor say aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it and we will proceed out of order to take up 1103.

Senator Cutter. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move House Bill 1103 and the Judicial Report. To the Judiciary Committee Report. I move in the judiciary. We actually ended up putting in judiciary committee. We actually ended up putting on an amendment that was not correct. There was some confusion between the stakeholders. So I move that to reject the judiciary report.

Mr. Schaffler, will you please read L-9 to House Bill 1103. Amendment L-9, amend reengross bill page 2, line 13, strike reporting and substitute notification and strike abuse.

Can you please move your amendment?

Okay, that is a proper motion, and thank you for explaining it. Is there further discussion on L9?

Seeing no further discussion, the motion before the body is the adoption of L9. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. L9 is adopted. To the bill, Senator Cutter.

We did debate this bill in the Judiciary Committee, and I support the bill. I think you can imagine the unique situations we're dealing with here with minors who've been involved and victims of sexual or other abuse. And I think this bill is just a reflection that we need to, you know, make sure we have involvement of counseling organizations and law enforcement, and we handle these situations properly. We still need to make sure that justice is served, but we've got to recognize the unique situation where you often have very, very young children that are involved in these cases. So I would urge an aye vote on the bill.

Majority Leader Rodriguez. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move to lay over the balance of the calendar until Tuesday, March 17th.

Majority Leader Rodriguez. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move the committee rise and report.

I saw bridges like 13 seconds ago.

Senator Gonzales. Thank you, Mr. President. The committee met and considered several bills. Mr. Schauffler, will you please read the report? March 16, 2026, Mr. President,

laid over until March 17th 2026 and retaining their place in the calendar Senator Gonzales So grateful that we are in the Senate wildly efficient Thank you Mr Schaffler I move for the adoption of the report

All right, now no votes. Senators Frizzell, Kirk Meyer, Zamora Wilson, Rich, Pelton B. B. Baisley, Mr. Minority Leader, Bright, Liston, Catlin, Pelton R. With a vote of 24 ayes, 11 no, 0 absence, 0 excuse.

Thank you, Madam Secretary. Senate Bill 66 as amended, passed second reading, order of gross place and counter for third reading and final passage. House Bill 1017, House Bill 1103 as amended, passed second reading, order of gross place and counter for third reading and final passage. Senate Bill 40, Senate Bill 112, Senate Bill 134, lay it over until 3-17-2026 and retaining their place on the calendar.

Senator Joy Resolution 17 by Senators Frizzell and Weissman and Representatives Brooks and Wilford concerning the reappointment of Carrie L. Hunter to the position of State Auditor.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members, I'm really honored to bring this resolution before you today. as the chair of the legislative audit committee and with me is my vice chair of the legislative audit committee we are here to recommend to you the reappointment of carrie hunter to the position of state auditor and she's back here in the back i probably shouldn't have said that i don't know anyway well i'd like to welcome auditor hunter to the chamber the state auditor's office does amazing and important work in this building, and we are extremely grateful for her diligence and her management of her office. And with that, I ask for an aye vote on Senate Joint Resolution 2617.

Thank you, Mr. President. For the record, we move SGR 2617. Members, just to add a bit more for folks who don't know, the audit committee is a bipartisan, bicameral committee. Eight members total, two each DR House Senate were evenly bipartisan, so we don't do anything without there is at least some bipartisan agreement. I'm on my second year serving on the audit committee, have the privilege to be vice chair this year. basically audit is part of how we hold the executive branch once in a while the judicial branch to account to make sure that the laws and programs that we set up here statutorily are going to plan that they efficient that we not spending money unnecessarily the auditor is actually a constitutional position The Constitution provides that he or she has to be reappointed or appointed by majority of the whole legislature We do that by resolution. That's what this resolution is. So I'm also asking everybody for a yes vote here to affirm the Audit Committee's unanimous decision to allow Auditor Hunter to continue in her service to the state.

Senators Marchman.

Senator Frizzell. Mr. President, I'd like to ask that today's roll call be added as co-sponsors.

