Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB05-028

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes:
Action Taken:
Amend the engrossed bill: on page 5, line 27, stri
Amend the engrossed bill: on page 6, line 10, stri
Move Amendment L.015 (Attachment B). The motion f
Refer SB 05-028 to the Committee on Appropriations		FAIL
TIE
FAIL
PASS


01:48 PM -- Senate Bill 05-028

Representative T. Carroll requested that witnesses be concise and refrain from repeating testimony, and be respectful to all parties involved. He announced that the committee would spend one hour on SB 05-028. Representative Madden, the prime sponsor of SB 05-028, Concerning the Expansion of Employment Nondiscrimination Protections, summarized the bill's provisions. She described other jurisdictions (states and localities in Colorado) that include sexual orientation in their employment discrimination laws. She then answered questions about whether the bill creates preferential treatment or has the potential to create a flood of new litigation. She also answered questions about the religious organizations exemption clause in the bill. In response to further questions, Representative Madden said that the definition of transgendered is not currently in statute, and she agreed that savings in the K-12 budget through the passage of HB 05-1164 will help fund this bill.

The following people testified on the bill:

02:01 PM -- Mr. Jerry Welch, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the bill. He described his concern with conflict in language and lack of definitions of certain terms.

02:04 PM -- Mr. Michael Brewer, representing Equal Rights Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. He talked about data and anecdotes that seem to indicate an increase in discrimination complaints due to sexual orientation. He responded to questions about examples of discrimination complaints.

02:10 PM -- Mr. Gabe Martinez, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He described his experience with employment discrimination.

02:15 PM -- Ms. Mari Newman, representing the American Civil Liberties Union and the Plaintiffs Employment Lawyers Association, spoke in support of the bill. In response to earlier questions from the committee, she described generally a transgender case that she represented. She then spoke about the bill's provisions and how they affect current law. Ms. Newman answered questions from the committee regarding her testimony. Representative Madden noted consistent-gender-presentation provisions in the bill. Committee members commented.

02:36 PM -- Ms. Karen Fox, representing herself, described her experience with employment discrimination. She was joined at the table by Ms. Marie Rogers. Committee members were provided with Amendment L.015 (Attachment B) and Ms. Fox's written testimony (Attachment C).


02:47 PM

The chairman closed the public testimony portion of the hearing, and the committee began considering amendments.
BILL:SB05-028
TIME: 02:48:29 PM
MOVED:Harvey
MOTION:Amend the engrossed bill: on page 5, line 27, strike "and an employer may", and on page 6, strike lines 1 through 2. The motion failed on a vote of 4-7.
SECONDED:Brophy
VOTE
Boyd
No
Brophy
Yes
Decker
No
Harvey
Yes
Hefley
Yes
Jahn
No
Judd
No
Kerr
Yes
McGihon
No
Carroll M.
No
Carroll T.
No
Not Final YES: 4 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL
BILL:SB05-028
TIME: 02:56:12 PM
MOVED:Harvey
MOTION:Amend the engrossed bill: on page 6, line 10, strike "except for", and strike lines 11 through 13. After discussion, the motion was withdrawn.
SECONDED:Brophy
VOTE
Boyd
Brophy
Decker
Harvey
Hefley
Jahn
Judd
Kerr
McGihon
Carroll M.
Carroll T.
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE
BILL:SB05-028
TIME: 02:58:46 PM
MOVED:Harvey
MOTION:Move Amendment L.015 (Attachment B). The motion failed on a vote of 5-6.
SECONDED:Brophy
VOTE
Boyd
No
Brophy
Yes
Decker
Yes
Harvey
Yes
Hefley
Yes
Jahn
No
Judd
No
Kerr
Yes
McGihon
No
Carroll M.
No
Carroll T.
No
Not Final YES: 5 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


03:08 PM

Representative Madden made closing comments on the need for the legislation.
BILL:SB05-028
TIME: 03:12:13 PM
MOVED:McGihon
MOTION:Refer SB 05-028 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion carried on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:Boyd
VOTE
Boyd
Yes
Brophy
No
Decker
No
Harvey
No
Hefley
No
Jahn
Yes
Judd
Yes
Kerr
No
McGihon
Yes
Carroll M.
Yes
Carroll T.
Yes
Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS