Republicans Full of Bad Ideas

 A couple of weeks ago I wrote about some of the issues that school vouchers will cause if passed by the Texas legislature. That kind of ill-conceived law isn’t limited to education, nor to Texas. Unfortunately, Republicans in state legislatures around the country have some other bad ideas they’re filing bills on the recently.

In the Texas legislature, Republican State Representative Carrie Isaac, filed House Bill 2390, which would prohibit counties from putting a polling place at a college or university. This would seem to be a response to the 14% rise in registered voters among young people ages 18-24 over the last four years.

According to Common Cause Texas Voting Rights Program Manager Katya Ehresman, “We know young people who vote soon after turning 18 are far more likely than others to become lifelong, habitual voters. Texas Republicans seem determined to keep that from happening, despite the fact that Texas perpetually ranks at or near the bottom among all states when it comes to participating in elections.

Texas has the fastest growing population in the nation, largely led by young voters of color, and some politicians clearly see this as a threat. This bill is an unabashed attempt to manipulate the outcome of elections by suppressing the voices of our increasingly young and diverse electorate.”

Last week two Idaho lawmakers introduced HB 154 which would charge those who administer mRNA vaccines with a misdemeanor. The bill sponsored by Sen. Tammy Nichols and Rep. Judy Boyle says "A person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state." Nichols said the bill is specifically about the two COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna.

In Florida, Republicans have instituted book bans in public schools and universities. 176 books have been removed from classrooms in Duval County, Florida, think Jacksonville. They were removed in the last year because of new laws passed by the Florida legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. ABC News reports that upwards of 1 million books are now under review in Duval County alone. Among the books under review are titles on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and "Queen of Salsa" Celia Cruz. All these books are under investigation because of The "Stop W.O.K.E." Act, the Parental Rights in Education law, and House Bill 1467. The Stop W.O.K.E. Act makes the odd claim that teachers are teaching white kids that they're inherently evil racists and Black students that they're morally superior to their white counterparts. In reality Republicans just don’t want their grandchildren to learn that their grandparents were screaming death threats at six year old Ruby Bridges when she walked up the steps of the formerly all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans and had to be guarded by Deputy U.S Marshals.

Child labor law violations in the US increased 37% in fiscal year 2022 and the Department of Labor reported the problem has been going on since 2015. In 2022 688 children were found to be working in hazardous conditions. The Republican solution is to push to roll back protections against child labor. In Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota, Republican legislators introduced bills to extend the hours 14 and 15 year-olds would be allowed to work and some bills would expand the types of jobs children would be permitted to do as part of approved training programs, extend allowable work hours, and exempt employers from liability if these young workers are sickened, injured or killed on the job.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - February 23, 2023