Democrat Governor Defunds Schools

Raymond Cunningham from Homer Illinois, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

(FixThisNation.com) – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) is expected to sign a bill that is going to block institutions who are intending on banning certain books from obtaining state funds. This legislation comes at a time when there has been an increase in the efforts to pull various titles from the shelves.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias noted that this bill is going to help the state move towards completely blocking book bans in libraries in the state. He added that under this legislation, state libraries and librarians are going to be protected against those who pressure them to ban or pull certain books and resources from the shelf. The bill has passed the state legislature and is soon going to reach the governor’s office. Pritzker has already expressed his support for this bill.

The state’s H.B. 2789 would mandate for libraries to adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which blocks the removal of resources and material because of “partisan or doctrinal disapproval,” or alternatively to develop their own statements against book banning.

In a statement in March, Pritzker claimed that book bunning was an attempt by people to erase the history and stories of people across the nation who deserved to feel represented in the books that they were reading. For this reason, he expressed his support for House Bill 2785, which would protect libraries as centers of knowledge and creativity.

State Sen. Laura Murphy, one of the bill’s sponsors in her own statement noted that libraries have been under attack in recent years, and she was proud to see the Senate take a stance against book banning.

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