AP File
Colorado is one step away from having its own net neutrality law — one that would prohibit internet service providers from receiving Colorado taxpayer money if they slow access to the internet or unfairly favor certain websites.
Senate Bill 78 passed the House and Senate along party lines, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed. Gov. Jared Polis, who founded an internet company while in college, supports it.
The bill’s passage this year, after failure in the Senate last year, is another example of Democrats’ show of strength since taking control of the legislature’s upper chamber in the 2018 elections.
Net neutrality is the notion that internet service providers should not favor certain types of internet content by speeding it up or slowing other content down. The Federal Communications Commission supported net neutrality under President Barack Obama but has shifted direction under President Donald Trump, formally ending net neutrality protections last year.