Senate committee advances drug-access bill, marking sponsor’s final committee appearance

DENVER — The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced Senate Bill 31 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation after adopting an amendment that requires covered drugs be dispensed by a pharmacy in compliance with Colorado pharmacy laws.

Senator Michael Singenay, the bill’s sponsor, called the measure a capstone of his work on mental health and urged colleagues to support wider availability of "game-changing medications" for veterans and other people with treatment-resistant depression. "It's an honor for this to be my last bill because I believe that the work that we're doing in this bill will make game-changing medications available for people with drug resistant depression and treatment resistant depression," he said.

The committee adopted amendment L001 — described during floor discussion as requested by the governor’s office to ensure pharmacy dispensing and compliance — without recorded opposition. Following rolling debate, Senator Michael Singenay moved the bill, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation.

Clerk roll-call responses recorded in the transcript show Senators Bridal, Carson, Cutter, Grisel, Heinrichsen, Weisman and Michaelson Janae voting yes and Chair Malika voting no. The transcript also contains a later spoken line, "That passes 8 7 1," which conflicts with the contemporaneous roll-call responses recorded in the meeting. The vote-record reproduced above reflects the roll-call statements in the transcript; the numeric tally discrepancy is noted in committee minutes.

Senator Rich, who spoke earlier in favor of the bill, said the measure aligns with federal policy and urged colleagues to support it. "I believe that it's a good bill," Rich said, adding that it will "align with the federal government."

The committee’s action advances the bill to the next stage of Senate consideration; no floor action was taken at the committee meeting itself.