Week three of the legislative session is always full of committee work as bills get vetted with the public and senators get the first reaction of citizens and interest groups. Some of these bills will go on to become law, but many will prove unworkable or be unsupported by enough legislators to make it through the system.
Last year, I was on the subcommittees for at least four different modifications of county compensation boards. County compensation boards help county supervisors to determine what salary increases should be given to local elected officials. After hearing these various solutions last year, we are going to look at eliminating compensation boards and setting up a formula for salary increases that includes an inflation factor, capped at 3%. It will be interesting to see how well this idea is received. If you have comments on this idea, please contact me.
I submitted a bill that says a minor must have parental consent in order to be given a vaccination for STDs. At the subcommittee there were many people associated with the medical field that opposed the bill, repeating the mantra that the vaccinations have been proven safe and effective. We also heard from others that told us about the injuries reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Until the Covid vaccines, there were no other vaccines with as many injuries reported as the STD vaccines. It seems that “safe and effective” must be defined. As we debated work related to driver’s permits for 14 and 15 year olds, a Democrat mentioned that the frontal cortex of the brain is not developed until age 25. That is, young kids don’t have the ability to make crucial decisions when driving. If a minor can’t make driving decisions, how could he/she make decisions concerning the safety of vaccines or the need for one? I maintain that we should give parents authority over their kids’ health (unless they are shown incapable of parenting responsibly).
I also helped pass SF 2037 out of subcommittee. This bill would stop local governments from banning licensed psychologists, teachers and clergy the use of talk therapy that attempts “to alter same-sex attractions or gender expression with the specific aim to promote heterosexuality as a preferable outcome.” Opponents claimed that conversion therapy never works. They didn’t want to hear of the cases where conversion therapy worked unless it was a certified study. In an article in American College of Pediatricians it is stated, “there is no evidence that psychotherapy for UHA (Unwanted Homosexual Attraction) is any more or less harmful than the use of psychotherapy to treat any other unwanted psychological or behavioral adaptation. Therefore, science does not support laws that prohibit minors with UHA from receiving psychotherapy in accordance with their personal goals and values.” I encourage you to send letters of support to the Health and Human Services committee.
