Democrats have the majority in the Colorado Legislature.
So whatever they want, they get.
This includes voting against a bill that would have put criminals convicted of trafficking children in jail for life.
Rep. Scott Bottoms sponsored HB26-1082, which would have changed “the penalty for human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude from a class 2 felony to a class 1 felony.”
This bill also would have required a sentence of life imprisonment for without the possibility of parole for those who found guilty.
On February 10th, 2026, this bill was heard in the House Judiciary Committee and the Democrats killed the bill on a 7 to 4 vote.
Testimony lasted nearly four hours. Coloradans pleaded with the Legislators to support the bill and lock up this criminals.
Legislators heard from human trafficking victims, individuals who work with anti-trafficking organizations, and regular people who want to see kids protected.
Very few people spoke in opposition to the bill, but those who did included the ACLU and the Public Defenders Office.
In this video, Brandon compiled some of the testimony in support of the bill and some of the opposition. Also included was Rep. Bottoms’ closing statement that he gave after nearly four hours of testimony.
This is a reminder of how important it is for Coloradans to get involved, get organized and work to replace bad politicians in the 2026 election.
Links from the Video:
HB26-1082 Children Are Not for Sale Act: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb26-1082
HB25-1073 Protections Against Child Rape: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/HB25-1073
HB24-1092: Minimum Sentence Crimes against Prostituted Children https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/HB24-1092
Watch the whole four hour bill hearing: https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00327/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20260210/-1/18088
