By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
A three-day weekend in the Colorado General Assembly may have been needed for the ambitious schedule lawmakers may keep today, Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Another marathon session of the Colorado Senate could be on tap, as Senate Bill 25-003, the semiauto firearms ban, returns to the floor for third reading. At issue, bill sponsor Democrat Sen. Tom Sullivan said, is whether, in the interest of stemming mass shootings in the state, Coloradans should sacrifice constitutionally-provided gun ownership rights.
“We’re concerned about the next firearm, not the one you have,” said Sullivan, which identified the bill’s approach to prohibit purchase, sale and transfer of common-use firearms that many on the political right find unconstitutional.
“If we allow Colorado to overreach today, where does this stop,” Mesa County Republican Sen. Janice Rich said during the bill’s second reading.
The third reading and consideration of final passage is slated to follow SB 25-005 for the same purpose, which would change labor collective bargaining in the state. Senate floor work is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
The Senate is also expected to consider on second reading SB 25-063, a bill aimed at setting policies for review of public-school library materials.
Additionally, the Senate’s State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee will consider SB 25-050 to expand racial classifications on government forms to include Middle Eastern, North African or South Asian, and SB 25-001, the Colorado Voting Rights Act. The committee is set for a 2 p.m. start, but if the floor hearing of SB 25-003 and SB 25-005 are anything like last week, it could be delayed.
In the House, lawmakers will consider House Bill 25-1041 on third reading, the state’s student-athlete name, image and likeness bill, which some conservatives may support from a liberty perspective. Among the bill’s elements, it would allow a student-athlete to negotiate a contract that might conflict with the college’s contract. In other words, if a school has a contract with Coca-Cola the athlete would not be restricted from a contract with Pepsi.
On second reading, the House is scheduled to hear HB 25-1010, a prohibition on price gouging bill, and HB 25-1043, a second run at a bill to protect owner equity in homeowners’ association foreclosure sales. House floor work is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Three additional bills of significance will be heard in the House’s Judiciary Committee, upon adjournment of the House. They include HB 25-1062, a bill strengthening the penalty for the theft of a firearm; HB 25-1140, concerning the authority for probation employees to disclose information to immigration authorities; and HB 25-1254, concerning the statute of limitations for youth gender transition procedures.
In the House’s Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee at 1:30 p.m., HB 25-1110, concerning the allocation of costs to maintain railroad crossings in the state, will be considered.