HB234 - An Act Revising Laws Regarding the Public Display or Dissemination of Obscene Materials to Minors - would prevent commercial establishments from displaying obscene material in such a way that it would be visible to minors.
The bill will be heard at 3pm on Friday, April 7, 2023, by the Education and Cultural Resources Committee. Express your opinion here. If you miss the deadline for submitting comments, listen in to the hearing here.
HB-234 is scheduled for 2nd reading on Monday, April 24, on the House Floor to consider the Senate amendments to the original House bill.
House Bill 234, sponsored by Rep. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, passed the Senate Tuesday on a 35-15 vote. More commonly known as the 2023 session’s “obscenity bill,” HB 234 has stirred considerable debate between parents who don’t want their children exposed to materials they consider sexually explicit and opponents who see the bill as an attack on LGBTQ-themed books in school libraries. The bill was amended in the Senate to clarify that teachers would not be subject to the same criminal penalties applied to commercial newstands that display or distribute obscene material to minors — a change that critics of HB 234 see as making the bill more benign. HB 234 now passes back to the House for consideration of that…