The Colorado Senate voted Friday to override Gov. Jared Polis’ veto of a bill aimed at regulating social media — the first step in a maneuver that, if successful, would be the first override in the state in more than a decade.
Senators voted 29-6 to override the veto the morning after Polis issued it. Senate Bill 86, if it becomes law, would require social media companies to promptly ban users who violate their terms of service, make annual reports to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and better cooperate with law enforcement.
The House will also need to vote to override Polis’ veto for it to be successful. Like the Senate, the chamber will need a two-thirds majority to force the measure into law.
The bill passed the General Assembly with sweeping bipartisan support earlier in the session. Backers say it will better protect Colorado’s children by removing predators and people who use social media platforms to sell drugs and guns; opponents warn it represents a worrying intrusion on First Amendment rights and amounts to a de facto deputization of social media companies by the state.
Polis fell in the latter camp. He vetoed it Thursday night.
“Despite good intentions, this bill fails to guarantee the safety of minors or adults, erodes privacy, freedom, and innovation, hurts vulnerable people, and potentially subjects all Coloradans to stifling and unwarranted scrutiny of our constitutionally protected speech,” Polis wrote in his veto letter.
He cited opposition from the liberal group ProgressNow Colorado and the libertarian-conservative Independence Institute, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and more.
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Backers of the measure warned last week that they would attempt a veto override if Polis tried to kill the bill. They made good on that Friday — marking a legislative chamber’s first successful veto override vote of Polis’ term. Democratic Sens. Julie Gonzales, Faith Winter, Katie Wallace, Janice Marchman, and Nick Hinrichsen, and Republican Sen. Mark Baisley, cast the six votes against the override.
The most recent overridden vetoes in Colorado were in 2011 and 2007. Both of those were of spending instructions attached to the budget. A veto override of a standalone bill hasn’t happened since the Reagan administration.
“This bill gives us the tools to help remove predators and traffickers who use social media to harm our kids,” Sen. Lindsay Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said ahead of the vote. “This is not about censorship. It’s not about speech. It’s about standing up for the safety and dignity of our youngest and most vulnerable.”
Letting the veto stand would mean “choosing to protect the business interests of billion-dollar tech companies over the safety of Colorado kids,” she added.
In a memo issued ahead of the veto override vote, Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office found the bill’s provisions are “permissible exercises of the State’s police power” and would not infringe upon First Amendment protections. Its requirements for account removal based on illegal activity are likewise “narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest.” A copy of the memo was distributed to members of the legislature.
Weiser, who is running for governor in 2026, serves as the state’s lawyer. The legislature has its own legal counsel to advise on bills. Daugherty said the legal memo was produced at her request.
In a statement, Polis spokesperson Shelby Wieman said the governor supported parts of the bill that would help law enforcement “crack down on online criminal activity, especially targeted at children.” He “remains open” to future legislation that would address illegal activity, without impeding privacy and freedom, she said.
“The governor vetoed the bill because the bill in its current form is unworkable, contains no safeguards for private information that could be leaked, gives big tech too much power to deplatform people, and he is worried about preserving civil rights and defending vulnerable Coloradans, which are so important at this critical moment,” she said.
The House has not set a time for when it will consider the override, but it won’t be Friday, House Democratic spokesman Jarrett Freedman said. The chamber had other floor work to clear, and it couldn’t consider the override until it finished its other business, which may take a fair chunk of the day.
House Republican spokeswoman Laurel Boyle said the vote was likely to happen Monday.
The Senate is also considering a veto override for Senate Bill 77, which Polis rejected April 17. That bill would reform the Colorado Open Records Act to create separate classifications — and fulfillment deadlines — for open records requests based on the entity making the request. It was Polis’s first veto of the legislative session.
That veto override vote has been rescheduled several times. On Friday, it was pushed another week, until May 2. Sponsor Sen. Cathy Kipp, a Fort Collins Democrat, said backers were “still having conversations” about the attempt.
Veto overrides in Colorado are exceedingly rare. In most cases, a veto is issued after the 120-day legislative session has ended — meaning lawmakers would need to call for a special session to override it. However, if a bill makes it to the governor’s desk with more than 10 days left in the legislative session, as happened with SB-77 and SB-86, the governor has a 10-day window to sign or veto it to give lawmakers a chance to override it.
The legislature is scheduled to adjourn its 2025 session on May 7.
Staff writer Seth Klamann contributed to this story.
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