Senate education will, come to order. Miss Kurtz Phelan, will you please call the roll? Senators Bright? Here. Kipp? Here. Lundin? Excused. Michaelson Janay? Present. Rich? Here. Wallace? Excused. Madam chair. Here. Alright. We have two bills on our agenda today. I wanna make note that senate bill one twenty three is up first, but we will not be taking testimony on that bill, and then we will move into house bill twelve ninety three. With that, we have senator Dora Gonzalez in front of us for Senate Bill 123.
The floor is yours. Senator Gonzalez. Thank you, Madam Chair. In November on 11/29/1864, the US government and the Colorado government perpetuated the largest and most brutal massacre, that has taken place on this land, now known as Colorado. The Sand Creek Massacre. The For too many years, those actions were celebrated, not, not looked at with shock, horror, and disdain.
In fact, it took generations, for the, Colorado state government to formally apologize to Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples. Former governor, Hickenlooper, offered that apology many, many, many, many years too late. Next year will be the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of that massacre. It's why when community members from my district and, who, are engaged with the act of remembering,
the difficult, heavy work of remembering. When they approached me and asked me to carry Senate Bill 123, which sought to which seeks to acknowledge and remember, how could I say anything but no? How could I say I'm sorry. How could I say anything but yes? How could I how could I say anything but of course. How could I say anything but, oh my goodness, absolutely. In the midst of the unfolding pandemic, as the world was shutting down,
stay at home orders were put in place as we, both here as a state and as the world, sought to thank you sought to keep each other safe and keep each other alive, we found time and space to pass, a bill in 2020 to ensure, that the, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Public Schools Act was moved forward and signed into law. That was important work. Because certainly, within, the Jewish community and within for survivors of the Holocaust,
and also for people like me who had no connection, save for academic connections to the Holocaust. It became incredibly important to, even as things were falling apart, to create the space to remember, name, honor, educate, and in so doing, heal. So in November of this year, as I mentioned, when community members approached me, tribal leaders and elders from the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations, from the Jewish community,
from native communities in my district and across the state? Of course, I said yes. Because that's my obligation as a senator, is to play a small part and do what I can to help people heal. What has become clear is that, the native community is actually what has become quite clear to me is that the native community is actually still in the midst of processing all of the harm and generational trauma caused by those actions in 1864,
right here in Colorado and across the country. As I sat and listened over the past several months to to to Jews, to Palestinians, to Armenians and Turks, and to Southern Utes and Ute Mountain Utes and old school Chicanos and white folks all trying to grapple with this history about how do we move forward? I've sat and I've listened with such, a heavy heart. What became incredibly what has become incredibly apparent to me
after speaking with representatives for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe is that the harm that I caused by saying yes to my constituents, by saying yes to survivors, the descendants of the survivors of Sand Creek, caused the Southern Ute Indian Tribe harm because they felt that prior to introducing any piece of legislation that impacts Native communities, that I should have spoken to them first.
