DENVER – The Democratic-backed effort to prohibit state enforcement of discriminatory policies enacted by the federal government continues to move forward.
House Bill 1230, which would restrict the use of state resources or lands for a number of actions if they were based on race, religion, ethnicity or immigration status, was passed Thursday along party lines in the Colorado House of Representative with members of the GOP voting against the measure.
Republicans said the bill was either unnecessary, unconstitutional or oversteps Colorado’s ability as a state by refusing to participate in enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Included in the restricted actions were: placing individuals in internment, placing a physical or electronic identifying marker, creation of a registry and providing demographic information to the federal government without ensuring its use was constitutional.
While there was little debate before the final vote was taken, aftershocks of more than three hours of debate the bill received on second reading lingered.
For example, an amendment stripped the name of former governor Ralph Carr from the bill, which was called the Ralph Carr Freedom Defense Act.
The bill had been named after Carr by Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton and sponsor of HB 1230, to honor the governor’s stance against the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The concept of the amendment was debated at length during the second reading as Republicans questioned if there was support from Carr’s family for naming the bill after him, as the only contact the sponsors received was from his nephew.
After the debate, another relative of Carr, Steven Carr, asked that the name be removed from the bill, said Rep. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo and sponsor of the bill. “It’s not the substance of the bill that the family was either for or against, it was the fact that the bill had become so polarized politically.”
The amendment was adopted by the House and HB 1230 was renamed the Colorado Freedom Defense Act.
The measure moves to the Republican-held Senate where it is unlikely to receive a warm welcome based on its reception by the House GOP.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
