republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2019a/sb-19-079.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Electronic Prescribing Controlled Substances"
description: "Prescribing health care practitioners - electronic prescribing of controlled substances - exceptions. The act requires health care practitioners with prescribing authority to prescribe schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances only via a prescription that is electronically transmitted to a pharmacy unless a specified exception applies. The requirement to electronically prescribe starts on July 1, 2021, for podiatrists, physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and optometrists, and on July 1, 2023, for dentists and practitioners serving rural communities or in a solo practice. Prescribing practitioners are required to indicate on license renewal questionnaires whether they have complied with the electronic prescribing requirement."
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2019A"
identifier: "SB 19-079"
citation: "Colorado SB 19-079 (2019A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Daneya Esgar", "Kevin Priola", "Lois Landgraf", "Nancy Todd"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 16
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-01-14T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2019-04-08T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4d0738d0-5c35-4059-b991-ab5858643d75"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-079"
source_hash: "dd6cb8b51135304872b9e0489ca71780ea5c6999b2e6eb601ce03b54305f5475"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 19-079 (2019A) — Electronic Prescribing Controlled Substances

Prescribing health care practitioners - electronic prescribing of controlled substances - exceptions. The act requires health care practitioners with prescribing authority to prescribe schedule II, III, or IV controlled substances only via a prescription that is electronically transmitted to a pharmacy unless a specified exception applies. The requirement to electronically prescribe starts on July 1, 2021, for podiatrists, physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and optometrists, and on July 1, 2023, for dentists and practitioners serving rural communities or in a solo practice. Prescribing practitioners are required to indicate on license renewal questionnaires whether they have complied with the electronic prescribing requirement.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_sb079_h_phc_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (02/06/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (03/29/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (01/14/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (02/05/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079sblt_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (03/07/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079phc_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (02/07/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_rn3.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (03/15/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (03/12/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_079_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (04/08/2019)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_079_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- CONCUR — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **60–4** (pass) · upper
- REPASS — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Daneya Esgar — primary (person)
- Kevin Priola — primary (person)
- Lois Landgraf — primary (person)
- Nancy Todd — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-04-08T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2019-03-29T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-03-29T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2019-03-28T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2019-03-20T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2019-03-19T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Laid Over Daily
- **2019-03-15T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-03-13T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over to 03/15/2019 - No Amendments
- **2019-03-12T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee `reading-2`
- **2019-03-11T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2019-03-06T07:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Public Health Care & Human Services Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `referral-committee, committee-passage`
- **2019-02-08T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Public Health Care & Human Services `introduction`
- **2019-02-07T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-06T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2019-02-04T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2019-01-14T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Business, Labor, & Technology `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4d0738d0-5c35-4059-b991-ab5858643d75`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).