With that, that was not one single conversation. That was multiple conversations that made that sentiment extraordinarily clear. Okay. Message received. I accept that. I accept the the critique. Now, who do we listen to in this building? And who do we not listen to? Who gets a voice and who gets cast aside? Too often in this building, the lobbied interests get heard, and everybody else gets acknowledged. Now, could I say, I understand I caused harm,
but this is good policy, and I'm gonna move it forward. Thank you for the critique that you all have offered. This is still worthwhile and important policy. Could I have proceeded forward in that manner? Absolutely. But I don't think that it is my place as one of a hundred Coloradans who gets the honor and privilege to bring forward legislation to pick winners and losers. The US government, the Colorado state government, sought to do that in 1864,
and I won't engage in that. Could I ask you all to listen to the descendants of the survivors to hear about the atrocities that were committed against indigenous peoples just just after the convening at Camp Weld, which is right in my Senate district, which is there's a little marker on a bike path that I often ride by that had the full force and support of President Abraham Lincoln behind it. That meeting,
that convening at Camp Weld was a an outstretched hand. That just weeks, days, hours later led to unspeakable horror. How do you move forward? You listen. You heal. It's not my role to try to force this bill through and say, well, maybe we could move on other policies later. That's just another broken pre treaty and another broken promise. And I'm not gonna, as a legislator, as one of a hundred, ask you all to make to pick a side,
to make a determination about who is a winner and who is a loser. And so it's it's devastating to me, heartbreaking to me that this policy and other policies I will name other policies that we are actively considering this legislative session are creating the tensions in which that generational trauma is coming back up. I had hoped that this policy conversation would be an opportunity for us to think
proactively about acknowledging the realities that have taken place in this govern in this on this land by this government, United States government, by the territorial government of the unite of the state of Colorado. But, no, I'm not gonna do that. And so, like, in the hopes of healing, In the hopes of giving people space to have the important conversations that need to happen with no politicians present, with no
no lobbyists, no bill numbers and bill titles, but for the survivors who too often are cast aside, left aside, forgotten, perhaps acknowledged, but too often unheard. I hope they have the opportunity to have those conversations in the way that makes most sense for them and in a way that heals. So with that, thank you all. I request that you postpone indefinitely Senate bill one two three. Senator Gonzales, I want to recognize, your deep commitment to honoring the survivors of the Sand Creek massacre,
and to ensuring the stories of the Cheyenne and Arapaho are taught for everyone, your leadership, in fact, results in healing. And the fact that you're stepping out in order to allow, the tribes, the native people to do their work is great. And I just wanna acknowledge the emotional burden this has taken on you, as well as we've been hearing similar things, as you know. You listened, I believe, to the agriculture committee meeting we had the other day as well.
So you're right. There's a lot going on in this realm, and I just have a lot of respect for, the work you're doing because I know it comes from a place of encouraging healing. So thank you for that. Are you prepared? Thank you. And I'm gonna pass to senator Kipp for the, motion. Thank you. At the request of the sponsor, I move that we postpone indefinitely SB one two three. And thank you for all your hard work on this, Julie. Senator Gonzales. That's a proper motion. Miss Kurt Phelan, will you please,
pull the committee? Senators Bright? Yes. Kipp? At the request of the sponsor, yes. Lundin? Aye. Michaelson Genet? Excused. Rich? Aye. Wallace? Aye. Madam Chair? Aye. Senator Gonzales. Thank you all. I will encourage you I will encourage each of us to spend some time, maybe not today, in the last ten days of session, maybe this summer, maybe this fall. Spend some time with the editorial, published by chief Philip Whiteman Junior, a descendant of the survivors.
I ask that that be entered into the record, and I thank you all for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. With that, we are going to pull up, our bill sponsors for house bill twelve ninety three. Oh, there he is. Senators Snyder and Pelton are here. When you're ready, just let me know who wants to start, and we can get started. Senator Snyder. Thank you, madam chair, and thank you to education committee for hearing this bill today. House bill twelve ninety three came to me from the newly I think the newest member of the house,
Rep Jackson, who I believe works in the education space or the opioid addiction space. This bill actually is the intersection of the two. So, I think everybody knows what a scourge and what a horrible, horrible situation opioid use and abuse has become here in across the country and especially here in Colorado. We've seen a hundred and nine percent increase in monthly overdose deaths since 2021 in adolescents aged 10 to 19. 80 four percent of these tragic incidents involve illicitly manufactured fentanyl,
with counterfeit pills that represent about twenty five percent of the cases. Two thirds of these deaths, potential bystanders were present but often did not respond. In Colorado in 2021, '12 '80 '9 opioid deaths, sixty eight percent of all drug overdose fatalities. What we're hoping to do with House Bill 20 five-twelve 93 is really two things: educational standards. So we're going to see about getting through the State Board of Education, getting curriculum established and set up so that kids in ninth,
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade will unfortunately have to learn about how to use naloxone and the signs on how to treat somebody. It's just a sign of our times. You hear about in the gun violence world that we have kids their entire school, they've been going through shooter drills and what have you. This is just a product of our times. And I think if we don't educate kids and destigmatize this and get kids used to being able to administer it,
we'll continue to lose a lot of kids. And that's what this bill hopes to avoid. It also increases opioid antagonist accessibility, aforementioned naloxone. It would also provide for that. It's set up in a very strange way. So it's gifts, grants, and donations. So if they receive gifts, grants, and donations prior to, I believe, 07/01/2026, then under the current bill, it would go would be implemented in 2027. We have an amendment today that will actually change that to 2028.
