Brittany Pettersen

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kloey Kehl for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Kloey has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Kloey, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Kloey's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Kloey Kehl on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Laura Jeffries for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Laura has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Laura, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Laura's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Laura Jeffries on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Lucas Steiskal for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Lucas has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Lucas, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Lucas's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Lucas Steiskal on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Madison Sours for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Madison has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Madison, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Madison's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Madison Sours on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Nathan Angel Perez for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Nathan has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Nathan, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Nathan's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Wheat Ridge High School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Nathan Angel Perez on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Parker Wells for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Parker has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Parker, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Parker's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Parker Wells on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Presley Griego for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Presley has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Presley, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Presley's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Mandalay Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Presley Griego on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I am here to beg for your consideration in support of my amendment to address something that happened with the reconciliation bill that changed the 1115 waiver. Now, this sounds incredibly wonky. An 1115 waiver to Medicaid is something that we are not going to be able to go home and talk to constituents about what we were able to do for them. Nobody knows what the 1115 waiver is. However, when you talk about the impacts that this has made, this is especially impactful when it comes to Colorado and what we have been able to do to address the opioid epidemic. In Colorado, we were able to utilize the 1115 waiver by proving that by covering substance use disorder treatment, we could save money over time. What happened in the reconciliation bill was language that said you actually had to prove that it was cost neutral up front and that you couldn't prove the cost savings over time. What this language will do, it will take our ability in Colorado away to utilize this waiver that has drawn down hundreds of millions of dollars for substance use disorder treatment. In fact, we were the second in the Nation to implement this waiver, and a total of 37 States now take advantage of this. Mr. Chair, 83 percent of people who are treated in the rural parts of Colorado and across the Nation are on Medicaid. This will significantly impact red States, blue States, and especially the rural places across the United States. Like many people, my family has been impacted by the opioid epidemic. When I was just 6 years old, my mom hurt her back. She was overprescribed opioids and became addicted like so many Americans. Through my struggle fighting to save my mom's life, I saw how broken our system was, and that is when I worked as a State legislator to change that. What I saw in my mom's fight when she was overdosing at a high rate when fentanyl started coming into the supply chain, and she was begging for help with nowhere to go, was that Medicaid did not cover substance use disorder treatment. You actually had to go through this waiver process. I watched my mom being churned in and out of the ER, being kept alive in the ICU in critical condition. The State of Colorado and the Federal Government spent over a million dollars in one year keeping her alive in the ER while denying her access to the care that she so desperately sought. I was finally able to go through a very complicated court order process to get her the care that she needed. My mom now is about to celebrate 8 years in recovery. She works at one of the places that saved her life and gives back to the community. She is a taxpayer. She is an example of what is possible when we actually invest in people and give them the care that they need. After hearing her story, we were able to implement this waiver to really increase our capacity as a State to address the opioid crisis. We know that more people have died from the opioid crisis than all world wars combined, and these are people that we didn't have to lose if we actually had the system to support them. Mr. Chairman, by rolling back this language, you are decimating the substance use disorder treatment across the United States in 37 States and many right now who are in the process of applying for the waiver and who are looking to Colorado as an example. This would mean hundreds of millions of dollars of treatment we would be denied. The first year alone, we treated 58,000 people with the care that they needed in Colorado. This is 5 years with implementation. It is the reason why we now have a 35 percent reduction in overdose deaths in Colorado. It is overwhelmingly the reason. Addressing the Medicaid barrier is so important. Let me explain why. People who struggle with the substance use disorder, this brain disease, it increases the likelihood of a decrease in employment. Mr. Chairman, 80 to 90 percent of people who are struggling with substance use disorder qualify for Medicaid. When the treatment they need and the healthcare they need is not covered and the healthcare system they are relying on is dismantled, the people in this community who are the most vulnerable are disproportionately impacted. On a day when we are working to ensure that some of the critical programs at the Federal level are funded in this bill which is an important piece of this, we also have to support the structure and the payment system that supports the people on the ground who are doing this work. It took us years to bring the study, bring the waiver, and prove that this would be a cost savings over time, and then to implement it. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. PETTERSEN. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Arthur Lane for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Arthur has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Arthur, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Arthur's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Arthur Lane on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Brittamarie Griffin for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Brittamarie has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Brittamarie, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Brittamarie's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Warren Tech North and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Brittamarie Griffin on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Eamon VanDyke for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Eamon has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Eamon, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Eamon's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Eamon VanDyke on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Isabella Garcia for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Isabella has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Isabella, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Isabella's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Isabella Garcia on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Journey Bolejack for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Journey has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Journey, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Journey's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Wayne Carle Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Journey Bolejack on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Julissa Martinez for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Julissa has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Julissa, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Julissa's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Wheat Ridge High School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Julissa Martinez on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kai Weiss for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Kai has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Kai, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Kai's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Kai Weiss on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Alyssa Sayers for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Alyssa has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Alyssa, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Alyssa's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Three Creeks K-8 and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Alyssa Sayers on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Amelia Brown for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Amelia has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Amelia, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Amelia's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Warren Tech North and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Amelia Brown on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Avery Kenkel for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Avery has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Avery, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Avery's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Wayne Carle Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Avery Kenkel on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Nyx Walton for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Nyx has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Nyx, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Nyx's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Pomona Jr./Sr. High School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Nyx Walton on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jayden Cordic for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Jayden has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Jayden, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Jayden's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Oberon Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Jayden Cordic on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Indio Porter for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Indio has overcome many challenges along his journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Indio, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Indio's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Mandalay Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Indio Porter on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ibrahim Yousuf for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Ibrahim has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Ibrahim, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Ibrahim's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Oberon Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Ibrahim Yousuf on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.

Ms. PETTERSEN

Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Giana Padilla for earning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award. Giana has overcome many challenges along her journey to success, demonstrating perseverance at every step. Students who strive to make the most of their education, like Giana, develop crucial skills and a work ethic that will guide them for the rest of their lives. This award is a testament to Giana's hard work, determination, and perseverance at Mandalay Middle School and is clearly just the beginning of a bright and promising future. It is my honor to congratulate Giana Padilla on achieving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth Award.