Colorado lawmakers are feeling the weight of the final days of the legislative session, leading to several contentious moments on the House floor.

Here’s a few. 

Bill on identification forms sparks two-hour debate over race 

A bill that seeks to expand the options for racial identification on government forms sparked over two hours of debate after Republicans argued it perpetuated systemic racism. 

Senate Bill 050, sponsored by Sens. Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora, and Rep. Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, would require state or local government forms that require the disclosure of an individual’s race to include options for Middle Eastern, Northern African, and South Asian ethnicities.

Zokaie, the state’s first Iranian-American lawmaker, said members of the MENASA community currently have to either check Caucasian or “other” on these forms, which can make them feel “unseen.” 

“Not having that representation on something as simple as forms can start to feel like you and your story and your identity just don’t matter, and it can start to feel like our community and the stories of our community are being erased,” she told the chamber during the bill’s second reading.

Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs, pushed back on Zokaie’s arguments, contending that race and ethnicity shouldn’t even need to be included on government forms. 

DeGraaf said he doesn’t believe in races other than the human race and “maybe the Daytona 500.”

“If we’re looking at making sure that races or demographic locations are seen, I think we need to actually make sure that they are seen,” he said, introducing an amendment that would require the state to include an extensive list of races and ethnicities on government forms, including Aboriginal Australians and Afro-Canadians.

“The purpose of this bill is to make sure that everybody is seen and everybody is represented, so I tried to include a broader representation of who would be seen,” he said. “I think it’s important that we represent all of these groups, because the Constitution forbids special privilege given to one group.” 

After DeGraaf’s amendment failed to pass, he and Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, introduced another that would eliminate checkboxes for all races and ethnicities on government forms.

DeGraaf invoked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, saying people should be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

“Our current forms emphasize the color of the skin and where your ancestry is from instead of recognizing the ‘e pluribus unum’ aspect of our country,” he said. “We have an opportunity to take a chunk out of what you call systemic racism.” 

Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, said DeGraaf is misconstruing King’s words. 

“The notion of ending systemic racism when someone has asked to be seen is very hard for me to actually process,” she said. “I’m struggling for this notion that color should not be seen or recognized. I believe, too, that ‘e pluribus unum’ — ‘in many we are one’ — but I believe there are cues in our founding document that recognize there is such a thing called diversity and that people should be seen in good and bad ways.”

The second amendment also died, and the bill passed on second reading.

Lawmaker threatens filibuster if “right-to-repair” bill is introduced 

While the Senate deals with its own filibuster threats from Republicans, a Democrat in the House is warning her colleagues that she plans to do the same if a bill dealing with one of her top-priority issues is introduced. 

Rep. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada, told Colorado Politics there are rumors of a bill being introduced that would give the Attorney General the authority to carve out exemptions to the state’s “right to repair” statutes.

Titone has sponsored several measures on the issue, including a 2024 bill that Gov. Jared Polis called “one of the most expansive” in the nation.

That bill, House Bill 1121, requires manufacturers of electronic devices, such as cellphones and computers, to provide device owners and shops with the resources necessary to repair the devices on their own. 

Those exemptions are currently implemented by the Colorado General Assembly, but the bill would give that authority to the attorney general in certain instances, which Titone said puts too much power in the hands of one individual.

Titone has informed Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, that she will filibuster the bill if it is introduced and passes through committee, even if that means dozens of other bills die on the calendar.