Bill aimed at cracking down on illicit spas passes Colorado House

DENVER, Colo (KRDO) -- The Colorado House of Representatives has approved House Bill 1300, which aims to prevent human trafficking by cracking down on illicit spas posing as massage parlors throughout the state.

The bill allows county governments the ability to propose and adopt resolutions and ordinances that can regulate massage parlors, and effectively shut them down if they are engaging in human trafficking.

HB22-1300 has bipartisan support and received 62 "I" votes and 3 "No" votes during Tuesday's third reading.

KRDO spoke with Terri Carver, a Republican Representative from Colorado Springs and a prime sponsor of the bill.

"It's not just cities acting alone anymore," Carver said. "These criminal organizations would normally just move outside city limits to the county."

Carver told KRDO that was why it was so important to give statewide authority to all Colorado counties.

If passed through the Senate and signed by Governor Jared Polis, Colorado counties would have as much "home-rule authority" as city governments do.