Ridiculous legislation

From "Don't Say Gay" to The Blunt Amendment: Six pieces of legislation thatshouldn't fly under the radar this election year

With so many difficult and pressing challenges facing Americans in 2012, some elected officials have decided to tackle issues that are anything but. Here is a small sampling problems some legislators are choosing to focus their attention on in the new year instead of job creation, substantive education reform, environmental protections or improving the economy.

1. The Tennessee “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

Senator Stacey Campfield has become somewhat of a media darling since introducing SB49, which prohibits discussing “sexual orientation[s] other than heterosexuality” in kindergarten through eighth grade classes. The reason? Campfield believes age-appropriate discussions of other orientations might cause young children to question their own sexuality and rob parents of their chance to educate their children themselves. Critics say the bill would stigmatize LGBT students and point to Michigan’s Anoka-Hennepin School District, where a similar district-wide policy allowed bullying to flourish, sparking a suicide epidemic and a federal lawsuit.

2. New Hampshire’s Domestic Violence Bills

HB1581 and HB1608 were two New Hampshire bills that would have made it harder for the police to arrest domestic abusers and enforce protective orders. 1581 would have forced officers to obtain a warrant to make an arrest for any domestic violence they didn’t personally witness; 1608 would have required an abuser to violate a protective order three times before being arrested. Though these two bills died in committee earlier this month, Republicans on the national level are moving to block renewal of the Violence Against Women Act over enhanced protections for Native American and LGBT populations.

3. Arizona’s “Teacher Profanity” Bill

SB1205 is an Arizona bill that would bar teachers from speech or action in the classroom that the FCC would consider obscene, outlining a disciplinary process to punish infractions. Senator Lori Klein introduced the legislation after Floyd Brown, a Republican strategist in her district, claimed he had to homeschool his daughter after problems with a teacher’s profanity — a claim the school district contradicts, noting that a faculty member using profane language would be in violation of the district's standards of professional conduct. Every single district in the state has an internal mechanism to address this problem; SB1205 looks like vanity legislation intended to waste government resources and get Klein reelected.

4. Virginia’s Coercive Sonogram Bill

Of all of the bills being introduced around the country to hinder women’s access to health care, Virginia’s SB484 is among the worst. The bill, which has passed both the House and Senate, requires abortion-seekers to undergo an invasive and medically unnecessary sonogram in order to discourage and delay women from obtaining a legal medical procedure. Sonogram restrictions are often presented as an effort to “inform” women, but defenders of this bill could barely conceal their disdain for those they were making decisions for, with one state delegate calling the procedure a “lifestyle convenience.”

5. The Blunt Amendment

Written to counteract the birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the Blunt Amendment would allow any insurer or employer to deny anyone any form of treatment by claiming a moral objection. This would allow employers to claim an ethical objection to expensive treatments or the treatment of stigmatized diseases, without being required to provide a religious rationale for doing so. Idaho, Missouri and Arizona plan on passing similar pieces of legislation at the state level.

6. The Federal Aviation Administration Re-authorization Act

Recently signed by President Obama, the Federal Aviation Authorization bill includes a provision to introduce unmanned drones into US airspace over the next three years. Drone aircraft can track people from up to 25 miles away at an altitude of over 20,000 feet, making them undetectable from the ground; one of the newer models can access communication grids and collect cell phone and text conversations remotely, without a warrant and without you even being aware of it. As lobbyists for the industry bragged in a recent report “the only changes made to the UAS section of the House FAA bill were made at the request of AUVSI. Our suggestions were often taken word-for-word.” With no public debate on the privacy issues at hand, drones are being introduced into US airspace to please the industry that manufactures them; as always, you will be paying for it.

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San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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