While some lawmakers want Coloradans to get more information about the body scanners used at security checkpoints across the state, others are afraid that the cost might not be right.
The Senate today sent Senate Bill 55 back to committee after some legislators said they couldn’t support the bill for financial reasons.
The bill requires security checkpoints all over the state to post notices disclosing the amount of radiation a machine emits, the type of image the machine generates, and what options people who refuse to submit to scanning may have.
Bill sponsor Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, said electronic scanners are so common that citizens need to know more about the machines they encounter.
“They ought to be given just simple, basic facts about what it does, and what options they may or may not have.”
Colorado Springs Democrat Sen. John Morse, however, expressed fears that posting such notices would prove too costly, even though a fiscal analysis provided by the Legislative Council concluded that costs to local and state government would be minimal.
Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, echoed Morse’s concerns, calling the bill an “unfunded mandate.”
Lundberg argued that the bill does not specify how notices would be posted, and so it could be very low-cost.
“It could be as simple as an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper taped to the wall,” Lundberg said.
Unmoved, the body sent the bill to another committee for a financial discussion.
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
