By Jeffrey A. Roberts
CFOIC Executive Director
Colorado lawmakers Thursday defeated a measure that would have required people testifying before legislative committees to swear an oath to tell the truth under penalty of perjury.
Rep. Ty Winter, the Trinidad Republican who introduced House Bill 26-1149, described it as “a good governance bill” that would hold people accountable for spreading misinformation at the state Capitol.
“I want people to come in and tell us the truth,” he said. “The decisions I make affect people, and if I’m getting false information, I just want the truth to make a better decision.”
Committee chairs in the Colorado General Assembly already have the power under C.R.S. 2-2-315 “to administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses, touching any matter or thing which may be under the consideration or investigation of the committee.” And anyone who lies under oath could be charged with first-degree perjury, Conrad Imel, assistant director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services, told members of the House State, Civic, Military & Veterans Affairs Committee.
The bill would have made such oaths mandatory, except for members and employees of the legislature and representatives of state departments making presentations to the Joint Budget Committee or for SMART Act hearings. The oath would have had people swear that, to the best of their knowledge, their testimony “is true and accurate” and they understood that “knowingly making a materially false statement during testimony may constitute perjury in the first degree and may result in criminal prosecution.”
The state affairs committee killed HB 26-1149 on a 7-4 vote.
Rep. Michael Carter, an Aurora Democrat who previously served on the Aurora school board, said he couldn’t support the bill because it likely would keep some people from testifying.
“The least we can do, as legislators, as board members, is sit there and listen,” he said. “The biggest problem I have with the bill is that it does send a chill to individuals when they want to come and talk to their elected officials. “
Rep. Jenny Wilford, the Northglenn Democrat who chairs the state affairs committee, said that “hearing from the public … is really a valuable exercise that tells us so much about the lives that people are living. And I don’t want to create a scenario in which somebody has to fear about coming forward and speaking because they could be asked a question that exposes them in some way.”
Winter acknowledged that his proposal could discourage some people from testifying at the legislature.
“I’m not going to say it won’t, but I think it’ll dissuade the people that shouldn’t be coming to testify at the Capitol,” he said. “… It dissuades people that have the thought of coming here and telling untruths. They may not show up because of that reason, because they know there is some teeth in the law.”
Winter said he heard about a person dressed in a lab coat who falsely “presented themselves as a medical doctor” while testifying before the House Health and Human Services Committee. “That’s inherently wrong because we are taking peoples’ word on face value. It’s not our job necessarily to judge them on what they’re testifying on. We’re here to hear truth.”
Erin Meschke, a Boulder resident who frequently testifies in committee hearings, told lawmakers the bill needs refinements to make it work as intended.
“Obviously, citizens should only bring truthful statements and information to bill hearings,” she said. “But after sitting through hundreds of committee hearings over the past five years, it has become very clear to me that some people deeply believe things that are untrue, and sadly, this bill can’t and won’t change those delusions.”
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