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Senate committee advances "freedom to read" bill after hours of testimony and amendments
Summary
After extended testimony from librarians, parents, educators and critics, the Senate Education Committee voted 5–2 to advance Senate Bill 2,563, which would require public school districts to adopt transparent library‑reconsideration policies, protect library staff from retaliation, and set limits on repeated challenges.
The Senate Education Committee voted 5–2 to send Senate Bill 2,563 — described by sponsors as a "freedom to read" measure for public school libraries — to the Committee of the Whole after several hours of testimony and a series of committee amendments.
Sponsors Senator Janet Cutter and Senator Michaelson Janae said the bill seeks to standardize reconsideration procedures for school libraries, protect librarians from retaliation when acting in good faith, and require local school boards to post transparent policies that reflect constitutional protections and guard against discrimination. The strike‑below amendment the sponsors offered narrowed the bill and added several provisions, including that only parents of students attending a given school may file a reconsideration request on that school's resources, a two‑year limit between reconsideration requests for the same resource, and a requirement that reconsideration policies be publicly posted.
Testimony filled the…
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