The state legislature considers so many bills every day that it is easy for many of them to fly under the radar, especially if a proposal is not overtly controversial.

Case in point: Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, recently sponsored House Bill 1123, which specifically increased the penalties for the human trafficking of a minor to be equal to the penalties of trafficking adults. Who can be against that? The majority of state representatives agreed, and the bill sailed through committee last week and off the House floor Tuesday with almost no dissent.

Enter Rep. Joel Judd, D-Denver, who did have just one objection. While the House Appropriations Committee was considering the bill last Friday, Judd actually suggested lowering the penalty for trafficking adults as an alternative to Lambert's approach.

“Another way that we could have resolved that inconsistency...would have been to reduce the penalty on the adult version of the crime,” Judd said during committee. “The reason I mention that, I think the [district attorneys] in Colorado should take a look at the intended criminal code. I think there is a lot of those kinds of inconsistencies, and there is a lot that could be done to rationalize that. And I just wanted to give them a little encouragement. And I think one no vote out of this committee may not be much, but it may help make the point.”

Fellow committee members ignored Judd's suggestion of lowering penalties for human trafficking.

Use the audio player above or download the MP3 below to hear the committee debate.