Gov. John Hickenlooper says he will support House Bill 1284, a proposal with bi-partisan sponsorship in both legislative chambers, when the measure arrives at his desk. The bill would require the state’s public employee pension fund, PERA, to oppose the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement which seeks to punish Israel for its alleged poor treatment of Palestinians. The international BDS campaign has begun drawing questions even from Palestinians as to its wisdom due to backfiring job losses for Palestinian employees when Israeli companies are forced to close.

The Colorado legislation would specifically direct PERA to pull investments from any foreign company participating in a boycott against Israel, and is sponsored by Reps. Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, and Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, in the House; and Sens. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, and Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, on the Senate side. The bill already passed the House with broad support, 55-9, drawing its only Republican opposition from Rep. Tim Leonard, R-Evergreen, a libertarian-leaning former American Constitution Party member who stated, “I take seriously what George Washington said. He advised us against involving our country in foreign entanglements, let alone a state in our country. There’s no upside to this.” Leonard was absent the day of the recorded final vote in the House.

The nine House Democrats voting against the bill were Reps. KC Becker, D-Boulder; Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo; Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, Alec Garnett, D-Denver; Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs; Susan Lontine, D-Denver; Diane Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs; Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont; Max Tyler, D-Lakewood, and Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Gunbarrel.

The state Senate gave its initial nod to the measure Tuesday, passing it on second reading with some opposition from Democratic members including: Sens. Linda Newell, D-Littleton; John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins; Rollie Heath, D-Boulder; and Irene Aguilar, D-Denver. Newell vocally defended BDS as a nonviolent, anti-hate, grassroots protest movement inspired by Ghandi, that rejects all forms of racism, including Islamophobia, and said it is aimed at battling injustice.

Supporters of the BDS movement say it seeks to advance Palestinian independence and end Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Critics, however, accuse the movement of anti-Semitism for singling out Israel while ignoring countries with poor human rights records.

PERA’s board of directors opposes the bill because directors said they didn’t want politics to influence investment decisions.

The bill has strong support from Colorado’s Jewish community, including from organization JEWISHcolorado, an “umbrella community organization inspired by the collective responsibility to build and sustain Jewish life in Colorado.”

— jared@coloradostatesman.com with AP contributing