Twenty-Five Years Ago This Week: Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Tim Fritz, R-Loveland, sought to use software to prevent children from violent, pornographic, or hateful materials. But after the Senate Judiciary Committee attached an “unfriendly” amendment, House Bill 01-1376 died during further consideration in Appropriations.

In its original form, the bill would have required public schools and libraries to use filtering software on any computers where minors could access the internet. But the funding requirement attached by the Senate Judiciary Committee made it a tougher sell for the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to Fritz.

“It was clear that the Judiciary Committee members were setting the bill up to be killed,” Fritz said. “The funding requirement was unnecessary because some qualifying filtering software is relatively inexpensive, costing less than 1% of the cost of the computer. I think I could have gotten this to pass in the full Senate. But opponents of the bill tacked on a baseless price tag … it was a very cynical move, and the result is that Colorado children are still exposed to this filth on their taxpayer funded computers.”

Supporters on the Senate Appropriations Committee offered amendments that would delay implementation for one year, eliminated the requirement that public libraries use filters and allowed smaller schools to use Amendment 23 funds to pay for filters, but all six Democrats on the Appropriations Committee voted against the measures.

“I knew I would face opposition in committee, especially since the American Library Association lobbied strongly against filtering measures,” Fritz said. “We even had a Channel 9 investigation, which we hoped would sway Democrat lawmakers into supporting this bill.”

Channel9, KUSA, reporter Paula Woodward conducted a months long study of the internet usage logs at several metro area public schools and found that on computers without filtering software minors were able to access wholly inappropriate and illegal material. Woodward noted that she found few problems with inappropriate material in schools where filters were present.

Gov. Bill Owens, a strong supporter of HB 1376, said, “I am very disappointed that Senate Democrats don’t want to protect children from pornography and violence on the internet. Rep. Fritz successfully passed this important bill in the House only to see it killed by a partisan vote in the Senate.”

Across the state, many libraries and schools had already implemented filtering software, but other jurisdictions had resisted.

“We don’t willingly make hateful or pornographic material available to our children,” Fritz said. “I see no reason why anyone would want to continue a situation where it is easily available to them at some schools and libraries.”

Twenty Years Ago: “We could be facing the perfect storm of condition for devastating fires this summer in Colorado,” said U.S. Senator Ken Salazar.

A continuing drought and high spring winds were threatening the eastern plains, the southern region and the Front Range earlier than the normal. Also contributing to the fire dangers was the infestation of mountain pine and bark beetles that had already destroyed more than 7.4 million trees across the state, making them very susceptible to fire. In addition 6.3 million acres of hazardous fuel had accumulated in Colorado and over half of the 14.5 million acres of national forest were at risk for catastrophic wildfire.

Sen. Salazar’s had introduced the Rocky Mountain FIRES Act to establish requirements for the National and State Forest Services and the Interior Department for a better and swifter response to the “increased risk of severe wildfires.”

The FIRES Act would require that at least 70% of the $20 million of funds allocated for hazardous fuel reduction projects in the Rocky Mountain Region be used for projects in the wild land-urban interface, those forests closest to communities.

“If we allocate the proper funds and resources now,” Salazar said, “we will be able to save priceless amounts of personal and public infrastructure as well as healthy stands of forest.”

Rachael Wright is the author of several novels including The Twins of Strathnaver, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing columnist to Colorado Politics, the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Denver Gazette.