Madden Kills HB 1080

Majority Leader Alice Madden has announced that she's not going to submit her bill to close the exception in state civil rights law allowing religious organizations to hire managers adhering to their faith for a committee hearing.

HB 1080 had provoked a controversy strong enough to prompt the Roman Catholic archbishops of Denver and Colorado Springs to say that they would close the Catholic Charities operations in those cities rather than comply with the bill's ban on religious preference in hiring.

In a statement issued this afternoon by the House Majority Caucus press office, Madden said Gov. Bill Ritter will get involved in trying to find a compromise acceptable to all interested parties.

The statement said:

"After discussions with the Governor's office and proponants of HB 1080, we have mutually agreed to table HB 08-1080 for this legislative session with the understanding that over the interim, the Governor's office will convene a meeting of all interested parties. Hopefully, a bill can be forged for 2009 that protects employees from discrimination based on religion without harming social services programs provided by religious organizations that utilize tax payer's dollars."