Say this for Andy Kerr, he tried.

We told you Wednesday that the Democrat from Lakewood had his game face on to pass a parental leave for school out of hostile Senate kill committee Wednesday.

But faith and hope aren’t legislators and they don’t service on the Republican-led Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

House Bill 1001 would have allowed up to 18 hours a year of parental leave with no more three hours in one request and no more than six hours in the same month. Employers would not have been required to pay for the leave.

The bill died on a easily predicted 3-2 party-line vote, making it three in a row. House Bill 1001 was the first one the Democratic majority in the House introduced this session, a ceremonial designation that shows how badly the majority caucus wants a bill to pass.

The Republican majority’s Senate Bill 1 to cut regulations on small business and grant training instead of punishment – called a “get out of jail free” card by Democrats – was killed by a House committee on a party-line vote on March 2.

And so it goes.

Kerr sent out a press release noting the parents and teachers in favor of the bill and that no one testified against it.

Colorado’s had a parental leave law for five years, but the law expired in 2015.

“For five years, we had this law on the books,” Kerr, a seventh-grade geography teacher, said after his bill’s loss. “There were no complaints about it. No business came out and said this is a terrible law. Zero complaints,.

“It is a shame to see our children’s future brought down because of partisanship. We did not have any opposition from the business community and we are still unsure why this bill was not afforded a fair hearing. The working families of Colorado deserve better.”

State Rep. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, the bill’s House sponsor, got in some verbal licks.

“Once again, Senate Republicans have failed to grasp the far-reaching benefit to our society of allowing parents to take a few hours of unpaid time off from work to attend their children’s parent-teacher meetings and other important school functions,” she said in a statement. “It is well-documented that increased parental involvement helps students achieve better outcomes at school and in life.”

Republicans see the law as an unnecessary government mandate. Good employees already can work out leave with most employers, and surveys show that businesses are “going above and beyond” the current proposal, said committee member Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins.

Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, also voted against mandated leave.

“I don’t believe there is a need for a law when we have already solved the problem,” he said.

Kerr presented a list of organizations that support his bill: