By Charles Ashby (February 6, 2018)

DENVER — It seemed a no-brainer idea to Rep. Dan Thurlow. Health care providers already have access to individual patients’ medical histories, but not information gathered by emergency medical technicians.

A bill the Grand Junction Republican introduced with Rep. Chris Kennedy, a Denver Democrat, would fix that. That measure, HB1032, would require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to make individualized patient data from emergency medical service providers available to all health information computer networks.

“I refer to this bill as merely a business process bill,” Thurlow said in arguing for the bill in the House, which gave preliminary approval to the measure Monday.

“There’s a health information exchange system, which is now in place,” he added. “There’s one piece missing with the information that comes into the exchange, it’s the emergency medical system information that’s already being collected. Every time you ride in an ambulance there’s a trip sheet, and that information is going to CDPHE, but that’s not where it needs to be.”

Read full article at Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

By Clarke Reader (January 16, 2018)

The 2018 legislative session is just getting started, and there’s no shortage of work to be done in the coming months.

Lakewood residents are facing the same challenges many metro area residents are dealing with — development, education funding, and transportation needs.

Finding affordable housing is an issue for middle-class residents, too, said state Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-28) — and that includes teachers.

“Our education committee is looking at dealing with our teacher shortage,” Pettersen said. “Our teachers aren’t able to (continue to) live in communities they live in on their salary.”

Rep. Chris Kennedy, D-23, said opioid addiction will be a serious issue for debate as the session progresses, and Sen. Andy Kerr, D-22, said the Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA), Colorado’s public-pension system, is more than $30 billion underfunded, and that needs to be addressed.

This year will also be the last session for Kerr and Sen. Cheri Jahn, I-20, who have had years to work for their constituents.

“I have loved governmental affairs and policy and would like to continue that work,” Jahn said. “Whether in the private sector, nonprofit arena or possibly governmental agencies.”

We spoke with Lakewood’s legislators about the session, what’s important to constituents, and legislative goals:

Read Representative Chris Kennedy’s responses here

Read full article at LakewoodSentinel.com

By Dan Njegomir (January 11, 2018)

Sure, there were all the opening-day rituals under the Dome on Wednesday — speeches, promises of bipartisanship and warm greetings among almost all of the 100 members, who insisted they were happy to see one another again. But then there’s the real business of the General Assembly: making laws (well, and killing legislation; plenty of that, too).

And the House Democratic majority got down to business the same day, releasing its caucus’s first five bills — enunciating some of their top priorities for the 2018 session. An announcement from the Dems’ press shop boiled it down to, “work-life balance, rural education, the opioid epidemic and college education credits.”

Or, as House Speaker Crisanta Duran put it:

“A major goal this session is to create more opportunities for Coloradans to turn their hard work into economic security. …These bills are part of a much larger agenda to preserve and enhance our Colorado way of life.”

Here’s the legislation — a lot of it with bipartisan sponsorship — as read across the House clerk’s desk:

• HB18-1002/Reps. Millie Hamner, D-Dillon, and Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale – Enables students in the final year of a teacher preparation program to receive stipends for teaching in rural school districts with teacher shortages. The first of several bills to address the rural teacher shortage.
• HB18-1003/Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood – Authorizes grants for education, screening, intervention and prevention services to address the opioid epidemic, which is now the leading cause of accidental death among Coloradans 55 years of age and under. Part of a package of opioids bills from a bipartisan interim committee being brought by Reps. Pettersen, Chris Kennedy, D-Lakewood, and Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont.
• HB18-1004/Rep. James Coleman, D-Denver – Extends a tax credit for donations to child care facilities to help increase the availability of quality child care providers in Colorado.
• HB18-1005/Reps. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, and Jon Becker, R-Fort Morgan – Expands notification to students and their parents about concurrent enrollment opportunities, so high school students can get a jump on their college educations

Read the full story at ColoradoPolitics.com

By Ellis Arnold (December 22, 2017)

When state Rep. Brittany Pettersen was a child, her day started with finding and hiding her mother’s keys, pouring out her alcohol and pills, and then going to school. She’d get home, and she’d do it all over again.

“It took me probably, maybe being 9 years old, to recognize that my mom was very different from most parents,” said Pettersen, a Democrat representing the Lakewood area.

She was concerned about her mom, but she didn’t know what to do.

Her after-school routine grew to include checking to see whether her mom was breathing.

Pettersen’s mom, Stacy, had an opioid addiction from the time she was about 33. After being overprescribed for her back pain, she developed a dependency that escalated to heroin use when another doctor cut her prescription. After several recent trips to the ER from overdosing, she finally asked for help — the words Pettersen said she waited 29 years to hear.

She was far from alone in her fears. Colorado saw 108 opioid-related deaths — involving prescription drugs, heroin or both — in 1999, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment.

In 2016, in that same category, the state saw a death count of 504.

Now, Colorado legislators are putting forth six bills to make sure opioid substance abuse doesn’t progress that far. Spearheaded by Pettersen, the Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee aims to tackle the problem from all sides: in the medical world, the law-enforcement field, the health-care industry and — perhaps most directly — where people inject drugs.

