Committee advances bill to restrict school library material it calls 'demeaning' to women

Representative Banning told the House committee that House Bill 29 78 would remove from school libraries material he described as obscene or demeaning to women, saying the measure is intended to "move the books out that completely disgrace women that we can't read out loud." He asked the committee to adopt a proposed committee substitute and pressed that this is not about "romantic" material but about items he called inappropriate around minors.

Opponents on the committee urged caution. Representative Butler and others said local community standards and school processes already govern library collections and worried the bill could limit access to texts used in AP or other classroom assignments. Representative Butler said she was concerned about the unintended consequence of denying high-level curriculum books that are required for classes. Representative Rosecrans asked about librarians' roles; the sponsor replied decisions often involve local boards and administrators.

Committee members also probed the bill's scope. Representative Tidford cited the statute language in "title 21, 10 24.1," noting the law excludes material that a "reasonable person" would find to have serious literary, artistic, educational, political or scientific value; the sponsor agreed the bill is not intended to exclude material with explicit educational or artistic value. The sponsor said access to a book for purchase by parents or students outside school would not be prohibited, but access via taxpayer-funded school libraries or online access through school systems could be limited.

After questions and exchanges, the committee adopted the PCS as the working draft and passed the bill by recorded voice/roll call (committee reported 10 ayes, 1 nay). The measure was sent to the oversight committee for further consideration.

The committee did not provide language in the hearing text for how appeals, review procedures, or librarian recommendations would be implemented; those details were not specified in the recorded discussion.

The committee moved on to other agenda items; the bill's next step is oversight committee review according to the chair's announcement.