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Colorado Library Funding Bill
Tied to Internet Restrictions

Colorado’s Senate Education Committee approved a bill January 12 that would require school and public libraries to use filtering software or enforce a policy to restrict minors from obscene or illegal material before qualifying for $2 million in state funding. Democrats objected to the legislation as “tantamount to censorship,” but lacked the votes to stop it from going to the full Senate. However, Sen. Stan Matsunaka (D-Loveland) put a hold on the bill in order to address censorship concerns.

The Democrats found themselves allied with conservative Sen. John Andrews (R-Englewood) who wanted to kill the bill entirely. According to the January 13 Denver Post, Andrews believes public libraries should get no money from the state and rely exclusively on local taxes and contributions.

Colorado Governor Bill Owens vetoed a funding bill last year, saying that libraries must prove they are preventing children from viewing violent or sexually explicit Web sites.

Posted January 24, 2000.

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