The Colorado House of Representatives failed to vote yesterday to override Gov. Jared Polis’ veto of SB25-086. This bill would have regulated social media companies in an effort to protect minors from predatory online practices.
The measure had passed both the Colorado House and Senate with large majorities. While the Senate obtained the requisite two-thirds vote on Friday to override the governor’s veto, the House bill sponsor indicated Monday that there are insufficient votes in the House.
One of the bill’s major sponsors was Rep. Cathy Kipp, a Larimer County Democrat from Fort Collins.
The failure to override the governor’s veto on the social media bill calls into question the willingness of the Colorado legislature to override other vetoes by the Governor, including SB25-077, which would modify the Colorado Open Records Act by extending the timeline record custodians have to respond to a public records request and which could increase the costs of certain public records requests.
Polis has challenged the Democratic-controlled legislature with vetoes, and the conflict represents the discord between the lame-duck governor’s agenda and that of the Colorado legislature, which is ruled by the same political party.
Last week, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition publicly applauded the governor’s veto. In an earlier April 7 letter to the governor, the advocacy organization stated, “the public has a right to government records promptly and at a reasonable cost. Senate Bill 25-077 is a dramatic step backward, one that significantly “impede[s public] access to official records.”
The governor was right to veto the measure. In his veto statement, Polis wrote, “transparency in government is essential to a healthy democracy” and while acknowledging that CORA could be “improved” and that he could support some “narrowly-scoped adjustments,” SB25-077 as written was not in the public’s interest.
“It would certainly be convenient for the Executive Branch to agree to weaken CORA, but as a representative for the people of Colorado, I support more, not less, openness and transparency,” said Polis.
The Estes Valley Voice is passionate about government conducting the public’s business transparently, with accountability, and without placing additional obstacles, such as time constraints or increased costs, in the way of citizens knowing what their elected and appointed officials are doing in their name.