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Damaging Legislative Proposals Petering Out
By Martin D. Snyder
In addition to the four states that still have legislation pending from 2005 (Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Tennessee), new legislation based on or similar in intent to the so-called Academic Bill of Rights has been introduced in six states in 2006. Four of those bills already have been defeated, and the rest are unlikely to pass. Since most legislative sessions have ended, it is unlikely that much legislative activity will take place the rest of the year.
In Pennsylvania, the fourth public hearing of the House Select Committee on Student Academic Freedom was held at Harrisburg Area Community College on May 31 and June 1. Shortly before the hearing, three members of the committee were defeated by the electorate in spring primary elections, including Rep. Gibson C. Armstrong (the prime mover of the committee’s creation and the one most concerned about “liberal bias”) and the chair of the committee, Rep. Tom Stevenson.
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