A Senate bill that would have required a parental OK for teens to use tanning salons got burned in the House on Monday as a dozen Democrats helped Republicans kill it on final vote.

"It's just the dumbest bill of the year," said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, when asked why Senate Bill 23 died 38-27 with no debate.

May said it doesn't make sense to prohibit youngsters from indulging in indoor tanning when "you get can (get skin cancer) in your back yard laying out in the sun. Who cares where you get your suntan?"

But House sponsor Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, said critics ignored committee testimony by skin cancer experts warning that high-intensity tanning beds inflict 10 times more harmful rays than a person would face during the same time outside on a sunny summer day.

McGihon stressed that the state dermatology association had called for the bill. Doctors testified in committee that deadly melanoma skin cancer rates in Colorado have increased 30 percent in the past decade for white females younger than age 35.

That's why 14 other states have passed similar teen tanning-salon restrictions, McGihon said.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486