DENVER – Some of Colorado’s 49,000 unemployed veterans are stymied in their attempts to find work after being discharged, but an attempt to help solve that problem was shot down Thursday at the Capitol.

A Democratic bill that would have allowed veterans to waive their confidential status as former troops was nixed by Republicans who said the $75,000 price tag for the bill was too much, and that personal responsibility should override state assistance. The bill would have created a check-off box on unemployment forms, which veterans could mark to waive their confidentiality.

Rep. Joe Miklosi, a Denver Democrat, said the bill could have helped Colorado veterans in touch with the roughly 200 assistance groups in the state, many of which provide job training and networks of employers.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” Miklosi told the House State, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

James Bobick, chairman of the United Veterans Committee, told the committee that the bill would make it easier for them to help troops.But the committee’s Republicans said the bill, which would also have expanded the Department of Labor, was unnecessary.

“If you are really looking for a job, the mechanism is there,” said Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose.

Reps. Larry Liston and Janak Joshi, R-Colorado Springs, also voted against the measure, although Liston was so torn over the measure that he passed twice when the committee’s staffer called the roll for the vote.

“If it’s really a good idea, I’m surprised the Department of Labor isn’t down here supporting it,” said Liston.

He called the bill “very duplicative,” and added that even within the DOL, there’s the possibility of identity theft for veterans.

But the bill will be back. Miklosi is running for Congress and won’t return next session, but he already has a senator ready to run the bill next year.