Where are the states priorities?
Published 8:21 am Wednesday, May 4, 2005
By Staff
Our View
For anyone who has ever been curious as to how state legislatures spend their time after state business is over, the Alabama House of Representatives is providing a good example.
Unlike the Senate, most of the state business was completed by the house months ago.
When situations like this arise, many ridiculous bills are proposed for a variety of reasons, the main one being they would never get passed. Many representatives use this opportunity to ingratiate themselves to their constituents.
A good case in point of this would be that of State Rep. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa). Allen recently proposed a bill to bar from all state-funded schools and libraries any books written by homosexuals or featuring homosexual characters.
While homosexuality is a sensitive subject, barring excellent works by such authors would be foolish. A strict interpretation of these rules would also rule out the Bible.
While we respect the personal views of our elected officials, we feel it would be best to focus on more pressing issues affecting the state at large.