In my May column, I wrote about Panorama surveys and why several of the school districts in Hamilton County are getting rid of them. The 2023 Indiana General Assembly passed and the governor signed HB 1447, which deals with third-party surveys and how they are to be administered as well as new requirements for parental notification.
During the same session, there was a Senate bill dealing with “Material Harmful to Minors.” That was SB 12 authored by State Senator James Tomes. Similar bills had been introduced in previous years only to die without being heard or voted on. For almost the entire session it seemed that SB 12 was going to meet the same fate. This bill was voted on and passed by the Senate but never got a reading during the regular House session.
Testimony on the Senate bill was passionate from both sides of the aisle as well as supporters and detractors of the bill. According to library union and teacher’s union representatives, this bill, if passed into law, would open the possibility for teachers, school librarians, and principals to be criminally prosecuted. They claimed that this bill would also strip away protections for material that is disseminated for educational purposes.
Parental groups, former teachers, clergy, and concerned parents gave testimony supporting the legislation stating that the books referenced had no educational value. They further stated that the books were inappropriate for children of elementary and secondary school age. Several of the legislators argued that the purpose of the bill was not to pursue prosecution of school personnel but to close a loophole existing in the current Indiana Code.
The word “ban” was used often to represent what would occur if this bill was passed. Ban is a word that can be used to promote a response of fear or anger. According to those opposed, we would be banning books and banning free speech. They intended to suggest that this bill would have the effect of forbidding books that had an educational purpose from being disseminated in schools or restricting the rights of certain groups by banning books on Black and LGBTQ issues. The bill intends to exclude or restrict such books from being disseminated in an elementary or secondary school setting. Thus, this bill corrects the current law on obscene materials so that it is against the law whether it takes place outside or inside of a school setting.
In the end, due to the determination of several of the Representatives, as well as an organized group of supporters, the crux of the Senate bill having to do with “obscene” material and school libraries was inserted into HB 1447 during the last hours of the 2023 legislative session. Going forward the law against “material harmful to minors” will have the effect that was always intended: to protect minors.
HEA 1447 was signed into law on May 4, 2023.