(Colorado Newsline) A Colorado bill that would have added protections for law enforcement whistleblowers died Friday on the House floor.

House Bill 24-1460 was rejected in a 31-33 vote after sponsors offered two third-reading amendments to create a working group to discuss what further law enforcement retaliation and whistleblower protections are needed. The amendments took all previous provisions out of the bill in hopes of saving it.

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Initially, state Representative Leslie Herod and state Representative Jennifer Bacon, both Denver Democrats, offered an amendment removing all provisions of the bill below a “legislative declaration” that explained why the Legislature pursued the bill and established a working group that would have included legislators, law enforcement, whistleblowers and attorneys.

Bill sponsors agreed to support a Republican-drafted amendment in lieu of theirs that included additional interested parties in the proposed working group. While that amendment passed, the bill still lost after several legislators again showed concern with the last-minute process the bill went through and the idea of approving substantial amendments on final reading. Democrats have a strong majority in the House.

As originally proposed, the bill would have required that law enforcement agencies investigate allegations of misconduct made against their officers and prohibited retaliation against an officer who files a complaint. An amended version of the bill that the House preliminarily approved would have established a working group and allowed officers who have been retaliated against to remove flags on their name in the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board database.

The POST database allows the public to see police certifications, terminations and resignations, investigations and credibility disclosures among other disciplinary actions against individual officers.

A joint statement from Herod and Bacon said they are “deeply frustrated” that the bill died as people from both parties have shown understanding that there is a problem they must address, but not enough people decided to take action.

We need public trust. We need buy-in from officers who have been sexually assaulted ... We need buy-in from the public that if they call their legislator we'll do something about it.

– Representative Jennifer Bacon

“With more and more officers coming forward with their stories, sponsors, and other supporters will continue to work on this regardless of whether or not law enforcement leadership will come to the table,” the statement says. “It is our hope that those who refused to engage in a meaningful conversation will change course and join us at the table.”

Bacon said the final version of the bill was a way to solidify in writing that interested parties will come together to determine a solution everyone could get behind.

“We need public trust. We need buy-in from officers who have been sexually assaulted,” Bacon said. “We need buy-in from the public that if they call their legislator we’ll do something about it. I hear that all the time in here. That’s who we need buy-in from.”

State Representative Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, said that while she respects problem solving from sponsors on the floor the bill still tried “to make really important policy on the fly.”

“This needs to be done in a better process,” Bird said. “The problem, it’s important and deserves proper process so that we do this right and we have buy-in for true change.”

State Representative Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, echoed the need for better conversations with stakeholders interested in having a seat at the table.

“We can print words on the page and say these folks are going to come together, but if the trust isn’t there as a result of the process, that impacts the outcome of this, so I urge a no vote on this,” Evans said.

Law enforcement opposition

Legislators who spoke in support of the bill acknowledged that it wasn’t perfect, but a working group would have been a starting point to continue transparent discussions to get future attempts at such legislation right. State Representative David Ortiz, a Littleton Democrat, said that without the working group codified in the bill, “these conversations are going to happen in the dark.”

“There’s nothing that we do in here that is perfect, but this offers a very open and transparent opportunity to have these discussions,” Ortiz said. “This is what the stakeholders are asking for. It even had input from the other side of the aisle.”

State Representative Bob Marshall, a Highlands Ranch Democrat, said that while he was initially “a very strong no” on the bill because of limited engagement with interested parties, the creation of a working group over the summer would allow for more feedback than the introduction of a new bill at the start of next session would. He also noted that other issues that are “far more impactful across the state” have also been addressed toward the end of session, particularly property taxes.

In a joint statement, Stephen Schulz, president of the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police, and Amy Nichols, executive director of the County Sheriffs of Colorado, committed to work on “an objective review and analysis to help make substantive recommendations” addressing workplace protections for law enforcement.

“We appreciate that the majority of House members shared our concerns about the need for a robust stakeholder process before passing legislation of this importance,” the statement says. “Ensuring law enforcement employees have due process protection and a safe and healthy work environment are serious, complex issues that warrant responsible and thoughtful solutions.”

Debate on the bill has been tense from the start given the strong opposition from law enforcement leaders and the sponsors’ continued commitment to help the whistleblowers whose experiences inspired the bill.

Bill sponsors repeatedly mentioned McKinzie Rees, a former Edgewater police officer who ended up with an “untruthfulness” label on the POST database because the accusations she made against a superior officer weren’t taken seriously, Rees said. The officer who she alleged assaulted her pleaded guilty to counts of unlawful sexual contact and official misconduct in January.

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