On January 27, 2014, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Board Member Pamela Hirschman  represented ADL and testified against a bill introduced in the Colorado legislature that would have provided state funds to religious student groups on state university and college campuses, even when those groups demonstrated prejudice in selecting their leadership.  Following testimony from proponents and opponents of the bill, lawmakers in the House Education Committee defeated the measure in a 7-6 vote.

State Representative Kevin Priola and Senator Lois Tochtrop sponsored the bill.  The bill stipulated that a public institution of higher education would have been unable to deny a “benefit otherwise available to another student group based solely on the religious student group’s requirement that its leaders adhere to the group’s sincerely held religious beliefs or standards of conduct.”

ADL urged the legislature not to allow state funds to support discrimination.  Hirschman explained in her testimony, “The issue is not whether student organizations are free to believe and associate as they like. They can. The issue is whether they have a right to be funded to operate in a discriminatory manner. They should not.”

The committee voted to postpone the bill indefinitely.  As a result, the measure will not be addressed again during the 2014 legislative session.  ADL is grateful to Pamela Hirschman and to its Government Affairs Committee for its commitment to speaking out against this bill and thereby furthering ADL’s mission to “secure justice and fair treatment to all.”