As is the way of the world these days, or at least in the General Assembly, bills that don’t tie into the pandemic or help with the budget are being given a quick demise.

The victims today: a bill that would put stricter penalties into law for holding a cell phone while driving, and another that would rename a portion of I-25 in Denver after former President Barack Obama.

Senate Bill 20-065 was the fourth attempt by then-President Pro Tem Lois Court of Denver to put more teeth into the law around use of cell phones while driving. 

The bill would have set a $50 fine for a first offense, a $100 fine for a second offense and a $200 fine for each subsequent offense.

Court resigned her Senate seat in January due to an immune disorder, and was replaced by now-Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver, who carried the bill forward.

Given its lack of nexus to the current situation, SB 65 was axed Wednesday by the House Transportation and Local Government Committee.

Among the other bills the committee put off indefinitely, or at least until next year: House Joint Resolution 1005, sponsored by Rep. Alex Valdez of Denver and Rep. Jovan Melton of Aurora, both Democrats.

The resolution picks up where a similar measure failed in 2018.

Democratic lawmakers tried back in 2018 to rename a portion of I-25 that runs through Denver and past Mile High Stadium as the Barack Obama highway. The location is significant: Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 at Mile High Stadium during the Democratic National Convention.

The resolution was a controversial one, despite previous resolutions that renamed portions of other highways after past presidents, both Republicans and Democrats.

In 2001, the Colorado Senate was controlled by Democrats, 19-16. The House was under Republican control, 39-26. The vote to rename the El Paso County section of the highway after Reagan, the 40th president, passed 35-0 in the Democratic-controlled Senate and was adopted on a voice vote in the House.

The 2001 resolution was the brainchild of then-state Sen. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs.

In 2007, a resolution to rename the Eagle County portion of I-70 after Ford, who owned a home in the Vail Valley, also was unanimously adopted by the Senate and on a voice vote by the House. Both chambers were then controlled by Democrats. The resolution was carried by Democratic Rep. Dan Gibbs of Breckenridge and Republican Sen. Jack Taylor of Steamboat Springs. A portion of I-25 in Pueblo County is named after PResident John Kennedy.

In 2018, House Republicans vehemently objected to the renaming in a debate that turned ugly. Then-Rep. Kimmi Lewis of Kim said she would vote against the resolution because Obama “didn’t work for us.” The measure passed the House but was never heard in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The 2020 version was introduced three days before the General Assembly went into recess due to the pandemic.