by CHEC Legislative Liaison Carolyn Martin

Update on HB17-1320

This bill, HB17-1320 Age of Consent for Outpatient Psychotherapy for Minors, has been mentioned in several of my legislative updates. It has finally run its course. On the House floor the bill was passed with 37 ayes and 28 nos. All House Republicans voted against this bill that would have undermined parental rights.

Senate leadership then sent the bill to what is dubbed the “kill” committee, the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committee, where it was subsequently killed along party lines. Thankfully, it did not make it to the Senate floor!

Thank you, Senate leadership and members of the Senate State, Veterans, and Affairs committee (Senators Marble, Sonnenberg, and Hill) for upholding parental rights! Because the bill was lost in the Senate, the age of consent for outpatient psychotherapy for minors remains 15 years old. I am sure this bill, or something like it, will be seen again next year.

Success on Making a Change to a Bill

House Bill 17-1332 concerned changing the requirements for alternative teaching licenses. This bill also contained wording that moved the rule-making authority for licensing nonpublic child care centers and nonpublic preschools from the Department of Human Services to the State Board of Education.

I was concerned that this change could have opened a door for the State Board of Education to make rules regarding the licensing of teachers in any nonpublic educational option, including private schools and homeschools.

After I brought my concerns to Senator Hill, the chair of the Senate Education committee, and Senator Gardner, a member of the Education committee, then testified before the committee, the bill was amended to remove the egregious language.

Your Action Needed: Please, thank Senators Hill and Gardner for listening and acting to amend the bill!

Contact Senator Hill

Contact Senator Gardner

End of Session

The First Regular Session for the 71st General Assembly of Colorado ends today, May 10th, 2017! The Second Regular Session for the 71st General Assembly of Colorado begins on Wednesday, January 10th, 2018.

Help Needed

This session, the 35 Senators and 65 Representatives who make up Colorado’s General Assembly together wrote almost 700 bills. Each one of these bills needs to be examined to see if and how they will affect home education, religious freedom, or parental rights.

Your Action Needed: If you are interested in helping to evaluate bills, build relationships with the legislators, research areas of concern, or coordinate testimony for committee hearings, please contact me!

Stop by the CHEC Table at the Conference

Your Action Needed: Plan to attend the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference from June 15-17, 2017. Sometime during the weekend, stop by the CHEC booth in the vendor hall and say hello!

Find Out More About the Conference

Trusting in the mighty power and grace of Jesus,
Carolyn Martin, CHEC Legislative Liaison

About the Author: Carolyn Martin

Carolyn Martin serves as CHEC’s Homeschool Legislative Liaison, working for you and other liberty-loving families to protect homeschool freedom, parental rights, and religious liberty at the state capitol. Subscribe to the CHEC blog for Carolyn’s regular updates here, learn more about legal issues in Colorado here, and donate to support Homeschool Freedom here. Contact Carolyn directly at carolyn@chec.org.