The Illinois House defeated a bill April 14 that would have required filters on all public-school computers, including those in media centers, used by K-12 students. House Bill 1812 fell eight votes short of the 60 needed for passage, though it won a simple majority with 52 “yes” votes, 51 “no” votes, and 13 abstentions.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Anne Zickus (R-Palos Hills), vowed to continue to push for the measure’s passage. “If it’s something you believe in, you go back and try again,” she told the April 15 Springfield State Journal-Register.
Critics of the bill charged that it would result in blocking legitimate research and infringing school districts’ ability to make decisions affecting their own schools. “That’s what I thought Republicans were supposed to be about: local control,” said Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville), who abstained from voting. “Why don’t you have confidence in your locally elected school boards?”
Posted April 24, 2000.