Member of the Medical Services Board for a term expiring July 1, 2029. Barry Martin of Denver, Colorado, to serve as a representative of the 1st Congressional District, reappointed. Members of the Community Access Enterprise Effect of September 29, 2025 for terms expiring September 28, 2029. Paul Boney of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to serve as a representative of a business or organization that supports electric alternatives to motor vehicles, reappointed. Laura Gatz of Pueblo, Colorado to serve as a representative of the public reappointed. Members of the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission. After completion of their first term for a second term expiring July 1, 2030, Michael Cross of Arvada, Colorado to serve as a member with substantial experience in the oil and gas industry reappointed. Brett Ackerman of Colorado Springs, Colorado to serve as a member with formal training or substantial experience in environmental protection, wildlife protection, or reclamation reappointed. Member of the Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise Board effective September 2, 2025 for term expiring September 1, 2028. Christopher Simmons of Denver, Colorado deserves an individual with formal training or substantial experience in land reclamation projects reappointed.

Any discussion? Seeing none, the motion is the confirmation of the appointments on the consent calendar. Are there any no votes? With a vote of 35 ayes, 0 no, 0 absence, 0 excuse, those appointments are confirmed. Message from the Governor.

Introduction of bills.

Announcements. Mr. Minority Leader.

Granted.

Welcome to the Senate. Senator Baisley.

Granted.

Welcome. Senator Basley.

did I ask for a moment of personal privilege you did not but you So referred to the Senate President as the Chairman, Senator Baisley will be fined $1 for referring to the Senate President as the Chairman. I got it.

I'm not going to wait.

You know, just times are tough right now for everybody financially.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Granted.

Senator Bridges. Thank you, Mr. President. He's a big deal. He is a big deal. I ask for a moment of personal privilege.

I think Space Camp is relevant to this chamber and this body, And this is the one time a year that I get to talk about Space Camp and how I went there. I know I never talk about it any other time, but that was a real formative period of my life. I am really into space, and I happen to live in the state that is the most into space of any state in the country. We have more aerospace workers. We have a larger aerospace economy per capita than any other state in the country, significantly more than Alabama.

The Space Command rightfully belongs in Colorado. It has been in Colorado. We are ready for it. We can stand that capacity up, that command up. It is a blow to the security of our nation that that was taken away from Colorado for purely... I don't want to get my colleagues in trouble here, but for purely political reasons as far as I see it I disappointed in that It is wrong The capital of space is Colorado We are a mile closer to it This is where the economy is centered This is where the work happens And I am grateful for the role that our many aerospace companies play in supporting Colorado's economy. You all rock. Thank you. And I'd love to go back to space camp one day.

Thank you, Mr. President. So the good senator from Greenwood Village and I are co-chairs of the Aerospace Caucus, and together we welcome, seated here over on the right, please stand when we say your name, so Grace Grain-Wright, Director of the Colorado Space Institute. Gerard Herbert, with Energesis ABSL Artemis Supplier. And Genevieve McNally, Colorado Space Business Roundtable. and Lynn Ann George, Ph.D., American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA. And lastly, Stacey DeFore, Citizens for Space Exploration, Lockheed Martin, Artemis, Orion Capsule, Aerospace and Defense. Members, please help us welcome the members of the Aerospace Caucus.

Senator Rich. Thank you, Mr. President. I have received permission to be excused on Friday, March the 27th.

Senator Liston. Thank you, Mr. President. Members, I know you're just all pining to go to the nuclear caucus today. The lunch and learn is today across the street as soon as we get out. We have the speakers will be La Una and the IBEW about what the unions will be able to do when we have nuclear energy someday in Colorado Lunch will be served and so it will be starting momentarily I encourage you to come.

Senator Colker. Thank you, Mr. President. Education Committee will be hearing today at 1.30. We have appointments to the College Invest Board of Directors in the Colorado State University System. Hearing two bills, we'll be hearing first Senate Bill 68, then House Bill 1136.

Thank you, Mr. President. Judiciary Committee meets today at 1.30 in the old Supreme Court room. We have a couple items of business. We're hearing some confirmations to the Juvenile Parole Board, followed by hospital 1009, followed by 1185.

Senator Pelton R. Thank you, Mr. President. It's Tuesday morning tomorrow. Come down to the basement at 715. Have a Bible study. We'll feed your soul, and then we'll feed your belly also.

Senator Amabile. Thank you, Mr. President. Sorry about that. Can anybody tell me what I'm about to say? Joint Budget Committee. The Joint Budget Committee will be meeting across the street at 1.30. We have a variety of things. Approaches until Friday We will also be meeting at 8 tomorrow morning with the Capital Development Committee So come on over. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that the Senate adjourn until 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2026.