Legislative - Action Center

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Colorado 2010: Civil Liberties in the State Legislature

The ACLU of Colorado puts membership dues to good use advocating for civil liberty-friendly legislation and stopping those measures that would erode our freedoms.

Our legislative committee meets weekly during the session to discuss the bills as they are introduced. Committee members decide whether to monitor a bill and then decides if it's necessary to support, oppose, or just continue to keep an eye on the bill.

When we need your help, we ask you to call various public officials and let them know that Coloradans (particularly their constituents!) care about civil liberties.

Contacting your legislators is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that your views are heard, and of encouraging them to take action.

How effective is it? In April of 2009 the Vermont Legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, by acheiving a 2/3 majority vote. When Representative Robert South was asked why he reversed his position, he responded that:
"228 of his constituents reached out and urged him to support the override, compared with 198 who urged him to oppose it." - NY Times

For your convenience, we have also included below suggestions on how to effectively present your views to your elected officials:

Delivering your Message
Writing Your Elected Representative
Meeting with your Elected Representative
Presenting Information to your Elected Officials
Writing a Letter to the Editor

During the session each legislator is allowed to introduce five bills, although the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate may allow a legislator to introduce a late bill. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate assign a bill to one or more committees for a hearing. At the hearing, proponents and opponents testify about the bill before a group of legislators. The bill may be amended, but if it passes in the committee, it goes to the entire House or Senate for votes and further amendments, if any. If the bill passes the “floor” votes it is then sent to the other chamber to begin the process again. It will be heard in another committee and go to the floor if it passes out of that other committee.

You may also want to refer to a glossary of legislative terms. For more information click on http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/StaffInfo/definitions.htm.

Members of the public are often in the Statehouse to watch the proceedings, to testify about a particular bill or to meet with their legislators. Public participation in the committee hearings is welcomed. There are some limitations and some procedures you should know before you testify. The hearings are listed in the chamber’s calendar for each day. You need to have the bill’s number and to check the calendar for when and where the bill should be heard. Please note that sometimes the location and date are changed because of the size of the group or interested parties or to accommodate the legislators’ other commitments.

If you want to receive updates on the work being done as we plan for the next legislative session and action alerts about legislation, sign up here.

Call your Governor
Bill Ritter, Colorado Governor
Phone: 303.866.2471
Fax: 303.866.2003
Mail: 136 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203-1792

Call Your State Senator:
Colorado State Senate Directory

Call Your State Representative:
Colorado State Representative Directory

Find your State Senator and Representative:
Click here to find out who your state legislators are by entering your ZipCode. OR visit CO Maps to click on your area of town to find your districts.

Colorado General Assembly
Visit the Colorado General Assembly website to learn more about the status of current bills, legislator's contact information and more.