A proposal to repeal a portion of a 2021 law setting up a farmworkers’ “bill of rights,” won a resounding 25-6 bipartisan vote from the state Senate and is now on its way to the House.

Senate Bill 128 would strike a portion of the language from the state’s 2021 Bill of Rights law. The U.S. Supreme Court has declared a similar California regulation unconstitutional.

In its 2021 Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid decision, which came out two days before Gov. Jared Polis signed the Colorado bill into law, the court said the state of California could not require “key service providers” to be granted unapproved access onto farms, calling it a “taking” of private property rights.

The Colorado bill cleared the Senate with little opposition.

Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, told the Senate that the 2021 bill would establish basic human rights. She said she believes this year’s bill is not necessary.

That’s despite the court’s decision and the General Assembly’s lawyers’ belief that the portion of SB 21-087 applying to key service providers is unconstitutional.

Danielson said she prefers to see the issue resolved in the courts. A lawsuit challenging the 2021 law, now in its third year, is awaiting an April hearing with the state Court of Appeals.

SB 128’s sponsors, Sens. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, and Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, have warned that waiting for a court ruling could result in a much broader ruling that could be detrimental to farm workers and owners. Roberts pointed out he voted for the 2021 law.

Roberts noted the bill does not touch the section of the law that guarantees key service providers can enter employee housing, whether permanent or temporary, nor does it impact farmworkers’ access to health care.

“We have guaranteed access to virtual health care” for farmworkers, Roberts said.

It will still provide critical protections to agricultural workers, he added.

SB 128 allows farm workers to access other key service providers at employee housing. Those providers include union organizers, government officials, health care workers, education providers, or legal representatives, as well as emergency services.

In the House, SB 128 will be sponsored by Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, who chairs the House Agriculture, Water, and Natural Resources Committee and who also voted for the 2021 law.