U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen announced this week that she’s joining the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, a group of House members devoted to legislation to address addiction and mental health problems.

Elected in November to represent Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, the Lakewood Democrat and former state lawmaker led efforts in the General Assembly to combat the crisis – inspired, she says, by her mother Stacy’s struggles with addiction.

“We’ve lost more people to the opioid epidemic than all world wars combined, and with the increase of fentanyl, overdose deaths continue to rise,” Pettersen said in a statement.

“My mom suffered with a prescription opioid addiction that led to heroin and lasted for decades until she finally got the help she desperately needed. She has been in recovery for over five years and is an example of what’s possible, but there are far too many who aren’t as lucky.”

“The over-prescription of opioids, a lack of resources for addiction care, and barriers to mental health services have ravaged communities and families across Colorado and the country,” she added. “I’m proud to join this bipartisan task force and bring my personal experiences fighting to save my mom’s life in a broken system to the table as we work to address this public health crisis.”

Created in 2021 with the merger of two more specialized House caucuses, the task force saw more than a dozen pieces of legislation signed into law last year, its organizers say, and has an ambitious agenda going forward.

The task force’s co-chairs – Democratic U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire and David Trone of Maryland and Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania – said earlier this month in a joint statement that the group is reaffirming its commitment to address the issues.

“Last Congress, our bipartisan task force helped secure real progress towards addressing the ongoing crisis of substance use disorder across the country,” they said “We helped deliver much-needed resources to the hardest hit communities, expand access to life-saving treatment and recovery programs, and support law enforcement officers to hold illicit distributors accountable. But, our work is not over. As we begin the 118th Congress, we stand more determined than ever to continue this important work and help save lives.”

The task force counted more than 140 members in the last Congress and says 17 bills from its legislative agenda passed as part of last year’s omnibus spending package, all with bipartisan sponsorship or co-sponsorship.

Pettersen told Colorado Politics in a recent interview that she’s been in touch for more than a year with Kuster, who also has experience with a family member affected by the epidemic.

“She brings that personal lens and empathy,” Pettersen said. “There’s people I’ve already started building relationships with, and having the state experience – what we’ve been able to do to make systems work – to bring up to the national level is very exciting. And there are things that we actually need help on. Even though we are doing what we can in Colorado, we have such significant funding restrictions that we really need federal investments.”

When she served in the state Senate, Pettersen chaired last year’s bipartisan Behavioral Health Task Force under legislation she sponsored, which made spending recommendations on $550 million in federal funds to improve mental health and substance abuse treatment.