Rep. Angela Romero (D)

HB 78 (Consent Amendments)

Libertas Institute opposes this bill.

This bill creates a new felony for "sexual conduct without affirmative consent," which means "words or overt actions by an individual who is competent to give informed consent indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual conduct at the time of the act.

Libertas opposes this bill. Because it is near impossible to prove what "words or overt actions" actually occurred, it is extremely likely that this law would be weaponized in cases where there actually was consent, but one party later regretted the sexual encounter. The bill criminalizes actual consent.