A bipartisan bloc of senators agreed today to clear the way for greater competition--and, they say, lower prices--for prescription drugs and other goods across Colorado. The Senate's adoption of Senate Bill 246, however, came only after two El Paso County lawmakers squared off over the bill's ultimate effects on the marketplace.

Senate Republican leader Andy McElhany, of Colorado Springs, helped lead the charge for the measure, saying it would let major retail chains continue offering products like prescription drugs at low rates.

Yet, Colorado Springs Democrat Sen. John Morse pushed hard to derail the bill because of its effect on rival businesses that don't want the competition from lower prices--a concern that prompted McElhany to call for a reality check.

"Do you really want to supply the vote that kills $4 prescriptions in Colorado?" McElhany asked his colleagues during initial debate over the bill on Friday. Addressing them again today, he added, "The cost of health care is the single biggest issue for most of our constituents."

The GOP's Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield, agreed, saying government, "should not get in the way of affordable prescriptions to Coloradans." 

In the end, majorities in both parties stood for the bill against the likes of Morse and Sen. Gail Schwartz, an Aspen Democrat.

SB 246 fine-tunes the statutory restrictions on selling below cost so that state law conforms with federal law, allowing retailers more latitude to sell at discounted rates. 

Last year, Morse opposed a similar bill that would have let retailers such as grocery stores offer their paying customers discounts on gasoline.