A lawmaker who ruffled the fur of Colorado pet lovers with her bill mandating state registration of our four-legged children plus a mandated pet tax has turned tail and now plans to withdraw her measure.
State Rep. Reginal English, a tax-and-spend Democrat from El Paso County, quickly came under fire on social media for her bill.
It imposed fees of $8.50 on every pet with a designated caregiver, $25 for pets without designated caregivers, and $16 for pets that were permitted to breed.
Channel 7 first reported English’s “decision to pull the bill was not because she felt pressured by the backlash.”
Yet reported a few sentences later:
English said the decision to pull the bill was not because she felt pressured by the backlash, but came after discussions with colleagues and plans to focus on other policies she is sponsoring this year.
English claims to have received death threats from animal lovers, and says she only wanted to help first responders and pet shelters.
“I didn’t know that it was going to get all the backlash. And, you know, people wishing death on me, and wishing I die with the bill is quite alarming. So, I don’t take things like that lightly,” English said.
She also claimed her legislation would have helped senior citizens, but we saw no mention of that.
Read the bill linked here and decide for yourself if it’s as convoluted and ill-conceived as we think it is.
If it’s true animal lovers are threatening to kill her, English should report them to law enforcement.
Kyle Clark rushed to the Democrat Party’s defense and tried to downplay the measure after English had already dropped the matter, spinning it as never a big deal because fellow Dems failed to jump on as sponsors in the two days after it was first introduced.
And yet, this wasn’t just some random lawmaker acting without approval from the Democrat caucus. After all, it was still introduced by Democrat leadership and read across the desk.
The pet registration bill has a single House Democrat on board and no Senate sponsor. It has yet to pass a committee vote. #coleg https://t.co/7rUCoTfVVO pic.twitter.com/pw5FEog2ON
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) February 4, 2024
This was indeed a win for the sane voters of Colorado who are tired of government always picking their pockets for loose change.