And these standards for various parts of the education curriculum are routinely visited every five, six years. And the amendment will also talk about the next time these health standards would be addressed would be 02/1932. But I have great confidence we'll raise the money we need and get this going and get this in place and hopefully, really get our kids familiar with how to save a life. Thank you. Senator Pelton. Thank you, madam chair. The reason why this was so important to me was, I have two high school kids right now. I had them watch a movie by the name of Devastated on YouTube that talks
about the fentanyl, problem that we have in the state of Colorado, and how a lot of these kids were getting oxycodone or other drugs from, their peers and then finding out that they're laced with fentanyl. So, the education part of it is really important to make sure to tell our kids that not to take, any pills from anybody and that sort of thing. So, really having that in the schools to be able to help, educate our children on how to do that and then also how to revive somebody if they are, having a, reaction to the opioids.
So, I just really want to say thank you to my cosponsor for helping me with this bill and, ask for an aye vote. Very good. Does anyone have questions for the bill's sponsors? Seeing none, we will move into witness testimony. I think you guys can stay there. We have one in person, Wendy Buxton Andre Andre. Sorry. And then, we've got, Evie Hudak remotely. If we could pull up miss Hudak. And we will go ahead and start here. You're gonna have three minutes. Once you get your microphone turned on,
it's on the table. Alright. Just introduce yourself, and you may begin. Good afternoon, chair and members of the committee. My name is Wendy Buxton Andrade, and I am here representing Mental Health Colorado. I was a rural county commissioner for twelve years and part of the attorney general's drug task force and opioid settlement committee for the counties. I am here urging you to support house bill twenty five twelve ninety three because I live the struggle of getting rural school districts to have opioid antagonists in their
schools and watched as we lost kids and did not even understand and know the dangers of opioids. They thought that if a doctor prescribed it, it was safe and could be taken. I sat with superintendents of various school districts, encouraged them to educate as well as carry opioid antagonists in their schools, and let teachers and kids have these available to save the children's lives. I must tell you, I was not very successful. They all had the attitude that this was not going to happen in their schools.
Well, it happens in every school. And just because you are in a rural area does not mean it shields you from this tragedy. The education and standards regarding drug overdose risks, identification of drug overdose event, and drug overdose prevention and response is very much needed, and this bill will do that and save children's lives. One of the huge differences in the rural area schools and the urban schools, and I am talking from a personal experience because I have raised kids in both
systems, is that the metro area schools are open and acknowledge knowledgeable to the very this very program and have taken the time to be proactive in making sure staff has opioid antagonists. In the rural areas, this will this bill will make sure that they have this and that they have accountability for this. We all need to make sure that, equal access as well as equal education standards, especially when it comes to drug overdose risk, is in the statute,
and our schools have programs and educate their students of this risk. I strongly urge you to vote yes on House Bill 20 five-twelve 93. It will save lives and make sure all school districts have educational standards to address this issue. Thank you. And thank you, commissioner. We have senator Hudak. When you are ready, if you could unmute yourself. You've got three minutes. Thank you, madam chair. I'm Evie Hudak here today representing Colorado PTA. We support this legislation.
We believe it helps support the general good health of students as well as, protecting their health, wellness, and safety. Specifically, PTA supports funding and implementation for evidence based comprehensive education on substance abuse. We advocate for evidence based preventative strategies within our schools and prevention and intervention programs on how to identify and response respond to an overdose. We're particularly concerned about the dangers of fentanyl. Because fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent
than heroin, it is extremely dangerous and likely to cause an overdose resulting in a coma, permanent brain damage or death. As you've heard, young people are likely to believe that, a prescription pill they're taking is safe, because it was prescribed as medication by a doctor. Many overdoses have occurred because young people did not know that what they were taking contained fentanyl. PTA would like all schools throughout the state to have a supply of naloxone and provide training for school staff and bus drivers in overdose recognition and response.
