UPDATE 1-Colorado lawmakers give final passage to death penalty repeal

State lawmakers in Denver voted to pass and send to the governor on Wednesday a bill that would repeal Colorado's death penalty, making it the latest of a growing number of states in recent years to abolish capital punishment. Governor Jared Polis, a first-term Democrat, intends to sign the bill into law when it reaches his desk, his spokesman told Reuters via email on Tuesday.

The Colorado Senate adopted the measure in January. Final adoption of the bill in the House of Representatives came on a 38-27 vote, following earlier defeat of a House floor amendment that called for putting the question of repeal before voters in a statewide ballot measure. Both chambers of the General Assembly are controlled by Democrats, although two Republican senators are co-sponsors of the measure.

Twenty-nine U.S. states, including Colorado, have the death penalty on their books, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Capital punishment also remains in the criminal code of the federal government and U.S. military justice system. When the bill is enacted into law, Colorado will become the 22nd state since 2004 to abolish the death penalty by legislation or court action, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks the issue. 

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