Colorado lawmakers passed a bill Friday seeking to protect educators from doxxing, sending the legislation to Gov. Jared Polis for final consideration.

If signed into law, Senate Bill 171 would add educators to the list of people who can request to have their personal information removed from government websites after they or their family receive threats to their safety. Personal information includes home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

“I talk a lot with the teachers in my community and there is certainly a lot of concern and fear about doxxing,” said bill sponsor Rep. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins. “In these extremely tense times, we need to make sure that we retain the teachers that we have. We have a teacher shortage and we want to make sure that our teachers are willing to continue to teach.”

The sponsors of the bill said it was inspired by recent events in Douglas County, during which the identities of hundreds of teachers faced potential exposure after participating in a protest.

In February, as many as 1,500 teachers from the Douglas County School District took part in a sick out in support of former Superintendent Corey Wise, after he was fired in a controversial move by the new school board. Afterwards, some teachers who participated in the protest found fliers on their cars telling them to “get out and leave.” An unknown person also made a records request for the names of the teachers absent on the day of the protest.

During a committee meeting on the bill, several teachers from the district testified in support, saying they live in fear of their personal information being released online and of being followed home from school.

The House passed the bill in a 46-16 vote on Friday, following the Senate’s 25-9 approval last month. All 25 opponents to the bill are Republicans, some of whom criticized a portion of the bill that would update Colorado’s open records law to prohibit the public from accessing the specific dates an educator is absent from work.

“Because they work for the people, they should be visible and accountable to the people,” said Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, while voting against the bill on the floor. “This idea of obfuscating, hiding political communication by a class of individuals who work for the public, I’ve got a problem with that.”

This part of the bill was added in direct response to the records request that asked for the names of the Douglas County teachers absent on the day of the sick out, the bill sponsors said. The district initially agreed to release the names of the teachers who took off work, though it later decided against doing so and said the request had been withdrawn.

However, several Republicans voted in support of the bill, including Rep. Tonya Van Beber on Friday.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve come to a point in our society where a bill like this becomes necessary,” Van Beber, R-Eaton, said. “This is yet another place and space and industry where those who work in it are in an ever-increasing unsafe place from the individuals that they are tasked with taking care of.”

During testimony on the bill, several teachers described a dire state of public education in Colorado, saying many are leaving due to the kind of harassment that occurred in Douglas County. Teachers said they receive threats not only for political protests, but also for enforcing face mask mandates or teaching about evolution and equity.

A survey of the 39,000 members of the Colorado Education Association found that nearly 67% of the educators are considering retiring or resigning at the end of this school year. This comes as Colorado and the nation have been experiencing a teacher shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other professions, including peace officers and public defenders, already enjoy privacy protections in Colorado. In March, House Bill 1041 was signed into law to also add health care workers, code enforcement officers, child representatives and animal control officers to the list.