House Education hears hours of testimony on bill to bar discriminatory book removals; supporters urge ODE support role, opponents warn of unintended effects

The Oregon House Education Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 1098 on April 30, where sponsors and dozens of witnesses debated a measure intended to prevent removal of library, textbook and instructional materials based on the identity or perspective of authors or subjects protected under Oregon law.

Senator Lou Frederick, chief sponsor of SB 1098, told the committee the bill "simply" prevents exclusion of books because they are by or about individuals in protected classes under Oregon's anti-discrimination law and does not prevent removal for age-appropriateness, obscenity, or lack of educational value. Frederick said the bill does not force teachers to assign every book and described the measure as protecting freedom to read and guarding against selective exclusion of materials by viewpoint.

Representative Travis Nelson, a House sponsor, said the bill makes explicit that banning materials because they feature or are written by members of protected classes is a form of discrimination and reiterated that parents and guardians would still be able to seek removal for their own children. Nathan Soltz, chief of staff to Senator Frederick, described the bill as tying the existing anti-discrimination statute to…