On the June 18 broadcast of his 630 KHOW-AM show, Peter Boyles likened new Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles rules clarifying the documentation necessary to obtain a driver's license to “political date rape.” Furthermore, after falsely claiming that the identification requirements Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) “motor vehicle guys” implemented “will accomplish exactly the same thing as [House Bill] 1313” -- a measure Ritter vetoed -- Boyles told his listeners, “You got screwed. You got raped. You got date raped. You got state raped.”
Boyles' comments marked the second time in two months that a conservative Denver talk show host has equated a Ritter administration proposal with “date rape.” As Colorado Media Matters noted, Newsradio 850 KOA host and Independence Institute director Jon Caldara on the May 9 broadcast of his show called legislation that will freeze mill levy rates to fund public education “fiscal date rape.”
From the June 18 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:
BOYLES: And then in this backroom shenanigans, the motor vehicle guys come up with rules that will accomplish exactly the same thing as 1313. In other words, you get screwed. Date rape. Anybody disagree with that? That that's a, that's, it's, it's, it's, it's political date rape? 303-713-8255. I'm watching it happen, you're watching it happen, and you must be able to speak your mind and stop it. You can contact Governor Ritter's office. And you know what? I, I'm past the point where you have to be nice. You know, we've been urging, “Well, you know, be nice. Be nice.” Everybody was nice and what did you get out of it? You're damn right: You got screwed. You got raped. You got date raped. You got state raped. You were real nice. “Oh, governor, hi.” “Hi.” “How are you?” “I'm fine.” “Listen, would you please tell Governor Ritter that it wouldn't be a very smart thing to do to let 1313 become law?” “OK, I'll do that.” “Thank you.” What you don't know at the time is that Ritter's team is working in the back room with the DMV to give you exactly what you're speaking against. State rape? Date rape? You tell me.
As the Rocky Mountain News reported on April 13, HB 1313 "[sought] to clear up the red tape involved in getting a driver's license or Colorado ID by allowing residents to present a broad range of valid documents to prove age, name and lawful presence in the U.S." As Colorado Media Matters noted, the legislation would have directed the Department of Revenue to promulgate rules consistent with those established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for verifying an applicant's lawful residence in the United States. Ritter vetoed the bill on June 1, noting that the department already had finalized the new rules and that 1313, if signed, “would have supplanted [the agency's] rulemaking authority.”
Contrary to Boyles' assertion that “Ritter's team ... working in the back room with the DMV” achieved “exactly” what HB 1313 would have established, the new rules in fact bar the use of numerous documents that would have been allowable under 1313. As the News reported following Ritter's veto:
[T]he new rules disallow some documents that would have been accepted under HB 1313, said Evan Dreyer, a Ritter spokesman.
For instance, under HB 1313, a person seeking a driver's license could have presented insurance and tax documents, city-issued birth certificates and prisoner IDs from any state to help prove lawful presence and identity.
Those documents aren't allowed under the new rules, Dreyer said.
Moreover, a June 5 News editorial called the DMV rules “a big improvement over those in House Bill 1313” and reiterated that "[t]he new, department-issued guidelines [are] certainly better than the provisions of HB 1313," which, as the News noted, “would have allowed applicants to get driver's licenses if they presented a host of expired documents, including some out-of-state licenses and military IDs that lacked photographs.”