Finally, we support the development of curriculum and programs that include harm reduction, health education, and substance abuse treatment. Thank you so much. Does anyone on the committee have questions for our witnesses? I, have a or I have a question for you, commissioner. There is a portion of this that relies in order to get this on the correct standard schedule that requires a pretty small amount of gifts, grants, and donations, and no one has really been identified yet. What's the word on the street?
Is there money out there? Do you feel like it's going to be challenging to get the gifts, grants, and donations to get, to be able to get this covered? Thank you for the question. And I don't think there will be a problem with it because, we all know the dangers of it, and there are plenty of people that want to make sure that our schools have this. And so I don't think they'll have problems to get the gift grants and donations for this program. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other questions,
we are going to let our witnesses go. Thank you for being here to testify. Really appreciate that. Is there anyone else who would like to testify on house bill twelve ninety three? Seeing none, we will close the witness portion of, house bill twelve ninety three. Amendments. Sponsors, do you have any amendments? Senator Snyder. Yes, madam. Sure. I mentioned that in the opening, but we do have l zero zero five, which has already been given to miss Kurtz Phelan, and I hopefully distributed to the committee. Senator Kipp.
Thank you. I move l zero five to h p twelve ninety three. That's a proper motion. Senator Snyder, I totally missed that. Would you mind explaining what l zero five does? It would be my pleasure to, madam chair. So in statute, there's already established schedule for when the Colorado State Board of Education regularly reviews content area for the Colorado academic standards. So based on this review cycle, the next time the board will consider comprehensive health standards is 02/1932. It's currently drafted.
The bill is out of line with that. So what this amendment does, it still has the gifts, cans, and donations deadline of, I believe, July one of twenty twenty six. But this and then it would if that if they if they get the 20,000 plus, then it would be targeted to be implemented in 07/01/2027. This pushes that out to 2028 and clarifies if they don't raise the money, it will be taken up in the normal course of business when it comes up for review in 2032. Very good.
Any objections to l zero zero five? Seeing none, l zero zero five is adopted. Any other amendments, sponsors? No, ma'am. Committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Senator Kipp, would you mind moving this bill? It's going to be going to the committee on appropriations. Thank you. I move Just a second. I move HB twelve ninety three to the committee on appropriations with a favorable recommendation as amended. Great. Closing comments from sponsors.
Good. Senator none. Quiet. Senator Pelton. Good bill. Vote yes. I love it when you say that. Senator Snyder? Thank you. And one thing I neglected to say, Colorado is currently has the second highest overdose youth rate in the country, so we are particularly, acutely being damaged by the scourge. And I just wanted to thank both of our witnesses, miss Buxton Andrade and senator Hudek. Always a pleasure to have them, visiting with us. This is a good bill. It's it was really well worked on in the house. We would ask for a yes vote today.
Senator Wallace. Thank you, madam chair. Senators, I just wanted to thank you for bringing this legislation forward. Since I was in late high school, I've had friends who passed away from overdose deaths. And up through 2021, '1 of the statistics that you mentioned is someone that I know who passed away from an overdose. So I just wanted to thank you for bringing this thoughtful legislation and empowering our young people to help affect the changes that we we know is needed. So thank you so much. Other comments? I'm just gonna say I like this bill so much that I ran one that has a lot of the same stuff in it.
We just finished it. And in particular, the part that says but shall only furnish schools, shall only furnish an opioid antagonist to a student if the student has received appropriate school sponsored training, The bill that we just ran, and I'm not remembering the number, but it just passed thirds in the house. It's headed to the governor, does that also. So we may get to have some conversations since it looks like we're playing kind of in the same sandbox, but I completely support this legislation. And the bill that I was running was about access to opioid antagonists in AED
defibrillator in the AED spots in schools. So, really appreciate you bringing this bill. With that, miss Kurtz Phelan, will you please pull the committee? Senators Bright? Yes. Kipp? Yes. Lundin? Excused. Michaelson Janae? Also excused. Rich? Aye. Wallace? Aye. Madam chair. Aye. That bill passes five to zero unanimously. We can't get you through a probes on consent, but good luck there, my friends. Awesome. With that, the senate education committee is adjourned. For what it's worth, I'm an