by Colleen Enos (CHEC Director of Government Relations)

Transparency is not really our current General Assembly’s goal. We would like to believe that our state government works for us, but the majority party in charge is more concerned with covering its own tracks to avoid any repercussions of accountability with the voters. They also consider any opposing views or opinions to be dissent that must be squashed at all costs, even if it means forcibly gagging their opposition by disallowing all debate. This is not exactly an overflow of reasoned debate, which we would like to encourage amongst our lawmakers.

For example, HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, was introduced in the State House on Friday, March 28th, at the end of the day and assigned to the Judiciary Committee. It was then scheduled on March 31st for a Committee Hearing on April 1st. Yes, that is the next day. As most individuals in opposition either were working, taking care of children, or just did not know, the majority testifying was in favor of the bill. 

The sponsors claim they had been working on the bill for a year. When questioned about consulting with parent groups regarding the bill, committee members responded by calling parents “hate groups” and comparing them to the KKK. The bill was heard in the Committee of the Whole on April 4th, with debate limited to two hours, passed, and heard again on Sunday, April 6th, with no debate allowed.

HB25-1312 is a horrible bill that codifies the terms “misgendering” and “deadnaming” into statute, sets parents up for losing custody if they use their child’s actual name, makes school dress codes non-gender-based, and ignores the religious liberty of all parents. Paired with it, HB25-1309, Protect Access to Gender-Affirming Health Care, requires health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming care, including hormone blockers, breast removal, and genital mutilation procedures for all, including minors. Debate was limited on this bill as well, and both are on their way to the Colorado Senate.

Additionally, two more bills were fast-tracked to avoid opposition: They are SB25-129, Legally Protected Health-Care Activity Protections, and SB25-183, Coverage for Pregnancy-Related Services. SB25-129 blocks Colorado from cooperating with out-of-state investigations into gender or abortion-related procedures and shields doctors from using their names on abortion pill prescriptions. Doctors are also protected from liability for these procedures. SB25-183 mandates that Coloradans pay for Medicaid abortions because they will save money by “averting births.” Religious convictions do not matter; Coloradans are compelled to pay for those abortions. Both abortion bills are on their way to Governor Polis for his signature.

On April 10th, Governor Polis signed SB25-003, Semiautomatic Firearms and Rapid-Fire Devices, into law in a quiet ceremony at the Capitol behind closed doors. After hours of debate and 95,000 petitions, ultimately, he signed it anyway. The law is blatantly unconstitutional and will immediately be beset with lawsuits. Clearly, the governor was not looking for transparency here.

**Great News! HCR25-1003, a Parental Rights Colorado Constitutional amendment, has just been proposed by Representative DeGraaf in the House. It will be heard in the State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee on April 21st at 1:30pm. The resolution is entitled Person’s Rights Related to Their Children. Please sign up to testify in favor of this resolution using the link below.

It is difficult to watch our government run roughshod over parental rights, life, religious liberty, and our constitutional rights. Contact your senators and the governor. Testify on Parental Rights. Now is the time to stand up for all of them, or unfortunately, they will be gone.

With less than a month to go in the legislative session, please join me in keeping your eyes and ears open for any upcoming bills that would threaten homeschool freedoms, parental rights, or religious liberty in Colorado. Additionally, consider testifying on a bill in a committee hearing — you can even do it remotely.

To review currently introduced bills, go here.

In Him,

Colleen Enos, CHEC Director of Government Relations

About the Author: Colleen Enos

Colleen is a homeschooling mom of eight who just completed schooling her last two children. Her children range in age from 19 to 35 years old. She has been married to her husband, Mark, for 38 years, and they are now grandparents to four and expecting another grandbaby very soon. She has been a speech and debate coach for 17 years, pouring her time, effort, and energy into preparing the next generation to speak truth into our culture. Colleen serves homeschool families as the CHEC Director of Government Relations and is working hard to safeguard homeschool freedom through her work with the legislature. You can reach Colleen at colleen@chec.org.