Republican Colorado Lawmaker Rips State’s Disabilities Bill In Bizarre Speech

David Moye
Updated ·4 min read
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Colorado state Rep. Richard Holtorf (R) recently criticized a bill providing protections for people with disabilities in his state.
Colorado state Rep. Richard Holtorf (R) recently criticized a bill providing protections for people with disabilities in his state.

Colorado state Rep. Richard Holtorf (R) recently criticized a bill providing protections for people with disabilities in his state.

A Colorado state representative apparently decided the best way to protest a bill designed to help disabled people is to attack their intelligence.

State Rep. Richard Holtorf (R) spoke out Tuesday against HB23-1032, a bill that clarifies the remedies a person with a disability is entitled to under current Colorado law regarding discrimination in public spaces.

Holtorf felt so strongly that the bill was a bad idea for Colorado residents that he protested it by ... using “Spanish” law?

As RawStory put it, Holtorf said Colorado doesn’t need additional protections for people with disabilities against discrimination because Spain won’t let participants at the famous “running of the bulls” in Pamplona sue if they get injured.

“If you’re dumb enough to get on this road and run the eight blocks, 10 blocks and run in the ring and you get hurt, you own it,” he said. “And that’s Spanish law.”

“There’s no liability, there’s no lawsuits, you don’t get to do any of that,” he added, “because you’re responsible for the risks that you take in this running of the bulls.”

As you can see in the clip below, Holtorf was quite enamored of his hot take.

HuffPost contacted Holtorf for comment, but he did not immediately respond.

However, state Rep. David Ortiz (D), author of the bill that Holtorf was criticizing, ripped into his Republican colleague’s response on Twitter.

Ortiz, who became paralyzed while serving as a helicopter pilot in the Army, said, “The absolute#ableism and ignorance on display here against community living with a disability AND ANY MOVEMENT we try and make toward securing our basic human rights and#basicaccess is astounding.”

Other state lawmakers also condemned Holtorf’s comments.

Non-politicians chimed in as well.

In what might be the least shocking political news ever, this isn’t the first time Holtorf has said or done something offensive or dangerous.

Last May, he was reprimanded after calling a colleague “Buckwheat” during a legislative stimulus measure debate.

In March 2022, he tripped while hurrying to the House chambers for a vote, causing his gun to fall to the ground. Luckily, the gun did not discharge, and no one was hurt.

In February 2021, he was heavily criticized after he told another lawmaker, whose son was murdered in the 2012 Aurora movie theater massacre, “You have to let go.”

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