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House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs

Monday, April 13, 2026·42m·▶ Watch / Listen

The House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee killed HCR 26-1002, a concurrent resolution that would have referred to voters a constitutional amendment requiring age verification on pornographic websites. The motion to advance the bill failed 4-7, and the committee subsequently postponed it indefinitely.

Key Actions

·HCR 26-1002 – Age Verification for Adult Content (Constitutional Amendment Referral)Failed

Controversies

Constitutional placement versus statutory approach

Rep. Soper argued placing the measure in the constitution invites a public vote and reflects state values. Vice Chair Clifford countered that he would vote yes on a regular General Assembly bill requiring age verification for minors but was 'a no on trying to do this both in a ballot measure and in the Constitution,' calling it 'a weird place to try to put policy in the Constitution' and expressing concern about voter confusion and the inability to adapt to technological changes. Rep. Espenoza added that no other states have placed age verification in their constitution, only in statute.

Notable Quotes

“Or proxy use for, , circumventing this potential bill? Representative Soper. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Representative Nguyen. Excellent question. One that has been kicked around a lot. , VPNs are the Achilles heel of any age verification for adult content. And it doesn't matter if you're”

Rep. Matt Soper — Rep. Soper was responding to a question about whether VPNs could be used to circumvent age verification requirements under the proposed constitutional amendment.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Motion to refer HCR 26-1002 to the committee of the whole with a favorable recommendationFailed
Yes (3)Bottoms, Bradley, Luck
No (5)Carter, Espenoza, Ricks, Clifford, Chair
Motion to postpone indefinitely HCR 26-1002Passed
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TranscriptPreview
Good. All right. The State Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee will come to order. Ms. King, please call the roll. Representatives Bottoms? Here. Bradley. Here. Carter. Present. Espinoza. Excuse. Gray. Here. Roelich. Here. Locke. Present. Wynn. Aloha. Ricks. Present. Clifford. Here. Madam Chair, here. We have one bill on the calendar today. House Concurrent Resolution 10:02. We have our bill sponsors so Representative Soper, take it away. Thank you Madam Chair and members of the committee. House Concurrent Resolution 1 or 1002 refers to the voters of Colorado, an amendment to our state constitution to require age verification for adult content images. Half of all American states, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Utah, Montana, Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Idaho, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota, Missouri, Arizona and Ohio all require age verification for viewing adult content websites, also known as pornographic websites. Currently, 11 states, including Colorado, are considering such age verification, such as the measure that you have before you. You might be asking yourself there was a bill last year in the Senate that sought to do the same thing. It was bipartisan in both chambers. It failed. What…
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