To hear fifth-grader Horacio Duerte Bernal tell it, it all started when he and his friends were studying state symbols last year.
“I knew something was missing, and I like reptiles,” he said. “An idea popped out, ‘Why not make a state reptile?’ ”
Bernal and several of his classmates from Denver’s Skyline Vista Elementary asked lawmakers Tuesday to designate the Western Painted Turtle an official state symbol.
“We should have a kid-friendly reptile,” Amy Loi told the House State Affairs Committee. “I like turtles but not poison snakes.”
The committee passed the measure 9-1 onto the full House. Only Rep. Douglas Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, voted against it. He refused to say why.
Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, warned the children that the bill has a long way to go before becoming law. “It’s kinda slow, like a turtle,” he said.
Jennifer Brown,
The Denver Post
