Initiative to stamp out obscene material in schools caught in legislative limbo

The fate of a bill that would strip protections for schools and public libraries from Indiana’s law against giving “harmful material” to minors is uncertain after lawmakers signaled late this week that they wouldn’t be moving the proposal forward.

Senate Bill 17 would remove the exemption for K-12 schools and public libraries from a law that prohibits the distribution of obscene material to children. The proposal has been championed by conservative, right-wing groups who say they’re concerned about their children being exposed to sexually-explicit and age-inappropriate material at school.

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Parents have been raising concerns about the material their children have access to at schools — particularly books with sexually explicit scenes or centered on LGBTQ experiences — for more than a year.

Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, attempted to get the measure passed last year. It was never voted out of the Senate. Tomes tried again this legislative session, with SB 17. Tomes said the legislation is about protecting kids. 

"As parents, who are in a position to influence our children, we need to do everything in our power that we build in them the ability to define and recognize what's right and wrong, what's good and bad," he said when introducing the bill late last month. "And not based off of what some.. high dollar, fast talking lawyer can come up with. But what we know in our heart and soul, what's right and good for our children."

Tomes said he wants children to have a good life, with positive childhood memories. 

"We certainly don't want them to think back about a book or image that they've seen that may be branded in their little minds for the rest of their life," he said.

Critics of the bill say it's unnecessary — schools already have processes in place to deal with book challenges — and it could lead to censorship and book banning. Attempts to ban books with material some families find objectionable from schools have been on the rise.

This time, Tomes' proposal passed the Senate and was sent to the House.

But the House doesn’t plan to hear the bill. Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, told IndyStar Thursday that the House education committee — the committee Behning chairs and to which SB 17 was sent — would not take up the bill in its final meeting Monday. Behning said he didn’t have time to consider the bill, which received a lengthy hearing in the Senate.

He’s been receiving significant pressure from advocacy groups like Purple for Parents, a conservative activist group that formed in response and opposition to the teacher-led Red for Ed movement, to take up the bill. Though he won’t hear the bill, Behning said he still supports the change it proposes.

“It's really just about I don't have time,” he said.

In what appears to be crossed wires between the chambers, Behning said his committee didn’t need to take up SB 17, because the measure was already included in House Bill 1134, the omnibus curriculum transparency bill. But the Senate gutted HB 1134 on Wednesday, stripping many provisions — including the language that would remove the exemption for schools and public libraries from the indecent material law.

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, told reporters Thursday that the measure would not be added back into HB 1134.

“That has enough weight to it as it is,” he said.

HB 1134 is a controversial bill that would ban educators from discussing several “divisive concepts” around race, sex and religion and give parents greater access to the materials being used and lessons being delivered in their children’s classrooms.

It has received considerable pushback from teachers across the state.

While the harmful materials measure appears dead at this point, language that has already passed one chamber can be amended into related legislation. There are any number of other education bills on to which it could be tacked.

While Behning said that could be a path forward for the measure, Bray said he has not had those conversations.

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.