Colorado lawmakers are racing against the calendar — or, depending on one's view, wielding time as a weapon against unfavorable policies — to wrap up their business before the 2024 General Assembly regular session.
The term should be adjourned by the end of the day on May 8, giving them ten final days. With that deadline pressure, here's a look at lawmakers' votes and other actions on Monday.
11:50 am: The Colorado Senate voted 29-5 to let voters amend the Colorado Constitution to remove a defunct provision that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The provision has been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Republican Senators Mark Baisley, Byron Pelton, Rod Pelton, Kevin Van Winkle and Perry Will voted against the measure. It still needs approval in the House of Representatives – where Democrats have a supermajority – before going to voters for approval.
Republicans also hold a minority of seats in the Senate, but have enough seats to block proposed constitutional changes, which require two-thirds support, if they unite against them. They used that margin earlier this session to block a proposed amendment that would allow people to file civil claims for childhood sexual abuse regardless of when that abuse occurred.
But in Monday's vote, several Republicans joined Democrats, easily crossing the two-thirds threshold.
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