DENVER – Between the state House and Senate 16 bills received third reading, five got a second reading and 32 were scheduled to be heard by committees.

Part of the floor work Wednesday was debate on a host of bills that had kept the Senate working late into the night Tuesday. Those measures included:

Senate Bill 213, which authorizes the operation of autonomous vehicles as long as they comply with the driving safety regulations. It passed third reading 22-13.

SB 40 requires government entities to supply digital versions of records requested under the Open Records Act. It passed third reading 21-14.

Both bills now head to the full House.

In the House, more than three hours was spent debating House Bill 1230, which would prohibit Colorado from using state resources and lands to enforce various policies that discriminate based on race, religion, ethnicity and immigration status if pursued by the federal government.

Included in the list of prohibited policies are: creation of internment camps, creation of a registry for identifying Coloradans based on ethnic or religious demographics, marking or otherwise placing a physical or electronic identifier and providing demographic information to the federal government unless it is confirmed the information would be used in a legal and constitutional way.

The bill cleared second reading after a host of amendments and objections from Republicans concerning its constitutionality were voiced. The bill will next receive third reading before heading to the Republican-held Senate, where its chances of approval are doubtful.

The Senate approved three bills and sent them to the governor. The bills included SB 62, which prohibits public institutions of higher education from inhibiting the expression of free speech by students on colleges unless they are disruptive of the educational environment or are not protected by the First Amendment, such as hate speech.

Bills heard by committees included a trio of measures concerning Second Amendment rights which went before the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee Wednesday afternoon.

SB 5, which would allow school districts to work with sheriff’s offices to establish a training program to allow school staff members to carry concealed firearms on school campuses, has been touted as a training bill not a gun bill by bill sponsor and Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Parker. However, Democrats on this so called “kill committee” did not see it the same way and killed the bill on a 6-3 party-line vote.

SB 6, which would allow military personnel younger than 21 to obtain a permit to carry concealed firearms, met the same fate and SB 7, which repeals prohibitions on magazines capacities for Colorado residents also died in the same committee on the same 6-3 party-line vote.

lperkins@durangoherald.com