Colorado Democrat’s Head-Scratching Reason for Killing His Own Bill to Decriminalize Prostitution
What's the endgame here?
Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify.
State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told The Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it.
“Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a lot of law enforcement, religious leaders and other hostile voices—where they’d understandably feel at risk of surveillance, doxxing and threats/intimidation—wasn’t worth it given the lack of reason to believe the outcome will be changed,” he told the outlet.
Yet Laurel Boyle, an interim communications director for Colorado’s House Republican Caucus, told The Daily Signal that 42 people had signed up to testify against the bill, while only one person signed up to testify in favor—and he does not appear to be a prostitute.
Republican Response
“Senator Hinrichsen’s comments are completely out of touch with the legislative process here in Colorado,” Jarvis Caldwell, the Republican minority leader in the state House of Representatives, told The Daily Signal in an interview Monday. “It is the responsibility of every legislator to hear from people who take the time to come to the Capitol and testify, whether they support a bill or oppose it.”
“Dismissing the voices of law enforcement officers and religious leaders as ‘hostile’ simply because they disagree is incredibly concerning,” the Republican leader added. “These are community leaders who show up to represent the safety, values, and concerns of the people they serve, just as Senator Hinrichsen is called to do as an elected official.”
“We are relieved to see SB26-097 will be killed in committee, and we are grateful for all those across Colorado and across the country who spoke out,” Caldwell added. “When people engage in the process, lawmakers have a responsibility to listen. Hopefully, Democrats will take that message to heart and start prioritizing what Coloradans are actually asking for.”
Caldwell previously noted that Colorado had the 10th-highest rate of human trafficking in the United States (both in the raw number of cases and as a per capita rate) in 2023, according to the Colorado-based Common Sense Institute. He also cited a 2012 study from the London School of Economics, finding that foreign countries that legalized or decriminalized prostitution had higher rates of human trafficking.
Decriminalizing Prostitution
The prostitution bill requires the statewide decriminalization of “commercial sexual activity among consenting adults.” It decriminalizes both the selling and the purchasing of sex statewide and preempts cities and localities from criminalizing the world’s oldest profession.
The bill repeals state laws imposing criminal penalties for prostitution, …
What's the endgame here?
Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify.
State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told The Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it.
“Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a lot of law enforcement, religious leaders and other hostile voices—where they’d understandably feel at risk of surveillance, doxxing and threats/intimidation—wasn’t worth it given the lack of reason to believe the outcome will be changed,” he told the outlet.
Yet Laurel Boyle, an interim communications director for Colorado’s House Republican Caucus, told The Daily Signal that 42 people had signed up to testify against the bill, while only one person signed up to testify in favor—and he does not appear to be a prostitute.
Republican Response
“Senator Hinrichsen’s comments are completely out of touch with the legislative process here in Colorado,” Jarvis Caldwell, the Republican minority leader in the state House of Representatives, told The Daily Signal in an interview Monday. “It is the responsibility of every legislator to hear from people who take the time to come to the Capitol and testify, whether they support a bill or oppose it.”
“Dismissing the voices of law enforcement officers and religious leaders as ‘hostile’ simply because they disagree is incredibly concerning,” the Republican leader added. “These are community leaders who show up to represent the safety, values, and concerns of the people they serve, just as Senator Hinrichsen is called to do as an elected official.”
“We are relieved to see SB26-097 will be killed in committee, and we are grateful for all those across Colorado and across the country who spoke out,” Caldwell added. “When people engage in the process, lawmakers have a responsibility to listen. Hopefully, Democrats will take that message to heart and start prioritizing what Coloradans are actually asking for.”
Caldwell previously noted that Colorado had the 10th-highest rate of human trafficking in the United States (both in the raw number of cases and as a per capita rate) in 2023, according to the Colorado-based Common Sense Institute. He also cited a 2012 study from the London School of Economics, finding that foreign countries that legalized or decriminalized prostitution had higher rates of human trafficking.
Decriminalizing Prostitution
The prostitution bill requires the statewide decriminalization of “commercial sexual activity among consenting adults.” It decriminalizes both the selling and the purchasing of sex statewide and preempts cities and localities from criminalizing the world’s oldest profession.
The bill repeals state laws imposing criminal penalties for prostitution, …
Colorado Democrat’s Head-Scratching Reason for Killing His Own Bill to Decriminalize Prostitution
What's the endgame here?
Colorado’s Republican House leader is calling foul after a Colorado state senator says he is effectively killing his own bill to decriminalize prostitution—in order to protect “sex workers” from the trauma of having to testify.
State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, the main sponsor of SB26-097, told The Colorado Sun that his bill lacks the necessary support to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee, so he will ask to delay the measure until after the 2026 legislative session, effectively killing the bill. He said the “sex workers” who persuaded him to bring the bill also persuaded him to effectively kill it.
“Ultimately, we all decided that having a very tense, long committee hearing, where they’d have to be in a room with a lot of law enforcement, religious leaders and other hostile voices—where they’d understandably feel at risk of surveillance, doxxing and threats/intimidation—wasn’t worth it given the lack of reason to believe the outcome will be changed,” he told the outlet.
Yet Laurel Boyle, an interim communications director for Colorado’s House Republican Caucus, told The Daily Signal that 42 people had signed up to testify against the bill, while only one person signed up to testify in favor—and he does not appear to be a prostitute.
Republican Response
“Senator Hinrichsen’s comments are completely out of touch with the legislative process here in Colorado,” Jarvis Caldwell, the Republican minority leader in the state House of Representatives, told The Daily Signal in an interview Monday. “It is the responsibility of every legislator to hear from people who take the time to come to the Capitol and testify, whether they support a bill or oppose it.”
“Dismissing the voices of law enforcement officers and religious leaders as ‘hostile’ simply because they disagree is incredibly concerning,” the Republican leader added. “These are community leaders who show up to represent the safety, values, and concerns of the people they serve, just as Senator Hinrichsen is called to do as an elected official.”
“We are relieved to see SB26-097 will be killed in committee, and we are grateful for all those across Colorado and across the country who spoke out,” Caldwell added. “When people engage in the process, lawmakers have a responsibility to listen. Hopefully, Democrats will take that message to heart and start prioritizing what Coloradans are actually asking for.”
Caldwell previously noted that Colorado had the 10th-highest rate of human trafficking in the United States (both in the raw number of cases and as a per capita rate) in 2023, according to the Colorado-based Common Sense Institute. He also cited a 2012 study from the London School of Economics, finding that foreign countries that legalized or decriminalized prostitution had higher rates of human trafficking.
Decriminalizing Prostitution
The prostitution bill requires the statewide decriminalization of “commercial sexual activity among consenting adults.” It decriminalizes both the selling and the purchasing of sex statewide and preempts cities and localities from criminalizing the world’s oldest profession.
The bill repeals state laws imposing criminal penalties for prostitution, …
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