Read the full story at LakewoodSentinel.com

CO House Democrats Press Release, December 11, 2017

53 Democratic members of the Colorado General Assembly sent a letter to Senator Cory Gardner urging him and his colleagues to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Republican-controlled Congress failed to reauthorize the vital CHIP program before funding expired this past September, putting nearly 9 million children across the country at risk of losing health care.

“75,761 Colorado children and expectant mothers depend on the program for health insurance. It is unacceptable that despite broad bipartisan support for reauthorizing this critical program, it has languished for months in the Senate,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Senator Gardner, you have said that you support reauthorization of the program, and co-sponsored bipartisan legislation with Senator Bennet to reauthorize CHIP,” the letter continued. “That support is hollow if you and your Republican colleagues do nothing to advance the legislation. As an influential member of Senate leadership, our expectation is that you would zealously advocate for Colorado’s priorities to become the US Senate’s priorities.”

“Instead of passing tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, Congress should be working to provide relief and security to the thousands of Colorado children and hardworking families who depend on the vital CHIP program,” said Speaker Crisanta Duran (D-Denver). “There’s no more time to waste. Congress has to prioritize CHIP now.”

“Senator Gardner just voted for a GOP tax bill that adds $1.5 trillion to the deficit in order to cut taxes for the 1% and corporations — that’s enough money to extend CHIP for the next 937 years,” said Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman (D-Denver). “There is absolutely no excuse for anything less than a full-throated defense of the CHIP program. The health of tens of thousands of Colorado children depends on it.”

The full letter can be found here.

by Chris Vanderveen (November 17, 2017)

Click on the image above or click here to view the video on 9News.com.

CO House Democrats Press Release, October 31, 2017

The legislative Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Interim Study Committee voted today to move forward with a six-bill package of legislation that seeks to prevent opioid addictions, intervene early when possible and make sure people seeking help are able to get the help they need.

Today’s votes, with strong bipartisan support, put the six bills into the pipeline for consideration during the 2018 legislative session. Included are bills to:

• Create training programs for health professionals, law enforcement, and at-risk communities for safe opioid prescribing, medication assisted treatment, and overdose prevention.
• Limit most opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply for acute conditions and mandate that medical professionals check the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database before writing prescription refills.
• Create a pilot project for a supervised injection facility in Denver. Like needle-exchange programs, data show that SIFs do not increase the use of illicit drugs, but do reduce the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis C while increasing referrals to medical and/or substance abuse treatment.
• Expand the Colorado Health Service Corps program, which includes loan repayment and scholarship programs for medical professionals who commit to working in underserved areas where substance abuse is more likely to go untreated.
• Significantly increasing access to residential treatment to qualifying individuals with substance use disorders.
• Improve “prior authorization” standards to ensure that insurance companies and Medicaid give timely approval for medication-assisted treatment so patients with substance use disorders don’t go back to opioids while waiting for approval to begin their treatment. The bill also makes sure pharmacists are able to administer certain kinds of medication-assisted treatments and reduces copays for physical therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic alternatives to narcotics.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, the interim committee’s chairwoman, noted the five committee hearings, three task force meetings and numerous stakeholder meetings that produced bipartisan consensus around the six bills.

“All of us know somebody affected by addiction; I had no idea how broken our system was until my mom was begging for help and there were no options available for her,” said Rep. Pettersen. “I am incredibly proud of the bipartisan work we have done through this interim committee to lay a foundation for addressing this epidemic, and to close the gaps faced by people who are trying to move toward recovery.”

“We are making meaningful steps forward to prevent opioid addiction and facilitate access to treatment,” said Rep. Chris Kennedy, who also sits on the interim committee. “But this is just the beginning, and we’ll continue working hard on this issue for many years.”

“I’m proud of how Democrats and Republicans put politics and personalities aside to do the right thing for everyday Coloradans struggling with addiction,” said Rep. Jonathan Singer, who also sits on the interim committee.

http://www.cohousedems.com/archives/11762

A few related stories:

• For Colorado’s opioid crisis, lawmakers endorse prescription limits and possibility of safe-injection sites (Denver Post)
• ‘My Mom Inspired Me’: Bills Finalized To Fight Opioid Epidemic (CBS)
• Colorado legislative opioid committee has 6 bills aimed at treatment, prevention ready for session (The Denver Channel)

The summer solstice is apparently scorecard day for some of Colorado’s leading progressive organizations, and I’m honored to have earned a 100% score from these three:

Conservation Colorado – The Colorado Legislative Conservation Scorecard highlights the priorities of the conservation community for the 2017 legislative session. Here, you will find factual, nonpartisan information on bills related to our environment and how each member of the state legislature voted on issues that affect Colorado’s air, land, water, and people.

NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado – Every year in Colorado there are dozens of bills introduced that impact reproductive health, rights and justice in Colorado. See NARAL’s scorecard here.

OneColorado – OneColorado’s Legislative Scorecard highlights the priorities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families in the 2017 legislative session. In this scorecard, you will find accurate, nonpartisan information on bills related to LGBTQ equality and how each member of the legislature voted on issues that affect Colorado’s LGBTQ community.

Many other organizations, including the Colorado Education Association, Colorado AFL-CIO, Women’s Lobby of Colorado, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, and Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado joined together with the three organizations above to compile the Colorado Values Scorecard, where I also scored 100%!

And last but not least, I also scored 100% with the Colorado Senior Lobby!