DENVER (KDVR) — A bill that would have required “substance-free seating” in large venues in Colorado has died in committee.
Senate Bill 23-171 would have required venues that hold more than 7,000 people to enforce that 4% of their seats be substance-free. It could have applied to places like Ball Arena, Empower Field, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Folsom Field, among others.
The substance-free seating bill was postponed indefinitely Tuesday in the Senate Finance committee.
Advocates for the bill have told FOX31 that navigating sobriety at entertainment venues can be a struggle. They said Colorado would have been the first in the country with such a mandate.
“Half of the NFL teams already have some type of substance-free seating, the Boston Red Sox has a substance-free section already, so it’s done throughout the country in different areas,” Duke Rumley, executive director of Sober A.F. Entertainment, told FOX31’s Gabrielle Franklin.
The proposal also would have required accessibility and also specified that the seats could not be in the farther-flung sections. A violation would have resulted in penalties that would affect a venue’s alcohol license, including potential suspension, revocation or a fine.
Sen. Kevin Priola and Rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy, both Democrats, sponsored the bill.