Wednesday, House Republicans killed a bill to offer greater civil rights protections to the employees of small businesses. The bill died in committee on a party-line vote as Republicans said the bill would stop small businesses from hiring more people.
During an emotional eight-hour hearing on same-sex civil unions at the capitol in Denver Thursday, a long list of witnesses on both sides of the issue told emotional stories of life as gay and transgender Americans. More than a few wept as they talked about shame, discrimination and systemic bias. Others quoting scripture warned of the end times the bill would surely hasten unto the Centennial State should it pass. The five committee Democrats took turns agreeing and disagreeing with witnesses, debating theology, Constitutional history and the horrors of the Jim Crow South and the Holocaust. The six members of the majority bloc Republicans on the committee, however, had little to say. They watched and listened and, without really elaborating their positions, voted as a bloc against sending the legislation to the full House for debate and a vote. They stone-cold killed the bill.
A bill that would have retroactively allowed those sentenced as juveniles to life in prison to be eligible for parole after 40 years was killed on concerns of constitutionality and victim’s rights.
Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, was rebuffed today in her attempt to raise the per se level for marijuana impairment from 5 nanograms of THC to 9.
Misinformation ended the life of House Bill 1256 that would have made the willful killing of a fetus up to a 2nd degree felony in Colorado statutes, according to Republican prime sponsor Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs. Waller said emails he received made it clear the bill would become the focal point for a fight over abortion, a fight neither he nor others wanted this year.
Amendments to strip off an expected fiscal note are on the way for a bill sponsors say would protect those with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities from being placed in solitary confinement while incarcerated.
Medical Marijuana patients and recreational users of the drug filled the Old Supreme Court chambers of the Capitol Thursday as they emotionally testified against a bill to make driving while high a DUI per se. The bill passed 6-3.
A bill designed by Secretary of State Scott Gessler and sponsored by Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, to ensure the integrity of the Colorado voting system is being called a means to reduce voter participation by voters’ rights advocates.
Pay-go legislation dies in House. Republicans call it a gimmick, while Dems tout it as a way to improve government and save the sate money.
House Democrats argued for over an hour against a bill that would allow Coloradans who can legally carry a handgun to also conceal that weapon. Democrats predicted a more dangerous world if the bill were to become law.
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