republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/sb-21-116.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Prohibit American Indian Mascots"
description: "The act prohibits the use of American Indian mascots (mascots) by public schools, including charter and institute charter schools, and public institutions of higher education (public school) as of June 1, 2022. The act imposes a fine of $25,000 per month for each month that a public school continues to use a mascot after such date, payable to the state education fund.The prohibition does not apply to:Any agreement that exists prior to June 30, 2021, between a federally recognized Indian tribe (tribe) and a public school, although the tribe has the right and ability to revoke the agreement at any time;"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "SB 21-116"
citation: "Colorado SB 21-116 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Adrienne Benavidez", "Barbara McLachlan", "Jessie Danielson"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 16
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-23T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-28T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ac25d421-e094-4380-b8a6-52a5a8a9fdca"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-116"
source_hash: "9205599e7101432ab6524ed4eacb0c55d981531ac6b3550450af14dbe35b8e5d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 21-116 (2021A) — Prohibit American Indian Mascots

The act prohibits the use of American Indian mascots (mascots) by public schools, including charter and institute charter schools, and public institutions of higher education (public school) as of June 1, 2022. The act imposes a fine of $25,000 per month for each month that a public school continues to use a mascot after such date, payable to the state education fund.The prohibition does not apply to:Any agreement that exists prior to June 30, 2021, between a federally recognized Indian tribe (tribe) and a public school, although the tribe has the right and ability to revoke the agreement at any time;

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_sb116_h_ed_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (04/22/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/10/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (02/23/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (04/05/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116sedu_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (05/21/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116ed_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (04/23/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_ren.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (06/02/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_116_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (06/28/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_116_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **40–24** (pass) · lower
- CONCUR — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- COW * — **15–20** (fail) · upper
- REPASS — **20–14** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **20–12** (pass) · upper
- AMD — **26–37** (fail) · lower
- COW * — **15–20** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Adrienne Benavidez — primary (person)
- Barbara McLachlan — primary (person)
- Jessie Danielson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-06-28T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-10T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-10T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-06-10T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2021-05-25T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-05-20T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Education Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-26T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2021-04-23T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-22T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor `reading-2`
- **2021-04-13T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-04-07T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-04-01T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-23T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ac25d421-e094-4380-b8a6-52a5a8a9fdca`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).